This sugar free caramel sauce is ooey and gooey and it stays pourable! Best of all, it tastes just like real caramel sauce. This is the only keto caramel sauce recipe you will ever need. I am excited to bring you this updated recipe and a new instructional video.
Want to hear something crazy? I just improved my keto sugar free caramel sauce recipe! It was always truly amazing and by far one of the most popular low carb caramel recipes out there, but now it’s even better.
And I attribute this improvement to two “secret weapon” ingredients: The new Swerve brown sugar replacement and Bocha Sweet. The combination of these two keto sweeteners results in the most perfect caramel that stays soft and pourable for days. It can even be refrigerated and still stays soft, with absolutely no recrystallization.
Creating a really good, true-to-life caramel sauce with erythritol has been one of my low carb goals for a long time now. Almost from the first moment I started baking and cooking low carb, I found myself wondering if it was possible and absolutely determined to find out.
Creating Keto Sugar Free Caramel Sauce
I’d tried a few store-bought sugar-free caramel sauces and they were simply awful. They were laden with chemicals and they tasted like it too. So I had to find a way to make homemade sugar-free caramel sauce from scratch, and I set my sights high.
It had to be:
- Gooey
- Smooth and creamy
- Have true caramelized-sugar taste
- Not harden and recrystallize upon cooling
Anyone who has ever worked with erythritol-based sweeteners will know that the last issue was the biggest challenge to overcome. I’ve made some great-tasting and great-looking sauces along the way, but they all had a tendency to harden up pretty quickly.
Even my previous recipe, which I considered almost perfect, did begin to solidify and get a bit grainy as it cooled. The addition of some Yacon syrup, molasses, or even coconut sugar definitely helped offset that reaction, but it also added a little to the carb count. Some people objected to these additions but I felt that they were worth it to get really good low carb caramel sauce.
But honestly, both Swerve Brown and Bocha Sweet have totally changed the sugar free caramel sauce game. Completely and utterly. How so?
- Swerve Brown gives the sauce a perfect caramel color without the addition of Yacon or molasses
- Bocha Sweet keeps it soft and inhibits the crystallization of the erythritol
- The combination of the two gives it the ideal caramel sweetness
I first tried a bit of Bocha Sweet in my caramel sauce a few months ago and was astonished to pull it out of the fridge the next day and still have it be perfectly pourable. And when the long-awaited Swerve Brown finally came out, I tried the two together and I knew I had perfected this recipe.
But please don’t worry if you can’t get your hands on these sweeteners. I am putting notes in the new updated recipe so that you can still make it the old way, with Swerve and a little Yacon syrup. It’s still amazing and delicious!
So put away all those awful store-bought, chemical-laden sugar free caramel sauces because this keto caramel sauce recipe will blow your caramel-loving mind. Check out the video in the recipe card!
I’ve actually been using this caramel sauce recipe in many of my other dessert recipes for a while now, like my maple pecan pie. But I use it so often and found myself rewriting it so frequently, I decided that it needed to be a stand alone recipe.
Believe me, it deserves it! It’s already part of some of my favorite keto dessert recipes and it will be part of many more to come. But it truly is good enough to be have its very own recipe post. Sometimes I just make some for the heck of it, just to keep in the fridge. It’s fantastic slathered on a piece of very dark chocolate with a little sea salt sprinkled on top. Or drizzled over low carb vanilla ice cream. Or simply licked from the spoon.
I really don’t think there is a better low carb caramel sauce out there. Back when I first wrote this post, I said if there was any way to improve on this recipe, I would find it. And I truly believe I just did. I can die happy now!
