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Meet the simple, 4-ingredient recipe for homemade caramel sauce will replace your store-bought jars for good. It’s sweet, sticky, and deliciously rich, with that beautifully amber color that screams “caramel”. Use it on top of fruit or ice cream, drizzled onto cheesecake, stirred into a latte, or drink it straight out of the bowl – I won’t judge!
Before You Get Started
- Use a light-colored saucepan if you have one! A saucepan that’s black or dark grey on the inside can be a little misleading, making the caramel look darker than it actually is. Since the color of the sauce is a key component in the timing, you want to see it as accurately as possible!
- This recipe calls for whipping cream, not heavy whipping cream. The difference between the two is slight, with HWC simply having a higher fat content. We didn’t test this recipe with HWC, though, so your results may vary slightly if you use it instead of regular whipping cream.
- To prevent curdling or separation, your butter and whipping cream must be at room temperature before adding them to the hot syrup. Don’t skip this!
How to Make This Recipe
See recipe card below for full list of measurements, ingredients, and instructions.
All About That Base.
To make the base of your caramel sauce, add the sugar and water to a large saucepan and simmer the mixture over medium-low heat, stirring until the sugar is completely dissolved. The mixture will look a little cloudy at first, but that’s ok – it’ll clear up after a few minutes.
Once it does, raise the heat under the saucepan to medium-high and bring the mixture to a boil. Don’t stir the syrup again. Instead, carefully pick up the saucepan and swirl it a little to break up any clumps of sugar, and use a pastry brush dipped in water to wipe down the insides of the pan if you see crystals start to form.
A Note from Cheryl: Do this just until the syrup is a pretty golden color. I find that, once it’s dark enough to be considered “amber”, it’s likely burnt.
Butter it up.
Take the saucepan off the heat and let it cool just slightly. Add room temperature butter and whisk the mixture well until the butter’s melted and mixed in.
The Big Finish.
Pour in the room-temperature whipping cream in small increments (say, ¼ cup at a time) and whisk everything together before adding more. The caramel will bubble each time you add the cream, so don’t let that startle you. Once all the cream’s added and mixed in, return the saucepan to low heat and simmer it just a few minutes, stirring until it’s completely smooth. It may seem too thin right now, but it will thicken up as it cools!
Once the sauce is smooth, transfer it to a jar or serving container and let it cool until it’s lukewarm or so, then serve it however you like!
What I Love About This Recipe
- I’ve tried my hand at many a caramel recipe over the years, and without fail I always come back to this one! It’s just so simple and the results are everything you could ever want from a caramel sauce. Sweet, rich, thick, gooey – not to mention that gorgeous caramel color!
- It only takes FOUR INGREDIENTS! Water, sugar, butter, and whipping cream. If you’re a baker or general dessert lover, you probably have all of those on hand already.
- What’s better than a recipe you don’t need any special ingredients to make? I don’t know, maybe one that’s ready in roughly 15 minutes?! Yup, you can whip up a caramel sauce in basically no time at all if you use this easy recipe. Perfect for a low-effort holiday dessert or a sudden sweet tooth craving.
Recipe Variations
- Sweetener: For a richer, deeper, more butterscotch-like flavor, you can replace the white sugar with light or dark brown sugar. If you need to go sugar-free, try our recipe for 3-Ingredient Keto Caramel Sauce.
- Salted Caramel: A pinch of salt, sea salt, or flake salt is all you need to transform this easy caramel sauce into a salted caramel sauce! Salt plays off the sweetness of the sugar beautifully – just be careful not to overdo it.
Making changes to a recipe can result in recipe failure. Any substitutions or variations listed are simple changes that I believe will work in this recipe, but results are not guaranteed.
Easy Homemade Caramel Sauce
Equipment
- Large saucepan light-colored saucepan recommended
- whisk
- Pastry brush
Ingredients
- ½ cup water
- 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
- 1 cup whipping cream at room temperature
Instructions
- Place large saucepan on stovetop over medium-low heat. Add ½ cup water and 1 ½ cups granulated sugar to saucepan, then slowly whisk ingredients together until sugar has dissolved completely, approximately 5 minutes.
- Once sugar has dissolved, increase heat under saucepan to medium-high. Let syrup come to boil, then boil syrup just until golden, approximately 10 to 12 minutes. Occasionally, brush down sides of pan with pastry brush dipped into water to prevent or stop any crystallization. Swirl pan as needed if sugar clumps.
- When syrup is golden, reduce heat under saucepan to low and remove saucepan from heat. Add 3 tablespoons unsalted butter to saucepan and whisk to incorporate.
- Once butter is incorporated, gradually add 1 cup whipping cream in small increments while whisking constantly. Mixture will bubble vigorously with each addition. Repeat until all cream has been added and incorporated.
- After whipping cream is added, return saucepan to low heat. Gently stir mixture until sauce is completely smooth.
- Carefully transfer caramel sauce to jar or serving container. Allow sauce to cool to lukewarm temperature before serving.
- Whipping Cream: This recipe calls for whipping cream, which has a lower fat content than heavy whipping cream. We didn’t test this recipe with heavy whipping cream and can’t say what adjustments might be needed to accomodate the higher fat content.
- Leftovers: Cool any remaining caramel sauce completely, then refrigerate sauce in an airtight container up to 1 week. Reheat sauce on stovetop over low heat or in the microwave.
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.
Did You Make This Recipe?
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Frequently Asked Questions
If you stir the mixture as while it’s boiling, you’ll cause crystals to form, and those crystals will give your sauce a grainy texture. That also happens if the sauce goes up the sides of the saucepan and starts to crystallize, so make sure you’re keeping an eye on it and wiping down the saucepan as needed.
Let it cool completely, then refrigerate it in an airtight container! It’ll keep for 1-2 weeks if stored properly. Reheat it as needed on the stovetop or in the microwave.
Yes! Add 2-3 tablespoons warm water, bring the mixture to a boil, then whisk the ingredients together until the sugar crystals have fully dissolved and the sauce is smooth again. You can add a little more water if you need to, just be careful not to overdo it.
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mmm, looks so delish! I cannot wait to try this recipe:) also id love to hear your thoughts on my latest outfit post
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I must know, when did you get the black pumps?!
Yummy just got hungry!
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