Easy Cheese Fondue Recipes (2024)

FAQs

What type 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.

There are four commonly prepared types of fondue: cheese fondue, chocolate fondue, oil fondue (also known as meat fondue), and broth fondue.

The cornstarch protects the proteins and the fat in the cheese from breaking down and becoming clumpy and lumpy. Some recipes use flour, but I think that changes the taste of the fondue, making it more starchy. That being said, if you don't have cornstarch you can substitute flour. Thirdly, keep the heat low.

Lemon juice helps stabilize the emulsion of melted cheese and wine, while providing a bright flavor to balance the dairy-fat richness.

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 mild-flavored sourdough or baguette will work well. You can also use a loaf of dense rye bread, but you may want to cube it instead of tearing it into chunks. Baguettes are the traditional choice for dipping in fondue because they have a mild flavor and crisp crust that's perfect for dipping in creamy, melted cheese.

Fondue rules

You must not double dip, and never put your fork directly into your mouth. You can grab it off with just your teeth, but the best way is to slide it onto your plate and use a regular fork to eat it.

Oil can be a bit fatty, I would go with broth (at the end of the fondue you'll have a delicious soup!). Mushrooms, zucchini, bell peppers, spring onion are great in fondue.

A cheese fondue mixture should be kept warm enough to keep the fondue smooth and liquid but not so hot that it burns. If this temperature is held until the fondue is finished there will be a thin crust of toasted (not burnt) cheese at the bottom of the caquelon. This is called la religieuse (French for the nun).

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 use candles for cheese fondue? ›

Tips for selecting a fondue pot:

Ceramic pots should be heated with a low flame. Fondue sets usually come with a burning apparatus, but, in a pinch, a tea light or small candle will usually do the trick.

The secret ingredient

However, another key ingredient is a thickener like cornstarch or flour. You toss it with your grated cheese first, coating the fat and protein of the cheese, which stabilizes the sauce and ensures it won't clump when melting.

Don't drink anything but these 3 beverages: Sip only white wine, kirsch, or a tisane of herbal tea with your fondue meal. According to Swiss lore, any other drink—be it water, juice, or beer—will cause the melted cheese to coagulate and form a giant ball in your stomach, leaving you with debilitating indigestion.

If non-alcoholic wines are also not an option then the wine can be replaced with either milk or a 50/50 mixture of milk and chicken or vegetable stock (broth). Again toss the cheese in the cornflour first and add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice to the pot as well.

If a fondue is starting to separate then adding cornflour (cornstarch) mixed with a little cold water usually brings it back together again as the cornflour binds moisture to the cheese solids. However if the fondue has turned into a solid lump of cheese then it is most likely that it has been overheated.

Mozzarella, he adds, “melts beautifully and produces those extraordinary stretches because it's at that pH sweet spot of about 5.2”. Then there's the age of the cheese to consider.

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.

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.