How to enjoy your keto caramel sauce
- Keto Caramel Cake
- Keto Salted Caramel Brownie Bites
- Keto Salted Caramel Cheesecake Bars
- Keto Turtle Cupcakes
- Keto Salted Caramel Butter Bars
- Keto Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate
The Best Low Carb Caramel Sauce
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup butter
- 3 tbsp brown sugar replacement
- 3 tbsp allulose, or BochaSweet
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1/4 tsp xanthan gum
- 1/4 tsp kosher or sea salt
- 2 tbsp water
For Salted Caramel Sauce:
- 1/2 tsp additional kosher salt or sea salt
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine butter, Swerve, and Bocha Sweet. Bring to a boil and cook 3 to 5 minutes (be careful not to burn it).
- Remove from heat and add cream. Mixture will bubble vigorously.
- Sprinkle with xanthan gum and whisk vigorously to combine. Add salt.
- Return mixture to heat and boil 1 more minute. Let cool to lukewarm and stir in water until well combined.
- For salted caramel, simply stir in additional salt at the end.
- The sauce can be stored in the fridge for a week or so (I've actually stored mine for several weeks). Just gently reheat in the microwave or in a saucepan to make it pourable again.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer
Please note that I am not a medical or nutritional professional. I am simply recounting and sharing my own experiences on this blog. Nothing I express here should be taken as medical advice and you should consult with your doctor before starting any diet or exercise program. I provide nutritional information for my recipes simply as a courtesy to my readers. It is calculated using MacGourmet software and I remove erythritol from the final carb count and net carb count, as it does not affect my own blood glucose levels. I do my best to be as accurate as possible but you should independently calculate nutritional information on your own before relying on them. I expressly disclaim any and all liability of any kind with respect to any act or omission wholly or in part in reliance on anything contained in this website.
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This sauce was a 10 out of 10. Wow. How am I just finding this now. Sugar-free caramel sauce is something I have been looking for, for quite sometime so thank you so much for putting the time into this recipe. I added more salt like suggested and did the salted caramel version and it was just out of this world. Stellar recipe, Carolyn.
Carolyn I’m new to your site and I love it! I just made the Carmel sauce and wow delicious.
I want to try all of your recipes…. ???? Thank you!!
Hello. This recipe looks really good. I have been searching for a caramel sauce that won’t crystalize later. I don’t have Bocha Sweet. I have Swerve Brown Sugar, Sukin Gold Brown Sugar, Lankanto Monkfruit, and Sukrin:1. Is it possible to substitute or combine any of these in place of the Bocha Sweet and still make creamy caramel sauce?
No, I am afraid not. All of those are erythritol based and without somethign like BochaSweet, allulose, or xylitol, your caramel sauce will harden.
Thanks for the response.
I made it without BochaSweet and it does harden in the refridge, but I live my microwave oven!
Every time I want some, I just microwave the unlidded jar on 50% power until it loosens up again, then use what I want and stick it back in the fridge!❤️
I’ve made this sauce before when I made your carmelitas and it was excellent! I finally got my hands on some serve brown and bocasweet so I will try this again when you mentioned it won’t harden up.. Now I have a craving for caramel popcorn for some reason after seeing this recipe again but will never eat it because it has so much sugar.
Hello,
Carolyn: just made this with Swerve Brown and Xylitol (I don’t have a dog :-)) DELISH!!! Can’t wait to try it on ice cream and am planning on making your Caramel cupcakes with the Chocolate Frosting…and maybe those magic bars as well (I mis-read the recipe and started with 1/3 cup of each sugar, so just upped the butter and cream accordingly, so now I have enough to play with a couple of recipes…another HIT!!!! Thanks so much for all your hard work on our behalf!!!!!
I was so impressed with this recipe I bought the book! Thanks so very much for all of the great tasting Ketogenic recipes
Thanks so much, Lynne!
Do you think golden monk fruit sweetener would work for the recipe?
I keep coming back to this caramel sauce. My search is over—it is fantastic! We savor it with cakes, bars, or off the spoon. Wonderful to be able to have caramel sauce again. I use allulose (for the high heat tolerance) comes out perfect every time. THANK YOU!
Glad to hear it!
