This is the best vegan cheese fondue! It is naturally cultured, super cheesy, thick, and so creamy! Prepared from 10 wholesome ingredients, this vegan fondue is comfort food at its best! Cheese lovers, you will never miss fondue again!
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📘 What is Fondue?
Fondue is a Swiss dish that consists of melted cheese combined with wine, and served in a communal pot. The pot is placed in the center of the table and heated with a candle or small burner to keep it warm.
Each guest then dips chunks of bread into the melted cheese using a long fork.
⭐️ Why You Will Love this Recipe
This vegan fondue is EPIC. It took quite a few tries to get right, but the result is well worth it!
- Cheesy and creamy: The texture of this fondue is spot on, thick yet creamy and just slightly stretchy. Check out the video to see the stretchiness!
- Naturally fermented: We are fermenting cashew cream to bring an unmatched flavor and real cheesiness to the fondue! While other recipes may rely on something acidic like vinegar or yogurt, I really believe this extra step takes the fondue to another level.
- Rustic and comforting: There is nothing more cozy than dipping bread into melted cheese, is there?
To sum it up, this fondue is incredibly delicious! Let's do it!
🫕 How to Make Vegan Fondue
This fondue recipe requires just 10 ingredients. Here is what you will need:
- Raw cashews - It makes the base and brings richness as well as the perfect creamy texture. Make sure you are using raw cashews, not the roasted ones.
- Probiotics - These will help the cashew cream ferment and get a tangy flavor. Check the FAQ to see which probiotic I use.
- White wine - Essential to get an authentic flavor. Use cooking white wine, there is no need to break your wallet for a fancy white wine.
- Nutritional yeast - For extra cheesiness and to increase the umami.
- White miso - Again, for umami, saltiness, and a very subtle nuttiness. Use sweet white miso for the best results. If you want to learn how to make your own, check our guide on How to Make Chickpea Miso!
- Onion powder and garlic - Dried onion powder and fresh garlic both help enhance the overall flavor of the fondue.
- Tapioca starch - To thicken the cheese sauce and add stretchiness.
- Maple syrup - Swiss cheese tends to have sweet notes, that's why you want to add a drizzle of maple syrup.
- Coconut oil - Optional, but since authentic fondue is rich (and a bit fatty!), a couple of tablespoons of oil helps get a texture and mouthfeel closer to the real fondue.
Culturing the Cashew Cream
Start by preparing the cashew milk that will be make the base of our fondue.
Blend soaked cashews with water until smooth. Next, transfer the cashew cream to a clean jar and stir in the powder from a probiotic capsule.
Tip: use a large jar that you will only fill to the half. As it ferments, the cashew cream will expand a little bit, so make sure you are not filling a jar to the top, or it will overflow.
Cover the jar with plastic wrap, or with a clean towel, and let it ferment at room temperature for about 24 hours. Depending on the temperature of your home, it might take a bit longer.
You know the cashew cream is ready once you can see some air bubbles. It should also has a pleasant and tangy flavor.
Making the Fondue
Once the cashew cream is cultured, it's time to make the fondue!
Add the cashew cream and all of the other ingredients to a blender and blend until smooth.
To add a yellow color to the fondue, you have two options:
- Turmeric - Everyone probably already have this spice on hand, so this is the easiest option. Turmeric will give the fondue a yellow color.
- Annatto oil - This oil is prepared by frying annatto seeds. Annatto oil gives the fondue the perfect light orange/beige color, this is the option I recommend for a more appetizing look. Check out our recipe if you want to learn How to Make Annatto Oil.
Once blended, transfer to a saucepan and heat over medium heat while whisking constantly. Once the fondue has thickened and is hot, you can transfer it to a fondue set, or serve it immediately!
📔 Tips
How to Eat Fondue
Dip chunks of bread into the hot cheese fondue and enjoy, it's as easy as that! If you want to switch things up, you can definitely dip roasted baby potatoes, or steamed veggies like broccoli.
There is a little game that comes with fondue. The one that drops a piece of bread inside the pot has to pay a forfeit!
Equipment
Although you can heat this fondue in a saucepan and transfer to a pot before serving, I highly recommend using a fondue set for a more convivial meal and better experience.
A fondue set will keep the fondue warm during the whole dinner, and it's much more friendly to have one big pot in the middle of the table instead of small individual ones!
If you don't own a set yet, check out this Enamel Cast Iron Fondue Set that works with a gel burner, or this Stainless Steel Electric Fondue Set if you want to be able to set the temperature more precisely.
Note: If serving for just one person, you can simply heat the fondue in a small cast-iron pot over the stove, it should stay warm long enough.
💬 FAQ
- What can I substitute for the cashews? I haven't found any good substitute yet, it's the only nut that yields a super creamy consistency.
