How to Make Swiss Cheese Fondue

This is our all-time favorite recipe for an authentic Swiss cheese fondue that you can easily make at home!

We love making Swiss cheese fondue! It is the perfect winter dish to share with family and friends.

Over the years, I have tried various recipes and this is our all-time favorite. It comes out perfect every time. In fact, it is so easy that you will never want to buy a box again.

This post contains affiliate links, which means I make a small commission at no extra cost to you. You can read my full disclosure.

Supplies for your cheese fondue

Ideally, you will have a fondue dish or so-called caquelon. It is a ceramic dish specifically made to be used for cheese fondue. You can get one online here. However, I have also made cheese fondue in regular stainless steel pots and they worked just fine.

And if you want to be really stylish, you will use fondue forks. Again, you can use regular forks, too, they just won’t be as long.

If you don’t have any of these items but would like to invest in them, it is often more economical to buy an entire set. This is a smaller one and this is a larger fondue set you can buy online.

Next, if you want to eat this at the table you will need a heat source. We have been using this “rechaud” (you place your fondue pot on it) that holds the fondue burner that will be filled with your fondue gel. Even though I haven’t tried it, you can use any portable single burner, too.

Cheese fondue ingredients:

Of course, your main ingredient is cheese. Lots of it. Just kidding but not really. Anyway, my favorite types of cheese are these: a Swiss Gruyere for its classic taste. A Swiss or German Emmentaler to add more depth of flavor. And if I can find it, I will use a small piece of Vacherin Friburgeois but will substitute it with an Italian Fontina. The latter types of cheese are very soft (low melting point) and add a better flavor.

You will need about 7 oz (200g) of cheese per person which means a total of about 1 ½ pounds (800 g) of cheese. The following measurements are for a recipe for 4 people but you can easily scale it up or down.

Next, you’ll need a clove of garlic, 1 ⅓ cup (300 ml) of a light white wine, and 4 tsp of potato starch (or 3 tsp of corn starch).

Dissolving the starch in 1/4 cup (60 ml) cherry brandy (Kirsch-Likör) gives this cheese fondue its authentic taste but you can absolutely just use the same amount of water.

As for the bread, we love to use a darker country-style bread or sourdough bread and a classic French baguette. You can use any bread you like!

How to make the Cheese fondue:

1. Cut the bread:

First, I like to cut the bread into bite-size cubes. Often I find it easiest to dip the bread if there is a piece of crust on it. One-day-old bread is also a good idea. Place the bread cubes in a bread basket and set them aside.

2. Rub the pot with garlic:

Peel the garlic and cut it in half. With the cut sides rub the insides of your fondue dish. Now you can either discard the garlic clove – or chop it finely and add it to the pot (if you like garlic as much as we do). Set the pot aside.

3. Grate the cheese:

You can grate the cheese in a food processor. Usually, I just grate the cheese by hand. You can put the grated cheese in the fondue dish. If it doesn’t all fit, keep some back and add it later when the cheese in the dish has melted and compacted down.

4. Melt the cheese:

Add the white wine to the pot and start melting the cheese over medium to low heat. You don’t want the cheese to burn so you may have to adjust your stove accordingly.

5. Add the potato starch:

Once the cheese has completely melted, you will notice that there is a lot of liquid sitting on top. At that point, add the potato (or corn) starch that you have dissolved in the Kirsch-Likör (or water). Keep stirring slowly. For it to bind, everything needs to heat up. Be patient. Everything will come together. If not, gradually add a bit more of the potato starch slurry.

6. Enjoy your cheese fondue!

Now that the cheese fondue is ready, transfer it to the table. Place the fondue pot on the heat source. Put a piece of bread onto your fork and dip it in the melted cheese. Enjoy!

Shop this post:

Caquelon

Fondue burner

Burner gel

Fondue forks

Small fondue set

Large fondue set

Have you tried making cheese fondue at home? Do you have any tried-and-true tips and recipes? Let me know in the comments below!

Pin For Later: