Sugar Free Caramel Sauce
A rich and creamy Sugar Free Caramel Sauce that is good on just about anything! This salted caramel sauce is ready in less than 20 minutes with less than 1 net carb per serving!
This salted caramel sauce is divine. Since I created this recipe for my brand new blog over 10 years ago, I’ve made it countless times for my sweet tooth. I’ve also used it in a whole bunch of other recipes. Its decadent flavor works to top cakes, use in candies, and spoon on ice cream. It is one of my all-time favorite recipes. This easy keto caramel sauce recipe is low carb, gluten-free, keto, grain-free, sugar-free, and Trim Healthy Mama friendly. It can be a guilt-free addition to your favorite treat.
Love caramel as much as I do? Try my Salted Caramel Cups or Salted Caramel Shortbread Squares next.
Ingredients
- Butter – I normally just use regular salted butter.
- Sweetener– My sweetener is twice as sweet as regular refined sugar. It is the perfect way to enhance the sweetness and tastes excellent too. See my notes in the recipe card on substitutions for monk fruit, erythritol, allulose, and others. You can also use a brown sugar sweetener if you prefer.
- Heavy Cream– Using heavy cream is going to give you a delicious and creamy result every time. To make this dairy-free, coconut cream is a good choice. If you use coconut milk, you will need to cook it much longer.
- Vanilla – You don’t need a lot of vanilla; just ½ teaspoon will do the trick. It tastes perfect with the other ingredients.
- Salt – The salt amount can be adjusted to make it more or less salty, depending on your preferences.
How to Make Sugar Free Caramel Sauce
This is really, really easy to make. You have to cook it until it’s a second away from burning to get a really good caramel flavor. This creates a natural flavor from the browned sweetener. I can identify the end point as much by look as by the smell. It’s better to cook this low carb caramel sauce recipe slowly the first time you try to make it so you don’t end up actually burning it.
👉 Tip: The secret to cooking homemade sugar-free caramel sauce really is preparing it slowly. It’s easy to burn if you are in a hurry and try to cook it too quickly.
1️⃣ Mix the Ingredients
Mix the butter, sweetener, and ½ cup of the heavy cream in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Stir continuously until the sweetener is dissolved.
2️⃣ Cook Until Browned
Drizzle in the vanilla and continue cooking until it’s a deep golden brown. When it is that deep brown color, remove the pan from the heat.
3️⃣ Add the Cream & Salt
Pour in the rest of the heavy cream. Stir until smooth and creamy. Sprinkle in ¼ teaspoon of salt to the caramel. Add more as desired to reach the flavor you are looking for. Allow the caramel to cool for at least 10 minutes before using it.
4️⃣ Serve or Store
Serve the caramel as desired or store it in a jar for later.
Storage
The homemade keto caramel sauce should be stored in the refrigerator or at room temperature. It’s important to keep the sugar free caramel sauce in an airtight jar or container. Then it will last a couple of weeks. When the caramel sauce is cold, it will solidify. Don’t worry, it’s supposed to happen, and you can quickly warm it up in the microwave. Just don’t heat it too long, so it doesn’t burn. After warming, you may need to blend it in a blender or mini food processor to eliminate and crystallized bits.
You can freeze the sugar free caramel sauce recipe in an airtight container and will last 2-3 months. You will need to thaw it and heat it in the microwave before using it.
One of our favorite things to do is to eat the pieces of caramel right out of the fridge. They are like heavenly little caramel sugar candies. Yum!
Common Questions
Can I make syrup instead of sauce?
If you want to make a thinner sugar free caramel syrup recipe make my keto simple syrup recipe instead and flavor it with caramel extract.
How Long Does Homemade Sugar Free Caramel Sauce Last?
This homemade keto caramel will last one week or even a little bit longer. The first thing you will notice is that the smell seems to be a little off once it starts going bad. If you notice anything that appears wrong or if there is mold growing, then it’s probably started spoiling, and it should be tossed.
Do I Have To Add Salt To the Keto Caramel Sauce?
I love the flavor that adding the salt gives keto salted caramel sauce, but if adding salt isn’t for you, that’s totally fine. It will taste great without the salt, too. It’s entirely up to you, and you should make it how you like it. If you would rather add extra salt, that’s great too.
How can I use sugar free caramel sauce?
This one is a no-brainer. Eat with a spoon, top ice cream, add to coffee, top brownies or a cake. The options for caramel treats are endless. And for an extra special dessert, use this to top my Keto Cheesecake Recipe!
Here are some of my favorite desserts that incorporate low carb caramel sauce:
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Sugar-Free Caramel Sauce
Ingredients
- 4 oz butter (1 stick)
- 1 cup Joy Filled Eats Sweetener (or see alternatives in recipe notes)
- 3/4 cup heavy cream divided
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 1/4 – 1/2 tsp sea salt
Instructions
- Combine butter, sweetener, and 1/2 cup of the cream over medium*** heat. Stir until the sweetener is dissolved.
