Dulce de leche substitutes
Dulce de leche substitutes — 6 options, ranked, with the exact amount
Use Homemade from sweetened condensed milk (oven method)
One 14 oz can yields about 1 ¼ cups
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.
The best substitute for dulce de leche is to make it yourself from a 14 ounce can of sweetened condensed milk: pour it into a shallow dish, cover with foil, set that in a water bath and bake at 425F for 60 to 90 minutes until it turns deep caramel, then whisk smooth. That is the real thing and it takes one ingredient. Cajeta swaps at 1:1 and is excellent, just tangier because it is made from goat milk. Thick caramel sauce works 1:1 for drizzling but is too thin for alfajores or banoffee unless you reduce it and chill it.
- Verdict —
- Works
- Best for —
- alfajores
Updated 19 Aug 2026 · no sponsored swaps
Every option, one card
Ranked| # | Substitute | Instead of dulce de leche | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Homemade from sweetened condensed milk (oven method)alfajores | One 14 oz can yields about 1 ¼ cupsWorks | Works |
| 2 | Homemade from sweetened condensed milk (jar in a pot)alfajores | One 14 oz can yields about 1 ¼ cupsWorks | Works |
| 3 | Cajetaalfajores | Same amountWorks | Works |
| 4 | Thick caramel sauce + milk powder or cream, reduceddrizzling | Same amountWith 1 to 2 tbsp milk powder per cupYou'll taste it | You'll taste it |
| 5 | Butterscotch saucesundaes | Same amountYou'll taste it | You'll taste it |
| 6 | Manjar or confectioner's caramel from the Latin aislealfajores | Same amountWorks | Works |
Homemade from sweetened condensed milk (oven method)
similar taste and texture
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.
- Best for
- alfajores, banoffee pie, tres leches, filling cakes, spreading on toast, ice cream swirl
Check the water level halfway and top it up. Whisk vigorously at the end, because it always looks curdled and lumpy until you do, and then it comes together glossy.
Homemade from sweetened condensed milk (jar in a pot)
similar taste and texture
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. 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.
Cajeta
similar taste and texture
The Mexican version made with goat milk rather than cow milk. 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.
Thick caramel sauce + milk powder or cream, reduced
different taste and texture
Caramel sauce is sugar-and-cream, dulce de leche is cooked milk, so caramel tastes sharper, more burnt-sugar and less milky. 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.
Butterscotch sauce
different taste and texture
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. 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.
Manjar or confectioner's caramel from the Latin aisle
similar taste and texture
Often literally the same product with a different label. 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.
Questions
5 questionsCan 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.
Tips for substituting dulce de leche
5 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 right 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.