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
Hi. Thanks for the recipe. I tried it out but with coconut cream and a white sweetener and now it looks as if it’s less than half reduced. Now cooled down it’s thicker but WHITE! Shouldn’t it be brown? Please reply.
I love all things coconut, but I do not care for this coconut caramel sauce. I made it last night and included the butter and brown sugar. The color is caramel and the taste is coconut and sugar. I’m not sure if I will make this sauce again or what I might use it for. I was looking for something to dip apple slices in.
Thinking about making this, but was wondering…Could this be added to iced coffee or is it too thick?
I don’t see why not!
Jason
Soooo I tried it with iced coffee, but it didn’t mix in very well. It pretty much just solidified in the bottom of the cup.
I made another batch but only let it simmer for 20 minutes this time (I did 40 minutes before). Going to try it with my coffee again this afternoon/tomorrow morning! ?
Thank you so much for this recipe! In my quest to go without refined sugars and to be mostly dairy-free, I assumed that caramel was out of the question. But this was a great substitute! I do allow myself to have butter, so my added fat at the end was browned butter, which helped with the caramel flavor.
This also worked really well to make an easy strawberry topping by mixing about equal amounts of the caramel and Strawberry Simply Fruit (fruit juice sweetened jam). Other flavors would be good too!
Thanks again!
Please could anyone tell me if this would be thick enough to use in Banofee Pie as the caramel needs to be quite thick.
Many thanks
Anita
THIS.IS.AMAZING.
I found a recipe for coconut ice cream and then found this recipe for coconut caramel… it’s obvious where this is going.
So I made this for my coconut ice cream which I still needed to chill over night, but we had friends over and half a tub of vanilla ice cream leftovers so naturally we had to test it! (The only reason to have store bought vanilla ice cream is to smother it in sauce). These friends aren’t the “strange food” type of people so I made loads of excuses as to why I have caramel made out of coconut milk and why they should test it first. Anyway, we all ended up using almost everything on our cheap ice cream and I had to put it away before I have to make another batch for my expensive ice cream. My friend even asked for the recipe.
The next day I finished the coconut ice cream and added the caramel. During the last seconds of churning I added the last two tablespoons and it made lovely caramel swirls. The ice cream came out amazing!!
I used half agave and half honey because I wouldn’t have had enough agave for my ice cream. It turned out perfect!! However, Ionly simmered the caramel for 45 minutes because I was afraid it would burn or be bitter. But I will definitely go for the full 50-60 minutes next time. Yes, there will be a next time…and a next time, and a next time…
Katie, what sweetner did you use to get that caramel color. I’m making it now but it’s still a white color, I used E.D. Smith no sugar added syrup. Thanks
Maple syrup (pure maple syrup) or agave will give it a caramel color.
This tasted good, but I was wondering if you have any tips for making the caramel thicker/stickier? That’s how I prefer my caramel sauce. 🙂
Keep cooking longer and more of the moisture will evaporate and it gets thicker as it sits overnight as well for the same reason, if you leave it uncovered so the moisture has a place to escape.
I made this with coconut cream and it came out great!! Very yummy!
Thanks for the genius idea, Katie! I wanted to make a caramel sauce to go with apple bars, but my grocery store ran out of whipping cream, but I always have coconut milk in the pantry 🙂
For those of you who are having problems with the color, I used a half a cup of sugar (omitted the agave or honey) and cooked that over medium heat first, stirring constantly. Then I added a spoon of butter (but you can use coconut oil instead), followed by the coconut milk, and proceeded with the recipe. I only cooked mine for about 25 minutes or so, but it was on medium heat, and I constantly stirred. Absolutely divine! Thank you!