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Your favorite dippers plunged into rich, gooey, melted cheese sauce. Homemade Cheese Fondue is easy to love and even easier to make! Perfect for parties, date nights, or a festive family dinner.

Homemade Cheese Fondue – A Retro Dish That Deserves A Comeback!

Those of us who grew up in the 60s and 70s probably remember cheese fondue.

This delectable dish originated in Switzerland and was very popular back then, possibly owing to the 60s era craze for Scandinavian décor. Or maybe because Americans were traveling more and new recipes home with them.

Whatever the reason, cheese fondue was something I ate often as a kid, especially if my mom was entertaining. In addition to being slightly exotic and absolutely delish, fondue was a lot of fun! What’s not to love about dipping something yummy into a bowl of molten cheese?

However, Homemade Cheese Fondue fell out of fashion at some point. I hadn’t made it for years.

The memory of that fabulous bubbly cheese bubbled up into my brain while I was working on my 1960s-era novel, The Book Club for Troublesome Women. Soon, I was digging through cupboards in search of my old fondue pot.

It was dusty but still in working order. When I texted my book club to say I was making Homemade Cheese Fondue for our next meeting, the response was an enthusiastic and universal, “Hooray!”

I wasn’t surprised. Fondue is one of those things that almost everybody loves. It’s simple but it’s also kind of special. And as far as I’m concerned, it’s due for a comeback.

With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, this might be the perfect time to give it a try. I can’t think of a better date night dish to share you a special someone.

Equipment and Ingredients for Homemade Cheese Fondue

Maybe, like me, you have a fondue pot hidden away somewhere. If not, they’re easy to find online.

The same 3-quart electric Cuisinart model I’ve had forever is still available. It comes with color-coded fondue forks, is easy to clean, and has an adjustable temperature probe so you can heat cheese, chocolate, broth, or oil to the perfect temperature.

I’ve had mine for at least ten years and it still works great. Here’s a link.

If you don’t mind a smaller, 2-quart version, this might be right for you. It has many of the same features as the Cuisinart fondue pots, but costs less than $40. Here’s a link.

Of course, you don’t absolutely need a fondue pot to make fondue. A heavy-bottomed pan over a slow and steady heat source can work too. But I prefer the convenience of a proper fondue pot for a couple of reasons.

First, a fondue pot makes it easier to control the temperature and avoid burning the cheese. Second, it’s much better for serving.

If you’re cooking fondue on the stove, you’ve got to keep it there so cheese will stay melted. Having guests gather around the stove to eat fondue just feels a little awkward to me.

The ingredients for Homemade Cheese Fondue are simple and few. All you need is…

Swiss cheese
Emmentaler or Gruyere cheese (Gruyere has a slightly stronger flavor)
Dry white wine (needs to be a good wine, one you’d be willing to drink by itself)
Juice of one lemon (fresh is best but can sub bottled juice)
Flour (you can sub gluten-free flour or cornstarch for gluten-free fondue)
Garlic
Nutmeg (optional but it does add extra depth and a nice, nutty flavor)
Mustard (also optional but brings in a bit of a tang)
Dippers of your choice – bread cubes (use a firm bread, such as sourdough, French, or rye), apple or pear slices, small boiled potatoes, oven-roasted mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, sweet pepper chunks, cooked steak or chicken cubes

Making Homemade Cheese Fondue

Making Homemade Cheese Fondue is simple. But there are a few tricks to making sure your fondue is silky smooth, not stringy or ropey.

Grate the cheese before you start, using the largest holes on your grater. Cheese that’s grated, as opposed to diced, melts more easily.

Toss the grated cheeses with the flour. The flour is a very important ingredient because it keeps the cheese and wine from separating. Tossing the cheese with the flour will help prevent flour lumps. Nobody likes lumpy fondue!

Add the wine and the fresh lemon juice to the fondue pot and turn on the heat to medium-low, warming the liquid until small bubbles start to form.

Add the cheese in batches, a couple of handfuls at a time. Stir thoroughly until the cheese is melted into the liquid before adding more. Take your time with this.

Once the cheese, wine, and flour have been incorporated into a thick, smooth sauce, lower the temperature slightly. Stir in the remaining ingredients and start dipping!

You’ll need to keep the heat going under the pot the whole time so the fondue will stay warm and liquid enough or dipping. It will start to get thicker the longer it stays on the heat. If it starts to get too thick, thin it out by stirring in a couple more tablespoons of wine.

Homemade Cheese Fondue is best served immediately. However, in the unlikely event of leftovers, fondue can be reheated.

Just put it into the pot on a low heat, add more wine, and stir until melted again. You may need to use quite a bit of wine to get the fondue to the right consistency.