- Which probiotic should I use? I personally used this Acidophilus probiotic, however most probiotics will work.
- What can I substitute for the white wine? Unfortunately if you want an authentic fondue flavor, there is no substitute. Be aware that the amount used it totally safe for kids, and some of the alcohol evaporates during the cooking step.
- How long does fondue keep? This vegan fondue will keep for up to 3 days in the refrigerator. I recommend covering it with plastic film to touch while the fondue is still hot to prevent a skin from forming on top.
- How to reheat fondue? Reheat over low-medium heat, stirring very regularly to prevent it from sticking to the bottom. If the fondue is too thick, dilute with a few tablespoons of vegetable stock, or water and a pinch of salt.
This vegan fondue has the perfect balance of cheesiness and tanginess! It's the ultimate comfort food to have on chilly days. You won't be able to stop dipping into it!
🧀 More Vegan Cheese Recipes
Let me know in the comments, and feel free to leave a rating if you try this recipe!
📖 Recipe
Vegan Cheese Fondue
Ingredients
Cashew Cream
- 1 cup raw cashews soaked overnight
- 1 cup water
- 1 capsule probiotics
Fondue
- ½ cup white wine
- ⅔ cup water
- 3 tablespoon nutritional yeast
- 2 tablespoon oil optional, for a richer flavor
- ¼ cup tapioca starch
- 1 tablespoon sweet white miso
- 2 teaspoon maple syrup
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- 1 and ½ teaspoon annatto oil or ⅛ teaspoon turmeric
- ½ and ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ clove of garlic
Instructions
Cashew Cream
- Drain the soaked cashews and transfer to a high-speed blender. Add the water and blend on high for 20-30 seconds, or until smooth and creamy.
- Transfer the cashew cream to a clean jar*. Add the powder from one capsule of probiotics and stir it into the cashew cream using a wooden spoon.
- Cover the jar with plastic film, or with a clean cheese cloth. Let it ferment at room temperature for about 24 hours (or up to 48 hours). The cashew cream is ready once you can see some bubbles and it has a tangy flavor.
Fondue
- Transfer the fermented cashew cream to a blender and add all of the other ingredients. Blend for 15-20 seconds or until smooth. The fondue will be very liquid, that is normal.
- Pour the fondue batter into a large saucepan. Heat over medium heat, whisking constantly, until it thickens and starts to get stretchy, about 5 minutes.
- You can then serve it immediately, or transfer to a fondue set to keep warm. Dip pieces of bread into the cheese fondue and enjoy!
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Hi Thomas,
This recipe looks good, thank you.
Do you think it would work as a cheesy filling for Quesadillas?
Hi Ruth,
Thanks! I think that should definitely work! Maybe use a bit more tapioca to get a slightly thicker consistency.
Can I leave out sweet white miso (plus salt)? It is extremely high in sodium and I am on a no salt diet. Thank you.
Unfortunately the fondue will be missing on flavor without the salt and miso.
I wonder what the forfeit would be? No more bread for the dropee? LOL Thanks for this great recipe!
The forfeit depends on what the other guests decide 😀
Thanks Annie, hope you will like the recipe!
HiThomas
I have been following your blog for about 2 years. You are very creative and resourceful in your recipes. Keep up the excellent work! As for this recipe, can I replace the probiotics with vegan yogurt instead as a starter? N how much shld I add? Thanks!
Hi Kimberly,
Thanks for your kind words 😉 I have never tried with yogurt, but I think it will work! I believe yogurt cultures need a slightly warmer temperature to be active though.
Sorry but this is not a fondue for it's not stretchy at all and it is actually what we call a soup. You had better to wait until you created a real vegan fondue before publishing such a fail. The stretchy vegan cheese has not yet been invented therefore the vegan fondue is still a dream and not a real thing. With such failed recipe you'll just disappoint all the vegan who want a real vegan fondue. Please call this a vegan soup and you'll regain my respect. But don't behave like junk food vegan followers.
Demian,
If you don't like the recipe (I guess you haven't even tried it), you can simply move on to another one. I replied to your comment before on IG by saying that I never said it was stretchy like a real dairy fondue.
This is a plant-based alternative prepared with simple ingredients and a simple process. You could probably add more stretchiness by using some kind of gums like guar, locust, or xanthan, but I preferred to keep the recipe on the easy side.
Don’t know who ‘we’ is but you certainly don’t speak for me, Damian.
If you have anything constructive to share, do point us to your website, videos and blog of tried and tested recipes over the last few years.
I have tried this fondue recipe, with the addition of a tablespoon of kirsch and pouring the fondue into a pot rubbed with raw garlic, and it was to die for.
Another brilliant recipe, Thomas. Thank you for sharing as always.
