Seems like a contradiction of terms doesn’t it? Vegan fondue…? Well, it wouldn’t be another typical day in The Edgy Veg if I wasn’t trying to solve the rubik’s cube that is vegan comfort food, would it? Well, finally, after many years of trial and error, the vegan fondue recipe has finally been given the Carnivore Approved stamp of approval by multiple omni-friends and family.
I’ve always found it was hard to find a recipe for vegan fondue that was worth even trying. For 8 years I’ve been looking up recipes for this dish and nothing has ever looked appealing to me. Fondue has always been an apres-ski or warm comforting winter meal for me. As a former european (I used to live in Germany), categorizing cheese as it’s own food group was 100% acceptable; but slowly became the hardest thing for me to give up as a new vegan. I still struggle with it, and I think I always will. Cheese is just one of those things I have had to come to terms with the fact that I will now forever have to live without. Well, that was the case until I took it apon myself to find worthy solutions for myself and others so that no one would ever be able to use “…but cheese” as an excuse to not go vegan ever again. But enough of the borderline-preachy stuff… let’s talk fondue…
This creamy, cheesy fondue is worth dipping all of the things into. Throw a vegan fondue party for your friends, a date night with a loved one, serve on game day, or just for yourself— we all need a self-love date with ourselves after all. Few things can top fondue as a fun and engaging (an impressive) meal for entertaining guests. I mean, who doesn’t love melted cheese right?
To make the texture of my vegan fondue worthy, I use a combination of potato (for starch), rice and cashews (for creaminess), and tapioca starch (for stretchiness). You will need a powerful blender to make this recipe, or simply a normal blender with patience and time. To get that cheesy fermented flavour, I use miso, white wine vinegar, and the juice from a jar of white sauerkraut. This adds a nice tang similar to emmental or gruyere.
You have to make sure that you an arsenal of delicious dippers for your cheese fondue. Bread is great, and i’m all about that #CarbLife , but variety is the spice of life. My favourite dippers are crusty french baguette, sourdough or walnut bread, plenty of fresh vegetables such as lightly blanched cauliflower or broccoli florets, vinegary gherkins, or pickled onions. Roasted potatoes are also delicious along with your favourite vegan sausages.
Fondue party rules
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- Start with the bread: Traditionally, you start with pieces of bread in your cheese fondue, and then move on to dipping in vegetables, faux meats and whatever else you want.
- The proper method for dipping: Scrape the bread, or potato on the bottom of the pot in a zig zag. This helps stir the pot and prevents it from burning on the bottom of the pot. Let the excess “cheese” drip back into the pot, to prevent wastage and allow it to cool for a moment. No one needs burnt mouth that you can’t taste with.
- Don’t eat directly off your fondue fork: …or double dip. Instead of double dipping or eating off your fondue fork, remove the dipped food, and place on your plate. Then pick it up with your regular fork to eat it.
- “Shot in the Middle” : The “coupe d’midi”, or “shot in the middle”, is when you take a shot of Kirsch schnapps, in the middle of the meal to create more room for food. Somehow this magically produces more room if you’re feeling too full.
- Don’t Drink Water With Cheese Fondue: It will cause the bread to swell. Dry white wine or tea are the best accompaniments to fondue.
- If anyone loses their bread in the cheese, they have to run around the kitchen naked. Seriously.
…And on that note, just trust me, you won’t find a better vegan fondue recipe out there. I hope you decide to invite cheese fondue back into your life by sharing this dairy free, cholesterol free, lactose free, casein free, animal free vegan fondue with a party of your closest friends! Happy New Year! And happy FUN-do-ing!
- ¼ cup olive oil
- ¼ small yellow onion, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 vegetable bouillon cubes
- 6 cups water
- 1 large yellow potato
- 1 cup short white rice (arborio rice is best)
- 1 cup raw cashews
- ½ cup white sauerkraut water
- ½ cup nutritional yeast flakes
- 2 tbsp white wine vinegar
- ¼ cup + 2 Tbsp tapioca starch
- 2 Tbsp brown miso
- 2 tsp sea salt
- 1 tsp mustard powder
- ½ cup dry riesling white wine
- 3 tbsp kirsch schnapps
- In a large saucepan, heat up olive oil over medium high heat. Add onions and garlic and sweat until translucent, about 3 minutes.
- Add bouillon cubes, water, potato, rice, and cashews and bring to a boil.
