Easy Cheese Fondue Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What kind of cheese is best for fondue? ›

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. Together are lush and complex. For classic Swiss cheese fondue (meaning one like what you would find in Switzerland), a mix of traditional, firm mountain-style cheeses is best.

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.

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.

Preparation and cooking

Always start on a gentle heat and increase the flame slowly. Add your ingredients one at a time, stirring regularly, especially if you are making a cheese fondue. Five minutes before the fondue is ready, take the stand and burner to the table and light it.

To cut a steak for fondue, cut it into 1/2-inch cubes. 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.

A good rule of thumb is 1 ounce of each cheese for every guest and about five types of cheese. For a party in which cheese is the main event, plan on buying 3 pounds for eight people, 6 pounds for 16 people, or 9 pounds for 24 people. If cheese is one of many items being served, plan on buying 3 to 4 ounces per person.

The key formula -- and fondue is all about the formula -- is 200 grams of cheese per person. That's about 7 ounces of cheese per person. But no one ever eats fondue alone, so you're going to always think of it in terms of two. So roughly then 400 grams of cheese for every two people.

Bread. 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 vegetables are good for fondue? ›

Vegetables: Fresh or roasted vegetables work well with cheese fondue. Whether you have potatoes, Brussels sprouts, broccoli or cauliflower, the cheese on top will enhance the veggies' flavor. Pickles: From regular dill pickles to the tiny cornichons, pickles are a unique idea for cheese fondue.

No fondue pot? Then just use a heavy bottomed pan. You should really keep some heat under the pan whilst enjoying your feast, perhaps try to rig up a trivet to stand the pan on with a couple of tealights underneath. Just make sure that you make the actually fondue on a hob and that it is hot when it reaches the table.

Emmental. For another smooth, semi-hard Swiss cheese, Emmental is a great choice. In fact, it's often used with Gruyère when making fondue, so you know it will have a similar melting power.

If the fondue has been over-cooked and the cheese is turning into hard lumps then adding a teaspoon or two of lemon juice should help to restore the texture. If the cheese has split and looks greasy but not lumpy then adding extra cornflour (cornstarch) will help to re-emulsify the mixture.

There are three main types: cheese fondue, oil or broth fondue and chocolate fondue. Cheese fondue Mixing a variety of cheeses is best when serving a cheese fondue. Before you start, rub a garlic clove inside the pot for added flavor. Shred all cheeses that will be used to create the fondue before melting it.