Easy Cheese Fondue Recipe (2024)

This easy cheese fondue recipe is a favorite retro recipe!

Swiss and Gruyere cheeses are melted together with a splash of kirsch for a deliciously dippable appetizer.

Perfect for New Year’s Eve, Christmas, or really, any type of gathering!

Easy Cheese Fondue Recipe (1)

Easy Cheesy Fondue!

  • Party Pleaser: Cheese fondue is a hit at gatherings, bringing everyone together around a pot of melty, gooey goodness.
  • Easy to Make: You don’t need to be a gourmet chef to master this delicious dish.
  • Prep-Ahead: Easily prepare it up to 2 days in advance and reheat for smooth, creamy perfection.
  • Equipment-Friendly: No fondue pot? Use a stovetop, ceramic bowl, or mini Crockpot.

Ingredients for Cheese Fondue

Cheese – The most popular cheese for fondue is gruyère cheese which is mild while the addition of Swiss cheese adds a bold flavor. You can vary the cheese mixture based on what you have, gouda or fontina are other favorites!

Kirsch – Kirsch is a cherry brandy and is a traditional ingredient in cheese fondue. It can be replaced with sherry or a dry white wine if you don’t have any. For non-alcoholic cheese fondue, use any clear fruit juice like apple cider, apple juice, or even lemon juice.

Cornstarch – A little corn starch helps to thicken the fondue and keeps the cheese from clumping.

PRO TIP: Shred blocks of cheese instead of using pre-shredded which contains additives and prevents the fondue from melting properly.

Easy Cheese Fondue Recipe (2)

How to Make Cheese Fondue

This recipe can’t get any easier!

  1. Gently toss the shredded cheese with with the cornstarch per the recipe below.
  2. Rub the inside of a saucepan with garlic. Add the wine and simmer.
  3. Slowly stir in the cheese, whisking until melted. Season and serve!
Easy Cheese Fondue Recipe (3)

Delicious Dippers for Fondue

  • Bread Cubes: chunks of French or sourdough bread, soft breadsticks, garlic crostini rounds
  • Chips: tortilla chips, pretzels or pretzel sticks
  • Vegetables: roasted broccoli or cauliflower florets, strips of bell pepper, carrot, or whole (cooked) baby red potatoes or fingerlings.
  • Fruit:cubed apples, seedless grapes, dried fruit, pineapple slices
  • Meat: meatballs, grilled steak, chicken, shrimp

Leftovers

Reheat cheese fondue in the microwave and loosen it up by adding a little milk and a dash of salt for flavor. Freeze cheese fondue in zippered bags and reheat it with milk and extra cheese to emulsify it again.

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5 from 45 votes↑ Click stars to rate now!
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Easy Cheese Fondue Recipe

A rich combination of Swiss and Gruyere cheeses melted into white wine, this is the perfect dish to bring guests together!

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Easy Cheese Fondue Recipe (10)

Servings 12 servings

Easy Cheese Fondue Recipe (11)

Author Holly Nilsson

Equipment

Ingredients

  • 1 clove whole garlic
  • 1 cup dry white wine
  • 8 ounces Swiss cheese or Emmental, shredded
  • 4 ounces Gruyere cheese shredded
  • 1 tablespoon cornstarch
  • 1 tablespoon kirsch optional but delicious, or sherry
  • teaspoon nutmeg
  • pinch of pepper
  • 1 loaf french bread for dipping

Instructions

  • Cut the garlic clove in half and rub the cut side inside the saucepan. Discard the clove (or save it for another use).

  • Add the wine to the saucepan and bring it to a simmer over medium heat, let simmer for 1 minute.

  • In a bowl, gently toss all shredded cheeses with cornstarch. Set aside.

  • Reduce heat to low and add cheese, a few tablespoons at a time gently stirring until melted before adding more. This should be done very slowly.

  • Once melted, stir in kirsh, nutmeg, and pepper.

  • Serve warm with bread for dipping.

Notes

Swap out half of the cheeses for mild cheddar to create a milder flavor.

Brie is another great creamy addition to fondue.

5 from 45 votes

Nutrition Information

Calories: 140 | Carbohydrates: 3g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 8g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Cholesterol: 28mg | Sodium: 71mg | Potassium: 44mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 256IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 253mg | Iron: 1mg

Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.

Easy Cheese Fondue Recipe (13) Course Appetizer, Dip, Party Food

Easy Cheese Fondue Recipe (14) Cuisine American

© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.

