Name: Salted Caramel Recipe (Only 6-Ingredients)
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 11 min
Total time: 25 min
Yield: 4
Ingredients: 3/4 cup caster sugar; 2 tbsp water; 1/2 cup whipping cream; 2.5 tbsp unsalted butter

Make this salted caramel recipe with just a handful of ingredients. Be assure that you will get a glossy, buttery caramel that’s sweet, slightly salty, and completely addictive. Don’t beat yourself for not trying it earlier.

It’s incredibly easy, comes together quickly, and tastes so much better than anything you can buy. I love how the salt cuts through the sweetness, making it perfect for drizzling, dipping, or just enjoying by the spoonful.

Let’s get started!

Table of Contents

What is salted caramel?

Salted caramel is sweet, sticky sauce which tastes just fabulous. This can be made with only 6 ingredients. Sometimes, only 4. These are easily available in our pantries 😊. Difference between the salted caramel recipe using 6 and 4 ingredients is, 6 ingredients recipe uses water and vanilla extract where 4 ingredients recipe doesn’t.

Here, I am going to show how to make salted caramel by using 6 ingredients. For beginners, using water in the salted caramel recipe is best because it helps you to avoid getting burnt taste.

This is one of my favorites. I have made this recipe almost 8-10 times to make it perfect and trust me, this is very easy to make and one of the best salted caramel recipes I have ever had. This tastes so yummy and can be enjoyed with many baked goods such as cheesecakes, brownies, cake, cupcakes, cookies, pies.

In short, this can be used as filling, topping or as a sauce.

Why will you love this salted caramel recipe?

It’s surprisingly simple, yet feels like something truly special.
The caramel turns out beautifully smooth, glossy, and rich.
That perfect balance of sweet and salty makes every bite irresistible.
It comes together quickly, but tastes like you spent hours on it.
You can use it in so many ways—from drizzling over desserts to elevating your morning coffee.
And once you taste this homemade version, the store-bought kind just won’t compare.

How do you make a salted caramel recipe?

As always, let’s review the overview before proceeding to the step-by-step recipe.

Sr. No.	Steps
1.	Boil sugar and water in heavy bottom sauce pan until brown.
2.	Whisk continuously while adding cream.
3.	Finally add butter, salt.

Salted caramel recipe ingredients

Butter – I am using salted butter in this recipe. You can use unsalted butter if salted is not available at home. Just increase the quantity of salt by ½ pinches.

Heavy cream – please use room temperature cream. Heavy cream or heavy whipping cream which is 36% of milk fat is used in this recipe. You can also use light whipping cream (30% milk fat) or double cream (48% milk fat) as a substitute. I have never tried half and half cream so, I won’t recommend that. Also, do not use milk instead of cream.

Sugar – Sugar is heart of this recipe. Please use granulated sugar. There is no substitute of sugar in this recipe.

Salt – As this is salted caramel recipe, salt is an important ingredient. If you want to make just caramel sauce, please skip salt if using salted butter. If you are using unsalted butter, please reduce the salt quantity by half but do not skip it altogether. Remember salt always brings out flavor of sweet baked goods. You can also increase the amount of salt by half to make it saltier.

Vanilla extract – I recommend using pure vanilla extract in this salted caramel recipe.

Water – You just need little to water so that sugar is fully dissolved. This method of making Salted caramel is also called as Wet method.

Any substitutes?

To be very frank, I have not tried this recipe with any substitutes.

Tools needed

Heavy bottom sauce pan – to make the salted caramel.
Rubber spatula or wooden spoon – need while stirring the salted caramel.
Measuring spoons – to measure liquid ingredients.
Measuring cups – to measure ingredients.

Salted caramel (step-by-step) recipe

Put sugar in a thick bottom pan.
Now add water to that.

3. Boil it till it become brown.

4. Remove from gas. Add cream little by little and add continuously.

5. Now add butter and stir until it melts.

6. Lastly, add salt and mix it.

7. Cook until it starts to boil.

8. Homemade salted caramel is ready.

How to serve?

You can use it in cakes, cupcakes, cookies, brownies, cheesecakes, pies. You can also use this salted caramel recipe in my Nutella swiss meringue buttercream (SMBC) to make Salted Caramel SMBC (Swiss meringue buttercream).

Watch me making it (video)

Homemade Salted Caramel

Storing and freezing instructions for the salted caramel recipe

Here are my recommendations to store and freeze salted caramel.

Storing instructions

Once your salted caramel has cooled, just pour it into a clean jar or airtight container and keep it in the fridge. It stays good for about 2 weeks. Don’t worry if it thickens, that’s totally normal.

Freezing instructions

In case if you want to store longer, you can freeze it! Pour the caramel into a freezer-safe container, leaving a little space at the top. It will stay good for up to 2 months.

Thawing instructions

When you’re ready to use it, let it thaw in the fridge overnight. If it feels too thick, just warm it gently in the microwave or on low heat over the stovetop for a few seconds, and give it a good stir. It will turn smooth and pourable again.

Secret tips to make the salted caramel recipe

Use heavy bottom pans – Make sure to use heavy bottom sauce pan to make this salted caramel recipe. In this recipe, mixture will start to bubble up. To avoid any wastage, use a pan bigger than you think.
Use room temperature cream – Our mixture of water sugar and butter is already very hot. So, if you add room temperature cream to this hot mixture, it is going to bubble up rapidly. Think if you add cold cream, what will happen 😊
Use mittens if required – This recipe consists of steps which includes bubbling up the mixture. If the pan is small, it will start splattering. So, use mittens to avoid any burning.
Keep on stirring the mixture – When we are adding water to sugar, we are reducing the possibility of burning the sugar. But this recipe requires continuous stirring to avoid burnt smell of sugar in the salted caramel recipe.
Use rubber spatula or wooden spatula -As I mentioned many times in this recipe, this involves lot of heat, continuous stirring, So, it is better to use high resistant rubber spatula. Wooden spoons are best.
Never use Icing Sugar / powdered sugar – Powdered sugar or icing sugar has impurities like corn flour which prevent caramelization. This means, your chances of burning caramel are higher if you use powdered sugar / icing sugar.

FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)

Can we make this salted caramel recipe in advance? Absolutely. You can very well make this in advance and keep it in fridge or freezer.
How long can this stay? Make sure to cover it tightly. This can stay at room temperature for 1 day. This stays good for one month in fridge and can stay up to 2 months in freezer.
How to store this homemade salted caramel? As I mentioned above, this can be kept in tightly covered jar. Caramel has tendency to solidify once it cools down. And, if you keep it in fridge, it is going to get hard. Do not worry, just heat it in microwave for couple of seconds and you are good to go 😊
Can we use this caramel to make soft caramel candies? Or can we use this caramel in chocolates? The consistency of this caramel if pourable. So, this is not suitable to make soft candies and cannot be used in chocolates.
How can we prevent salted caramel from crystalizing?

Make sure there are no impurities such as coffee powder / any spices, in sugar. Also, the equipment should be clean.
You can prevent crystallization by brushing edges pf pan with water by using pastry brush
You can prevent crystallization by adding some acid such as lemon juice or cream or tarter because it helps water-sugar mixture to stay fluid.

Want to try some other filling or topping recipes?

Try my other recipes for fillings or toppings.

Where did you use it?

Now it is your turn to make the salted caramel 🙂 Please let me know how this turns out for you in the comments ! I really love hearing from you, and your feedback is very much important to me.

If you make the salted caramel recipe to Instagram, do not forget to tag me. Tag @DessertKatta or Hashtag it #DessertKatta

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