- Once boiling, reduce heat to a simmer, and cover.
- Cook until rice and potatoes are soft, 25-30 mins. Stir occasionally.
- Once the rice and potatoes are soft, remove from heat and transfer mixture to a blender. If you have a smaller blender, and it doesn't all fit, do this in batches.
- Blend with the feeding hole open to release steam, until very very smooth. If you do not have a high speed blender, this will take longer. Give the motor a break every minute or so, and blend until smooth.
- Once your potato mixture is smooth, add sauerkraut water, nutritional yeast, vinegar, tapioca starch, miso, salt and mustard powder. Blend again until well incorporated 30-60 seconds.
- Now you can store this in the fridge until you are ready to serve your party guests, or serve right away.
- Pour the cheese mixture into the top of a double boiler or a fondue pot set, heat.
- Once heated and soft, using a whisk, mix in white wine and kirsh schnapps.
- Heat and whisk the mixture until it’s very hot.
- Serve with warm chunks of French bread, roasted potatoes or veggies, green apples, and gherkins or pickled onions.
- Bon apetit!

OH MY GOD! I had a craving of cheese fondue tonight and your recipe is more than perfect, it’s THE real deal!
I didn’t have any miso nor saukraust so I replaced it with tahini with some soya sauce and took some rice vinegar and it turned out really good!
Thank you so much for this recipe!
It tasted like the real one <3
this recipe is GOLDEN
all friends said that’s impossible to say that it’s not cheese
I added more wine, it gives it more acidity and in my opinion makes it more cheesy
make sure you serve it hot, taste and consistency is much better when it hot, not warm
oh, and I tried to freeze it (before adding wine), it works great, just warm it up and blend one more time, add wine and serve, super yummy!
What, if anything, can I replace the potato with? I have a nightshade allergy.
Any mild-tasting starchy vegetable should work, but I have only tested it with potatoes
Our kiddo is allergic to cashews…do you think it could be replaced with navy beans? Or something different? She is also allergic to dairy. Thanks!
Try replacing the cashews with soaked raw sunflower seeds
I made this for Valentines day fun treat with our kiddos. Our youngest is allergic to cashews so I just replaced it with unsalted roasted sunflower seeds. I did not soak them (partially because I forgot), but this cheese dip was amazing!!! Our 11 and 12 year olds could not stop eating it! We had it for lunch and dinner, and still had several cups of cheese dip left over. I was going to see how well it would hold up to freezing, but it got ate the next day. Thank you for this recipe and a memorable Valentines day!
Holy Shit. I can honestly say I will be making this for the rest of my life! I made it for my non-vegan boyfriend and his roommates for NYE. They were so impressed they were talking about it all night. I also made mac and cheese out of the sauce the next day. I followed the recipe exactly and it is just perfect.
Wow, I was skeptical that this was going to turn out as I was making it but in the end, it tasted JUST like Swiss fondue. Only two notes: 1) the consistency was right until I added the liquor (last step) so you might have to add more tapioca starch than you think you need. 2) This made A LOT omg. You could half it and STILL have a ton. I actually found myself googling how to make a Mac & cheese out of the left over because it made SO much. Only final thing is that I have a Ninja blender and still ended up blending it for probably close to 5 minutes with breaks for the blender motor. It will eventually get smooth, though!
Do you think Riesling is important. I’m not a fan of Riesling and wouldn’t want to waste the rest of the bottle. Almost any other white or prosecco sounds good
Another white wine should be fine. I would avoid sparkling wine as the bubbles may change the texture
Do you drain water after cooking the rice and potatoes or mix with the water?
The seasoned water should mostly absorb into the potatoes and rice so don’t drain it
It looks amazing, I would love to do it for Christmas! Do you know if I can replace sauerkraut with something else? or can I just replace it with water and it won’t affect consistency, only flavour? Thank you 🙂
You could leave it out or replace it with a little pickle juice or vinegar. Just use care not to overpower the flavour
This is the best friggin cheese fondue ever! I Just made it to celebrate for the happy news of the election and our family loved it!!!! I used to miss cheese fondue but not anymore! This is the best cheese fondue recipe!!! Thank you so much!
