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This simple recipe for homemade keto caramel sauce delivers an incredible, luxurious, decadent caramel sauce that’s every bit as delicious as traditional versions… with an amazing ZERO grams of net carbs per serving! Perfect for keto cheesecakes, sugar-free ice creams, stirred into your morning coffee, or paired with low carb fruits.
🍮 What Makes This Recipe So Good
- This recipe for perfect keto caramel sauce only needs THREE ingredients! If you’ve been keto for a while, you’ve probably got all three in your house right now. Yup, all you need is butter, a keto brown sugar alternative, and heavy cream. How easy is that?!
- Depending, of course, on the specific brands and types of ingredients you use, this recipe has an incredible 0G NET CARBS per serving! ZERO NET CARBS!
- Some alternative-diet recipes are good “for what they are”. You know what I mean? Like. “These cupcakes are pretty good considering they’re gluten-free cupcakes” or “it’s not as great as the traditional version but it’s fine for a keto option”. Not this one. This keto caramel sauce is REALLY GOOD for any type of caramel sauce! It’s a keto-friendly option that tastes so much like traditional caramel sauce, no one would know it was keto if you didn’t tell them.
- It’s really versatile! Use it as a topping for a low-carb ice cream, or swirl it into the filling of a keto pumpkin cheesecake. Flavor your morning coffee or a cup of keto hot chocolate with it. Make it a dip for your favorite berries or keto churros, or drizzle it over keto shortbread cookies.
👩🏼🍳 Chef’s Tips
- Keto sweeteners don’t behave exactly like traditional sugars, so there’s a little trial and error with them, and you might need different types for different applications. For example, monk fruit is great in a lot of recipes, but I wouldn’t recommend it here. If you’re not a fan of Brown Swerve, allulose is the next best option. It behaves more like traditional white sugar, and it maintains softness well.
- Note that some keto sweeteners crystallize as they cool. Brown Swerve is one of those, since it’s erythritol-based. You might notice a slight graininess to the caramel sauce if you’re eating it very cool or cold (like if you pour it over ice cream). That texture should go away when the keto caramel sauce is warm, though. To avoid it entirely, use allulose instead.
- If the caramel sauce separates while on the stove, your heat was likely too high. Remove the saucepan from the stove, let it cool slightly, then whisk it vigorously to reincorporate the ingredients.
🥩 Some of Our Favorite Keto Recipes
- Keto Chicken Noodle Soup
- Cheesy Italian Sausage & Bell Pepper Casserole (Low Carb, Keto)
- Keto Tacos with Homemade Keto Tortillas
- Keto Chicken Nuggets with Keto Honey Mustard Sauce
- Smothered Pork Chops (Keto, Low Carb)
3-Ingredient Keto Caramel Sauce
Equipment
- Small saucepan
- whisk or mixing spoon
Ingredients
- ¼ cup unsalted butter
- ⅓ cup Brown Swerve or allulose, see Notes
- ½ cup heavy cream at room temperature
Instructions
- Heat small saucepan over low heat. When pan is warm, add butter and let melt, swirling pan occasionally to coat bottom of pan with butter.
- Once butter is melted, add Brown Swerve. Whisk well and cook 3 to 4 minutes, until sweetener has completely dissolved. Whisk often to prevent sweetener from sticking or burning.
- Remove saucepan from heat. Add heavy cream to saucepan and stir to incorporate, then return saucepan to heat. Increase temperature under saucepan to medium-high.
- Bring liquid to boil, then immediately reduce heat under saucepan to low. Cook 10 to 12 minutes, whisking frequently, until caramel sauce is thick enough to coat whisk or back of spoon without running or dripping off.
- Serve caramel sauce immediately, or transfer caramel to glass jar with airtight lid and refrigerate until ready to serve. If refrigerating sauce, remove from refrigerator and bring to room temperature before serving, or slowly reheat in microwave or on stovetop over very low heat, stirring frequently to prevent separation.
- If the caramel sauce separates while on the stove, your heat was likely too high. Remove the saucepan from the stove, let it cool slightly, then whisk it vigorously to reincorporate the ingredients.
- Sweetener: If you don’t like or don’t have Brown Swerve, allulose is the next best option for this recipe. You’re welcome to use any keto brown sugar alternative you like best, though. Keep in mind that they do not all substitute at a 1:1 ratio, so you may need to use more or less than ⅓ cup depending on the sweetener you choose. Also, each sweetener behaves differently, so your results will vary depending on the sweetener you use.
- Texture: Brown Swerve is erythritol-based, so it can give the caramel sauce a gritty texture as it cools, since erythritol crystallizes. The grittiness should lessen when the caramel sauce is warm. To avoid that texture altogether, use allulose instead of Brown Swerve.
- Leftovers: Store any leftover caramel sauce in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Caramel sauce will keep up to 2 weeks if stored properly.
- Reheating: The sauce will solidify in the fridge. To use the caramel after refrigerating, set it out early enough that it can come to room temperature before serving. Alternately, heat it in the microwave in 10-second bursts at 50% power, stirring frequently to avoid separation. You can also reheat the caramel on the stovetop over very low heat, stirring constantly to avoid separation.
- Salted Caramel (Optional): For salted caramel, add ½ teaspoon salt or sea salt to the caramel sauce while it’s on the stove. Stir well to fully incorporate the salt, then carefully taste the sauce and add more salt if desired.
Approximate Information for One Serving
Nutrition Disclaimers
Number of total servings shown is approximate. Actual number of servings will depend on your preferred portion sizes.
Nutritional values shown are general guidelines and reflect information for 1 serving using the ingredients listed, not including any optional ingredients. Actual macros may vary slightly depending on specific brands and types of ingredients used.
To determine the weight of one serving, prepare the recipe as instructed. Weigh the finished recipe, then divide the weight of the finished recipe (not including the weight of the container the food is in) by the desired number of servings. Result will be the weight of one serving.
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This caramel sauce turned out great! I did add some salt too. I really like it.
We’re so glad it turned out great! Thanks for sharing! 😊
How well does this recipe work to make caramel apples? Does it coat the skin of the apples well?
Hey, Angela! We didn’t test this as a coating for caramel-covered apples, unfortunately, since apples aren’t typically part of a keto diet. It would work great as a dip with apples as the vessel, but I’m not sure it’ll set up the way you’d want for caramel apples. If you give it a try, please let us know how it goes!
Would this work good as a coffee creamer?
You could definitely use it to give your coffee a caramel flavor, but it won’t act like a creamer. You’d like want to use this in addition to heavy cream or your favorite coffee creamer.
Would coconut oil work I stead of butter?
Hi, Michele! Unfortunately, we didn’t test that swap, so I can’t say how or if it would work here. If you try it, please let us know how it goes!