* Demian. Apologies from spellcheck.
Thanks for your feedback Sam 😉 Glad you liked the recipe, and yes a tablespoon of kirsch sounds like a great addition! I completely forgot about it!
Demian West, already well known in the social media for being aggressive, unrespectful and arrogant. Demian, please just create your own recipes and let us keep a peaceful vegan community here.
Nidia, your comment is a very known and gross device to try to stigmatize and demonize a person who has another point of view than yours. It's a childish reaction and people they made their opinion alone they don't need people who launch a kind of fatwah. Become an adult and learn to respect the opinion of other people this is called democracy and to my mind veganism should be democratic as well. I am in the free and open world and I don't belong to a community because I want to think freely. And when some call a soup a fondue I have the right to say that I think it's a mistake. And this is not agressive it's called a critic and democracy is based on critics. All the people who wanted to silent me especially in the vegan community they all failed and my reputation among vegan chefs is very steadfast and widespread. Because I would never call a fondue what is not a fondue. That's the difference, truth is not agressivity it's the respect of all other people especially vegan who are so often disappointed by fake vegan products or cheeses that don't smell like cheese and without a texture of cheese.
You begin your comment by explaining that the "we" that I use does not concern you. Then you strive to explain to me what I should think, as if you were closest to me in this "we". And you say I'm not speaking on your behalf, then you speak and tell me what to think then on my behalf. Contradictory statement that ruins your comment. You have the right to like the soup, but don't call it vegan fondue because it's not a fondue, it's a soup, a very good soup. As for my skills, I am not responsible that you do not know how to use Google to find my publications there.
Sounds absolutely delicious.
Thanks Christine 🙂
Nidia, you should know that vegan are only 1% of the global population and non vegan are 99% therefore a fatwah launched by vegan against a person is quite a joke for so few people they are involved. Vegan should be more humble and not act like a sect and they should be more humble because it's not by calling non vegan with the terms agressive people that you'll change the world on the contrary. You should accept the critics and admit this fondue would never please to non vegan for they expect an imitation of the dairy fondue, and it's a fail. The fact is this soups doesn't please to me and probably many other people and so many non vegan, and this is their right. And above all I am not responsible it is a fail, I just tell you it is and this is my right, it's called free expression and not agressivity and first of all I am a rationalist and I don't behave according to emotions or community bounds for everybody knows that people they lie to preserve their community. And this is what you do when you talk about me. For everybody knows : You don't know me and you talk about somebody you don't know then how could this reach me ? This is how Marcus Aurelius and Epictetus they talked in the Ancient Rome and they would say it today in this case and it's called philosophy. And this is the contrary of designating somebody to the public shame by the means of lies.
This looks like a wonderful vegan fondue! Can you use a mesophilic culture instead of probiotics? I have some from making other wonderful cheeses in your book and would like to use what I have if possible.
Thanks Colleen! 🙂
Yes definitely! Mesophilic culture will work perfectly! 1/16 tsp should be enough.
I made this last night using the mesophilic culture and it was delicious! My wife keeps raving about it. Thomas have you ever attempted to make a hard parmesan recipe (for shaving on pasta etc.)? Any suggestions/recommendations would be appreciated! Your book and website are wonderful; thanks for all of the vegan cheese recipes!
Thanks for your feedback and rating Colleen, I really appreciate it!
I'm glad you and your wife liked the fondue 🙂
Unfortunately, I don't have any hard parmesan recipe yet, sorry.
Wow, Thomas-- to call this vegan fondue "epic" is no understatement. Been vegan for years and almost every recipe I use ends up needing more salt and/or seasoning to create the strong flavor I like. But THIS fondue recipe tastes incredible as-is! The flavor is intense and soooo good.
For next time, I'd like to try making it in a way that it remains somewhat pourable (like a sauce) when cold (since the tapioca starch causes it to get very much like "Jello" when cooled). Do you think I should use much less tapioca or omit it completely and cook it down on the stovetop for longer?
PS: Demian's gripe seems to be about the consistency (and he/she is certainly entitled to an opinion). But the FLAVOR of this recipe is incredible, which to me is the most important part. The consistency can be adjusted to one's liking, but boy oh boy does the flavor pack a punch 🙂
Thanks you so much for your amazing feedback Brooke! 😉 I'm glad you liked this fondue!
Yes, it does firm up once cold, but as soon as you reheat it, it should "melt" again. If you want to use it as a sauce, you could definitely reduce the amount of tapioca starch, maybe start with just 1 tablespoon.
Hi Thomas.
