For the past ten years, give or take a year, we’ve had fondue on Christmas Eve, and it’s such a fun tradition. Fondue takes awhile, so there’s lots of time spent sitting around the table and talking. We tend to go in all directions as a family, even at dinnertime, so unhurried time around the table is a gift.
Fondue is also just plain fun; if your kids are old enough to understand the concept of hot oil, then this is a great meal that let’s you play with your food. I think my daughter was in first grade when we started this tradition, but of course use your judgment based on your child’s maturity and personality.
Our menu hasn’t varied over the years. We make a cheese fondue as an appetizer (I’ll share my favorite recipes below), followed by peanut oil and/or broth for the main course, and then a chocolate fondue for dessert.
I was gifted a fondue set for my wedding, but it used denatured alcohol to burn and since we can’t carry flammables when we move, that didn’t make great sense for us. I replaced it with an electric fondue pot with a nonstick interior and a breakaway cord (a great safety feature with kids and pets) and a few years later found a second one exactly like it on Craigslist for $10. {This is the exact fondue pot I have, if you’re interested}
I will say that I see them frequently at the thrift shop where I volunteer once a week so if this is a tradition you’re interested in beginning, you can pick up a pot for a steal as long as you’re patient.
In terms of numbers of pots, I like having two for our family of four because one can be getting washed or heating up for the next course while the other one’s in use. The rule of thumb is one pot per four people, so if you’re hosting a larger number for dinner, plan accordingly (your guests might even have one you can use).
First Course: Cheese Fondue
We love this cheese fondue recipe with Swiss and Gruyere cheese and white wine. I buy the cheese shredded to save time and both ALDI and Trader Joe’s sell a Swiss/Gruyere blend. I open a bottle of chardonnay, use that for the fondue, and then we drink the rest with dinner.
Over the years, we’ve tried quite a few different sides and here’s what we think pairs best with the cheese: French bread, apples, and sometimes ripe pears. I also cut up broccoli, parboil it for about 3 minutes, and then it’s great with the cheese or the main course.
By the way, if you’re noticing that there are two different table settings in the photos, it’s because I’m using photos from two different Christmases (and two different houses, even). That will keep you on your toes!
One of recipes of cheese serves four comfortably, but leftovers are amazing on vegetables the next day. Some years, we’ll have the cheese course before Christmas Eve church because it can be very filling.
Second Course: Peanut Oil or Broth (Chicken or Vegetable)
Depending on your preference, you can do peanut oil or broth for your main course fondue. We’ve done both in years where we’ve hosted a large number of guests and vegetable broth works if you have a vegetarian joining you.
Just turn the heat on your fondue pot to 350 degrees and let it preheat until anything added to the oil sizzles.
A few years ago, we started using tempura batter for some of our vegetables and it is SO good–I highly recommend it! It’s in the international section of your grocery store or you can buy it online here. I set out several bowls of batter so we’re not always passing one.
We set out steak, chicken, and shrimp for our meats, and then a ton of vegetables: broccoli, sweet potatoes and white potatoes, onion, mushrooms, zucchini, peppers, asparagus, basically whatever sounds good.
I also recommend you try a variety of sauces for dipping: try soy sauce, teriyaki sauce, yum yum sauce, ketchup, BBQ sauce, and ponzu sauce. You can either use fondue plates if you have them, or we just use stainless steel dip cups. I’ll link to all of my sources below so you can see what I mean.
Third Course: Chocolate Fondue
This year we actually had our third course on Christmas Day night instead of Christmas Eve since we were so full (too much cheese?!). Our Christmas Day menu is always a standing rib roast but there’s no set dessert plan so it worked out well for us.
This is the chocolate fondue recipe I use and I make it as written except I use 32 oz of DARK chocolate chips instead of milk chocolate. I think it works better with the coffee flavor, and my kids are older and have pretty sophisticated palates.
With this course, we love pound cake and angel food cake, strawberries, blackberries, pineapple, and banana (with chopped nuts on top!). Serve it with a coffee or decaf espresso and it’s perfect in front of the fire while you watch It’s a Wonderful Life or just visit.
Quite awhile ago, Amy and I shared New Year’s Eve together with our families and had fondue. You can take a look at that post here if you’d like to see a fancier table setup. I will say that the red and white polka dot wrapping paper you see on the table above is a great idea because fondue can be messy, with all of those dipping sauces and sometimes oil drips. This way you can just throw your tablecloth away!
As promised, below are a few of the items I mentioned, but please comment if you have any questions. My kids sometimes request fondue for their special birthday dinners, so we often eat it more than once a year, and wouldn’t it make for a fun dinner party idea? There’s a reason my parents and their friends were all about fondue in the 70s!
Thanks for stopping by~
This blog post was like a party in a box!! Everything you need, full of helpful tips and love the sources listed at the bottom. Thanks for sharing your great ideas!! I love this idea…and things my grandchildren would LOVE the cheese and the chocolate…a bit too young for the oil but we could offer then an alternatice for the main course and others could enjoy the main course and side fondue ideas! Think we will try this for New Year’s Eve!! i have everything but the yum yum sauce and tempura mix! Easy enough to pick up tomorrow!
Wonderful–I’m so glad you found it helpful! Yes, I promise that everyone will have fun with fondue on the menu. Let me know how it goes!
Christy
I don’t understand what you’re doing with the main course. Are you dipping meats and veggies in batter and then frying them in the fondue pot? What does a piece of steak dipped in batter and fried taste like? And does the chicken broth work for frying too? Never done this nor heard of anyone who has. Intriguing!
Hi, Uta–
We usually dip the vegetables in the batter and then fry them. Onions are especially good (they taste like onion rings), but they’re all good without the batter, too, so it just depends on personal preference and we all experiment a little and share our favorites. As for the meats, I don’t usually batter mine at all, but my son does. He said the chicken tastes like fried chicken and the steak tastes like chicken fried steak, which I guess makes perfect sense! The broth would be the healthier alternative as it would be lower in calories and fat content. There’s a whole chain of restaurants (The Melting Pot) built around this concept, if you’ve ever been there.
Happy New Year! Christy