Thank you for a great caramel recipe! I used 3 TBS confectioners Swerve (what I had on hand) & 3 Tbs Alluose. Boiled that per the recipe with butter & thought it was getting dark so didn’t boil as long as the recipe stated. But added the heavy cream & boiled about 4 or 5 minutes until it coated the back of the spoon & thickened. Added the sea salt & only a tsp of water. So delicious & I can’t believe it turned out so well. Haven’t refrigerated it yet so we’ll see what happens. Thank you Carolyn! Using on ice cream tonight.
Excellent!
What is the purpose of the water? I just made this and it’s FABULOUS, it’s cooling now and I haven’t added the water yet. I don’t want to mess with how perfect it is!
Sometimes after it cools, it’s too thick. But if you like it the way it is, leave it! 🙂
Thank you so much for this recipe!! It turned out awesome
I used Monk fruit instead of Boca Sweetner cause that’s what I had on hand along with Swerve Brown Sugar
I even doubled the batch
My Christmas Dreams are now a reality
Is there anything else I can add in place of Bocha sweet to keep the caramel soft. I really dislike the flavor of stevia. I assume the Yacon syrup doesn’t help with keeping the caramel soft? I will definitely try the swerve as I have used it in other recipes and like that and the Lankanto monkfruit sweeteners. Your recipe looks fantastic :> Thank you!
You can use allulosse instead.
Love Love Love! Used this over your pumpkin cheese cake recipe rather than the one included with that recipe….well because I love this recipe! Made for Thanksgiving. Wanted to skip the turkey and go right for dessert. For those who critize Bocha sweet….I met my keto goal in 5 months using it. That’s down from 186 to 128 and kept it off for 7 months. Never felt better. Could not have been successful without this site. Thank you. You are amazing!
Wonderful news!
Sounds so yummy! Can I use the confectioners bocha sweet in this recipe? I want to buy it for this and your coconut pecan frosting your the german chocolate cake. Don’t want to buy both granular and confectioners if I don’t have to.
Thanks for all the great recipes!
Yes, I think you could. It’s simply more finely ground Bocha Sweet.
OMG!!!!! I wanna drink this through a straw! (Ew, right? But…) Rarely do I go to the trouble of posting reviews, but this stuff is UNREAL! I’ve been cooking LCHF for a decade now, so I’ve tried plenty of so-called “Best” low-carb and keto recipes and I am not easily impressed. I’m not picky, I just have high standards when it comes to food. Not only do Carolyn’s recipes consistently turn out correct for me, but they are also fairly forgiving when it comes to substitutions. Had to sub my baking blend sweetener I make myself (erythritol/xylitol/stevia) for the Bocha Sweet. Added a tiny touch of caramel extract (because I can’t help but experiment). This caramel sauce is, hands-down, spectacular and so easy to make. If anyone has ever whined to you about low-carbing or ketogenic eating being “too hard” then hand them a sample of this and you will shut that conversation down to a full stop. If you are on the fence about making this, get off the fence and do it. I am waiting on Carolyn’s recipe for Keto Gingerbread Pound Cake to come out of my oven so I can be in Falltime Heaven. Not sure if the sauce will make it another 10 minutes.
Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a review!
Oh my word, this was for real amazing! I just ran out of Swerve Brown so I used lakanto golden sweetener instead. I can’t believe how simple it came together and how good it tasted after just 10 minutes by the stove.
Thank you Carolyn, you are a low carb magician! ❤️
Hi, I made this recipe (doubled it! LOVED it!) and used molasses as you suggested. Do you think vegetable glycerin and/or guar gum (lakanto maple syrup ingredients) would work to keep the sauce non crystallized and pliable?
Possibly, I don’t really use vegetable glycerin.
O M G this recipe is amazing! It took me a while to get all the right ingredients off Amazon but totally worth the wait and money! Super yummy! Literally finger-licking good! It’s cooling down now and I can’t wait to use it on top of stuff … like your Twix thumbprint cookie recipe! That might be next! 😉 This is now my second recipe that I’ve tried from you. Thank you! Thank you!