Make this simple 4-ingredient sweet salted caramel sauce at home with ease—no candy thermometer required! Ready in just 10 minutes, this rich homemade caramel is perfect for drizzling over cakes, cupcakes, cookies, pound cake, ice cream, cheesecake, scones, salted caramel apple pie, and more!
I originally published this recipe in 2013 and have since added new photos, a video tutorial, and additional success tips. This recipe is such a fan favorite, that it deserved a spot in print! You’ll also find this recipe in my cookbook, Sally’s Baking 101.
What once intimidated me became the subject of my 2nd cookbook: Sally’s Candy Addiction. As it turns out, homemade candy isn’t all that difficult. And salted caramel sauce is one of the easiest. There’s only 4 ingredients required: sugar, butter, heavy cream, and salt.
This salted caramel is a reader favorite recipe, consistently marking its spot in the top 10 most popular recipes on my website and published in 2 of my cookbooks. It’s sweet, buttery, and tastes phenomenal on anything it touches. (Though you really only need a spoon to enjoy.)
Trust me, after trying this 1 time, you’ll be hooked like the rest of us!
How to Make Salted Caramel
Use the written out instructions below, but here’s the basic process: The first step is to melt sugar, which is called caramelization. This requires 1 small (stainless steel, not nonstick) pot/saucepan and a wooden spoon. Stir until melted and caramelized. Stir in butter, then stir in heavy cream and let it boil for 1 minute. Finally, add the salt.
That’s it, the caramel is done.
As always, use caution when cooking over the stove because the hot liquid, butter, and cream may splatter. If needed, kitchen gloves come in handy.
No Candy Thermometer Required
Unlike most caramel recipes, this salted caramel doesn’t require a candy thermometer. Instead, I encourage you to follow the recipe and use your eyes to determine when to add the next ingredient. If you’d like to be precise and use a candy thermometer, the temperature will rise to about 220°F (104°C), and that’s when the caramel is done on the stove.
The caramel thickens as it cools.
What to Eat With Salted Caramel?
You will love homemade salted caramel with sweets like cinnamon rolls, cheesecake, and apple pie bars. Use it as a dip for apples, spoon over ice cream, or pour into decorated jars and gift it for the holidays.
The possibilities for salted caramel are endless:
- Turtle Brownies
- Burnt Sugar Caramel Cake
- Caramel Apple Cheesecake Pie
- Caramel Coconut Macaroon Thumbprints
- Chocolate Caramel Toffee Icebox Slice & Bake Cookies
- Butterscotch Pudding
- Snickers Caramel Tart
- Apple Cupcakes (pictured above)
- Caramel Dipped Pretzels
- Pumpkin Swirl Cheesecake
- Salted Caramel Apple Pie & Apple Cake
- Cheesecake Pie
- Chocolate Bread Pudding
- Apple Turnovers
- Caramel Turtle Cheesecake
- Apple Cider French Toast
- Dutch Baby Pancake
- Cake Mix Chocolate Cupcakes
- Skillet Brownie
- Apple Cobbler
- Apple Cinnamon Scones
- Topping for Homemade Eclairs
- Drizzled on cookies like Shortbread, Brownie Cookies, and Snickerdoodles
- As a filling for your favorite cupcake recipe (see my How to Fill Cupcakes post for all the details)
- Butterscotch Pie & Apple Pie Bars (both pictured below)
What Is the Consistency Like?
The caramel is liquid as it comes off heat. As the caramel cools, it solidifies into a chewy texture. After refrigerating, the caramel is hard and you must heat it up to bring it back to a liquid consistency. Do you need a thinner caramel? Feel free to add 2 more Tablespoons of heavy cream to the recipe.
Can I Skip the Salt to Make Regular Caramel?
If you’re looking for a sweet caramel, rather than a salted caramel, you can still use this recipe. Do not cut out the salt completely because the caramel’s sweetness will be overpowering. Instead, reduce the salt to 1/2 teaspoon.
No. You can’t really turn this sauce into a homemade wrapped candy. Instead, try my soft caramel candies recipe which is a little different.
This caramel is not thick enough to coat apples for caramel apples. Instead, I recommend my homemade caramel apples recipe.
Yes. When the caramel is done, it’s thin and liquid. As the caramel cools, it thickens. After refrigerating, it thickens even more and must be reheated to thin out and use as a topping or dip.
