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
Can this be made in the crockpot? (Like making caramel sauce from sweetened condensed milk by putting the can/jar in water in the crockpot for several hours…. then add in your sweetener, etc.) The crock pot saves the boiling/reducing time.
added just a touch of coffee (brued not grunds) and some dried coconut … Kids and wife love it
Thank you for this recipy. Excited to try I did this yesterday. I added cane sugar and some mapple syrup. The color of mine was somewhat pale grey-brown (nothing like that sunny color in the photo) and the consistency was more like a pudding, than actual caramel sauce, which is sticky, isn’t it? Is it supposed to get sticky?
Oh my goodness…you are so “evil” 😀 I just made this tonight and it is so DELICIOUS!!! Can’t wait to make this again when my vegan son comes to visit. Do you have a chocolate sauce I’m unaware of too?
She does! This one is my favorite: https://lett-trim.today/2010/05/20/homemade-artisana-cacao-bliss/%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
Wanting to make this tomorrow, but only have lite coconut milk. Anyone used this instead of full fat? Wondering if it would still work?
Takes such a long time for such a small amount. Could use two cans of coconut milk – and use just the solid part of it -you would have more and not have to boil so long to reduce the liquid ?
I don’t see why not!
If I wanted to leave out the liquid sweeteners how much sugar would I use total?
The best i’ve ever tries!! Super delicious ?
I made this today. Whoa! The only problem will be refraining from eating all of it before it cools in the pan! Bravo on this. I added Earth Balance spread, and used the coconut sugar maple syrup combo. it is so amazing. You’re a sorceress.
Would this work to do dairy free caramel apples? We have a tot that can’t do any dairy.. caramel apples are a must! Lol