By: Jill Mills Posted: Sep 17, 2022 Updated: Jan 7, 2024

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This homemade caramel sauce is so delicious and incredibly easy to make. With just 4 ingredients, this caramel topping is perfect for drizzling over your favorite desserts.

Quick and Easy Caramel Sauce Recipe

This classic homemade caramel sauce will surely be in your fridge at all times once you realize how quick and easy it is to make! Caramel is one of my favorite kinds of sauce to make at home because you can tweak it to your liking and quickly turn it into salted caramel if you desired. This incredible recipe is a must-have and will be the perfect addition to all of your favorite recipes!

You will also want to try our homemade soft caramel candies and caramel apple dip recipes.

Key Ingredients You’ll Need

Sugar: This is what makes the caramel, it cooks and browns with butter to make that signature caramel color and flavor.
Heavy Cream: This will help thicken the caramel and the pinch of salt will bring out the flavor.

How To Make Caramel Sauce

Step 1. In a heavy medium-sized large pot, add the sugar and heat over medium-high. When the sugar begins to melt, use a whisk to mix to remove any clumps until melted. When the sugar becomes a deep amber color, you can carefully add the butter and combine until melted. Watch the mixture closely so it doesn’t burn and making sure you get the sides of the pan.

Step 2. Take the pan off the heat and gradually add the room temperature heavy cream. Whisk to combine until smooth.

Step 3: Allow the mixture to cool for 10 minutes before adding it to a large mason jar. Allow it to reach room temperature before storing it in the fridge for up to a month.

This homemade caramel sauce is so delicious and incredibly easy to make. With just 4 ingredients, this caramel topping is perfect for drizzling over your favorite desserts.

Caramel Sauce being poured on ice cream.

What To Serve With Caramel Sauce?

You can use caramel sauce in a lot of different dishes and drinks. I like to use this for desserts like brownies, vanilla ice cream, cupcakes, cookies, cheesecake, cakes, pie, etc. You can also make delicious beverages like a Macchiato, Frozen hot chocolate, latte, etc…

Storing and Reheating:

Storing: The caramel sauce will last about 2 to 3 weeks in the fridge while still having that fresh flavor and quality. However, it can be kept up to a month in the fridge. You will want the sauce to be in a sealed and airtight container like a mason jar for the best storage methods otherwise it can become too hard under cold temperatures.
Reheating: This sauce can become thick in the fridge after being stored for a while so when you are ready to use it, it may be too stiff. To reheat, you will want to pour hot water into a saucepan to cover the jar about halfway. Allow the sauce to rest in the hot water for approximately 15 minutes before stirring. Make sure to not add too much water or else it may get into the sauce.

Tips & Tricks

To keep your caramel from crystallizing, make sure your cooking tools are VERY clean. I recommend using a silicone or wooden spoon.
To prevent crystallization, you can add 1 teaspoon of corn syrup into the sugar and water, if desired.
Make sure the temperature is not too hot! If it’s too hot, it will cause the caramel to burn!
Using room temperature butter and heavy cream is important! You don’t want to add really cold ingredients otherwise the mixture will become extremely hard.
If you want salted caramel sauce, you can use 3/4 teaspoon of fine-grain sea salt in the mix.

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