Name: Easy Vegan Caramel Sauce
Cook time: 5 min
Total time: 5 min
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 13.5 oz can full fat or lite coconut milk (see note 1); 1 cup coconut sugar (or sub organic cane sugar) (see note 2); ¼ teaspoon sea salt (add more for salted caramel); 2 tablespoons arrowroot powder or cornstarch; ¼ cup unsweetened non-dairy milk of choice

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Ultra delicious, this Easy Vegan Caramel Sauce is the perfect topping for ice cream, cakes, and more--and the perfect dip for apples! Make it in just a few minutes with only 5 pantry staple ingredients.

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Hey Internet, I have been making these two sauces--my easy vegan chocolate sauce and this caramels sauce often since going vegan, but I don’t know why I never shared them on the blog.

It’s pretty hard to find a delicious store-bought vegan sauce, let alone one without a huge ingredient list.

But it’s pretty darn easy to make them. It does take a lot of experimentation, though, to develop these recipes. Luckily you have me to do that for you, haha!

Seriously though, if you have a sauce you want veganized (or anything for that matter), just let me know! I’m on Instagram and Facebook, or you can subscribe to my email list and just reply back to any of my emails (it goes directly to me!).

I digress. Let’s talk about this amazing vegan caramel sauce.

So caramel is actually usually made from sugar, and it’s made by slowly heating the sugar. This… is kind of a cheaters’ caramel. It takes only a few minutes, no candy thermometer, nothing fancy like that.

I wanted it to stay saucy, not harden, so it could be drizzled over ice cream or be used as a dip for apples (um, yes please).

It turns out that when you mix coconut milk with coconut sugar (white or brown sugar is also fine), it tastes JUST like regular caramel.

And oddly does not taste like coconut.

Typical caramel sauces from the store contain dairy, but this one is only made from a few plant based ingredients and dang, is it luscious.

And if you want a vegan salted caramel sauce, just add a bit more salt. The amount of salt in here does make it taste already slightly like salted caramel though. Really, I swear.

Alright, enough yapping, let’s jump in (I really could jump into a pool of this sauce).

P.S. If you're into easy desserts, try my list of 50+ No Bake Vegan Desserts!

What You’ll Need

Canned coconut milk: Canned coconut milk (full fat) makes the sauce creamy and luscious. Lite canned coconut milk will also work. Can’t have coconut? Use any carton of non-dairy milk with a smidge more thickener. You could always add a bit of neutral oil to make it a bit richer.
Coconut sugar: You’ll need some kind of sweetener, so use your preferred option here. I used coconut sugar because the flavor is rich and warm, making it really taste like caramel, but you can use regular organic cane sugar if you prefer. You could also use pure maple syrup, or date syrup if you prefer.
Sea salt: Use any kind of salt you like, but a touch of salt really brings out the caramel flavor here. Add a touch more salt if you wish it to be more like a salted caramel (but taste it first).
Arrowroot powder or cornstarch: I like to use arrowroot powder to thicken this sauce slightly, but cornstarch will work just as well.
Non-dairy milk: Use the non-dairy milk of your choice (unsweetened recommended), this is just for dissolving the arrowroot powder or cornstarch in before adding it to the sauce.

How to Make Vegan Caramel Sauce

To a small nonstick saucepan, add the canned coconut milk, coconut sugar, and salt. Heat over medium heat and whisk constantly until the sugar has dissolved, about 2-3 minutes.
Whisk the arrowroot powder or cornstarch with the non-dairy milk until it dissolves, then add it to the pot. Whisk until incorporated, then cook for about 3-6 minutes, stirring frequently until the mixture has thickened.
Pour into a jar and let the sauce cool for a few minutes before using or storing.
Refrigerate the mixture in an airtight container for up to a week.
If the mixture thickens too much in the fridge, mix in a bit of non-dairy milk and shake or whisk until loosened. Heat can also help this process.

More Vegan Sauce Recipes

Anything Else?

As always, I hope you love this recipe–I know I do and so does Mr. Zardyplants. We keep making this over and over again because it’s so easy and delicious on basically everything. It’s really good on oatmeal (recipe for that coming soon!).

This vegan caramel sauce is:

Buttery (not sure how)
Rich
Sweet
Lush
Silky
Smooth
And the perfect topping for ice cream, cake, fruit, and more!

Let me know in the comments below if you make this recipe or tag me @Zardyplants on Instagram so I can see your beautiful recreations! If you tag me on IG, I will share your post in my stories :)

Also, one quick request: if you love how this recipe looks or tastes, please leave me a 5-star rating and a nice comment–ratings help more people find my recipes which helps me keep providing them! Thank you!

<3 Liz

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