Chicken Broth Fondue Recipe

Fondue is an indulgent dining experience with humble beginnings. It originated in Switzerland as a way for families to stretch their food budgets, by using up ageing cheese and stale bread.

They would dip stale bread in melted cheese and wine sauce, to soften it and make it tender enough to eat. 

It was tasty, and an easy way to put cheap meals on the table during the winter months when fresh food resources were limited.

Fondue has come a long way since then, and it is no longer considered a frugal meal. It is made with a large variety of ingredients. Sometimes rather pricey fare. 

It was introduced to Americans in the 1960’s. And it quickly became a very popular way to enjoy a communal eating experience at a dinner party.

It can easily be presented as an appetizer, a main course, or a dessert; depending on the variety of dipping sauce served in the pot.

Whether you make a pot of chocolatey goodness, cheesy indulgence, or rich brothy delight for your guests makes no difference. It is all comfort food that will make them feel as though you’ve just given them a great big, warm hug.

In this post I’m going to share my recipe for chicken broth fondue with you. Broth fondues are my favorite way to serve this dish as a meal.

I prefer to serve cheese fondues as an appetizer and chocolate fondues for dessert.  

Ingredients Needed To Make Chicken Broth Fondue

The broth for this chicken fondue recipe is pretty basic and doesn’t require many ingredients at all. If you keep chicken broth on hand in your kitchen, than you likely will have everything you need to put it together.

Here is a list of the ingredients used for the broth, for your reference …

• CHICKEN BROTH – There is a great recipe for homemade chicken broth on the blog. Made from scratch is always the tastiest way to go. But you can use premade broth from the store. Or you can make some broth quickly with a little bouillon paste and some water. 
• WINE – A little white wine is used in this recipe to level up the flavor. It is an optional ingredient. But it is highly recommended and makes a very flavorful broth.
• SALT, PEPPER, THYME, & BAY LEAF – These are the seasonings I use to flavor my broth. You can use any seasonings you prefer. I like this combination because it is simple, and it’s a classic choice for good old-fashioned chicken broth.
• GINGER, GARLIC, & SCALLIONS – These ingredients can be used in dried form if that’s all you have in the house. But, use fresh if you can. It takes the dish to a higher level.
• CORNSTARCH – This will be used to thicken the broth.

You can easily make your broth fondue in different flavors; simply replace the chicken broth with beef broth, pork broth, turkey broth, vegetable stock, or seafood stock.

The dippers that are used for this recipe are cooked. The following is a list of those, and suggestions for others, if you want to make other choices or expand the choices that you serve with your fondue.

• MEATS – Chicken and chicken sausage were used for this recipe. You can use beef, beef sausage, pork, pork sausage, turkey, turkey sausage, fish, shrimp, or lobster.
• VEGGIES – Zucchini, carrots, red bell pepper, and mushrooms were used for this recipe. You can use onions, broccoli, cauliflower, yellow squash, sweet pepper, hot pepper, asparagus, celery, artichoke hearts, brussel sprouts, or green beans.
• STARCHES – Baby potatoes, whole grain bread, and rustic white bread were used for this recipe. You can use potatoes, baby corn, any bread variety, croutons, penne pasta, rigatoni pasta, gnocchi (or whole wheat gnocchi), ravioli, or tortellini.

You may consider experimenting with variations for your chicken broth fondue as well. You can replace the wine with a bit of lemon juice. Add some soy sauce, sour cream, or hot sauce to the mix. Or use burgundy wine or sherry wine instead of white.

How To Make Chicken Broth Fondue

Cut a large chicken breast and a few chicken sausages into bite size pieces and sauté them in a pan with a little salt and black pepper until they are cooked through.

Wash the veggies and potatoes. Cut them into bite size pieces. Do not cut them into thin strips as they will be harder to dip that way. Place them in a bowl. Toss them with some olive oil, salt, and pepper. 

