The Ultimate Cozy Date Night at Home: Cheese Fondue for Two
Date night is a treasured weekly tradition here at the PWWB House. In the summer, Chris and I love making Grilled Pizza, but one of our favorite winter date nights is preparing a homemade fondue spread together.
We’ve affectionately dubbed this winter date night tradition Fondue for Two, as it’s perfectly portioned to serve you and your sweetheart as a main dish and date night activity all in one. We’ve spent years tweaking and perfecting our homemade fondue.
Cheese fondue is one of the first meals we made when we moved into our house, and while it may seem intimidating, making fondue at home is so much easier than you’d guess – I promise. It’s a straightforward process suitable for all skill levels!
Made with a blend of 3 cheeses for maximum flavor (a nutty gruyere, tangy gouda, and sharp cheddar), this homemade fondue recipe is irresistibly cheesy and melts beautifully into a foolproof, one pot fondue. Creating your favorite blend of cheese is most of the fun!
While one person preps the cheese, the other can handle the dippers. From veggies to bread to cured meats, there’s no way to go wrong here. Whatever you choose, our easy sheet pan prep method keeps your dipper prep low-fuss.
Between the cheeses and the dippers, there’s an infinite number of ways you can customize a homemade fondue night to your tastes. Build it just for you two, and have fun with it! 🥰
💞Date Night Tips! ⇢ We’ve even included exactly how to divide and conquer prep together in the Recipe Notes!
Maximum Flavor, Minimal Effort
3 foolproof secrets to low-fuss, flavor-packed dinners, learned from years working in restaurants.
🚫Prefer to cook without wine? ⇢ For an alcohol-free fondue, use a mixture of chicken broth and lemon juice or mild vinegar (like white wine or apple cider). The acidity is essential! For every ½ cup of wine, use ½ cup of broth + 1 tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar.
The Best Cheese Fondue Uses a Blend of Cheeses
In my opinion, there’s no single best type of cheese for fondue. Using a variety of melty, flavorful cheeses is key to a flavorful, well-balanced fondue. We like using 3 cheeses!
Our ideal blend of fondue cheese is something nutty + something tangy + something sharp:
- Gruyere is always my favorite choice for a nutty cheese.
- Edam or gouda are great tangy cheese. Edam is a little funkier, while gouda tends to be kind of sweet and mellow.
- Aged Cheddar is the perfect something sharp and always a classic.
Have fun with it! So long as the cheeses melt nicely, there’s really no wrong choice.
🧀Fondue Tip! ⇢ Always Shred Your Cheese! Store-bought shredded cheese is often coated with an anti-caking agent that inhibits melting. For a beautiful, creamy, and smooth fondue, buy whole blocks of cheese and grate it fresh!
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Buy Now → How to Make Cheese Fondue (It’s Easier than You’d Think!)
Learning to make fondue at home is surprisingly quick and easy (it only takes 20 minutes). If you’ve never made fondue before, this foolproof cheese fondue for two is the perfect starting point.
Rub a garlic clove on the inside of a small pot or saucepan to add a light, garlicky flavor before pouring in the dry white wine. Bring the wine to a boil and reduce it by half to concentrate its bright flavor. Thicken up the mixture by whisking in a cornstarch slurry — the emulsifier that creates a silky smooth fondue!
👩🏻🍳To make a cornstarch slurry, simply whisk a tablespoon of cornstarch into a little bit of reserved wine.
With the pot over low, gentle heat, stir in a handful of the shredded cheese one at a time, stirring constantly and allowing the cheese to combine and melt completely before adding more. The fondue should be smooth and creamy!
✨Taste and adjust! If your fondue needs a little oomph, stir in some punchy Dijon mustard or bright lemon juice to balance the flavors and round out any one-note cheesiness.
Troubleshooting Your Cheese Fondue (Fixes to Common Problems!)
The most common problem home cooks have with fondue is nailing that smooth and luscious texture—so if your fondue isn’t coming together as expected, don’t sweat it! This easy cheese fondue recipe is simple to troubleshoot.
How to fix grainy cheese fondue. ⇢ If your cheese fondue looks grainy or greasy, your cheese fondue likely split or broke over high heat. Don’t panic! Fix it by whisking together equal parts cornstarch and water, then stirring that mixture into the fondue to help it emulsify again.
