Homemade Caramel Sauce

5 from 1 vote

This Homemade Caramel Sauce is rich, buttery, and easy to make—perfect for drizzling over desserts or stirring into drinks.

Prep Time5

Cook Time10

Total Time15

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings: tbs (2 cups)

Calories: 224kcal

In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, add your sugar. Over medium heat, melt the sugar, stirring constantly. As the sugar melts, it will start to clump before it gets smooth. This is normal.
2 cups white sugar
Once it’s melted, continue stirring, and allow it to become an amber color and start to have a nutty smell. Be careful not to let it go past this stage, or else it will burn, and no one wants that! If you have a thermometer* the caramel should reach between 340°F and 349°F.
Once it is the right color, turn the heat to low. Add in the butter and whisk together. Whisking helps prevent the butter from separating, and if it does separate from the sugar, it will help it incorporate more easily. Adding the butter will cause the sugar to get really foamy and rise a bit. That’s good! Keep stirring until the butter is fully mixed in.
12 tbs unsalted butter
Once the butter is mixed in, slowly pour in the heavy cream, whisking as you pour. The mixture will become slightly foamy again, and that’s fine. As it mixes in completely, it will smooth out.
1 cup heavy whipping cream
Stir in your salt if using.
2 teaspoon salt
Pour caramel sauce into a glass container and allow it to cool. It will thicken up really nicely once fully cooled. If you need it to thicken fast, stick it in your freezer for 20-30 minutes.

Tips and Tricks

Temperature: I highly recommend my Dash thermometer
Storage: Keep unused caramel sauce in your refrigerator up to 2 weeks! Store in an airtight container.
Freeze: Caramel freezes well for up to 3 months.