Need caramel in under 10 minutes? This tahini-based 5 ingredient vegan salted caramel sauce is smooth, creamy and perfect for drizzling. It’s also dairy free, paleo friendly and refined sugar free.
I haven’t always been the biggest fan of caramel. But as with a lot of things, my appreciation for this liquid gold grew as I got older and I’d actually started to like it right before I had to go dairy free. Unfortunately, most traditional caramel sauce contains dairy which meant it was a no go for me.
Luckily, this easy vegan salted caramel sauce is both easy AF to make and completely dairy free.
This recipe comes together in about 5 to 10 minutes and calls for only 5 ingredients, none of which is sugar. Hallelujah.
Don’t get me wrong, I love sugar, probably a little too much to be honest. But I’ve never been able to heat together sugar and either oil or butter without it ending in a burned mess and a ruined pot.
And since classic caramel recipes start with that step, I opted to look elsewhere for inspiration for this salted caramel sauce.
My first google search for vegan caramel yielded a tonne of recipes for date caramel. Pretty awesome idea but I rarely have dates on hand so I kept looking. Next, I stumbled across a few recipes for almond butter caramel. Again, such a genius idea but almond butter is another ingredient I don’t keep in my pantry. Peanut butter all the way, friends.
Naturally, I tried substituting peanut butter for the almond butter and the result was some seriously tasty liquid gold. But – and I can’t believe I’m saying this – it was a little too peanut buttery for me. Shocker, I know.
After going back to the drawing board and almost giving up I made a last ditch effort with this tahini caramel sauce. And wonder of all wonders, it worked.
There’s a slight tahini taste to it but regardless, the resulting vegan salted caramel sauce is exactly what I was looking for. It’s smooth, creamy and perfect for drizzling on oatmeal, ice cream, popcorn, brownies and more. Plus, it’s dairy free, paleo friendly and refined sugar free.
What’s not to love about that?
If you make this salted caramel sauce, I’d love to hear what you think. Leave a comment and rate the recipe or take a pic and tag it @ExSloth on Instagram!
More tahini recipes:
- ¼ cup lite coconut milk
- ⅓ cup maple syrup
- ½ - ¾ cup tahini
- ½ tsp molasses, more or less to taste/preference
- ¼ tsp sea salt, more or less to taste
- 1 - 2 tsp vanilla extract
- about 1 tbsp coconut oil to thin if tahini isn't liquid enough
- Add coconut milk, maple syrup and ½ cup tahini to a small saucepan and warm over medium heat, whisking occasionally until well incorporated, about 3 minutes
- At this point the caramel sauce will still be fairly liquid and milky. If you're okay with this texture, you can proceed. If not, whisk in up to ¼ cup more tahini until desired consistency is reached
- Taste and adjust sweetener as necessary then stir in molasses until well combined
- Remove from heat, stir in salt and vanilla extract if using and adjust salt to taste
- Pour into a mason jar and allow to cool to room temperature before covering and storing in the fridge
- Will keep for a couple weeks in the fridge
Want to put the caramel sauce on something? Try this ice cream:
Ah, like me! I didn’t really care for caramel growing up, but over the past 2 or 3 years I’ve really started to enjoy it (vegan, that is!)
Rebecca @ Strength and Sunshine recently posted…Chocolate Peppermint Crinkle Cookies (Gluten-Free, Vegan)
We are on the same wavelength this week with tahini and caramel…(more on that later haha) this looks so perfectly drippy! Being lactose intolerant, caramel is one of the things that I love to hate and hate to love. The texture of this is perfect! Can’t wait to try!
Caramel is one of my favorite tastes so this is a great recipe for me.
Runwright recently posted…Sketch Me A Memory 12 14 16
OMG I could pour this liquid gold on literally anything and everything, so thick and swoon-worthy! Love that you used tahini here!
Bethany @ Athletic Avocado recently posted…Peanut Butter Banana French Toast Waffles {Vegan & GF}
This is so magical. I don’t even know what to say about except I want it haha.
Erin @ Erin’s Inside Job recently posted…Five Things Friday #116
When you say to use lite coconut milk, are you talking about the kind for drinking or the kind that comes in a can usually in the Asian section?
Hey Michelle! I’m referring to the kind that comes in a can – just not the full fat version. You should be able to get away with using the boxed drinking kind but I haven’t tested it yet. Hope that helped!
Yes…slightly tahini taste, but delicious! I dipped Granny Smith apples into this! Then roll in chopped walnuts for the perfect autumnal dessert!
Goodness gracious this looks amazing!! And it sounds easy and simple, which is exactly what I’m sure a lot of us are looking for nowadays. Can’t wait to try it! 🙂