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Salted caramel ice cream

An amber ice cream with the deep, slightly bitter taste of cooked caramel, finished with a little salt.

Easy to find Common in most grocery freezers. What the badge means

Salted caramel ice cream tastes of sugar cooked until dark, balanced with a little salt. It is easy to find, and most grocery freezers carry it.

This page covers how it tastes, how to make it at home from a base formula, what to serve with it, how common it is in U.S. surveys and what the nutrition figures show.

What salted caramel tastes like

Salted caramel is amber in color. It tastes of cooked caramel, deep and slightly bitter, with enough salt to sharpen the sweetness without making it taste salty. The salt is what sets it apart from plain caramel.

The flavor comes from caramel whisked into the ice cream base. The two usual additions are a caramel ribbon and flaky salt. Some versions carry a caramel ripple through the scoop, so you get soft streaks of sauce between bites of smooth ice cream. Flaky salt on top adds small bursts of salt and a light crunch.

Where salted caramel comes from

The sources we use do not record who first made salted caramel ice cream or when.

They do show how closely it is tied to plain caramel. IDFA’s surveys list the two together on one line, “Caramel/Salted Caramel.” In IDFA’s 2022 survey, 42% of 132 makers and scoop shops named caramel or salted caramel among their ten best-selling flavors, so it is a steady seller behind the counter as well as a favorite at home.

There is a regional note too. In YouGov’s 2022 poll, Midwesterners were the most likely group to say they like caramel ice cream, at 41%.

At home, the flavor comes down to two choices: how dark you cook the sugar and how much salt you add.

How to make salted caramel at home

To make salted caramel ice cream, start with a French custard base, the style made with egg yolks. The Base Builder sets up that style for your machine. A no-churn base made with condensed milk and whipped cream also works. The Base Builder gives a base formula built on standard food-science ranges. It is not a tested recipe.

For the flavor, cook sugar until it turns dark amber. Stop the cooking by pouring in warm cream, then whisk the caramel into the base. Add salt to taste. A darker caramel tastes more bitter, so watch the color and stop when it looks right to you.

After churning, layer extra caramel sauce into the container as you pack it, so the ribbons stay distinct. If you already have a recipe you like, the Recipe Scaler resizes it for your machine and converts cups to grams.

Base formula

Open the Base Builder: French custard (egg yolks)

Other styles that suit it: No-churn (condensed milk and whipped cream)

The Base Builder gives a base formula built on standard food-science ranges, not a tested recipe.

What to serve with salted caramel

Salted caramel goes well with apple. Serve a scoop beside warm apple pie, a crisp or baked apples. It also pairs well with chocolate, either as a chocolate sauce or next to a scoop of chocolate ice cream. Crushed pretzels make a good topping, adding more salt and some crunch. Coffee works too: pour a shot over a scoop or serve a cup on the side.

  • apple
  • chocolate
  • pretzels
  • coffee

How common salted caramel is

We give salted caramel a waxing gibbous badge, 4 of 5, which means "Easy to find": common in most grocery freezers. The badge shows how easy a flavor is to find, not how much people like it.

In IDFA's April 2026 survey of 2,205 U.S. adults, "Caramel/Salted Caramel" ranked 5th of 40. In that survey, 22% picked it as one of up to five favorites, and 5% named it their single favorite. In IDFA's April 2024 survey of 2,203 U.S. adults, it ranked 11th of 40, with 14% picking it. In Talker Research's 2025 survey of 5,000 Americans, 8% named it their favorite.

How it ranks in surveys and order data

SurveyResult
IDFA survey, April 20262,205 U.S. adults, online, April 7-9, 2026, margin of error +/-2 pointsRanked 5th of 40: 22% picked it as one of up to five favoritesThe survey's line: Caramel/Salted Caramel
IDFA survey, April 20262,205 U.S. adults, online, April 7-9, 2026, margin of error +/-2 points5% named it their single favorite
IDFA survey, April 20242,203 U.S. adults, online, April 16-18, 2024, margin of error +/-2 pointsRanked 11th of 40: 14% picked it as one of up to five favoritesThe survey's line: Caramel/Salted Caramel
Talker Research survey, 20255,000 Americans, 100 per state, June 23-30, 20258% named it their favorite
  1. Rare Rare enough that you would most likely make it at home.
  2. Hard to find Look for it in specialty shops and seasonal runs.
  3. Sometimes found Found in some shops and some grocery freezers.
  4. Easy to find Common in most grocery freezers.
  5. Classic A classic you can buy almost anywhere.

Nutrition, roughly

FoodData Central has no record for salted caramel itself. The figures we show are for a plain vanilla base, from regular to rich, not for this flavor. Per 100 grams, the base ranges from 207 to 249 kcal. Regular vanilla has 11 g of fat and 21.2 g of sugars per 100 grams. A 1/2 cup portion (66 g) has about 137 kcal. The caramel, the salt and any added sauce change these numbers.

Nutrition per 100 grams

FoodData Central record Calories Fat Saturated fat Sugars Protein
Ice creams, vanilla FDC 167575 1/2 cup (66 g): about 137 kcal, 7.3 g fat 207 kcal 11 g 6.79 g 21.2 g 3.5 g
Ice creams, vanilla, rich FDC 167573 249 kcal 16.2 g 10.30 g 20.6 g 3.5 g

FoodData Central has no record for salted caramel itself: these are the figures for a plain vanilla base, regular to rich. Mix-ins and sweeteners change them.

Questions people ask

What does salted caramel ice cream taste like?

It tastes like deep cooked caramel, slightly bitter, with a little salt that sharpens the sweetness. It is amber in color and sometimes has a caramel ripple running through it, which gives soft streaks of sauce in each scoop.

What base should I use for homemade salted caramel?

Use a French custard base made with egg yolks. A no-churn base made with condensed milk and whipped cream also works. The Base Builder sets up the custard style as a base formula built on standard food-science ranges, not a tested recipe.

When do I add the caramel sauce swirl?

Add it as you pack the container after churning. Layer extra caramel sauce between spoonfuls of ice cream so the ribbons stay visible. The caramel that flavors the base itself gets whisked in before churning.

Is salted caramel a popular ice cream flavor?

Yes. In IDFA's April 2026 survey of 2,205 U.S. adults, "Caramel/Salted Caramel" ranked 5th of 40, and 22% picked it as one of up to five favorites. It is easy to find in most grocery freezers.

Nut and caramel ice cream flavors · All flavors

Plan and make it with these

Sources

  1. Ice cream preferences of U.S. adults, topline results (Morning Consult for IDFA, April 7 to 9, 2026) International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA)
  2. Ice Cream and Frozen Novelty Trends 2022 report (132 makers and scoop shops, 1,002 consumers) International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA)
  3. America's favorite ice cream flavors (poll of July 13 to 18, 2022) YouGov
  4. Ice Cream Technology e-Book: Nuts in Ice Cream H. Douglas Goff, University of Guelph
  5. 21 CFR 135.110, Ice cream and frozen custard Electronic Code of Federal Regulations (eCFR)
  6. Ice Cream Technology e-Book: Freezing/Whipping of Ice Cream H. Douglas Goff, University of Guelph
  7. Ice cream survey of U.S. adults, topline results (Morning Consult for IDFA, April 16 to 18, 2024) International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA)
  8. New Mexico, New Jersey are America's top ice cream connoisseurs (5,000 adults, June 23 to 30, 2025) Talker Research
  9. Ice creams, vanilla (FDC 167575) U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service
  10. Ice creams, vanilla, rich (FDC 167573) U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service

Every data source the site uses is on the Sources page.