This traditional Swiss Cheese Fondue recipe blends Gruyere, Emmental, and Appenzeller cheese, melted with wine, and seasoned with garlic and nutmeg. It’s served with crusty bread and various accompaniments like gherkins, apples, and pickled onions.
There are a few main things Switzerland is known for.
Aside from their neutrality, it’s got to be the mountains, the chocolate, and the traditional Swiss cheese fondue.
There’s a reason why this dish from such a small country is famous and loved all around the world, and if you’ve never tried it, you’re missing out.
I didn’t think I’d really had PROPER Swiss cheese fondue until I visited Switzerland for the first time, so to remedy that, I’m bringing you a traditional recipe you can create wherever you are in the world!
Swiss Cheese Fondue is traditionally a blend of Gruyere, Emmental, and Appenzeller cheese.
Gruyere and Emmental have that classic, nutty mild flavor, while Appenzeller is sharp and strong.
When blended, melted with a little wine, seasoned with garlic and nutmeg, and served with lots and lots of crusty bed, there’s hardly any comfort food to trump it.
Cheese fondue was our Christmas dinner last year… that’s right. This simple meal was good enough for us to ditch the normal roast dinner and try something different, and it was GREAT.
Mainly because a roast dinner takes about 100000 hours to make (just kidding, but it can seem that way sometimes) and a fondue takes about 10 minutes.
I’m not suggesting you should drop all your Christmas dinner plans and make fondue, that would mean you can’t make these honey-roasted carrots, or these garlic-roasted brussels sprouts, but you should give a traditional Swiss cheese fondue a go at some point over the holidays.
It’s one of those experiences everyone should have at least once!
Fondue will always have lovely memories for me, and it’s something we will continue to enjoy now and again at home!
Traditional Swiss Cheese Fondue
Equipment
- 1 saucepan
Ingredients
- 6 oz. Gruyere cheese
- 6 oz. Swiss emmental cheese
- 2 oz. Appenzeller cheese
- 2/3 cup white wine
- 2.5 tsp. corn starch
- 1 clove garlic minced
- pinch of nutmeg
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Grate the cheese and mix together. Prep all your ingredients for dipping before you start as the fondue needs to be served immediately as soon as it is ready.
- Add the wine, garlic, and cornstarch into a large saucepan and heat on medium heat until the mixture begins to thicken.
- Add the cheese and stir until it is melted and thin. Season with the nutmeg, salt and pepper and transfer into a fondue pot which is heated. Serve and eat immediately.
Notes
- The fondue should be kept in the fondue pot at a temperature where it is still liquid, but never bubbling.
- When eating the fondue, the best advice I got from Swiss friends is to keep the fondue moving, so every time you dip, give it a stir.Â
- For a fun way to finish the little bit of leftover fondue at the bottom of the pot, crack an egg in and turn the heat up on your burner. Stir the egg with your fondue fork to make a delicious cheesy scrambled egg… it’s delicious!
I’ve never tried a cheese fondue, and oh my… this looks sooooo tasty. I’m practically drooling in my seat haha!
Hehe it is amazing! I can only eat it a few times a year… but ohhhhh boy
Yum!! LOVE fondue!! Although raclette is my Swiss fave :) In my family it was said that if you drop your bread in, you have to “kiss the cook”. Haha. Also, I’ve never heard of the egg thing but that sounds amazing!!
(Also, your link for the Brussels sprouts seems to be missing.. Just don’t want people missing out on that ;))
Haha yep I’ve heard many forfeits for dropping the bread in!
Thanks for letting me know about the sprouts… adding it now!