How to thin out super thick cheese fondue. ⇢ Simply thin out the fondue by stirring in an extra splash of wine.
Serving Suggestions
With a pot of perfectly creamy, dreamy fondue prepped and ready to go, the only thing missing is an assortment of delicious dippers. Deciding what to serve with your cheese fondue is where this date night gets really fun!
Our favorite fondue for two dippers…
- Roasted vegetables like potatoes, cauliflower, broccoli, brussels sprouts, carrots, or winter squash like butternut and delicata. Use a variety for a mix of crunchy, mild, sweetness!
- A loaf of soft, crusty bread cut into thick slices for hearty, toasty croutons.
- Meat like fully-cooked sausage, kielbasa, salami, or Calabrese make fondue a more substantial date-night meal. If you have leftover chicken or steak in your fridge, dice it up and use that too!
Easy Sheet Pan Approach!
While most cheese fondue recipes call for prepping the dippers with many different methods – steaming, blanching, sautéing, and more! – I find this approach to be a little high-maintenance. For simple, streamlined prep, we roast all date night dippers on a sheet pan. It’s quick, hands-off, and results in way fewer dishes!
I can’t wait for you to try this Cheese Fondue for Two! It’s such a fun, easy, and delicious date night at home, and I know you and your sweetheart will love it just as much as Chris and I do.
If you do give it a try, be sure to let me know! Leave a comment with a star rating below. You can also snap a photo and tag @playswellwithbutter on Instagram. I LOVE hearing about and seeing your PWWB creations!
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Rich & Creamy Cheese Fondue for Two (Easy At-Home Date Night)
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: serves 2 generously 1x
- Category: Main Dishes, Snacks & Appetizers
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Swiss
- Diet: Gluten Free
Description
A classic cheese fondue recipe, perfectly portioned for a fun and romantic date night at home!
If you’re nervous to make fondue at home, don’t be – it’s a seriously simple process with minimal ingredients required. For this recipe, 3 types of cheese slowly melt into a garlicky white wine sauce, creating an irresistibly rich and creamy fondue. Refer to the blog post, above, for some fondue troubleshooting tips.
Pair your cheese fondue with your favorite dippers for an easy-yet-special Valentine’s Day or cozy date night in!
Ingredients
for the cheese fondue:
- 1 clove garlic, sliced in half lengthwise
- 1 ¼ cups dry, unoaked white wine such as Sauvignon Blanc or Pinot Grigio, divided
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 4 ounces gruyere cheese, freshly grated
- 4 ounces gouda or edam cheese, freshly grated
- 4 ounces aged cheddar cheese, freshly grated
- ½ teaspoon Dijon mustard
- ½ lemon, juiced (approx. 1 tablespoon)
for dipping:
- 2–3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- 10–12 baby potatoes (approx. 6 ounces)
- big handful broccoli or cauliflower florets (approx. 6 ounces)
- 2 medium carrots (approx. 6 ounces), peeled and diced into 1-inch cubes
- 2 links fully-cooked chicken sausage, sliced into 1-inch pieces
- 2 thick slices Italian bread (approx. 2 ounces), sliced into 1-inch cubes
- 4 ounces bite-size salami
- kosher salt and ground black pepper, to season
Instructions
For the Fondue Dippers:
- Prep: Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F, ensuring a rack is positioned in the center of the oven. Line a large baking sheet with parchment or foil, for easy cleanup as desired. Gather and prep ingredients according to Ingredients List, above.
- Roast the hardy vegetables: Add the baby potatoes, broccoli or cauliflower florets, and carrots to a large bowl. Drizzle 2 tablespoons olive oil over top, seasoning with a good pinch kosher salt and ground black pepper as desired. Toss to coat. Place the seasoned vegetables to the prepared baking sheet, arranging them such that they have room to roast evenly. Transfer to the oven to roast for 10 minutes.
