Did you know that you can make thick and completely vegan coconut caramel sauce from a can of coconut milk?
1 can coconut milk
Pure vanilla extract
Sweetener of choice
Pinch of salt
Just four or five ingredients, and you’re on your way to the perfect coconut caramel sauce, good for serving with fruit, pancakes, or over my Banana Ice Cream Recipes.
And the best part is that there’s NO heavy cream and NO high fructose corn syrup required for this recipe!
Above – Watch the video how to make coconut caramel!
Step One:
Combine all ingredients except vanilla extract in a medium saucepan, and whisk everything together.
Bring to a boil, then let it boil for around 3-4 minutes.
Step Two:
Turn to a simmer, and let the mixture cook down to about half its original volume, stirring as needed.
Turn off the heat, stir in the vanilla extract, and let the vegan caramel cool. Then refrigerate.
The homemade coconut caramel sauce will continue to thicken overnight.
Use it as you’d use caramel sauce.
It tastes absolutely amazing over homemade Coconut Ice Cream.
Or try it on top of this Frappuccino Recipe!
Stored in the refrigerator, the jar of vegan caramel sauce will last for at least a week.
I don’t know if it lasts longer or if it can be frozen, because I’ve never been able to keep a batch around long enough to find out!
Coconut Caramel Sauce
Ingredients
- 13.5 oz coconut milk (Coconut-free recipe here)
- 1/3 cup pure maple syrup, honey, or agave
- 1/4 cup brown sugar OR simply increase the above liquid sweetener to 2/3 cup
- 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp salt
- optional 1 tbsp butter-type spread or coconut oil, for richer flavor
Instructions
- *Use the brown sugar (or coconut sugar) if you want more of a caramel flavor; however using all liquid sweetener still yields delicious results. Make sure to buy full-fat canned coconut milk, not lite or coconutmilk beverage.Combine all ingredients except the vanilla extract in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil. Let it boil for around 3-4 minutes, stirring continuously, then lower to a simmer. Let it simmer—stirring as needed—until it cooks down to about half its volume and thickens. This usually takes around 50-60 minutes, depending on your climate, stove, and the fat content in your particular can of coconut milk. Turn off the heat, stir in the vanilla, and let it sit for about an hour. Cover and refrigerate overnight – it continues to thicken as it sits.Instant Pot Version: Combine all ingredients except vanilla in the instant pot, and use the sauté setting. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally, and let cook down until thick, about 20 minutes. Turn off, and stir in the vanilla. Thanks to reader Jaclyn for creating this version and commenting to let us know it can be made in an instant pot!View Nutrition Facts
Video
Notes
More Healthy Desserts
I just made this. Oh my gosh, it is PERFECT! I did change it up a bit, though. I can’t have the maple syrup or coconut sugar (they all have a bad effect on my system), so instead, I used 1/4 cup of granulated xylitol, and 1/2 tsp of blackstrap molasses. Everything else, I followed to a tee, and it is SO hard to stop eating (and it hasn’t even cooled, yet)! Makes me wonder why I spend any time scouring Pinterest for a perfect, healthy, sugar-free caramel recipe, when Katie’s just going to make it better?
Love the idea to add molasses!
This is a really cool idea, Katie =)
Do you think this would turn out okay using a can of coconut cream?
Yes, probably would work! That sounds like it would just take less time to thicken up!
Just made it with a can of coconut cream, and it thickened in about 35 minutes of shimmering… The smell and taste and texture are great, thanks so much Katie!!!!
Good to know it can be made with coconut cream! Exactly what I was searching the comments for ? Can’t wait to try it!
Turned out wonderfully!!!
Katie, this is brilliant! I’d like to think of myself as very inventive in the kitchen however, I had no idea I could make this out of coconut milk! I usually make raw caramel with dates (which I do love)…but I will definitely try this! Thanks for the idea!
http://www.bitesforfoodies.com/recipes/chia-seed-pudding-with-date-paste/
Is the date paste i. The recipe link supposed to be caramel? Not sure how they are similar ?
I’m wondering if this could be made in a crockpot? Has anybody tried it?
This makes the best sauce for ice cream/nice cream!!!! And ooooh, some of your gooey brownies is a sunday with this sauce?!?!? That sounds amazing right now!
Wow, I had absolutely no idea this was even possible, but I will definitely be trying it! I’m a big fan of caramel sauce, but never really knew how to make it both tasty and healthy, but this sounds like the ideal option!
Is this the consistency of sweetened condensed milk? I’ve found evaporated coconut milk, but not a sweetened condensed version, and there are some recipes that I have that I would love to adapt to dairy free.
Any attempts I’ve made to make my own sweetened condensed coconut milk has failed.
(so if this isn’t the same consistency and sweetness, I’d love for you to try and come up with one that works!)
Yes, or dulce de leche. It is thick.
Would this work with a sweetener like stevia instead of the honey, maple syrup or agave? I’m on a low carb diet and don’t want to use any of those syrups or sugars.
You can definitely experiment!
Yeah, I will try it. I’m just wondering if it will still caramelize, or even thicken up. Oh well, if it doesn’t, I’ll just use it as a creamer for my coffee.
did you try it? I am also on low carb.