This caramel isn’t ideal to layer between cake layers because it will just spill out the sides under the weight of top layers. However, it’s great as a filling for cupcakes, such as these chocolate caramel coconut cupcakes. See How To Fill Cupcakes for more info!
How to Store Salted Caramel
After the caramel cools down, pour it into a glass jar or container. Refrigerate for up to 1 month. The caramel solidifies as it cools, but you can reheat in the microwave or on the stove so it’s liquid again. You can freeze the salted caramel, too. Freeze in an airtight container for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator or at room temperature, then warm up before using.
Print
Homemade Salted Caramel Recipe
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 1 cup (290g)
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Cooking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Made from only 4 simple ingredients, this homemade caramel is salty, sweet, and irresistibly buttery. No candy thermometer required and the possibilities for serving are endless. (Though just a spoon is acceptable!) Use caution as the cooking caramel may splatter. Stand back and wear kitchen gloves if desired. Review recipe notes prior to beginning. This recipe is also in my cookbook, Sally’s Baking 101.
Ingredients
- 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar (make sure it’s labeled “pure cane”)*
- 6 Tablespoons (85g) unsalted butter, at room temperature and cut into 6 pieces
- 1/2 cup (120g/ml) heavy cream, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- In a medium heavy-duty stainless steel saucepan (do not use nonstick) over medium heat, cook the sugar, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon or heat-safe silicone spatula. Sugar will form clumps and eventually melt into a thick brown, amber-colored liquid as you continue to stir. On my stove, this takes about 6 minutes. Stir constantly, especially around the bottom edges, and be careful not to let it burn.
- Once the sugar is completely melted, reduce the heat to low and stir in the butter. Be careful in this step because the caramel will bubble rapidly when the butter is added. (If you’re nervous for splatter, wear kitchen gloves.) Cook and stir constantly until the butter is melted and well combined. If you notice the butter separating or if the sugar clumps up, remove the pan from heat and vigorously whisk to combine it again. Keep whisking until it comes back together, even if it takes 3–4 minutes. It will eventually—just keep whisking. Return to heat when it’s combined again.
- Very slowly and carefully pour in the heavy cream, stirring constantly. Since the heavy cream is colder than the hot caramel, the mixture will rapidly bubble and steam when added. When all of the heavy cream has been added, stop stirring, increase the heat to medium, and let it boil for 1 minute. It will rise in the pan as it boils. If you’d like to be precise and use a candy thermometer, the temperature should reach 220°F (104°C).
- Remove from heat and stir in the salt. The caramel will be a thin liquid at this point. Allow to slightly cool and thicken before using. Caramel thickens considerably as it cools.
- Cover tightly and store in the refrigerator for up to 1 month. Caramel solidifies in the refrigerator. Reheat in the microwave or on the stove to desired consistency.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: You can make this caramel in advance. Make sure it is covered tightly and store it for up to 1 month in the refrigerator. Warm the caramel up for a few seconds before using in a recipe. See “What Is the Texture of This Salted Caramel?” in the post above. This caramel is OK at room temperature for a day if you’re traveling or gifting it. You can freeze the salted caramel, too. Freeze in an airtight container for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator or at room temperature, then warm up before using.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Medium Heavy-Duty Saucepan (do not use nonstick) | Wooden Spoon | Candy Thermometer (like this one or this one)—optional
- Sugar: This recipe is most successful using granulated sugar that’s labeled “pure cane” on the packaging. I usually use and recommend Domino brand regular granulated sugar which says “pure cane granulated” on the packaging.
- Heavy Cream: Heavy cream (approximately 36% milk fat) may also be sold as whipping cream. Light whipping cream (30% milk fat), or double cream (48% milk fat) may be substituted. Do not use half-and-half or milk. Room-temperature cream is best.
- Salt: Use regular table salt or kosher salt. If using larger flaky salt, add 1 teaspoon, taste, then add more if desired. This recipe works with 1 teaspoon of any variety of salt. You can always add 3/4 teaspoon, taste, then add more if desired.
- Caramel Candies: This caramel is great as a sauce, topping, or filling, but won’t set up properly to make soft caramel candies. Here is my soft caramels recipe.
