Did you know that you can easily make your own delicious vegan caramel sauce from a can of coconut milk?
The best vegan caramel sauce
- You’ll fall in love with the thick, creamy texture.
- Naturally gluten free, egg free, and dairy free.
- Sweet, salty, and buttery flavor, made with just 3 ingredients.
- Absolutely no corn syrup and no vegan butter. You probably already have everything you need in the kitchen pantry to make it right now!
If you’ve been looking for an easy vegan caramel recipe that tastes just as decadent as traditional caramel, this is the one to try.
The coconut milk creates a smooth and silky sauce without heavy cream, while coconut sugar imparts a rich caramel flavor.
Unlike many other caramel sauce recipes, there’s no need for a candy thermometer or complicated techniques. And no dates or condensed milk here either.
It’s perfect for dipping fresh apple slices, pouring over ice cream, iced coffee lattes, and other vegan desserts, or eating straight from the jar with a spoon.
Try it on top of Healthy Apple Pie
Step by step recipe video
I had a can of coconut cream that needed to be used, so luckily, I came across this recipe. It turned out great!!! I have it sitting in my fridge now and am doing my best NOT to eat it all. Thank you so much for this amazing recipe!
Vegan caramel ingredients
From caramel apples, to grilled pineapple, to ice cream, dessert will never be the same. All you need to make the simple vegan recipe are coconut milk, sugar, salt, and optional vanilla extract.
Coconut Milk: For the creamiest and thickest caramel dip, choose full fat canned coconut milk or coconut cream. Light coconut milk, almond milk, and oat milk are tasty but yield a much thinner consistency.
Coconut Sugar: This unrefined sugar gives the homemade caramel its beautiful golden brown color and a deep, almost toffee-like flavor. You can use white or brown sugar, or pure maple syrup or agave if you prefer. Xylitol works well for a sugar free caramel.
Salt: Include a fourth teaspoon of salt to balance the sweetness of the sugar, or increase to half a teaspoon for more of a vegan salted caramel taste.
Vanilla Extract (optional): A small splash of pure vanilla extract adds yet another layer of warm flavor. It’s important to stir in the vanilla after turning off the heat.
How to make dairy free caramel sauce
Step 1: Whisk ingredients. Add the entire can of coconut milk or coconut cream, coconut sugar, and salt to a medium saucepan. Turn the heat to medium, and whisk until sugar dissolves.
Step 2: Bring to a boil. Stir occasionally until the liquid begins to boil. Once bubbling, allow the mixture to boil for about five minutes, stirring constantly and watching to ensure it does not boil over. Trust me, sticky caramel sauce on your stove top is not fun to clean!
Step 3: Turn to low. Lower the heat to a simmer, and let the liquid cook down to about half its original volume, stirring as needed to prevent sticking. This step should take around forty to sixty minutes, and the caramel will look thick and lightly golden in color when finished.
Step 4: Add the vanilla. If using, whisk in the vanilla extract after removing the saucepan from the heat, to avoid burning the vanilla.
Step 5: Cool and store. Let the plant based caramel sauce cool fully before transferring it to a covered jar or container. Refrigerate until cold, during which time it will thicken even more.
Vegan caramel is delicious drizzled over a Frappuccino Recipe
Coconut caramel FAQ
Not really. The finished sauce may possess a subtle coconut flavor, depending on the brand of coconut milk you use. However, the coconut sugar, salt, and vanilla do a great job of masking the coconut, and I rarely taste coconut when I make this.
You can absolutely use pure maple syrup or agave, and the vegan dessert sauce still thickens the same amount as with a granulated sweetener. I personally just think it tastes more like classic caramel when using coconut sugar. Completely your choice!
Light coconut milk contains more water, so you’ll get a much thinner sauce. If you do not mind, then yes it is fine to use light coconut milk or another nondairy milk.
If you are a fan of chocolate caramel, try the following variation of the recipe:
Simply whisk three tablespoons of sifted unsweetened cocoa powder into the coconut milk before heating on the stove top. It really is that easy.
Let the sauce cool, then transfer it to a mason jar or covered container. Store leftovers in the refrigerator for up to a week. Or freeze for up to three months and reheat in a saucepan. Note that the texture of thawed frozen caramel will never be as creamy.
The recipe below gives you a thick sauce that’s good for drizzling or spreading. It will not work to create hard vegan caramels.
It does work on caramel apples if you cook the caramel until it is super thick, not thin and runny. Wash the apples with vinegar and water to remove the wax coating that would cause the caramel sauce to slip off. Then add two coats of vegan caramel and refrigerate until ready to eat.
How do you get thick vegan caramel?
Be sure to use full fat coconut milk. Or choose coconut cream for even faster, thicker results.
If the sauce still looks thin after heating forty minutes, continue to simmer another twenty minutes or so. It will further reduce as the water evaporates.
Finally, chill the caramel in the refrigerator after cooling. Coconut milk caramel thickens as it sits. If time permits, refrigerate in a jar or container overnight for a perfectly thick, smooth sauce the next day.
Ways to use vegan caramel sauce
Drizzle it over nondairy frozen desserts, pancakes, waffles, oatmeal, brownies, or pretty much anything you can imagine. Below are four of my favorite uses for dairy free caramel.
Vegan Caramel Sauce
Ingredients
- 13.5 oz full fat coconut milk or coconut cream
- 2/3 cup coconut sugar (95g) (pure maple syrup, agave, brown sugar, or xylitol also work)
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract (optional)
Instructions
- 1. Stir canned coconut milk or coconut cream, sweetener, and salt in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil.
