Easy Vegan Salted Caramel Sauce (Foolproof)

Gather up your ingredients!
Have milk, sugar, and salt ready. This recipe can also be made salt-free if preferred!

Grab your coconut sugar and open the coconut milk.
Add the coconut sugar to a medium saucepan and open your can of full-fat coconut milk.

I used a 1.5qt stainless steel pan. I also tested this recipe using a 3 qt stainless steel pan. Any size in between works too.

Pour in the coconut milk.
Pour the entire can of coconut milk into the saucepan with the sugar.

Whisk, whisk, whisk.
Begin whisking until the sugar starts to dissolve and combine with the milk.

It will look separated and a little lumpy at first, but as it warms up the rest of the coconut milk with smooth out.

Turn on the heat.
Place the saucepan over medium/high heat and continue whisking until the lumps smooth out. This should take about 1 minute.

Bring to a gentle boil.
You’ll see bubbles forming across the surface. This can take about 3- 5 minutes.

Lower the heat to a simmer.
As soon as it starts to boil more rapidly reduce the heat to a low simmer.

You'll see the sauce start to rise in the pan. If it looks like it is going to rise too high simply remove the pan from the burner for a moment to let it subside then set it back down.

Let it slowly simmer.
Set the timer for 60 minutes, give it a good stir as the bubbles start to slow down from the heat being reduced, and you are now free to walk away from the stove.

While this recipe does not trap you at the stove to stir constantly, I do recommend checking on it about every 20 minutes within that hour and give it another quick stir with the whisk just to be sure it's coming along nicely.

Low and slow is key.
You want a slow looking bubbly surface, not rapid bubbles. Like your caramel sauce is just hanging out relaxing on the beach.

For some stoves this may be set right to the lowest heat setting, for others it may be slightly higher, so just watch for the low slow continuous bubbles.

Note: The pan size/type will also play a role. I used stainless steel which stays hotter, for nonstick you may need a slightly higher heat to achieve those bubbles.

Quick troubleshooting.
Your caramel should be happily simmering along, however, if you check it and it appears separated or oily (see photo), whisk it vigorously for a minute or two and it will smooth back out. Reduce your heat just a little more if you experience this.

💭 Pro Tip: If the burner is too hot, the mixture can boil too aggressively and the fat in the coconut milk separates from the liquid. That’s when you see that oily, broken look.

Watch it darken.
As it cooks, the color will change from light tan to deep brown.

That’s how you know it’s turning into caramel.

Check the thickness. After about 60 minutes, dip a spoon in. It should coat the back of the spoon and slowly drip off.

Turn off the heat and add salt.
Remove the saucepan from heat and stir in the salt. Taste it and add a little more if you want.

Alternatively, if you are watching your salt intake or avoiding salt altogether feel free to skip this step. Your caramel will still taste fantastic, I promise!

Let it cool.
Let the caramel cool before using or pouring into a jar.

💭 Pro Tip: It will be thinner while hot and thicken after being in the refrigerator overnight, so don't be tempted to keep cooking.

However, even before refrigeration your caramel is ready to use warm if you prefer!

Pour and store.
Pour into a jar after it cools a bit and pop it into the fridge.

The next day.
After overnight refrigeration you'll have thick, glossy, perfectly pourable caramel sauce that's ready for apple dunking, ice cream drizzling, or spoon dipping!

💭 Pro Tip: If your caramel firms up a bit too much don't worry, you can either let it sit at room temp for about 30 minutes or for faster use you can microwave it it for about 15-20 seconds.

Give it a stir and you should be ready to go!

Charlie: “Oh wow, what are we making? Let me just… stand right here and supervise.”

Also Charlie 3 seconds later: “Excuse me?? You want me to go away?? Absolutely not.”