This sweet pumpkin spice sauce is the best way to welcome the fall season. It's incredibly easy to make and can be used in so many ways (it's even gluten free). I especially love adding it to homemade coffee and espresso beverages that rival Starbucks at a fraction of the cost. Skip the coffee shop and save that money!
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Fall is my favorite time of year! Joy fills my heart when pumpkin spice season rolls around. I love Starbucks pumpkin spice lattes, but I don't always like the effect they have on my bank account.
If you don't feel like spending money or just don't want to leave the house, this sauce is your saving grace. It's perfect for making a homemade version of this delicious, seasonal beverage.
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Why You'll Love This Easy Recipe
Quick: the best thing about this sauce? You can whip it up in five minutes with only seven simple ingredients.
Versatile: there are many delicious ways to use this sauce. Make a homemade pumpkin spice latte or mix it with cold brew! Drizzle it on pancakes, French toast, ice cream, etc. Use your imagination and bring extra autumn joy to some of your favorite foods.
Great flavor: in contrast to Starbucks (and other coffee shops) this sauce has more natural flavors because it's made with real pumpkin puree.
Reduce food waste: this recipe only calls for ½ cup of pumpkin. Therefore, it's great for using up puree when you've made a recipe that calls for less than one full can (like these pumpkin zucchini muffins)!
Sauce Ingredients & Substitutions
All of these items are likely going to be located in the baking isle at the grocery store, which is super convenient!
- Canned pumpkin purée: our main ingredient and star of the show! If it's sold out at the local grocery store (which can often happen in the fall months), you can make your own homemade pumpkin puree.
- Sweetened condensed milk: creamy and delicious! Substitute sweetened condensed oat milk or sweetened condensed coconut milk for a dairy free/vegan option. Non dairy options are more likely to be found at health/alternative foods store like Whole Foods. You can also make your own.
- Warm spices: ground cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves (autumnal favorites).
- Vanilla extract: pure is best, but imitation will do the trick!
- Salt: adds nice depth and complexity to the flavors in your sauce.
How To Make Pumpkin Sauce
Keep scrolling for the full recipe card and measurements. We’ll start here with a quick overview:
- Measure pumpkin puree, condensed milk, spices, vanilla and salt into a small bowl.
- Use a whisk to mix everything together.
- Once ingredients look smooth and are well incorporated, you're done. It's really that easy! Now you can add sweet pumpkin flavor to your favorite fall foods.
Step By Step Photos
Storage Instructions
Place sauce in an airtight food storage container or lidded mason jar and store in the refrigerator for 5-7 days.
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More Pumpkin Recipes
- Almond Flour Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Mug Cake
- The Best Healthy Pumpkin Banana Bread
- Pumpkin Baked Oatmeal With Pecans
- Pumpkin Pie Chia Pudding (2 Ways)
- Low Carb No-Bake Pumpkin Cheesecake
- No Bake Pumpkin Chocolate Cheesecake Jars
- Maple Pecan Pumpkin Cookies
- Delicious Pumpkin Pancakes
- Pumpkin Banana Muffins
- Classic Pumpkin Bread
- Eggnog Pumpkin Pie
Pumpkin Spice Sauce Recipe (Better Than Starbucks)!
Equipment
- Small bowl
- Whisk
Ingredients
- 1 - 14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk *see note below
- ½ cup pumpkin puree
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract *pure is best, imitation will also work.
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon *see note below
- ⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Recipe notes:
Sweetened condensed milk: sub sweetened condensed oat milk or sweetened condensed coconut milk for a dairy free/vegan option. You can also make your own dairy free condensed milk. Cinnamon/spices: if you don't have individual jars of ground cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves - sub pumpkin pie spice! I recommend adding ½ teaspoon at a time and doing a taste test until you get the flavor you prefer.Instructions
- Measure sweetened condensed milk, pumpkin puree, vanilla extract, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and salt into a small mixing bowl.1 - 14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk, ½ cup pumpkin puree, 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, ⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg, ¼ teaspoon ground cloves, ¼ teaspoon salt
- Use a whisk to mix ingredients until well combined.
- Transfer sauce to an airtight container or lidded glass jar. Store in the refrigerator for 5-7 days and use as a topping/flavoring for all kinds of treats! My favorite way to use this sauce? Coffee! It's great mixed into cold brew, regular hot coffee or espresso drinks.
Nutrition
Did you make this recipe?!
Wahoo! Thank you so much for trying it out – would you leave a rating?! Simply click on the stars in the recipe card above.
Abby says
Can you freeze this if you need to?
Garlic Salt & Lime says
Hi, Abby! I haven't tried to freeze this sauce, so I'm not 100% sure! You probably could, however, I don't think sweetened condensed milk will freeze into a completely solid state.
Sonia says
I made this today and tweaked it a bit to my liking. I added 3/4th pumpkin puree and 2 full teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice. I also added about a half cup of half and half to make it less sweet . The condensed milk is super sweet for me so adding in the half and half I found a good balance of all the flavors.. this is a keeper for me , being that I love pumpkin spice anything. I will try this in my morning coffee and iced Cafe. Thank you for this recipe!!
Garlic Salt & Lime says
Awesome, Sonia! So glad you enjoyed the recipe and were able to tweak it to your liking.
Ali says
This sauce is sooooooo good. I doubled the spices. I mixed about 1 Tablespoon of the finished product in my cup of coffee. I mixed abother Tbs of the sauce with a few Tbs of heavy whipping cream and used my hand-held frother to make pumpkin spice cold foam. Absolutely delicous and so simple!
Danielle says
I’m curious as to if it would last/stay fresh longer if I were to cook all the ingredients together on the stove?
Garlic Salt & Lime says
Hi, Danielle. Thanks for the comment! Unfortunately I haven't tried cooking the ingredients so I can't say for sure. Let me know if you give it a try!
Nonny says
I just made this but used the ginger in my pumpkin pie recipe instead of nutmeg, and it’s delicious! It’s going to get drizzled over cheesecake on Thanksgiving… and maybe on ice cream tonight!
Garlic Salt & Lime says
Oooo that sounds like such a yummy substitution, definitely perfect for pumpkin pie and ice cream! Thank you so much for the review and comment!