Vegan Butterscotch Sauce
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.

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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.
This went so well with some ice cream! Loved it, so happy I made extra
—Noelle
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 works 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 works nicely too.
- Salt – for flavor. You can adjust the amount that you like.
- Vanilla Extract – for flavor.
How to make vegan butterscotch
Step 1 – Melt vegan butter in a small saucepan and add the brown sugar and salt.
Step 2 – Heat the sauce over medium-low heat until it bubbles, then continue to heat it for 3 minutes stirring frequently.
Step 3 – Add the plant-based milk and stir it well.
Step 4 – Bring to a low boil for 3 more minutes.
Step 5 – Turn off the heat, add the vanilla, and stir well.

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, vegan no-bake cheesecake, 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!
Vegan butterscotch sauce recipe

Vegan Butterscotch Sauce
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
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
📌 Be sure to follow me on Pinterest for new vegan recipes!
I plan on making this soon so I can have butterscotch pudding.
I wanted to THANK YOU for saying ghee is not vegan! I get tired of repeating that myself after so many supposedly dairy free recipes that insist it IS dairy free!
You’re welcome. I hope that you love the butterscotch pudding as much as we do!
I am not vegan but I am allergic to dairy. I am always looking for new dairy free recipes.
I hope that you enjoy this recipe! 🙂
Made this today. Actually squealed cause it’s so good! Proper butterscotch flavor and so easy to make. Made it again, so two successful batches in one day. I used Flora butter, not spread, demerara sugar, and Oatly double cream (I’m in the Uk). Definitely a keeper, thank you for sharing!
You’re welcome, Anto! I’m so happy that you liked it! 🙂
Would this work to make haystacks?
Butterscotch haystacks usually use butterscotch chips, but I think if you replaced the peanut butter with this butterscotch sauce, it may work. (I have not tested this though.) Great idea! 🙂
Can I use coconut butter (not coconut oil)?
You can use coconut butter instead, but your sauce will not be as thick as if you used coconut oil. Enjoy! 🙂
Hi, thank you so much for the recipe. It tasted amazing. Just wondering how will this keep in room temp ?
It will keep at room temp for at least 24 hours, but store it in the fridge long term. Enjoy! 🙂
This actually took me a couple of tries to get right. The first time I don’t think I cooked it for long enough, and it never set. The second time I cooked it for much longer than the recipe calls for, and that’s what got it looking much better. When you get it right, it’s remarkable how quickly it thickens up as it cools! It might be helpful to include pictures of it while it’s cooking so people know what to look for, especially for people who are new to caramel/butterscotch like me. But it’s so tasty!
I’m glad that you liked it, Miranda. I will try to get some more pictures next time I make it. Enjoy! 🙂
I tried it and it became very dark and very runny – nowhere near the same colour or consistency as your picture. I used coconut milk. Dont know what and where I went wrong?
Hi Julz, you may have used a darker color brown sugar which is making the final product darker. It is very runny when it’s hot, but it will firm up considerably when it’s refrigerated.
thanks for your reply monica! when I put it in the fridge after so many hours, it was still too runny and the coconut milk had started to separate by creating a thin film on top..
Hi, Monica! 👋🏻
Do you think I could sub coconut sugar for the brown sugar? I don’t keep cane or brown sugar in my pantry!
Yes, coconut sugar will work too, it will just have a bit of a stronger flavor. 🙂
Can you use ghee? 🙂
You probably could, but ghee is not vegan.
Can I use coconut oil
Yes, it will not taste quite as buttery, but it will work. Enjoy! 🙂
Hi, can I use almond milk?
Yes, you can use almond milk. Enjoy! 🙂
O was excited to try this but mine is very runny.Have poured it back in pan and put extra spread in but when cooled it separated again .Help!!
I’m not sure, that has never happened to me. It is fairly thin when it is hot, but gets much thicker as it cools. It has never separated on me, but if you have any lecithin, you can add about 1/2 tsp to it and it will stop it from separating.
The butterscotch was AMAZING!! I used coconut oil because I didn’t have vegan butterX it was delicious! Thanks so much for sharing. It was also so simple to make! I was super intimidated to make something like this but it wasn’t hard at all!
You’re welcome Bonnie. So happy that you liked it! 🙂
This reminds me of getting sundaes as a kid. Butterscotch was always my favorite!
Yes Dreena! I always loved Butterscotch Sundays too! 🙂
This went so well with some ice cream! Loved it, so happy I made extra
So happy that you liked it Noelle!
Only 10 minutes for complete deliciousness! Great recipe!
Easy to make, cheap and ridiculously delicious. Thanks for sharing!
You’re welcome, Joanne! So happy that you like it!
Tried this because I ❤️ Sweets and a recovering sugar-holic gone totally vegan…and it is divine!!!!
So happy that you like it Cathy! 🙂