Fondue Dinner Party Menu

Host a fondue dinner party using a broth fondue with assorted meats and veggies! Fondue is a slow, social meal, so it makes for a great dinner party. Most people think of cheese when they hear the word fondue, and that can certainly make a great starter. I find that a good broth fondue fills everyone up, and adding cheese or chocolate is unnecessary. Plus, this meal allows for all prep to be done ahead, leaving you free to enjoy the meal and the company! Enjoy the fondue dinner party!

Make the Broth

When I was a kid, my mom liked to make an oil fondue. She used some kind of cooking oil, and opened a can of anchovies to put in the bottom. It was fine. But when I started doing my own fondues as an adult, I wanted something healthier. I’ve tried a few versions, but the broth I have settled on is a beef base. This recipe makes enough broth for two full fondue pots. 

• Here’s the link to the full recipe.
• Four leeks, cleaned and chopped
• 16 oz. mushrooms, cleaned and chopped
• Three or four fresh sprigs of thyme
• 8 T. Better Than Bouillon Beef Base (mushroom is good too)
• 2 cups red wine (Cabernet Sauvignon is my usual go-to, but a wine that works with beef and mushrooms works well)
• 2 t. whole peppercorns, crushed
• 2 t. salt
• Water

Start by chopping up the leeks and mushrooms. They will get strained out, so knife skills are not important. Just chunk them all up. Heat some olive oil in a large pot (I use the instant pot on saute). Sauté the leeks. First, add the mushrooms, and continue to sauté. Next, add about 24 cups water (6 quarts), and about 8 Tablespoons of the Better Than Bouillon. Finally, add the thyme sprigs, peppercorns, salt, and about 2 cups red wine. Bring to a boil, then let simmer for a few hours while you do the other prep work. In the instant pot, I put it on high pressure for 20 minutes, then let it slow release. I usually leave the broth alone, with the heat on low and just let it sit all day while I prep. (If you’re up for it, and you have the time to really caramelize a bunch of onions, the leftover broth makes the BEST french onion soup base.)

Prepare the Meats

Trying to figure out what meats to use for your broth fondue? I always use chicken breast, and I cut it into bite size pieces, and marinate or rub the day before. It keeps well in a ziplock in the fridge. Next, I always use red meat of some kind. We have this place in Sonoma County called Bud’s Custom Meats that sells exotic meats. This dinner was for my daughter’s 27th birthday, and she requested a buffalo filet. Filet mignon is always good. Finally, I always round it out with a fish/seafood of some kind. Prawns and ahi are family favorites. All the meats should be seasoned, and all can be prepped the day before. Here’s what I did for this particular dinner: 

• Buffalo filet: seasoned with salt and pepper
• Prawns: marinated in a ginger vinaigrette
• Ahi: rub with furikake
• Chicken: two ways: marinated in Buffalo Wild Wings Thai Curry Sauce, and rub the other half with the rub of your choice
• Duck: marinated in a soy based teriyaki 

Other meats and things that work well? Lamb, sausage, ravioli, and gnocchi. All meats get cut into bite size pieces (except prawns, obviously!). And, again, SEASON them! Even if it’s just salt and pepper, seasoning is your friend.

Roast the Vegetables

Roast the vegetables before serving time. It’s pretty time intensive to try and cook vegetables, like a potato, in a broth fondue, so I find it works best to cook the veggies ahead of time. Cut up cauliflower and broccolini into bite size pieces. Toss them in a bowl with olive oil, salt and pepper. Spread out on  a cookie sheet and roast at 400° for about 20 minutes. I usually stir them around halfway through the cook. For the potatoes, I like to use small roasting potatoes in multiple colors. If the potato is bigger, I cut it in half or quarters. Toss with olive oil, salt, and pepper, and roast for about 30 minutes at 400°. All of these vegetables can be prepared the day before, covered, or put in a ziploc bag, and refrigerate. I pull them out of the refrigerator a couple hours before serving to let them come up to room temperature, or at least to come up in temp a bit.

Prepare the Sauces

There are two sauces I always make from scratch: Green Goddess Sauce, and Gorgonzola Port Sauce. There are lots of versions online. My husband hates mayonnaise, so I almost never use it. Whether I make additional sauces from scratch depends on my prep time, meats I am using, and my mood. My fondue dishes have space for four sauces, and I have an additional sauce dish that holds three more sauces, so I always serve seven sauces. If I have duck, I like to do a fruit based sauce, like a cherry port, or an orange based sauce. One of the most popular store bought sauces I use is Buffalo Wild Wings Thai Curry Sauce. I also marinate some of the chicken in that sauce ahead of time. Other store bought sauces I like to use are Grama’s Sweet Chili Sauce, and San-J Thai Peanut Sauce. Honey mustard dressing works well with prawns and chicken, cocktail sauce, steak sauce, ginger based salad dressings, really any sauces you enjoy can work. It can be a refrigerator clean out.