- Regular Caramel Sauce: If you want to make regular caramel, reduce salt to 1/2 teaspoon. Do not leave it out completely.
- Larger Batches: Avoid doubling or tripling this recipe. The added volume could prevent the sugar from melting evenly and properly. Make multiple batches instead.
Reader Comments and Reviews
I’d like to use this as a cheesecake topping. Should it be drizzled over the cold cheesecake hot when still runny? Or, is it better to pour over the cheesecake once cooled on rack but before refrigerating?
Hi Melinda, we’d recommend drizzling on the cold cheesecake right before serving. Hope you enjoy it!
First time making a caramel sauce, and it worked perfectly. Huge hit – used it to drizzle on cheesecake.
I loved how this turned out, even though I think I almost burned the sugar. But we loved the flavour it produced and I think it’s something I would do on purpose again. A question for you though. At the end of the mixing in of the butter, it started going quite hard, so I quickly began mixing in the cream. The result was quite a few crunchy chunks, which again, was accidentally nice because it was like skor bits. But do you know why it would’ve suddenly turned so thick and hard? It was actually making my whisk bend out of shape.
Hi Lydia, the heat may have been too high (all stoves are different). Try slightly lowering the temperature next time, during the whole process. That will help.
Hi! I love the recipe and have made it a few times with no issues, but how it’s been setting hard rather than soft. Any idea why?
Hi Joan! Try turning the heat on your stove down just a bit.
This recipe didn’t work for me at all. First, it took at least 30mins on medium heat for the sugar to completely melt. Then after adding the butter, it clumped, hardened and separated, all at the same time. I whisked off heat for at least ten minutes and it never came together. This was a waste of time and ingredients. I need the caramel sauce for your caramel turtle cheesecake and am going with store-bought caramel sauce instead.
Can this recipe be used in making caramel turtles?
Hi Patty, this caramel won’t set up for candies, but you may love these sea salt vanilla caramels instead!
Would a splash of bourbon mess with the overall consistency?
A splash would be just fine, after you remove it from heat and when you stir in the salt.
Can I use half and half?
Hi Karen, the caramel won’t set up properly with half-and-half because the fat content is too low. We recommend heavy cream for best results.
Straightforward, easy to follow and comes out perfect every time!
Total pun on words. Can this recipe be canned?
Hi Lorie, we haven’t tried canning this salted caramel before so we’re unsure of how it will work/preserve. Let us know if you do give it a try.
Easy to make and delicious.
Can I use this as a caramel drizzle for a coffee station…or will it be the wrong consistency? I love homemade and I can’t justify over $5 for a bottle of Torani caramel sauce!!
Hi Lindsay, the hot/warm caramel is delicious in coffee! It will, however, solidify as it cools, so you will need to keep the caramel warm and/or have a way to warm it up before use.
This recipe is a keeper!! It was so good. I made the sauce and used it in top of my popcorn and left it to cool completely after coating them. They tasted phenomenal, I couldn’t stop eating them! The only thing that was missing was the crunchiness that you would have with caramel popcorn. Is there anything that I can do to make it crunchie?
Hi Naaz, we’re so glad you enjoyed it! This is not ideal for caramel corn, as it doesn’t set into the same candy consistency needed for caramel corn. It’s solid when it cools, but it’s more chewy than hard. For caramel corn, it’s best to use a caramel with baking soda in it, such as this caramel corn recipe.
Just great! I need a caramel sauce, salt-less, so I only added 1/4 the salt to compensate for the lack of salt in the butter. It’s great, just hard to break old habits. I was always told “DON’T TOUCH THE SUGAR” when it was caramelizing sugar. And a dish of water with a pastry brush was to be on hand to remove any sugar on the wall of the pot. This was so much easier and it didn’t suffer at all for the lack of “process worshipping” I was taught. LOL
I love the taste of this recipe! I want to find a way to use it in my Millionaire’s Shortbread but can’t get it to stay set once the dish comes up to room temperature (it eventually starts oozing out the sides of each bar). I don’t like the flavor of other recipes I have used with sweetened condensed milk that will stay set in Millionaire’s Shortbread. Any advice?
Hi Tim, I’ve tried using this caramel in that manner many times, and it’s just not stable enough. You really need some corn syrup in there to help achieve the correct consistency for layering in the dessert. You’ll also have to cook it for a little longer. This requires testing, and it’s something I have not attempted in some time. Let me know if you try anything though!
