Instant Pot Dulce de Leche ~ finally, the definitive homemade dulce de leche recipe that’s quick, easy, safe, and utterly fabulous ~ who knew?
luxe dulce de leche made in your Instant Pot!
This incredibly lush homemade dulce de leche is just a couple of quick steps away, so grab a can of sweetened condensed milk and plug in your Instant Pot. It’s by far the best method for making homemade dulce de leche that I’ve found, and with the Instant Pot it’s not only the speed of cooking that makes it so special, but the ease of it all.
what is dulce de leche and what can I do with it?
Dulce de leche is a Latin American treat that’s a lot like caramel, except that caramel is made with sugar and water, and dulce de leche is made with sugar and milk.. It loosely translates to milk jam or milk candy, and I’d say that’s pretty accurate. To make it you slowly heat sweetened milk until it thickens and the sugars basically caramelize. The resulting spread can be slathered on ice cream, toast, biscuits, croissants, cornbread, you name it. And you can bake with it, too. In our house we usually just go at it with a spoon, but if we can keep it around long enough, this instant pot recipe is going to come in handy when I’m craving a batch of my HOT DULCE DE LECHE. And when the weather warms up, think about some NO CHURN DULCE DE LECHE ICE CREAM!
how does it work?
The Instant Pot pressure cooker uses high pressure to speed up the Maillard Reaction (a fancy culinary term for the caramelizing of the milk) to transform sweet milk into a thick rich caramel in a fraction of the time of ordinary diy methods. This same browning transformation is responsible for some of the most tempting flavors on earth, from grilled meats to roasted coffee. Dulce de leche is right up there with them, and once you take a taste, it’s really hard to stop.
step by step process
The process is dead simple ~
- Pour a can of sweetened condensed milk into a glass canning jar. I used a Weck jar, but any will do.
- Top it with foil or screw on the lid, then place it in your Instant Pot pressure cooker.
- Add water to the pot up to an inch from the top of the jar.
- Cook on high for 45 minutes, let cool, and voilà, you’ve got thick creamy caramel.
Why bother making homemade dulce de leche when you can just open a can?
Well, you can do that, if you can find it in your supermarket, but my super scientific taste test revealed that this homemade Instant Pot dulce de leche is far superior.
other methods for making dulce de leche
You can also make dulce de leche on the stove top, (but the cans can explode.) You can make it in a slow cooker, (but it takes a looooooong time.) you can do it in a double boiler, (I hope your stirring arm’s in shape.) And finally you can do it in the oven, (my second choice if you don’t have an Instant Pot.)
Instant Pot Dulce de Leche
Equipment
- Instant Pot
Ingredients
- 14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk, you can do up to 3 cans in one batch if you like
Instructions
- Scrape out all the condensed milk into a pint sized mason jar, or similar canning jar.
- Cover the jar tightly with foil or screw on the cap.
- Place the rack at the bottom of your Instant Pot and then place the jar on the rack. Fill the Instant pot with water, up to 1 inch from the top of the jar. Close and lock the Instant Pot lid, and set the pressure release valve to sealed.
- Press ‘Pressure Cook’ and set the timer to 45 minutes.
- When the machine beeps, press cancel and unplug. Let the pressure release naturally, and then open the lid and carefully remove the hot jar.
- Let the jar cool down, it will be VERY hot. Do not be tempted to taste the dulce de leche until it has cooled.
- When cool enough to handle, stir vigorously to remove the lumps and smooth out the caramel. I like to give it a whirl in my small food processor to make it extra silky.
- Store your dulce de leche in the refrigerator for up to a month. Good luck getting it to last that long 😉
- Reheat chilled dulce de leche gently in the microwave.
Notes
Nutrition
I have those exact Weck jars! do you use the lids and clasps for this recipe?
I fill the jars after I make the dulce de leche, Beth, but I do use them to secure the lids.
Thanks for a great line up of recipes to try! Time to get that Instant Pot fired up. Happy Sunday Sue.
Hi I have read your post on dulce de leche on instant pot. For years I have made it and you don’t need to scrap condensed Milk into a jar. You just put one or two cans (labels removed) into the instant pot and 45 or 50 minutes later you have it!
I guess I just feel better with it cooking in the glass jar, Marcela, but it’s good to know you can skip that step if you want to!
Wow, this might be the best idea ever Sue! I would never put a closed jar in an instant pot, so this discovery is worth millions. I am from Argentina where dulce de leche is as common as peanut butter there. A million brands. Still, I love homemade everything and this method blew my mind. Thanks!
I’m like a kid with a new toy with this machine, it opens up so many possibilities for fun in the kitchen. I thought the IP dulce de leche had a better (fresher, more natural) flavor than the canned, for sure. Enjoy 🙂
I read your whole recipe expecting a very short cooking time on the IPot… but for 45 minutes its not worth it for me to spend money buying one… I’ve been boiling the cans of Sweetened condensed milk for ages and it’s given me perfect results all the time!
I love dulce de leche, this looks heavenly!
Wow – I love that you did a side-by-side comparison and taste test. This looks fantastic! Thanks for sharing all these great recipes – I must give them a try!
We loved the Beef Bourginon! Looking forward to your yogurt! Thanks
It’s so funny, I’m trying to space out my IP recipes for the sake of the ‘non-believers’, but I have so many I want to share asap 🙂
Pinned! Can’t wait to try this one. Thanks for all of the IP recipes you’ve been posting.
I’m so glad you’re excited like I am Lea Ann ~ right this minute I’ve got a foccacia bread proofing in the ‘pot’!
That’s exactly how I made dulce de leche with my pressure cooker! Easy peasy!
dangerously easy 🙂