Instant Pot Dulce De Leche

Instant pot dulce de leche is made quickly in your pressure cooker from simply a can of sweetened condensed milk.

Yup – perfect dulce de leche using just one ingredient! Perfect, right? Creamy, rich homemade dulce de leche has never been easier, and you can use this recipe to enhance so many foods!

Let’s look at what you can do with homemade instant pot dulce de leche.

What is Dulce De Leche?

Dulce de leche is associated with desserts and sweets from Latin America. Sometimes called Mexican caramel, it’s made from cooked sweetened condensed milk. In fact, the term dulce de leche literally means sweets made from milk!

Dulce de leche is very rich so it can be added to desserts much like a caramel or chocolate sauce. But there are so many yummy ways to use it besides just as an ice cream topping (although, that’s really a good one!).

Ways to Use Dulce De Leche

• Stir into your yogurt
• Add it to brownie mix
• Spread it on your toast
• Add to a banana smoothie
• Stir it into a hot drink like coffee or hot chocolate
• Sweeten mashed veggies for your baby
• Use as a sweetener for apple sauce
• Use instead of syrup on waffles, pancakes, or french toast
• Dip homemade cookies in it
• Spread it over cake or brownies
• Drizzle over cheesecake

Can I Make Dulce De Leche in the Slow Cooker?

Yes! Using the Instant Pot is a very fast way of making the easiest Dulce De Leche, but you can definitely use the slow cooker as well. Here’s how:

• Place your cans of condensed milk in your slow cooker on their side.
• Cover them with hot water from the tap. Make sure your water level is about 2 inches above the top of the cans.
• Place the lid on the slow cooker and cook on low for 8 hours.
• Remove the cans. They’ll be HOT so use tongs! Don’t open them right away because the heat inside the cans can actually make them burst.
• Cool the cans down by allowing them to sit on the counter for an hour or submerging them in cold water for 10 minutes.
• When they’re cool, open the cans. Place the dulce de leche in jars with lids or sealed food storage containers and keep in the fridge.

Instant Pot Dulce De Leche Ingredients

You only need 1 ingredient to make dulce de leche in the Instant Pot.

• 2 (14) ounce cans of sweetened condensed milk

How to Make Dulce De Leche – Instant Pot

STEP ONE: Prep the sweetened condensed milk. Open the cans of sweetened condensed milk and cover each one tightly with tin foil.

STEP TWO: Prep the Instant Pot. Place the trivet into the Instant Pot. Place the foil-covered cans onto the trivet. Pour enough water into the instant pot to cover the can halfway up. Place the cover onto the instant pot, turn to sealing, and set to high pressure for 35 minutes (due to the large amount of water, it will take about 30 minutes to come to pressure).

STEP THREE: Remove the dulce de leche. Once cooking time is up, do a quick release. Use a hot pad or towel to remove the cover, as the steam will be hot. Remove the cans with tongs and let them cool on a cooling rack.

STEP FOUR: Serve. Serve with fresh fruit or use it in your favorite recipe.

Recipe Notes

• Be careful removing the cans from the pressure cooker. The water, the cans, and the side of the pot will be very hot!
• Make sure you add the correct amount of water, since it’s the heat from the water that will cook the milk. Too little and your milk won’t get enough heat, leading to sub-par dulce de leche. What a crime!

How to Store Dulce De Leche

Before you open the cans of dulce de leche, you can store them in your cupboard for 2-3 months at room temperature. Once you open them, however, you’ll need to keep it in the fridge. If you have a mason jar or an old jam jar, this will work perfectly. Otherwise, a food storage container will do the trick. It will keep for 2 weeks, then make sure you discard any leftovers.

You can also freeze your dulce de leche. Keep it in an airtight container with as little air in it as possible. It should stay fresh for at least 2 months.

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