Cheese Fondue
This creamy, smooth, and decadent cheese fondue recipe is easy to make and it’s always a hit.
We used to have two German restaurants here in Portland called Rheinlander and Gustav’s, which were sister restaurants, and they were famous for their delicious cheese fondue. My daughter has loved going to Gustav’s since she was a little girl and she was so devastated when they (and the Rheinlander) closed down after the pandemic. I’ve been scouring websites looking for a copy cat recipe for Gustav’s fondue and I recently finally found one on Genius Kitchen. I was dubious at first because, instead of making a cheese sauce from scratch, this recipe uses processed Swiss cheese. I went ahead and made it at my daughter’s request, and it tasted JUST LIKE Gustav’s cheese fondue! My kids and husband loved it and happily ate this cheese fondue with small pieces of pretzel, sour dough bread, and rye bread as well as apple slices.
How to Make Cheese Fondue
Simmer the wine, garlic, white pepper, cayenne pepper, and nutmeg in an electric fondue pot or small saucepan over low heat for 10 minutes, to reduce the wine a bit and let the alcohol cook out.
Add the diced cheese cubes into the saucepan and whisk until cheese completely melts, do not boil, just let it slowly melt. Side Note: Add a bit more wine if it’s too thick, the consistency of the cheese fondue should coat the bread evenly when it’s dipped into the mixture.
Serve with pieces of sour dough bread, rye bread, pretzel bites, and apple slices. Enjoy.
Equipment
Ingredients
Cheese Fondue:
- ½ lb processed Swiss cheese, diced into small cubes **Block or slices
- 1 cup very dry white wine
- 1 large cloves of garlic, finely minced
- ⅛ tsp white pepper
- Pinch of cayenne
- Pinch of nutmeg
For Serving:
- Rye bread, cut into bite-sized pieces
- Sourdough bread, cut into bite-sized pieces
- Pretzel rolls, cut into bite-sized pieces
- Apple slices
- Grilled bratwurst sausage slices
Instructions
- Simmer the wine, garlic, white pepper, cayenne pepper, and nutmeg in an electric fondue pot or small saucepan over low heat for 10 minutes, to reduce the wine a bit and let the alcohol cook out.
- Add the diced cheese cubes into the saucepan and whisk until cheese completely melts, do not boil, just let it slowly melt. Side Note: Add a bit more wine if it's too thick, the consistency of the cheese fondue should coat the bread evenly when it's dipped into the mixture.
- Serve, keeping the fondue on low heat, with pieces of sour dough bread, rye bread, pretzel bites, and apple slices. Enjoy.
Very popular over there, esp. in the new year time.
Cheese is in my top five foods and we love fondue but don’t make it often. Yours looks very good. We are planning a trip to a Knoxville fondue restaurant next week.
A fondue dinner sounds like a dream to me! I’ve only ever had fondue at The Melting Pot (it’s a chain…not sure if you guys have it there!) but homemade definitely sounds better.