Easy Vegan Butterscotch Sauce! (2024)

Jun 1, 2019 by Monica - 36 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links. See my disclosure policy.

Jump to Recipe

This easy vegan butterscotch sauce is the perfect rich and creamy sauce to pour over ice cream or drizzle over brownies or cupcakes. Butterscotch is similar to caramel but it's made with brown sugar instead of white sugar, and the method for making butterscotch is much easier than caramel.

Want to save this recipe?

Enter your email below and get it sent straight to your inbox. Plus, get more amazing vegan recipes that will satisfy your cravings!

Traditional caramel involves caramelizing white sugar to get the caramel color and flavor. Once it reaches the correct temperature, caramel can easily burn in a matter of seconds and takes some skill to perfect. Although I love my vegan salted caramel sauce, this butterscotch sauce has a very similar taste and it's much easier to make.

Jump to:

❤️ Why you'll love this recipe
🧾 Ingredients
🥄 Instructions
🥡 Storage

❤️ Why you'll love this recipe

This sauce is sweet, creamy, and delicious.
It's easier to make than caramel.
It's dairy-free, gluten-free, and nut free.
This uses basic ingredients that you probably already have at home.

🧾 Ingredients

Butter - any vegan margarine or my homemade vegan butter work great for this sauce.
Brown Sugar - to sweeten the sauce and give it a rich brown color and caramel flavor. You may use coconut sugar too, but it will make the sauce darker and give it a more molasses flavor.
Plant-Based Milk - for creaminess. You can use any milk you choose. Soy creamer or coconut milk also work nicely too.
Salt - for flavor. You can adjust the amount that you like.
Vanilla Extract - for flavor.

🥄 Instructions

Melt vegan butter in a small saucepan and add the brown sugar and salt.
Heat the sauce over medium-low heat until it bubbles, then continue to heat it for 3 minutes stirring frequently.
Add the plant-based milk and stir it well.
Bring to a low boil for 3 more minutes.
Turn off heat, add the vanilla and stir well.

Notes for perfect butterscotch:

The sauce will appear watery when hot. It will thicken a lot when it cools.
The traditional butterscotch sauce has salt in it. You can omit it if you prefer, or even increase it to make a salter sauce.
You can also turn this butterscotch sauce into delicious vegan butterscotch pudding!

🥡 Storage

Store your sauce in a glass jar or container with a sealed lid in the refrigerator. It will keep up to 2 weeks.

Pour this butterscotch sauce over my Vegan Aquafaba Ice Cream or my Veggie Brownies Recipe for a delicious combination!

Make homemade vegan Sundays with this butterscotch sauce, my Vegan Salted Caramel, or my berry compote sauce!

📌 Be sure tofollow me on Pinterestfor new vegan recipes!

5 from 8 votes

Print Recipe

Vegan Butterscotch Sauce

A sweet caramel-like sauce to pour over ice cream or desserts.

Prep Time4 minutes mins

Cook Time6 minutes mins

Total Time10 minutes mins

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American, vegan

Keyword: dairy-free butterscotch, vegan butterscotch, vegan butterscotch sauce

Servings: 8

Calories: 132kcal

Author: Monica Davis

Ingredients

1/3 cup vegan butter or any dairy free margarine
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup plant-based milk like soy milk or you can use soy creamer or coconut milk.
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Melt 1/3 cup vegan butter in a small saucepan and add 2/3 cup brown sugar and 1/4 tsp salt.
Heat over medium-low heat until it bubbles, then continue to heat for 3 minutes stirring frequently.
Add 1/2 cup plant-based milk and stir well. (Be careful, it may spatter a little).
Bring to a low boil for 3 more minutes.
Turn off heat, add 1/2 tsp vanilla and stir well.

Notes

Note: The mixture will appear watery when hot. It will thicken a lot when it cools.

Nutrition

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Click the stars above or leave a comment! I'd love to hear from you!

Reader Interactions

Comments

5 from 8 votes (4 ratings without comment)