This caramel recipe looks amazing. I read at the beginning of this post. That it can be used on cookies, etc. My question is. Once it’s drizzled on. Will it harden somewhat or stay sticky and soft. Because I would like to make baking goods with caramel drizzled on that I can package and give away without it sticking to the packaging. Thanks for your help. I do hope I get a response. I was reading over the comments and there were quite a few questions that never got an answer. TIA.
Hi LuAnn, the caramel stays a little sticky after drizzling on cookies. Not too sticky, but it will most likely stick if the top is directly on the caramel/cookie.
I think this looks like it may be a great recipe, I’m anxious to try it, but was wondering if you had ever canned it?
Hi Vennita, we haven’t tested it yet, but many readers have and reported back with good reviews. Let us know if you try it!
Hi there! I have made this recipe before as directed, but I am hoping to make it for my wife who is allergic to dairy. Is there a way to make this dairy free? Can I use Crisco instead of butter? Can I use full-fat canned coconut milk instead of heavy cream? If so, do I just use the cream on the top of the can or shake it up so that it is combined? I’m afraid that shaking the can so that it is combined would add too much water and therefore affect the end result. I greatly appreciate your baking expertise and wisdom! Thank you!
Hi Jim, We haven’t tested a dairy-free version of this recipe. While full fat coconut cream should work in place of the heavy cream, we aren’t sure how a vegan butter will hold up (and we don’t recommend margarine). It may be best to search for a recipe that is specifically formulated to be dairy-free. Let us know if you try anything here!
Hey Sally, I was wondering if this caramel recipe would be good to hold together cream puffs for a croquembouche?
Hi Brendon, we haven’t tested it but imagine that should work well. We’d let the salted caramel sit to slightly thicken a bit before dipping and adhering. Let us know how it goes!
This is the greatest caramel recipe ever!!! It basically ruins any other caramel you’ll ever eat!
Is there a way to get the sugar off the sides of the pan while melting?
I have made this numerous times now, it is so easy and taste amazing!! Thank you for sharing, highly recommended from me
I’ve never made caramel from scratch, but thus is soo easy a 10 year old could do it, well w/mom’s supervision. Though it did take a bit longer than 6 minutes for sugar to melt & get started, I just kept raising the heat a little bit @ a time… Perfect! YUM!
I’m using this recipe since my son was little. Keep coming back to it as he requests for me to make it regularly over the years. It’s so easy and very delicious!!
This recipe was perfection!!!! I doubled it and am so glad I did! It’s delicious, it took next to no time and I love that the risk of crystallization was minimal! Will definitely use this recipe going forward.
hey Sally! two questions:
first, I want to make this later and was wondering if I could drizzle this over popcorn and make caramel popcorn without any other alterations to the recipe? secondly, is heavy whipping cream fine for this recipe? thanks!
We typically use heavy cream which is approximately 36% milk fat, but we have also tested this with light whipping cream which is 30% milk fat and it works well. Any lower fat content the caramel may not set up properly but let us know what you try!
hi! i tried this recipe with light whipping cream with 30% milk fat and it tasted amazing, the only difference was it was more runny, still the best salted caramel i’ve ever made!
You didn’t answer the question about drizzling over popcorn. I’m wondering the same thing.
Hi Lucy, We don’t recommend it. This caramel won’t harden into the CRUNCH you need for caramel corn. Instead, try this caramel corn recipe.
Added butter, instantly set rock hard. You should be whisking from the moment it’s added and let the sugar cool a little first
The caramel sauce smelled great. Both my husband and I were very excited to try it but it has a bit of a metallic taste rather than sweet. We went over the directions to see what we did wrong. We think maybe the sugar burnt somehow in the process even though we were very careful to avoid that.
I think I burned mine a little, too. I had my electric stove set to 5.5, but when I put the candy thermometer in to get the mixture to 220f, the thermometer zoomed up and may have gone further if I hadn’t taken it off the heat so quickly. It wasn’t a disaster, though. I have a toffee sauce!
2nd time making this recipe. Best recipe for salted caramel I’ve ever tried!
2nd time making this recipe. Best recipe for salted caramel I’ve ever tried!