This Vegan Caramel Sauce recipe is incredibly decadent and also easy to make. All it requires is 4 ingredients and 15 minutes of your time. Made with coconut milk, coconut sugar, coconut nectar, and vegan shortening, your friends will be so busy gobbling it up that they won’t ever guess it’s made with healthy ingredients.
My Vegan Vanilla Ice Cream is incredible smothered in this Vegan Caramel Sauce. This pairing is the perfect dairy-free dessert. I developed this rich caramel sauce recipe, as well as my vegan Chocolate Ganache for my world famous Paleo Caramel Brownies recipe.
Both of these toppings are also delicious when drizzled on the dairy-free ice cream recipes in my third book, Paleo Cooking from Elana’s Pantry. Those ice cream recipes include Coffee, “Peanut” Butter, Cookie Dough, and more, and are amazing topped with dairy-free Caramel Sauce.
Vegan Caramel Sauce
Ingredients
- ¾ cup full fat coconut milk fat
- ¾ cup coconut sugar
- 2 tablespoons honey, or coconut nectar, or maple syrup
- ¼ cup palm shortening
Instructions
- Place coconut milk fat, coconut sugar, and honey in a saucepan
- Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer
- Continue simmering for 10 minutes
- Allow caramel sauce to cool for 5 minutes
- Stir in shortening until completely dissolved
- Serve
Equipment
In order to obtain coconut milk fat for this recipe, refrigerate two cans of coconut milk for 24 hours, then open the cans and scoop the rich creamy fat off of the top, measuring out 3/4 cup for this recipe. You can use the water that has separated for smoothies or discard it.
If you would like to substitute various ingredients in this Vegan Caramel Sauce recipe, feel free. Please note that unless I test a substitution I have no way of knowing how or if it will work –that’s why I tested this recipe more than 15 times. I wish I had a crystal ball that would write recipes and test substitutions for me, however, I do everything the old fashioned way by working hard and using loads of ingredients to perfect each and every recipe for you until I get it just right!
Drizzle Vegan Caramel Sauce over these dairy-free ice cream recipes:
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Naomi Hatkin says
Maybe I’m nitpicking but I want to be sure I make this right. The first ingredient is “coconut milk fat.” The link to this ingredient is for coconut milk. Are we to use full fat coconut milk or to somehow separate the fat out of the milk and just use that? I apologize if I’m being dim-witted about this. I’ve been thinking about how to make a sugar-free and paleo-friendly caramel sauce. My own experients have not been fully successful. Thank you so much for your hard work and your blog. I love it!
Patricia R. says
As she states in her instructions, put the can of milk in the fridge at least overnight. I used a pointy can opener to poke holes in the bottom and drained off the liquid. I opened the top and scooped out the thick “cream”. That is what you measure. I only needed one can and had more than the 3/4 cup needed. I made this for a gathering for ice cream and everyone said they liked it. I know I did. I used honey and palm shortening. I am having some right now. Yum!
merav says
You do realize that honey is NOT vegan.
Patricia R. says
Neither am I. She states very clearly in the recipe that you can use coconut nectar instead of honey. That makes it vegan. I don’t care so I used honey. Perhaps if people would actually read the recipe . . .
Robin says
Delicious caramel. Just a few issues: the oil never did stay mixed in (I used Earth Balance in place of the coconut cream). I poured off the oil. When refrigerated it turned hard as a rock, but was fine when warmed. It stuck in our teeth just like a caramel apple. Despite those warnings, everyone loved it! I used brown rice syrup, so it was lower glycemic.
Grace says
Hi guys, some of you were wondering about coconut oil, and I tried it since I love coconut oil and I didn’t want to go get shortening. Plus, it’s super healthy for you! :)
It worked out really well actually. It thickened up nicely and made it more caramel-y (like in color and texture) after it was refrigerated overnight and stirred thoroughly. While it’s heated, it’ll look like a weird liquify maple syrup, but don’t worry. Just refrigerate and it’ll be thick!
I used agave and I can honestly say that next time I make this, I’m just going to omit, since the coconut sugar is plenty sweet. I found enough coconut cream in 1 can, so that was nice. And it is sort of coconut-y, but I found that after a couple days of refrigeration, the coconut flavor kind of went away.
I made the paleo caramel brownies with this and the chocolate ganache and it’s amazing. When you refrigerate it, its texture becomes sort of fudge like after a few days! Super yummy. I’d definitely recommend making that with this caramel. Anyways, hope that helps somewhat.
Thanks for the awesome recipe Elana! I’m a caramel fanatic but I won’t eat it anymore since it’s so bad for you! Glad to have a healthy alternative!
-Grace :)
Mary says
Thank you so much Grace, I was wondering if I could use coconut oil to make this, and now I can. These looks so delicious, and I know my family will go crazy for them.
Erika says
For those who are not vegan, I made this with butter instead of shortening and it came out just lovely, though it took several hours in the fridge to cool and set up completely.
Anna says
Hello! I am going to the Fair pretty soon and I was looking for a “Healthy” Carmel Apple Recipe, Do you know if this would work for apples? Or does the sauce stay soft? :)
Thank you!
~Anna
jacklyn says
Hi, is this really coconut-e- I am looking for a yummy caramel sauce for caramel macciatos! :)
Brandon K says
This looks awesome! Any tips on where to look for a vegan caramel recipe that would work in making home made baby ruth bars? Something thicker that will hold together with peanuts basically. I plan to dip in chocolate when done :-D
melanie says
Has anyone tried to use this for dipping apples? I have to find a dairy free caramel dip before 10/18 so my little girl can have a caramel apple at a party and am hoping this will be it. It looks soft but I wonder if I put it in the fridge if it will set. Any feedback anyone can give me is much appreciated!
Thanks,
Melanie
Anna says
Hi Melanie! I just asked the same question :) I found a link to this recipe, I hope this helps you!
http://www.simplehealthytasty.com/2010/10/caramel-apples.html
Have a nice day!
~Anna
Brittany says
Hey! My toddler LOVED this for apple slices – we used So Delicious Coconut Milk (Vanilla) and instead of Palm Shortening we used Earth Balance. Totally amazing, great texture and was good after taking out of fridge! If you haven’t tried this yet I definitely recommend it.
rika@veganmiam says
Vegan Caramel? Looks absolutely divine! And need this in my life!
rika@veganmiam says
However I think I would love to use maple syrup as a sweetener. It brings up the super sweetness!
Stephanie says
Honey isn’t vegan. :(
Stephanie says
oops, I see now that this was pointed out. Several times. I’m sorry!