- Add vanilla. Cook until it is a deep golden brown. This may take up to 15 minutes. If you don’t stir frequently or it gets too hot it may separate.
- As soon as it reaches that deep color remove from the heat and immediately add the rest of the heavy cream. (If you are making this ahead use an extra 2 tablespoons). Stir until smooth.
- Add 1/4 teaspoon of the salt and taste. I prefer my salted caramel slightly salty so I like this with the full 1/2 teaspoon of sea salt. Cool for 10 min before using.
Notes
Nutrition
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Originally Published November 24, 2015. Revised and Republished March 17, 2026.
AMAZING!!!! I might have actually cried when I tasted this! So Yummy!!!
Spoon licking pleasure indeed!! This is soooo good! I bake a lot, but for some reason healthy caramel sauce was a little daunting for me. I finally tried it though, and it was so easy! I can’t believe how good it is! I am going to top a cheesecake with this along with some pecans and chocolate chips for a Turtle cheesecake. Also, I did cheat a bit……I added 1/4 teaspoon of caramel flavoring just to make sure it had a good, strong, caramel flavor. Oh, and I used gentle sweet (the kind with xylitol) and the sweetness is perfect! Thank you for such a great recipe!!
Could you use coconut sugar?
I’m sorry but I’m not sure. I don’t test my recipes with coconut sugar.
Ca. U use splenda to. Maketjid
I don’t test my recipes with Splenda, sorry. I don’t think it would work.
Can you use Splenda?
No, sorry.
The recipe says use 4 oz of butter then says 1 stick.
One stick of butter is 8 oz.
I see the picture shows one stick. So should the recipe say 8 oz?
So looking forward to making this!
Hi Dorothy. One stick of butter is 4 oz or 8 tablespoons. You get 4 sticks in one 1 lb (16 oz) package. I know that can be confusing.
I have made caramel sauce many times and in my experience it takes mor like 40-45 minutes to make.
You are more patient than I am. I tend to crank up the heat and just stir like crazy so it is done even fast than 15 minutes. lol. I’ve gotten good at knowing when to pull it off the burner. There can also be a big difference in medium heat on different stoves. Your medium might be lower than others which is why it takes longer.
Mine started to separate during cooling, like the butter separating. It tastes great. What did I do wrong?
Just add a splash of cream and whisk and it will come back together. Sometimes it can separate just with the change of heat.
This was easy to make and tasted great. Do you have a recipe for a caramel pie?
No, but you could probably make my caramel shortbread into a pie. https://joyfilledeats.com/salted-caramel-chocolate-squares/
Very easy to make and tastes great!
I’m not sure I cooked it long enough because I was afraid I would burn it but mine seems really grainy. Did I do something wrong?
Which sweetener did you use?
I see that you posted that Swerve can be used. What kind would you suggest, the brown sugar or granular?
I would try swerve granular. Just an FYI that in the notes I offer substitution advice but I do not test all my recipes with all the listed sweeteners. I have seen caramel made with swerve so I have no reason to believe it would not work. 🙂
I love the flavor of this recipe. One day I was wanting a chewy carmel and so I straight up asked God what I should add to your recipe to make them chewy. Instantly I heard collagen. I added collagen to thicken it and it worked wonderfully!! I was just wondering if you had tried anything like that?
I haven’t but I will now! How much did you add?
I would also love to know how much collagen you added and when 🙂
Can I get the nutrition facts for this recipe? Thanks!
This post needs a makeover. It is one of my first posts ever and the pictures disappeared somewhere when I migrated to my new domain. lol. It is still yummy though!
Nutrition Facts
Servings 2.0
Amount Per Serving
calories 193
Total Fat 21 g
Total Carbohydrate 1 g
Dietary Fiber 0 g
thanks Tayrn I love all things carmel! have you ever tried making plain carmels from this recipe….how would I get them to a soft ball stage…add glucci…or gelatin?
thanks,
tammy
The caramel part of this recipe would work: http://www.joyfilledeats.com/salted-caramel-cups
ok thanks Taryn! I’m going to give it a go then as soon as I get my pre cut candy papers. Happy Fall!
Will you be putting together a cookbook in the near future?
I’m thinking about it. Probably not for a year or two though.
How long do you cook it before it “almost burns”?
It will vary a lot based on the heat of your stove. I cook it for about 10 minutes. Towards the end I turn up the heat to medium and stir constantly.
Absolutely delicious. Thank you Taryn for sharing this link with me. Hands down one of my favorite carmel sauces ever. I love carmel and the possiblities are endless. Thanks again for helping all us low carb, sweet tooth ,carmel loving mama’s to stay on track.