WOW! I made this for my wedding anniversary and my husban looooved it, and so did I. Where I live is hard to find some ingredients so I had to work it without the mustard powder (used dijon mustard instead) and a black bean homemade miso, skipped the kirsch schnapps… it turned out still amazing, it makes A LOT! so we only had 1/3 that night with bread, apples and roasted brocoli, it was all our dinner. used another third mixed with chipotle for pasta (OMG!!!), and we are planning to use the rest for pizza… maybe tomorrow 😁
Thanks for this recipie
I tried it with roasted cashews, skipped the rice and added butternut squash and it turned out very good, it impressed even the non-vegans.
Now I’m using the leftovers instead of bechamel sauce in a vegan lasagna.
Highly recommend!
I’m dairy-free, not vegan… could I use chicken bouillon cubes instead of vegetable? I can’t find vegetable anywhere! Looking forward to trying this on my birthday this year, since we will be stuck inside!
Chicken bouillon is not vegan friendly so I can’t recommend it. Vegetable bouillon cubes, paste or powder will work!
You are a miracle worker! This fondue was spot on amazing! We always do a fondue night with our for kids for Valentine’s Day and this year we are plant-based so this was a life saver! Even my mom who isn’t vegan thought it was amazing.
Excellent sauce. The kraut sauce and the wine make it very rich and interesting. It also almost had a waxiness to it, like real cheese. Used medium grain rice and it was fine.
Super excited to surprise my gluten free/dairy free family with this, but mine has come out more brown than yellow, so with consistency, I feel like I’m more peanut butter than cheese— any recommendations to help with the color? Thanks!!
Make sure you’re using a yellow potato, white rice, white wine and soaking the cashews overnight. Also, try a white miso. Hopefully, these will lead you to a more accurate colour for your fondue.
This is uncanny. It tastes so real.
Thank you!!!!
Someone asked the question, but i dont’ think it was answered – can this be frozen? And/ or how long will it last in the fridge for?
Yes, I freeze a portion because it makes a lot. And I use it as cheese in other recipes as well
Allergic to cashews. Any suggestion for a substitution?
Are you allergic to all nuts? or just cashews?
I haven’t tried this recipe, but soaked sunflower seeds are a good alternative to cashews in a lot of vegan recipes.
Brillant. Everyone loved it, and we recently took a trip to Switzerland where the omnivores ate a lot of fondue. I am glad I got to try it, it was a hit with everyone. I recommend making a meal out of this, it’s a LOT of fondue. Thank you so much for the recipe, going to check out your book that I read about in these reviews for sure!
This was perfect for an evening in with my boyfriend! I can’t wait to try your chocolate fondue recipe next!!
This makes me so happy to hear! Thanks for leaving 5 Stars! IT really helps my recipe reach more people for them to enjoy 🙂
Just made this and was so delicious! I have some left over and want to use in the coming weeks (fondue twice in one week may be over kill) do you think I could freeze this?
Hi! I am having a hard time finding tapioca starch…..until I order it can I use arrowroot powder? I am making this for Christmas Eve!!
can confirm, arrowroot powder worked beautifully, using a 1 to 1 ratio.
I have never before posted a comment on a recipe web site but had to do it now. You’re right, this has to be by far the best vegan cheese fondue recipe on the internet… and maybe even the best cheese fondue recipe, period. I was highly sceptical as I was making this but it’s a miracle. I’m ordering your book!
I tried this recipe (from inside your book!) this weekend for a pumpkin carving party, and it was AMAZING! Totally stretchy just like cheese, and it for real really does taste like fondue!!! HOW DID YOU DO THAT?! A table full on omnis ate it until they were out of bread, apples, and potatoes, and pita chips for dipping! I feel like roasting some B sprouts and dipping them would be divine! Thank you for all your hard work!!!!!!
Wow. This is the only thing that I thought I would miss when becoming vegan. I was very sceptical when reading the title, but the comments here are so good that I will try it out. I’m looking forward to try this.
Thanks in advance for your work figuring out this recipie.
One question: I read that miso can be replaced with soy sauce. Do you agree?
Excellent! Do you think I could use the leftovers to make a Mac & Cheese?
This is a great recipe! I made this exactly like it was written and it was absolutely fantastic ! 5 stars!!!!! One thing to know is that about 3/4 the way though cooking this I had no testerorone left and I liked he Hillary campaign in Facebook! Transgenders forever!
Does the alcohol cook out of this? I want to share it with my toddler but not if there’s any alcohol in it.
You can always avoid putting in the alcohol if you want to share it with your toddler.
Brown miso is NOT VEGAN!! It may contain Bonito which is fish. This recipe should not include this ingredient!
