Dulce de Leche substitute

Best substitute

Homemade from Sweetened Condensed Milk (Oven Method)

one 14 oz can yields about 1 ¼ cups

Best for alfajores

Close match

Not really a substitute, this is dulce de leche. Pour the can into a shallow baking dish, cover tightly with foil, set the dish inside a larger pan with an inch of hot water, and bake at 425F or 220C for 60 to 90 minutes until deeply caramel. Whisk smooth at the end.

Other dulce de leche substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

2Homemade from Sweetened Condensed Milk (Jar in a Pot)
Close match
one 14 oz can yields about 1 ¼ cups
Decant the condensed milk into a clean glass jar, lid on loosely, stand it on a rack in a deep pot, and fill with water to at least an inch above the top of the jar.
What changes
Simmer gently for two to three hours, topping up the water. Gives a very smooth, evenly coloured result.
Best for
alfajores, cake filling, spreading, gifting in the jar
The water must stay above the top of the jar the entire time and the lid must not be sealed tight. Never heat a sealed, unopened can, which can build pressure and burst.
3Cajeta
Close match
Use the same amount
The Mexican version made with goat milk rather than cow milk.
What changes
Essentially the same product with a tangier, faintly barnyard edge that many people prefer, and slightly looser. In alfajores or on ice cream it is genuinely excellent and arguably more interesting.
Best for
alfajores, ice cream, crepes, flan, spreading
Some cajeta is thinner than dulce de leche. If yours pours easily and you need it for a cookie filling, simmer it down for five minutes and chill it before use.
4Thick Caramel Sauce + Milk Powder or Cream, Reduced
Taste and texture differ
Use the same amount with 1 to 2 tbsp milk powder per cup
Caramel sauce is sugar-and-cream, dulce de leche is cooked milk, so caramel tastes sharper, more burnt-sugar and less milky.
What changes
Whisking in milk powder and reducing it a few minutes adds back some of the dairy roundness and body. Noticeably sweeter and glossier than the real thing.
Best for
drizzling, ice cream topping, milkshakes, coffee drinks, sauces
Chill it thoroughly before using it as a filling. Warm caramel sauce will run straight out of an alfajor or a tart and soak the pastry.
5Butterscotch Sauce
Taste and texture differ
Use the same amount
Close enough in colour and sweetness to pass at a glance, but butterscotch is built on brown sugar and butter, so it tastes distinctly buttery and molasses-forward rather than of cooked milk.
What changes
In a dessert with other strong flavours it disappears well; on its own the difference is obvious.
Best for
sundaes, puddings, layer cakes, drizzling
Thicker brands work better than pourable ones. Add a pinch of salt, which brings butterscotch closer to the caramelised profile of dulce de leche.
6Manjar or Confectioner's Caramel from the Latin Aisle
Close match
Use the same amount
Often literally the same product with a different label.
What changes
Manjar, manjar blanco, arequipe and doce de leite are regional names for dulce de leche or very close relatives, and confectioner's caramel is a thicker bake-stable version sold for pastry work.
Best for
alfajores, pastry filling, tarts, baked desserts
The bake-stable versions are firmer and hold their shape in the oven, which makes them better than real dulce de leche in a filled baked tart. Read the label to check whether yours is thick or pourable.

What is Dulce de Leche?

Dulce de Leche is Dulce de leche is a thick, spreadable milk caramel made by slowly cooking sweetened milk until the sugars and milk proteins brown together, known as doce de leite in Brazil and manjar in parts of Chile and Peru.

Cooking tips

Sweetened condensed milk straight from the can is not a substitute for dulce de leche, it is the uncooked starting material. It is sweet and pale and thin, with none of the caramel flavour and none of the thickness, so a banoffee pie made with it will taste of milky sugar and will not set.
It thickens dramatically as it cools, so stop cooking while it still looks slightly too loose. A batch that seems perfect and spoonable in the pan sets into something you can barely stir when cold.
A generous pinch of flaky salt stirred in at the end makes any version, homemade or substituted, taste more genuinely caramelised and less flatly sweet. This is the single easiest improvement to a mediocre caramel sauce being pressed into service.
If your homemade batch turns out grainy, whisk in a teaspoon of hot water or hot cream at a time until it smooths out. Graininess is usually undissolved sugar crystals rather than a ruined batch.
Homemade dulce de leche keeps about a month in a sealed jar in the fridge. Take it out twenty minutes before you need to spread it, or warm the jar in hot water, because it is genuinely stiff when cold.

Frequently asked questions

Can I just use caramel sauce instead of dulce de leche?

For drizzling over ice cream or stirring into coffee, yes, it is close enough and nobody will complain. For anything that needs the caramel to hold its shape, such as alfajores, banoffee pie or a tart filling, caramel sauce is too thin and will run out or soak into the base. In those cases either reduce and thoroughly chill the caramel sauce, or spend an hour making the real thing from condensed milk.

Is dulce de leche the same as caramel?

No, and the difference explains most substitution problems. Caramel is made by cooking sugar until it browns, then usually adding cream or butter, so it tastes of burnt sugar. Dulce de leche is made by cooking sweetened milk slowly so the milk proteins and sugars brown together in a Maillard reaction, which gives a rounder, milkier, less sharp flavour and a much thicker, more paste-like body.

Can I boil the unopened can?

Do not do this. It is widely repeated online but heating a sealed can builds pressure inside, and if the water boils dry or the can is heated too aggressively it can rupture and spray boiling caramel. Use the oven water-bath method or decant the milk into a loosely lidded jar standing in simmering water instead. Both give the same result with none of the risk.

Can I leave dulce de leche out of a recipe?

Rarely, because in most recipes it is the point. Alfajores are two biscuits and dulce de leche, and banoffee pie is bananas, cream and dulce de leche. If it is a garnish or a drizzle you can skip it and the dessert still works. If it is the filling, you need something in that role, and even a reduced chilled caramel sauce is a better answer than nothing.

Is cajeta the same as dulce de leche?

Almost. Cajeta is the Mexican equivalent made with goat milk instead of cow milk, cooked the same way to the same thick caramel. It tastes slightly tangier and a bit more savoury, which most people find pleasant rather than off-putting. It substitutes at 1:1 in every application, and in an ice cream or a crepe filling it is arguably the better ingredient.

Related substitutes

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Dulce de Leche substitute

Other dulce de leche substitutes

2Homemade from Sweetened Condensed Milk (Jar in a Pot)

3Cajeta

4Thick Caramel Sauce + Milk Powder or Cream, Reduced

5Butterscotch Sauce

6Manjar or Confectioner's Caramel from the Latin Aisle