Green Goddess Sauce

• Here’s the link to the full recipe.
• 8 oz. cream cheese
• 1 cup sour cream
• ¼ cup milk
• ¼ cup chopped parsley
• ¼ cup chopped chives
• ¼ cup minced shallot
• 2 teaspoons garlic powder

Using a hand mixer, cream the cream cheese, sour cream, and milk until smooth. Add the parsley, chives, shallot, and garlic powder and mix well. Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour, or overnight. The flavors will develop by letting it sit, so this is a great day ahead sauce.

Gorgonzola Port Sauce

• Here’s the link to the full recipe.
• 8 oz. cream cheese
• 1 cup milk
• ¼ cup port
• 6 oz. gorgonzola crumbles

Using a hand mixer, cream the cream cheese and milk until smooth. Add the port and continue mixing. Add the gorgonzola and fold that in by hand. Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour, or overnight. The flavors will develop by letting it sit, so this is another great day ahead sauce.

Pour the Wine

We chose two varietals from Wellington Cellars for this fondue dinner. Because the meats vary, fondue is actually a bit complex when figuring out wine pairings. We decided to go with a Grenache and a Malbec for this one. These are both medium body wines. Wellington Cellars is a small, family owned winery in Glen Ellen, California. It is the “brother” winery to VJB Cellars, in Kenwood, California.

Gather the Equipment

Yes, you will need some special equipment for this dinner. I like an electric fondue pot for broth. A sterno version can work, but it’s easier to keep it up to temp in an electric one. I use dinners like this as an excuse to add to my coveted collection of serving dishes. I might have a problem.

• Fondue pots (I have two of these)
• Fondue forks (like this or this)
• Plates that hold sauces and a spot for cooked food (like this; or this; or this) 
• Extra sauces? Use something like this or this
• Plates for the meats (like this)

Everyone needs their own color fork. I like to give everyone three, so they can have something cooking at all times.

It’s Dinner Time!

Before everyone starts eating, I always do a quick tutorial. The highlights: 

• Food safety: fondue forks are not for eating. Stab the meat, put in pot until done, then remove from fondue fork and use regular fork to eat. Raw meat never touches eating plate. 
• Review meats and cook times
  • Red meats need about three to four minutes to medium rare cook
  • Poultry needs the most time, four to five minutes. If you take it out, and it’s not cooked enough, just stab it and return to the pot.
  • Prawns and ahi are fast – about 2 minutes
  • If you use ravioli or gnocchi, just float those instead of using the fork
• For the vegetables, simply float them in the broth to heat them up. If you did not cook them all the way, they may need a bit more time. Use a slotted spoon to remove them from pot to plate.
• Review sauces and which sauce works well with which meats.
• Play with it! Test out the sauces and meats and veggies, and find the combos that you like the best. Really, anything goes.

Want the Full Plan?

Looking for a full plan to prepare everything ahead of time, so you can just enjoy your guests (and the food!) during the party? 

Step one: shopping. Buy all food items. Here’s a shopping list if you want to use mine! 

Step two: prep. Start prep work. There are several things that can be prepped ahead of time, even the day (or two) before. 

Step three: make sauces & broth, prep meat, and roast the veggies. 

Here’s the full meal plan!

Print

Fondue for a Crowd

Here's a whole plan for a fondue dinner party! This meal is very filling, so I don't do any other sides with it. It does take a decent amount of prep time, but this plan will work you through it, start to finish!

Prep Time3 hours hrs

Active Time3 hours hrs

Course: Main Course

Keyword: dinner, dinner party, fancy, fondue

Yield: 8 people

Equipment

• 2 Fondue pots
• 8 sets of fondue forks
• 1 Instant pot optional

Materials

Produce

• 4 leeks
• 16 oz. mushrooms sliced
• 48 oz. whole Baby Bella mushrooms
• fresh thyme
• 1/2 cup chopped parsley, divided 1/4 cup is for the Green Goddess sauce, and the other 1/4 cup is for the sautéed mushrooms.
• ¼ cup chopped chives
• ¼ cup minced shallot
• 3 lbs. small roasting potatoes
• 1 head cauliflower
• 3 bunches broccolini
• 3 cloves garlic

Meats

• 2 chicken breasts
• 2 filets
• 2 ahi steaks
• 24 prawns

Dairy

• 16 oz. cream cheese
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup sour cream
• ¼ cup milk
• 6 oz. gorgonzola crumbles
• 1/2 cube butter

Spices/Seasonings

• 2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 8 T. Better Than Boullion beef
• salt
• whole peppercorns
• olive oil

Alcohol

• ¼ cup port
• 2 cups heavy red wine

Optional Pre-made Sauces

• Curry sauce
• Peanut sauce
• Honey mustard dressing
• Grama’s Sweet Chili sauce
• Teriyaki sauce
• Cocktail sauce
• Ginger vinaigrette dressing

Instructions

Shop for all ingredients.