Not all miso uses bonito. There are hundreds of miso options that don’t use bonito. Just be sure to read the label before buying/using.
Looks amazing but I need to know: is it on the thick side? I prefer my fondue not extremely thick, so should I add slightly less rice and tapioca ? thx
What is the purpose of the kirsch on the taste?
Fondue is traditionally served with kirsch as it adds a more complex flavour to the fondue. The alcohol burns off, so you can’t really taste it all that much. An alternative would be to use brandy.
New Years’ Eve 2017, eating this right now with my mom and daughter. Fondue was a New Year’s tradition for us, until my daughter became a vegan, but now it’s back! Thanks SO much!!! It is fantastic!!!! We didn’t have the Kirsch…
The only thing we think we would maybe do different , is possibly use white Miso next time instead of brown. We don’t know anything about Miso, but we liked the color better before we added the brown Miso. Would that change the flavor too much?
Hey Beth! The change in miso shouldn’t change the taste of the fondue, just the colour! So happy to hear you guys got to enjoy vegan fondue this year!
Can it be made with something other than cashews? Nut allergy…
Hey Jenn! You can use raw sunflower seeds to replace the cashews.
This recipe is amazing! Make it, just DO it! It was thoroughly enjoyed by vegans and non-vegans at our annual raclette and fondue dinner party. Yum!
I am so happy to hear that you (and everyone else) loved the recipe!!!! Happy New Year!
This is probably the best fondue I have ever eaten…and I’ve had 45 Christmas Eve fondue dinners. The non plant based people in my family loved it and were surprised after they found out it was plant based. Thank you so much!! And happy Christmas!
what an awesome review! I am SO happy that you and everyone else loved it so much!
Oh, also, can this be frozen before adding the wine and kirsch?
I want to know the answer to this too! I want to make mine in advance and freeze it
OMG!! Just made the base for the fondue tomorrow. Sooooo good. My husbands vegan, not me but this tastes like cheese. I can’t believe it!! Great job 🏆
Making this for Christmas Eve dinner. Can I use cornstarch instead of tapioca starch? (I’m not at all familiar with tapioca starch)
The corn starch is more of a thickener, while the potato starch makes the cheese nice and stretchy and melty. I recommend using the potato starch. HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
Is potato starch the same thing as tapioca starch? I’m making this today, so excited to try it!
Tapioca starch is what gives this cheese it’s stringy, cheesy gooey-ness. I do not recommend replacing it with another starch if you want a real cheeselike consistency.
Can you make this with non-raw cashews?
Yes but it will have a mild cashew flavour that you would not get if you used raw cashews
Great recipe! We made this tonight and absolutely loved it. We will definately be making it again! 😀
This fondue recipe is bombastic 🙂 100% approve from me as a native Swiss! Thank you for sharing.
Thanks so much! I am SO happy you loved it!!!!! 🙂
Oh I am so excited to have found those and SO looking forward to trying it – thank you thank you thank you!
Do you think this could be made ahead? I’d like to be able to store in the fridge overnight and reheat the following day.
absolutely! just reheat it on low 🙂
I am a cheeseaholic, so I can’t wait to try this and see what it tastes like. Can I use a bottle of sauerkraut juice instead of a jar of sauerkraut? https://www.amazon.com/Hamptons-Brine-Sauerkraut-Kvass/dp/B01EMAKVOI/ref=pd_sim_325_1?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=D963NP9FZVD7DWC2A396
I haven’t tried that, but I don’t see why not! 🙂
I made this and found it very good…but I used it to top potatoes and other veg as a “cheese” sauce. Everyone liked it. The first time I made it I forgot the cashews and it was still good and I never use the alcohol (It isn’t necessary)
All I have is red miso can I use that instead of brown?
Yes, it will simply change the colour of the fondue.
Can this be prepared A day in advance?
Yes!
Eeeeeeeee!!! Thank you so much, I have the cutest fondue pot (it’s yellow, with orange fits to make it look like Swiss cheese) that I had to put away when I became vegan. Thanks to you I now have a recipe that looks delicious and doesn’t scare me off with vegan cheese!! So glad you do what you do, you make being a vegan so easy.
Dots*, lol, now I’m in a laughing fit, “orange fits”.
Same here!! It is freakin amazing!! Congrats!!!
WOW This SO similar to real cheese fondue! I am totally shocked!!!!