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
If you don’t want to use that much sugar, use starch instead. I’ve used 1 teaspoon of honey boiled with a little bit of water, it was basically my sugar syrup. Then added full fat coconut milk (85% coconut) and 1 tablespoon sago pearls.
It thickened up beautifully and tasted like proper caramel without any more additional sweetener.
Looks like one could use stevia etc. above post refers to xilitol and blackstrap molasses and seems pleased.
I just made this following the recipe exactly as described (except I added a tbsp of coconut butter instead of coconut oil at the end). Wow, this tastes amazing! I’m a fan of caramel and dulce de leche, and while the flavors are similar this is a little different–lighter in consistency and (at least to me) with a noticeable coconut taste. I love coconut so that is a plus. I simmered for 60 minutes and had no issues with burning or separation–it all turned out exactly as the recipe described. Now I’m planning on making this with variations by adding cinnamon, cardamom, cocoa powder… I might try this as a filling for cakes and cookies.
This worked perfectly in the Instant Pot. Thanks for the update!
Sandy,how did you cook the caramel in the instant pot? Would love to get the directions, since I just got an IP.
Thanks,
Andrea
I made this today, but I don’t think it worked. The color is very grey-brown and it didn’t thicken. It reduced but it’s very runny/watery. I seemed it for well over an hour. I let it cool on the countertop for awhile, and just put it in the fridge-hopefully that will thicken it. Not sure what went wrong. The caramel in Katie’s pictures is such a beautiful color and consistency – mine is nothing like that. I’ll try again sometime and hopefully have success.
*should say “simmered” not “seemed”
Hmmm what did your can of coconut milk look like before starting? Just like how some cans don’t have enough fat to work for coconut whipped cream, maybe this is the same and you got a bad can because it was too watery?
I was thinking to try it with a different brand of coconut milk. Maybe that will yield more pleasing results. Crossing my fingers for the next attempt. Thanks for the reply!
The fat separated on mine, didn’t blend when cooking or as its cooled and sat. Any ideas on what I did wrong?
This looks awesome. Can’t wait to try it over ice cream or scones or just with a spoon lol whatever comes first 🙂 Great pictures.
Thank you for sharing.
This sauce is the best! It’s so delicious! Thank you Katie!
Hi Katie I love your recipies. I’m just wondering if I were to add agar agar into the caramel sauce if it would set so I could use it in a banoffee pie? thanks
You never know unless you experiment! Be sure to report back if you do!