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23 Fondue Ideas to Try, Because There’s No Such Thing as Too Much Cheese

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The easiest way to take an evening from meh to marvelous? A bubbling pot of creamy cheese, of course. Here are 23 fondue ideas to serve at your next party (even if it’s just a party of two!), with inspo that will take you from dinner to dessert.

P.S.: You can totally make fondue in a skillet, in the slow cooker or on the stove—but it couldn’t hurt to invest in a fondue maker anyway. Nostalgia’s stainless-steel fondue pot is a total steal for $30, and Oster’s DuraCeramic fondue pot is only a few bucks more. If you’re looking to splurge, go for the Cuisinart electric fondue maker, complete with a fork rack, temperature probe and eight fondue forks.

RELATED The 25 Most Delicious Brie Recipes


1. Easy Skillet Mushroom And Gouda Fondue

Cooking the fondue in a shallow cast-iron skillet means you can dip away to your heart’s content—no skewers needed.

2. Bacon, Onion And Asiago Fondue

Bread works, but so do sliced green apples and seed-speckled crackers.

3. Roasted Garlic And Gruyère Fondue

Starring a whole head of golden-brown roasted garlic.

4. Skillet Kale And Fontina Fondue

Aka our favorite way to eat our daily greens.

5. Dairy-free Butternut Squash “fondue”

Can you believe it’s totally vegan? Serve it with mini sweet peppers, Brussels sprouts and any crudités you have on hand.

6. Easy Skillet Beer And Cheddar Fondue

Sharp cheddar meets your favorite Pilsner or IPA.

7. Irish Cheddar Fondue

With a side of spiced Guinness pretzels? Don’t mind if we do.

8. Caramelized Shallot And Gruyère

Did we mention it gets a generous glug of dry white wine? Scoop the fondue up with slices of toasted sourdough, broccoli florets or spicy sausage.

9. Cheese Fondue For Two

Starring Gruyère and Emmental, plus a splash of brandy. You know, in honor of date night.

10. Cheese Fondue Board

In a word, wow. Pair Swiss and cheddar fondues with fruits and veggies, crackers, bread, nuts and deli meat or thinly sliced grilled steak.

11. Beer Cheese Dip

BRB, dunking a few dozen Brie-stuffed pretzel bites into a pool of hot deliciousness.

12. Smoky 3-cheese Fondue With Toasted Garlic-buttered Croissants

Put this on your holiday table and everyone will think it was catered by a fancy restaurant.

13. Classic Cheese Fondue

Fondue is only as good as the cheese, so treat yourself and splurge on the good stuff. You’ll taste the difference.

14. French Onion Cheese Fondue

Two iconic comfort foods, one ooey-gooey dish. The onions are caramelized for 20 minutes before being bathed in a balsamic-beef broth reduction.

15. Beef Queso Dip

Think of this 15-minute beauty as cheater’s fondue. It’s just as saucy and dippable but made with nostalgic Velveeta.

16. Awesomely Easy Swiss Fondue

It only calls for four ingredients—aside from the countless handhelds for dipping, obvi.

17. Beer Cheese Fondue

Come game day, take a page out of Janica’s book. She serves this garlicky number with mini soft pretzels, homemade potato chips, pigs in a blanket and bacon-wrapped chicken bites.

18. Jalapeño Popper Cheese Fondue

Complete with cream cheese, mozzarella and crispy bacon. Bonus points for serving it in a bread bowl.

19. Cheese Fondue

It’s spiked with kirsch, a clear brandy made from double-distilled cherries.

20. Slow-cooker Chocolate Fondue

You truly can’t go wrong with a bath of bittersweet and semisweet chocolate for dessert.

21. Vegan Chocolate Fondue Dessert Party Platter

That’s right, non-dairy chocolate is a thing. And it tastes divine draped over cherries, strawberries, apples, bananas and vegan ice cream.

22. Chocolate Fondue

Ready to have your mind blown? Use white chocolate instead of dark and finish it with a swirl of raspberry jam.

23. Toasted Fluffernutters With Cabernet Chocolate Fondue

Sure, you can use store-bought marshmallow fluff in the sandwiches. But you can also make your own with egg whites, sugar and a few pantry staples.



taryn pire

Food Editor

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  • Studied English and writing at Ithaca College