Homemade Salted Caramel Sauce Recipe (2024)

This simple homemade salted caramel sauce recipe will have you licking your lips and fingers…and bowl. A secret ingredient keeps this easy caramel sauce soft and pourable. It’s the perfect sauce for all your Fall recipes.

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Henri Le Roux should be a household name. He was the French chef who brought salted caramel into this world back in 1977. His ingenious food invention was named the “Best Candy in France” (Meilleur Bonbon de France) at the Paris Salon International de la Confiserie in 1980.

Can we all just take a moment to pay our respect to Henri Le Roux?

Thanks to Henri, we have creamy salted caramel to add to our lattes!

For those of us that don’t have a sweet tooth guiding our appetite 24/7 (wonder what that is like), salted caramel makes any foodie happy. The salt helps to bring out those buttery notes while also toning down the sweetness with a tiny hint of bitterness.

What You Need To Know About This Caramel Sauce Recipe:

If you have tried making caramel before and it turned out as a ball of burnt goop, I welcome you here.

Making salted caramel sauce can seem like an intimidating process, but I promise there aren’t any hoops to jump through for this recipe.

For those of you that haven’t tried your hand at making caramel before, it can get tricky when it comes to managing the heat of the burner. Overcooked caramel sauce is really sad and you won’t want it within an inch of your apple crisp. This step by step recipe will help take all of those homemade caramel “scaries” away.

Did you make this recipe? Leave a star rating and let me know in the comments! You can also leave a photo/comment on this pin for others to see.

With that being out on the table now, let’s chat about a few salted caramel fun facts.

• Science proves that we can’t help but keep eating salted caramel! No, really! It turns out that the perfect mixture of sugar, salt, and fat are just what our brains ordered. The diversity of flavors keep our brains interested which means it’s hard to turn away another bite!
• Remember Henri? You can visit one of many Henri Le Roux candy shops in France and taste test various caramels!
• Did you know that salted caramel ice cream is the fastest melting flavor out there? The saltiness of the ingredients makes it more difficult for it to freeze as well as other flavors. That’s okay, though. It tastes amazing melted, too.

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Caramel Ingredients

• heavy cream
• granulated sugar
• unsalted butter
• baking soda
• kosher salt
• pure vanilla extract

Why add baking soda to caramel?

The purpose of baking soda in the caramel is to react with the acid. It helps to soften the caramel for pour-over desserts and/or to use as an additive.

Equipment Needed to Make Salted Caramel Sauce

• Medium saucepot
• Stirring spoon

How to Make Homemade Caramel Sauce

Step 1. In a medium-sized saucepot, add the heavy cream, sugar, butter, baking soda, and salt. Place over medium heat and stir together until melted and combined.

Step 2. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally, be careful to watch it so it doesn’t boil over. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 8 minutes, stirring occasionally. Continue to keep an eye on it the entire time as it has the tendency to rise in the pot.

Step 3. DO NOT overcook it, it is ready at 8 minutes with a nice amber color, it may not seem very thick right now, but as it cools it thickens a lot. Take off the heat.

Step 4. Stir in the vanilla. Let cool and serve over ice cream or however you want!

Tips for Making Homemade Caramel Sauce

• Timing is everything. Stick close by and have a timer on hand so you don’t scorch the caramel!
• Don’t over-stir. Let the heat do its thing.
• It’s tempting, but don’t add more butter than the recipe calls for. The more fat (butter) you add, the higher your risk is for burning the caramel sauce.

Recipes To Serve with Salted Caramel Sauce

• Apple Crisp
• Vanilla Ice Cream
• Chocolix No-Bake Cheesecake
• Apple Upside-Down Cake (pictured below)
• Salted Caramel Cheesecakes

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Did you make this recipe? Leave a star rating and let me know in the comments! You can also leave a photo/comment on this pin for others to see.