- Add the sausage and bread: Working one at a time, add the chicken sausage and bread to the same bowl used to season the vegetables. Toss to lightly coat in any residual olive oil in the bowl. If needed, add the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil. Once the hardy vegetables have roasted 10 minutes, remove the baking sheet from the oven. Carefully add the seasoned sausage and bread to the baking sheet with the vegetables, arranging everything such that it has room to roast evenly. Transfer back to the oven to roast an additional 10-15 minutes, or until everything is fork-tender and browned as desired. Remove from the oven and transfer to a board or small plates and bowls for serving. Set aside.
For the Cheese Fondue:
- Prepare the pot and reduce the wine: Meanwhile, as the dippers roast, prepare the fondue. Rub the inside of a small pot or saucepan with the garlic clove, cut side down, then place the garlic in the pot with 1 cup of the wine. Place the pot over medium-high heat, bringing the wine to a boil. Cook, stirring occasionally, until reduced roughly by half, about 8-10 minutes. Meanwhile, as the wine reduces, create a cornstarch slurry by whisking the cornstarch into the remaining ¼ cup wine. Once the wine is reduced, reduce the heat under the pot to medium low. Remove the garlic and add in the cornstarch slurry. Let the mixture simmer, stirring occasionally, until thickened, about 2-3 minutes longer.
- Melt the cheese into the fondue: Reduce the heat under the pot to low – the wine mixture is steaming hot but not bubbling. Add a handful of the cheese to the pot, stirring constantly to melt the cheese throughout the wine mixture. Continue adding cheese to the fondue one handful at a time, stirring constantly and allowing each addition to melt completely before adding more. As you work, decrease heat as needed to avoid bringing the fondue to a simmer. The goal is to gently and gradually melt the cheese into a thick, glossy cheese sauce.
- Finish the cheese fondue: Once all of the cheese is melted, taste and adjust seasoning as desired. If the fondue tastes a little one-note, stirring in some Dijon mustard or lemon juice will help brighten and balance the flavors. If the fondue seems too thick, add in another splash or two of wine, stirring to combine well.
- Serve: Once the cheese fondue is prepared to your liking, transfer it to a fondue pot. Serve immediately, with your prepared dippers. Enjoy!
Notes
- Fondue Date Night Tips: Since date night is about spending time together, we encourage you to really embrace it. Invite your partner into the kitchen with you and have fun prepping your fondue spread together. Despite the fact that Chris and I have vastly different levels of skill and comfort in the kitchen, we’ve found a ‘divide and conquer’ approach to fondue prep works really well for us. Here’s how we do it…
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- Person 1 ⇢ Dippers Prep! Delegate prepping the fondue dippers to whoever is more comfortable in the kitchen. There’s a little more multi-tasking and knife work involved, so it’s best to let the more confident cook step in and own this process.
- Person 2 ⇢ Fondue Prep! Fondue prep is great for a slightly less confident cook. Grating the fondue cheese blend and stirring the cheeses into the fondue are both very straightforward processes – anyone can do it!
- Timing it all out…
- Person 2 can begin reducing the wine after Person 1 pops the veggies in the oven.
- Use the downtime as the veggies roast and the wine reduces to prep any additional dippers (Person 1) and grate the cheese (Person 2).
- By the time Person 1 pops the second round of dippers in the oven, it will be time for Person 2 to begin melting the cheese in the fondue. Person 1 can use this time to help Person 2 with fondue prep or begin clean up.
- The dippers should be ready to pull from the oven just as cheese fondue is ready to pull from the stove. At this point, pour yourselves a glass of wine and dive right into your Fondue for Two!
Follow along with Plays Well With Butter on Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, and Pinterest for more unfussy recipes that pack a big punch of flavor!
Follow along with Plays Well With Butter on Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, and Pinterest for more unfussy recipes that pack a big punch of flavor!
I made this for my mother-in-law and me! We loved it! It was delicious and so much fun!
So happy to hear you and your mother-in-law enjoyed the fondue, Hannah!
Delicious! The combo of cheeses was absolutely incredible and came together so quickly! Thank you for introducing my galentines and I to how amazing Aldi sausage would be smothered in cheese 😂 Another hit, Jess!!
We’re so glad you enjoyed Kristina! You simply can’t go wrong with melty cheese fondue!
This is such a fun idea for a date night at home! I can’t wait to make this with my fiancé ❤️
Hey Kat! We couldn’t agree more – hope you give it a try soon!