Swiss & Cheddar Cheese fondue is an easy appetizer recipe that is perfect for holiday dinners, parties and family gatherings! This delicious fondue recipe comes together in just a few minutes with a few simple ingredients – it is so easy to make and everyone loves it!
We always make this cheese fondue recipe when we invite friends over for dinner and everyone is amazed at how easy it is to make! For years I thought that fondue was really hard to make and something that you could only eat when you went to the Melting Pot for dinner! And then I found this fondue recipe and realized how easy it is to make at home. I even think this homemade version tastes as good, if not better than the restaurant version!
Many fondue recipes call for lemon juice, white wine or chicken broth. This recipe doesn’t require any of those! Just a few very basic ingredients (butter, milk, corn starch, salt) along with cheddar and swiss cheese. That’s it! And you can swap out the cheese with any of your favorite cheeses for a slightly different flavor. So easy and so fun to make!
You can use a fondue pot and fondue forks (my kids absolutely love eating with them!), but you can also just use a regular saucepan to make this delicious classic fondue.
Do you need a fondue set to make cheese fondue?
You can use a fondue pot to make cheese fondue, but you definitely don’t have to. I have an electric fondue pot that I love, but I’ve made this recipe in a regular saucepan dozens of times and it works just as well. If you are using a fondue pot, you want to make sure that you keep the heat down fairly low so you don’t scorch the cheese. I keep mine almost all the way down to low and everything melts very quickly.
What to dip in cheese fondue?
There are so many different dippers that you can eat with cheese fondue! We love to dip the following:
- French bread (tear into bite-sized pieces)
- ham
- broccoli (we prefer this cooked)
- green beans (steamed)
- apples
- potatoes (I just cook the diced potatoes in a saucepan with a little bit of butter or olive oil and seasoned salt – so yummy!)
There are plenty of other options for fondue dippers too – pretty much anything tastes better when dipped in melted cheese! Not only is cheese fondue fun to serve for company and parties, but it is a wonderful meal for kids! I have found that I can get my kids to eat things that they normally wouldn’t, as long as they can dip their food in a yummy cheese dip. It’s a great way to get kids (and adults) to eat more vegetables!
What kinds of cheese work best in fondue?
I usually use equal amounts of Cheddar and Swiss cheese in this recipe but lots of different types of cheese work well! If we are feeling a little bit fancy, we will replace the Swiss with Emmentaler or Gruyere cheese. If you want a slightly Mexican spin, you can use a fiesta blend or just add a little Monterey Jack. This cheese fondue recipe is so versatile – you can use all kind of different cheeses and it will still be delicious!
Ingredients in Swiss and Cheddar Cheese Fondue
- 1 1/2 Tbsp. butter
- 1 Tbsp. corn starch
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1 cup milk
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (I usually use mild or medium)
- 1 cup shredded Swiss cheese
- Dippers for fondue (ham, french bread, apples, potatoes, veggies, etc)
How to make cheese fondue:
- Melt the butter over low heat and then add the cornstarch, stirring until well combined – you can use a fondue pot or a saucepan on the stove – either method works great! If you have an electric fondue pot, turn the temperature slightly above warm as the temperature gets very hot if you go higher than this!
- Mix the salt in well and then add the milk. Stir continually over medium heat until boiling. Continue to stir and boil the mixture for one minute.
- Turn the heat down slightly and then add the cheese.
- Mix just until the cheese is melted and serve with all of your favorite dippers!
SWISS & CHEDDAR CHEESE FONDUE
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 Tbsp. butter
- 1 Tbsp. cornstarch
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1 cup milk
- 1 cup Cache Valley shredded Mild Cheddar cheese
- 1 cup Cache Valley shredded Swiss cheese
- Dippers for fondue ham, french bread, apples, potatoes, veggies, etc
Instructions
- Melt the butter over low heat and then add the cornstarch, stirring until well combined. (You can use a fondue pot or a saucepan on the stove - either method works great! If you have an electric fondue pot, turn the temperature slightly above warm as the temperature gets very hot if you go higher than this!)
- Mix the salt in well and then add the milk. Stir continually over medium-low heat until boiling. Continue to stir and boil the mixture for one minute.
- Turn the heat down slightly and then add the cheese. Mix just until the cheese is melted and then serve with all of your favorite dippers!
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How do you serve cheese fondue?
–Classic cheese fondue makes a wonderful appetizer, but it also makes a great meal! If you have a wide variety of dippers (meat, vegetables, bread, etc), and you make enough cheese, this can definitely be a full well-balanced meal. Of course, we usually follow the meal up with chocolate fondue too, but just the cheese fondue with dippers is very filling.
–If we are just having fondue with our family, we put the fondue pot in the middle of the dinner table and dip away. All of the dippers are small enough that double dipping isn’t really much of a concern! If we have friends or family over, we typically have a couple of tables set up so we will scoop some of the fondue into small bowls/ramekins (I use these ones) and give them to those who can’t reach the fondue pot or just prefer to have their own serving of cheese to dip into.
Does cheese fondue have alcohol in it?
Some recipes do have alcohol in them, but this recipe is alcohol-free! Not just because I don’t keep alcohol on hand, but I actually think that the fondue tastes better without it!
Can cheese fondue be reheated?
This recipe is absolutely amazing but unfortunately does not reheat very well. If I need to make it a few hours in advance, I will pour the warm fondue straight into a warm Crockpot and keep the cheese warm until I need to serve it. I have tried to store leftover cheese in the refrigerator before and then tried to reheat in the microwave and the consistency of the cheese is just not very good at that point.
The good news is that it is very rare that we ever have any fondue left over when dinner is finished. If anything, people are scraping the last little bits of cheese from the bottom of the pan!