Make Green Goddess Sauce & Gorgonzola Port Sauce

• Set out two bowls.
• Open cream cheese, and put one block in each bowl. The bowl on the left will be the Green Goddess Sauce, & the bowl on the right will be the Gorgonzola Port Sauce.
• Add 1 cup sour cream & 1/4 cup milk to bowl on left.
• Add 1 cup milk to bowl on right.
• Add 1/4 cup port to bowl on right.
• Mince 1/4 shallot, 1/4 cup chives, and 1/4 cup parsley and add to bowl on left.
• Add 2 teaspoons garlic powder to bowl on left.
• Use a hand mixer to mix each bowl, rinsing beaters in between mixing each bowl.
• Add 6 oz. gorgonzola crumbles to bowl on right, & mix in by hand.
• Cover both bowls with plastic wrap and refrigerate. This can be done the day before the party if you wish.

Make the broth

• Wash and roughly chop 4 leeks.
• Wash 16 oz. mushrooms.
• In a large pot, or in an Instant pot, sauté leeks for about 10 minutes.
• Roughly chop the mushrooms while the leeks sauté.
• Add chopped mushrooms to the pot and sauté about five more minutes.
• Add about 24 cups water and 8 T. Better Than Bouillon.
• Add 2 cups red wine.
• Add three to four fresh sprigs of thyme.
• Crush peppercorns, and add to the pot.
• Add about 1 T. salt.
• Using a pot? Bring to a boil, then cover and let simmer for at least a couple hours or until dinner time.
• Using an Instant pot? Set Instant pot to pressure cook on high for 25 minutes, then slow release and change to slow cook on low until dinner time.

Prepare the veggies and roast

• Preheat oven to 425°.
• Wash potatoes, cauliflower, and broccolini (or whatever vegetables you choose to make).
• Cut larger potatoes in half or quarters, or leave whole if they are very small.
• Toss potatoes in a big bowl with about 3 T. olive oil, and lots of salt and pepper.
• Spread potatoes out in a single layer on a baking sheet, and roast while you prep the rest of the veggies.
• Cut cauliflower into bite size pieces.
• Cut broccolini into bite size pieces.
• Wipe out the bowl for the potatoes with a paper towel or flour sack towel, and use it to toss the cauliflower with more olive oil, salt, and pepper.
• Spread cauliflower out in a single layer on a baking sheet.
• Wipe out the bowl again, and repeat with broccolini.
• Put cauliflower and broccolini in the oven with the potatoes.
• Roast potatoes for about 30 minutes total, and the cauliflower and broccolini about 20 minutes.
• Let all vegetables cool, then put them into serving bowls or dishes. These can be done the day ahead, put into ziplock bags, and refrigerated until the day of the party if you wish. If you make them ahead, pull them out of the refrigerator early, so they can come up in temp a bit before dinner.
• Wash the whole mushrooms. If they are too big, cut them in half.
• Sauté mushrooms in a large skillet with half a cube butter.
• After about five minutes, add the minced garlic and 1/4 cup chopped parsley.
• Sauté until mushrooms are cooked. Put them into a strainer over a bowl to allow the juices to drip off.

Prepare the meats

• Rinse and dry the prawns.
• Marinate them in a ziplock bag with a vinaigrette dressing or a sauce of your choice.
• Cut the ahi into bite size pieces. Toss the pieces in a ziplock bag with furikake or a rub of your choice.
• Put both bags of seafood in the refrigerator, and clean your knife and cutting board.
• Cut the red meat into bite size pieces. Toss in a ziplock with salt and pepper, or the rub of your choice, and clean your knife and cutting board.
• Cut the chicken into bite size pieces. Toss in a ziplock with the marinade or rub of your choice.
• Put all meats in the refrigerator and clean up.

Set the table

• Lay out the fondue plates, sauce plates, and plates for raw meats to get them ready to serve.
• Get out fondue pots and set up extension cords to reach them on the table. You want one fondue pot for every four guests to avoid crowding the pot and cooling the broth too much to cook properly.
• Set the table with regular forks, knives, three fondue forks per person, napkins, and wine and water glasses.
• Put a slotted spoon next to each fondue pot location. These are for the vegetables.

Dinner Time!

• Add the sauces to the plates, and put them on the table.
• Get out all the vegetables, and put them in the center of the table between the fondue pot locations.
• Get out all the meats and arrange the on the raw meat plates. Put them at each guest spot, or between two guests if they are a sharing plate.
• Strain the fondue broth into the pots so all the vegetables and spices are strained out.
• Set the fondue pots on the table, turn them on, and announce dinner!