I wanted to let you know I tried this recipe without any tapioca starch at all and it turned out great! I heated it on low for about 15 minutes to cook off a lot of the water and thicken it up. Once it cooled, it was the consistency of nacho cheese and was great for dipping veggies in and also putting on a veggie burger as a nice cheese sauce. So good 🙂
Thanks for your feedback Brooke! 😉
Very excited to try this, I have already started the cashew cream fermenting on the counter and will aim to make it this week using baguette and potatoes to dip in it. I have loved all your other recipes that I have tried, so I have no doubt this will be fantastic! I'll return with my review once I've tested it 🙂
Hope you will like this fondue Diane 😉
Just a quick follow up to say that I love this recipe! I made two batches of this. In the first one, I followed the recipe almost exactly (accidentally used a whole clove of garlic instead of a half, but it was still good). It turned out really delicious! In the second batch, I got a little greedy and added another half cup of wine - mistake! I think, depending on the type of wine, it gets a bit too acidic with too much wine. That will teach me to deviate! Your recipe is perfect as it is. So my advice to anyone wanting to add more wine is to be cautious.
Another thing I like is that the consistency is adjustable. My first time making it, I think I left it on the heat too long and it got too thick, but then I simply added a bit of water and the consistency was perfect.
This makes a generous amount of fondue for two people - we used bread and potatoes to dip and I had a bit of fondue left. Will use it for something else tomorrow. Thank you for bringing fondue back into my life! It is one of the things I have missed the most since going vegan 🙂
Awesome! Thank you so much for your feedback Diane, I really appreciate it 🙂
I love recipes but get to collect them more than cook them. I am fermenting the cashews now and will finish it soon. I would not want to eat a lot of bread (but I would want to) so I am going tottery using vegetables as well-not the usual fondue fare but I do not consider myself the usual person. I have made a few recipes from this site and they are delicious. I save most emails so I can have them around. As for that Demian guy, I am going to say to him what idiotic people used to say to us when I did animal rights demonstrations-get a life.
You can definitely dip broccoli, roasted baby potatoes, carrots, etc, it's still delicious. I'm happy to hear you like the recipes Kate!
Please talk about me the day you know me, like an adult does.
Hi there,
Looks awesome! Is there a substitute I can use for nutritional yeast? I don't do well with that.
Thanks.
Hi Haleh,
You could add just a little bit more onion powder and miso.
Wonderful recipe Thomas! Making this for a fondue party tonight and I tried it and it tastes delightful! I was very impressed with how much the combination of sweet miso + nutritional yeast gets you to Swiss cheese flavor.
My first batch tasted a bit off, it strangely tasted like it didn't have enough fermentation in it, so I added a bit of soy sauce to balance it out (I had only fermented for about 16 hours). The next time I made it with cashews fermented for about 60 hours and it tasted great but just a little too tart; added some additional sweetener (Monkfruit in my case to avoid sugar) and I feel like it fixed it up to where my American taste buds expect cheese to be 🙂 also cut down on tapioca just a little and used vegan butter instead of oil to try and emulate cheese dip slightly more.
Thanks!
I'm so glad to hear you liked the recipe Kesavan! 🙂
Yes, I recommend tasting the cashew cream after 24 hours to see if it's sour enough or not for you.
Thanks for your rating!
This is truely the best vegan fondue we have had. We have tried many, but never had the stretchiness that this recipe has.
We eat it with a fresh baguette, sauteed mushrooms, steamed broccoli and a peeled apple.
Absolutely delish.
In fact, every recipe i have tried of yours has been wonderful. You are a natural 5 star chef and we are so happy you share.
We look forward to those "full of plants" emails.
Linda
Thanks so much for your feedback Linda! I really appreciate it 🙂
I love vegan cheese.
Thank you for sharing.
You're welcome! Hope you will like the recipe!
Thank you, Thomas, for another amazing recipe! This is spot on! We always end up eating too much because this is sooo good!
You're welcome Bev! 🙂
I'm going to make this recipe for Christmas, it looks fantastic! How can I substitute tapioca starch for xanthan gum?
Thanks for your recipes, all the ones I've tried have turned out great.
Hi,
I guess you could, but you will have to adjust the amount as xanthan gum is much stronger than tapioca starch when it comes to thickening liquids.
Again, a very good recipe, Thomas, thank you!
A few notes: We found it a little heavy on the nose concerning wine and yeast flavor (we used a Pinot Gris). Next time we'll reduce the amount of both a little bit or try a different grape/brand.
PS: Please don't feed the troll (aka Demian West)!
Glad you liked the recipe, thanks for your rating 🙂 Well, it depends on the type/brand of wine and yeast used; some are stronger than others. I hope you can tweak it to your liking!
Hi. I’m into foraged foods and saw this:
“…the juice is also a vegetarian rennet.”
https://www.eattheweeds.com/begonia-bonanza/
Perhaps this is of interest to you.
Tesd
Do you think this can also be done with fermented Tofu instead of probiotics?