Swiss & Cheddar Cheese fondue is an easy appetizer recipe that is perfect for holiday dinners, parties and family gatherings! This delicious fondue recipe comes together in just a few minutes with a few simple ingredients – it is so easy to make and everyone loves it!
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Denise says
Do you have to cook the broccoli or potatoes before eating them in a fondue??
Nellie says
Yes, you will want to cook the vegetables before dipping. I like to steam broccoli or green beans, and I usually roast the potatoes in the oven with a little bit of olive oil and seasoned salt.
Mary says
I plan to use your recipe to make fondue for first time in New fondue pot.I have several dippers including broccoli and cauliflower. Do I steam veggies first and for how long?just enough but still crunchy?
Nellie says
Yep, just steam or roast the veggies to your preferred texture!
Stephanie says
This was so perfect for our Valentine’s meal – and so easy! Thank you!
Stephanie says
This was incredibly delicious and surprisingly pretty easy to make! Thanks for the recipe!
Jessica says
So glad you liked it!!
wilhelmina says
This is fondue perfection! Is there anything better than dipping stuff in cheese? I think not!
Stella says
Super easy! I thought that because I’m terrible at cooking, this would be bad. Not even a klutz like me could mess it up
Alison says
So glad this worked for you Stella!
Lauren says
I added 1\8 tsp of dry mustard, a TB of Worcester sauce and a shake of garlic powder. It was excellent..
Christine says
Was lacking flavour. Needed some dry wine or beer to tie everything together.
Nellie says
What types of cheese did you use? Maybe use a sharper cheddar? Many cheese fondue recipes do have wine or beer in them, but I prefer the taste of just the cheese – must be a personal preference!
Erin says
A complete and utter disaster. And I know how to cook so not my first rodeo. Cheese formed into one big lump in the pan. Had to use an immersion blender to break it up and it was all grainy. Tried to heat it to fix. So incredibly runny! Like cheese milk, not fondue. What a nightmare. Supposed to be my son’s bday dinner during covid and we live 30 miles from town so couldn’t go in for more ingredients to try again.
Nellie says
Definitely sounds like something went wrong! I’ve made this recipe so many times and have never had that happen! What kind of cheese did you use? Did you add a different kind? Was the mixture thickened before you added the cheese? It really is one of my family’s absolutely favorite recipes so I’m really bummed it didn’t work out for you!
Linda says
We’re not fans of Swiss cheese. Would this recipe work without it or with less Swiss cheese?
Nellie says
Absolutely! You can use pretty much any kind of cheese you’d like. We’ve done it with all cheddar lots of times, just because we don’t have Swiss on hand. I’m not a fan of Swiss cheese either though and the 50/50 Cheddar/Swiss ratio is my favorite, so you may want to give it a try and see what you think!
Leah says
It was better with garlic, mustard and worchestershire but fondue as a rule is kind of bland in my opinion
Barbara says
How can you fix the fondue once it becomes grainy?
Nellie says
At what point did it become grainy? Immediately after adding the cheese? Or after it had all been melted for a while? I’m not sure how to “fix” it once it’s become grainy…I’ve only had that happen once or twice and I guessed that it was because I added too much swiss before allowing the cheddar to melt a little bit first. Not entirely sure that was the problem, but I’ve never had it happen again!
Amanda says
Are you shredding the cheese fresh or is it pre shredded? I feel this could make a difference since pre shredded usually has a coating to it.
Nellie says
I have used both before and haven’t had any problems or noticed a huge difference either way.
Lily says
Could this recipe be halved?
Nellie says
Yep, it can! I’ve also doubled and tripled the recipe many times and it works great every time!
Christine says
This was delicious and easy! Loved the combination of Swiss and cheddar. We had some leftover, and I used it with sautéed mushrooms, onions, peppers, and ground beef. Once the meat and veggies were cooked, I scooped the leftover fondue into the pan. It wasn’t a sauce per se, but it coated everything nicely and was also delicious.
Alison says
I love what you did with the leftovers! Thanks for sharing!
Marcella says
This was so easy and delicious!
Rachel says
I’d like to make this for our anniversary this year. We don’t usually have milk on hand, besides almond milk. I don’t know if that will work here, but I do have some heavy cream on hand! Do you think that will work? Or should I get a bit of regular milk for this?
Recipe looks delicious and I appreciate that it is alcohol free. 🙂 Thank you!
Nellie says
Heavy cream would work, and I think almond milk would probably be fine as well. The recipe is pretty versatile and forgiving! Happy anniversary!
Robin says
We made this last night but substituted 1/2 cup of Moscato wine in place of 1/2 cup of the milk (ie 1/2 cup milk plus 1/2 cup wine)for a bit of “zing”. OMG it came out so smooth with just enough stickiness to coat the veggies! We had lost our original recipe, and wanted to use the cheddar/swiss we had in the fridge. Most recipes we found used Gruyere, which would be lovely if we had it! LOL! For those having issues with graininess or clumping, please remember to lower the heat when recommended. I removed it from the burner when I added the cheese, sliding it onto the warm (electric) burner as needed. PERFECTION!! TYVM!
Gail says
This is a delicious recipe for cheese fondue. I made it and followed the steps given in the recipe. Hopefully people realize that an 8 oz. block of cheese equals 2 cups shredded.
Alison says
I’m glad you enjoyed this recipe Gail!
Mary says
I have a 1 quart fondue pot that was my grandmother’s. It uses sterno!! Planning on using that to make this. Does this recipe make about 4 cups or?
Nellie says
I think it probably makes about 2-3 cups, so that should work just fine!