This rich and buttery 10 Minute Salted Caramel Sauce is quick, simple, and made with just five pantry staples. Ready in under 10 minutes, it’s the perfect topping for ice cream, brownies, coffee drinks, or even apple slices. Sweet, salty, and a must-have for elevating your favorite treats.
Recipe: $2.02 | Per Serving: $0.25 | Servings: 8
Made from just a handful of simple ingredients, this homemade caramel sauce is both irresistibly delicious and surprisingly easy to whip up. It's a foolproof recipe you're going to come back to over and over again.
Why settle for store-bought when you can make your own rich, creamy caramel that tastes like it came from a gourmet kitchen?
Our recipe is budget-friendly, quick, and requires just one pot, making it perfect for busy weeknights or last-minute dessert emergencies. Plus, it stores well in the fridge, so you’ll always have a jar of decadent sweetness on hand.
See our 10 Minute Salted Caramel Sauce in action in our Salted Caramel Banana Pancakes or try it on our Southern Banana Pudding Cake.
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🍯 Why This Recipe Works
- Minimal ingredients. Made with just 5 basic ingredients you likely have in your pantry.
- It's faster than the rest of your meal. This recipe takes less than 10 minutes from start to finish.
- You can adjust the salt. While I feel it's the perfect balance of salted and sweet, you can adjust by adding more or less salt.
🥘 Ingredients
- Salted Butter: Provides the rich, creamy base and buttery flavor essential for classic caramel. Because we're adding salt, it's okay to use unsalted if that's what you have on hand!
- Brown Sugar: Adds deep molasses notes and natural sweetness, essential for caramel’s signature taste. You'll get a much better flavor using brown sugar than if you were to use granulated sugar.
For specific ingredients and measurements, please see the recipe card below.
🧾 Substitutions
Milk: Heavy cream will make the sauce thicker and richer, but milk is more budget-friendly.
🔪 Instructions for 10 Minute Salted Caramel Sauce
Step 1: Add your butter to a saucepan. (Image 1). Melt over medium-low heat. (Image 2).
Step 2: Add the brown sugar and milk. Increase the heat to medium and stir constantly until it begins to boil. (Image 3).
Step 3: Let boil for 2 minutes. STIR THE WHOLE TIME. (Image 4).
Step 4: Remove the pan from the heat (Image 5), and add in the vanilla and salt. (Image 6). Stir together to combine. (Image 7).
Step 5: Carefully taste and adjust the salt if desired. Let the caramel cool until needed.
If desired, pour the caramel syrup into a clean jar for easy pouring later. (Image 8). Enjoy!
🍴 Recipe Tips
- Stir constantly while boiling to prevent burning or grainy texture.
- Use medium-low to medium heat; too high and the sugar may scorch.
- Let the sauce cool before refrigerating, and reheat gently with a splash of milk to loosen it.
- Adjust the salt carefully, too much can overpower the sweetness.
🍳 Reheating
- Microwave in short bursts (15 seconds), stirring between each, to avoid overheating or burning.
- Alternatively, warm gently in a small saucepan over low heat, stirring frequently.
- Add a splash of milk or cream if the sauce becomes too thick after refrigeration.
⏲️ Make Ahead Instructions
- This caramel sauce can be made up to 2 weeks in advance and stored in the fridge.
- It also freezes well for up to 3 months; thaw overnight in the fridge before reheating.
👩🏻🍳 Storage
- Keep the sauce in a clean, airtight jar or container to maintain freshness.
- Store in the refrigerator to prevent spoilage.
- Always use a clean spoon when scooping to avoid contamination.
💭 Recipe FAQs
Simmer Longer: After it starts boiling, keep simmering the sauce on low heat for a few extra minutes while stirring constantly. This reduces the liquid by evaporation and naturally thickens the sauce.
Use Heavy Cream Instead of Milk: If your recipe calls for milk, swapping it with heavy cream will produce a richer and thicker caramel sauce.
Chill the Sauce: Caramel sauce naturally thickens as it cools in the fridge. Once chilled, you can gently reheat or stir to get the desired consistency.
Butterscotch uses brown sugar, giving it a richer, molasses flavor. Caramel uses white sugar, resulting in a cleaner, sweeter taste. The sugar type is the main reason for their different flavors. Technically, our recipe is butterscotch if we follow this answer.
Drizzle it over ice cream, pancakes, waffles, cakes, or stir it into coffee and hot chocolate for a delicious treat.
Yes, but reheat only the portion you plan to use to avoid repeatedly heating the entire batch, which can cause graininess or burning.
❤️ More Sauces and Dips Recipes
If you tried this 10 Minute Salted Caramel Sauce, please leave a ⭐️ star rating and share your feedback in the 📝 comments section below. I would truly appreciate it!
📖 Recipe
10 Minute Salted Caramel Sauce
Ingredients
- ½ cup salted butter ($0.99)
- 1 cup packed brown sugar ($0.95)
- ¼ cup milk ($0.05)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract ($0.02)
- ½ teaspoon salt *more to taste ($0.01)
Instructions
- Melt your butter over medium-low heat in a saucepan.
- Add the brown sugar and milk. Increase the heat to medium and stir constantly until it begins to boil. Let boil for 2 minutes. STIR THE WHOLE TIME.
- Remove the pan from the heat and add in the vanilla and salt. Stir together to combine. Carefully taste and adjust the salt if desired.
- Let the caramel cool until needed.
- If desired, pour the caramel syrup into a clean jar for easy pouring later.
Nicole Durham says
I simply adore this caramel sauce on everything from pancakes and ice cream to sliced apples.