- 2. Once boiling, whisk continuously for 5 minutes. Watch the pot to make sure it does not boil over.
- 3. Turn the heat to a simmer, and cook 45-60 minutes or until the liquid thickens and reduces to about half its original volume. Stir occasionally during this time.
- 4. Remove the saucepan from the heat, then stir in the optional vanilla extract.
- 5. Let the vegan caramel sauce cool fully before transferring it to a covered container or jar. It is perfectly fine to use right away, or you can refrigerate overnight for a thicker texture.
Video
Notes
More homemade vegan desserts
This makes the best sauce for ice cream/nice cream!!!! And ooooh, some of your gooey brownies is a sunday with this sauce?!?!? That sounds amazing right now!
Wow, I had absolutely no idea this was even possible, but I will definitely be trying it! I’m a big fan of caramel sauce, but never really knew how to make it both tasty and healthy, but this sounds like the ideal option!
Is this the consistency of sweetened condensed milk? I’ve found evaporated coconut milk, but not a sweetened condensed version, and there are some recipes that I have that I would love to adapt to dairy free.
Any attempts I’ve made to make my own sweetened condensed coconut milk has failed.
(so if this isn’t the same consistency and sweetness, I’d love for you to try and come up with one that works!)
Yes, or dulce de leche. It is thick.
Would this work with a sweetener like stevia instead of the honey, maple syrup or agave? I’m on a low carb diet and don’t want to use any of those syrups or sugars.
You can definitely experiment!
Yeah, I will try it. I’m just wondering if it will still caramelize, or even thicken up. Oh well, if it doesn’t, I’ll just use it as a creamer for my coffee.
did you try it? I am also on low carb.
does anyone have any problem with it seperating? The coconut cream rose to the top
Yes mine did this right after I added the vanilla. I completely separated! I was so disappointed!
Never in a million years would I have thought coconut milk would turn into that! Looks delicious!
can you please tell me if it has the taste of coconut, ’cause I don’t like it much, yet, this recipe looks really tasty
thanks
Nope, tastes like caramel!
Julie I am guessing you are the administrator of this site? I have made two comments asking questions on two different recipes but when I go back to see if there are any answers my post if gone. I entered my email , can you help?
Hi, I’m actually taking over for Julie here. Be sure to look on the correct page (often comments will be separated into multiple pages). The other thing that could be happening is your computer could be caching the page, meaning your comment wouldn’t show up for a few days. But I can see them, so rest assured they are showing up!
Thank Jason…..Good to know……so now my questions with this recipe….I did make it…..but after it simmering for only 35 mins……. the whole thing turned black…..the recipe said to simmer for 40 to 50 but after that amount of time I assumed it burnt????? Can anyway offer any tips please and thank you!!
Your “simmer” setting might be hotter than other ovens or the can of coconut milk might have had less fat. It’s a good idea to not step away from the stove and keep an eye on that pot! 🙂
Finally! I now have a healthy alternative for maple syrup on my gluten free pancakes. I am trying to find good alternatives for pancake drizzle and I often get frustrated with options having excess sugar, and additives on it. But it really surprising (and clever one) to find coconut milk as an ingredient for a caramel.
I will definitely make one tonight and I’ll use honey as my sweetener of choice. By the way Katie, do you know what’s the shelf life or expiration date of this recipe? I just want to know for me to make one that is good enough before it expires. Thanks!
Very interesting recipe, good you shared a video because I usually mix up the coconut milk in the cartoon or this one in tins
Made this recipe last weekend. I don’t know what happened, but when stored in the fridge the caramel separated into three phases. The oil came at the surface and formed a thick layer like coconut oil… I decided to melt it in the microwave and stir it but I had the same problem. Did you experienced something like this? Does the brand of the coconut milk used could have an influence? Thank you 🙂
I have had this happen to me with regular caramel sauce when I overheated it. I fixed it by gently reheating it and whisking in a little extra cream till it reemulsified. You could try doing this with a bit of extra coconut milk, or just gently reheating and whisking vigorously.
Ok, I’m drooling. I’m making homemade ice cream for my boyfriend and I this weekend and I’m adding these ingredients to the grocery list!
Does this have a coconut flavour? I make caramel sauce quite often but quite like the idea of a coconuty caramel sauce.
Nope!
Hi, I am not much of a cook but thought this sounded so simple…..sadly not for me…..I was doing great with it and it smelled so wonderful. I boiled it for 4 min. Then turned down the flame and set the timer for 40 mins. I stirred it several times. There was about 11 min. left and it still looked great. I came back just a few minutes later and it was all black and syrupy….That was only about 35 mins. of simmering……did I have the flame to high maybe????
Hmm maybe… I didn’t have that problem, but it’s definitely a better idea to not go away from it at all during the final minutes.
This stuff is incredible. I’ve been making it since this recipe was first published (I alter it a bit, though, to cut the sugar), but I just now used it to make healthy Brigadeiro! Took this recipe (instead of sweetened condensed milk), added 1 Tbsp of the fat from a can of coconut milk (instead of butter), and 1/4 cup of cocoa powder (mixed with a little water to make a paste), cooked it down nice and thick, and now waiting for it to chill so I can form it into balls. Ten times healthier, magically delicious, and highly recommended! Thank you, Katie!!!
Can this be made in the crockpot? (Like making caramel sauce from sweetened condensed milk by putting the can/jar in water in the crockpot for several hours…. then add in your sweetener, etc.) The crock pot saves the boiling/reducing time.
added just a touch of coffee (brued not grunds) and some dried coconut … Kids and wife love it