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Easy Cheese Fondue Recipe (17)
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About the author

Holly is a wine and cheese lover, recipe creator, shopping enthusiast and self appointed foodie. Her greatest passion is creating in the kitchen and making deliciously comforting recipes for the everyday home cook!
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Easy Cheese Fondue Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What kind of cheese is best for fondue? ›

The best cheese for fondue is a buttery, creamy cheese that melts smoothly. The best all-around cheeses for fondue are fontina, Gruyère, and gouda. If you aren't sure what to pick, use even amounts of these three.

What goes well in cheese fondue? ›

Bread is an excellent choice for cheese fondue because it soaks up the warm cheese and creamy flavors, creating a delicious combination. There are so many options to choose from for this classic side, such as French baguettes, sourdough, breadsticks, bagels, croutons or pretzels.

What liquid do you use for fondue? ›

Gel fuel works great for cheese fondue (and you can also use alcohol fuel for it, but you may want to reduce the heat slightly by reducing the size of the openings on your burner).

What is the trick to fondue? ›

"The key with fondue is to keep the temperature very low once you start adding the cheese." In the double boiler, the heat was gentle enough that even with prolonged exposure, the fondue never got hot enough to break.

What is the best substitute for Gruyere cheese in fondue? ›

What Are the Best Gruyère Substitutes? There are plenty of other premier cheeses that can serve as good substitutes for Gruyère cheese. Depending on whether you're melting cheese or adding more variety to your charcuterie board, you might consider Beaufort, Comté, Jarlsberg, Emmental, or Fontina.

What vegetables are good for fondue? ›

Fondue makes getting your daily serving of veggies as easy as can be! Fresh veggies like broccoli, snap peas, and carrots add a satisfying crunch, and blanching these ahead of time is perfect. You can play with flavors by roasting other veggies like cauliflower or brussels sprouts.

What kind of bread is good for fondue? ›

Typical fondue bread cubes are cut from white bread, but half-white or wholegrain bread also works well. If you like, you can also use wholemeal bread or bread for toasting, fried in butter. Other options include boiled potatoes, blanched vegetables or fruit (e.g. pears, apples or grapes).

What is traditionally served with fondue? ›

Bread, Crackers, and Chips

Bread is the most popular dipper for cheese fondue. There are many excellent options to choose from. French bread, breadsticks, and croutons are always favorites, but also consider multigrain bread, rye, sourdough, pumpernickel, and even bagels.

Can you buy fondue broth? ›

Canton The Original Broth for Fondue and Cooking, 1.1 L - Walmart.ca.

How much cheese per person for fondue? ›

How Much Cheese Per Person for Fondue? Plan to purchase around eight ounces of cheese per person when serving fondue. An intimate date night meal for two would require about a pound of cheese, while a meal for four would require two pounds, a dinner party with eight guests would need four pounds, and so on.

What meat is best for fondue? ›

The best cuts of beef for fondue include top sirloin, ribeye, and tenderloin. Cut or slice the meat according to personal preference. Some prefer to slice steaks into long strips, while others cube the meat into small pieces. Prepare the fondue oil or broth according to the recipe's directions.

What should you not do with fondue? ›

Fondue rules

You must not double dip, and never put your fork directly into your mouth.

Do you eat fondue off the fork? ›

Never eat directly off the fondue fork. Never forget your food in the pot. Never pour the contents of the pot onto your plate. Never cut in line when it's not your turn to dip.

Why did fondue lose popularity? ›

Like any other food fad, the fondue was not meant to last as a trend. By 1999, amid allegations of corruption and concerns over the high costs of cheese subsidies and fondue's decline in popularity, the Schweizer Kaseunion collapsed.

What is the best Swiss cheese for melting? ›

Gruyere. Gruyere is a firm Swiss cheese that's been aged for about six months (or longer). The result is an exceptionally nutty, grassy cheese that becomes creamy and rich when melted. It's the perfect cheese for topping French onion soup or croque-madame sandwiches, but it's also our go-to cheese for cheesy potatoes.

Can you buy ready made fondue cheese? ›

Emmi Swiss Knight is the best fondue cheese, and it just happens to be the premade fondue I see most often in grocery stores. The pull is incredible—when you dunk a piece of bread in this fondue cheese, you truly have to twirl and twirl to get the cheese pull to break.

What is fondue cheese called? ›

Neuchâteloise: Gruyère and Emmental (sometimes referred to as the original or traditional fondue). Innerschweiz: Gruyère, Emmental, and Sbrinz. Genevoise: Gruyère (preferably of several stages of maturity) with a little Emmentaler and Valais cheese. Sometimes chopped sautéed morels are added.

Why is my cheese fondue rubbery? ›

When cheese gets too hot, its protein, called casein, can coagulate into a toughened mass, squeezing out liquid and fat. This is probably what happened with your fondue last year. Pots specially designed for cheese fondue insulate the cheese from the heat.

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