Spread the veggies that take longer to bake on one sheet pan. And spread the rest on a separate pan. Doing this allows you to put the one pan into the oven before the other, providing additional time for the veggies that take longer to bake.

Bake them in a 350 degree oven until they are cooked to the consistency that you prefer.

Cut the bread into bite size pieces.

While the dippers are being prepared you can start making the fondue broth. To do this, cook the ginger and garlic in olive oil for just a minute or two.

Add the wine to the pot and bring to a simmer.

Add the chicken broth and the spices and return to a simmer.

Then remove a small amount of the broth and blend it together with the cornstarch to make a thickening paste.

Whisk the thickening sauce into the broth to create a gravy-like consistency.

Pour this into the fondue pot and top with chopped scallions. Add more scallions as needed while enjoying your fondue.

Cooked Dippers vs Raw Dippers When Serving Fondue

It is very common for the dippers in fondue broth recipes to be served raw. The broth is not thickened as it is in this recipe, and the dippers are placed on fondue forks and held in the broth until they are cooked through. I prefer not to serve my broth fondue that way.

In my opinion, it is messy and difficult to deal with raw meat at the table while socializing. I have often done this on quiet nights at home and it’s a lovely treat. But when making fondue for a gathering I go pre-cooked.

Many of the vegetables are better when they are precooked as well. Carrots, for instance, are very difficult to bring to a pleasant consistency in a pot of fondue broth.

Equipment Needed To Serve Food Fondue Style

The equipment that is needed to serve a fondue style meal is pretty basic. You need a pot that has a heat source to keep the fondue warm while it’s sitting on the table. Fondue pots come corded or cordless. 

Having an electric fondue pot is nice because you can more easily control the temperature of the pot. But I find the better way is to use a pot that is heated by setting a candle underneath it.

This eliminates having to deal with electrical cords running from the table, which can be quite hazardous when hosting a gathering.

If you don’t have a fondue pot, and you’re not ready to invest in one, then you can use a mini crockpot. Or you can even use a double boiler on a hot plate.

I’m pretty sure you’re only going to do that once or twice before you fall madly in love with this style meal and order yourself a fondue pot.

Fondue forks come with the pots. They’re the best option for dipping the dippers in the fondue. And they are color coded so that guests will be able to keep track of their own fork.

It’s still a good idea to put regular forks on the table when serving fondue. You don’t want anyone eating directly from their fondue fork. They can use a regular fork to slide their dipped goodies off of the fondue fork onto their plate.

And then use it to eat them as well. Small plates are all that’s necessary when serving this meal. But you’ll need serving dishes to place the dippers on the table. You can use platters, boards, or bowls for this.

If you choose not to serve each dipper in it’s own dish, use a separate platter for meats, veggies, and starches. And finally, don’t forget the napkins. This meal tends to get a little messy; be prepared.

How To Use Fondue Forks

If you have guests over for a fondue night who are not familiar with this meal you may want to explain the proper use of the fondue fork to them.

This may seem like it would be an uncomfortable conversation at first. But the truth is they will likely appreciate the heads up on fondue etiquette.

Many fondue newbies feel as though they don’t know how to properly partake in the fondue goodness. They are happy to gain a little understanding of how to proceed. It keeps them from feeling as though they are going to appear foolish.

You can explain that it is best to immerse dippers to the bottom of the pot and coat them using a zigzag or figure eight pattern. This helps to keep the pot stirred; releasing the full flavor of the broth. 

Allow any excess broth to fall from the dippers before bringing the fork to your plate. This is best done by twirling the fondue fork while holding it over the pot.

Remove dippers from the fondue fork with a regular fork; never put the fondue fork in your mouth. Don’t take a bite of the dipper from the fondue fork and then return the remaining portion of the dipper to the pot. In other words, no double dipping.

Tips And Tricks For Serving Fondue

In addition to fondue fork etiquette there are a few other tips and tricks for serving this meal that will be helpful for you to know.

• If you are using an electric fondue pot, be sure to secure the cord so that no one trips over it; knocking over the pot and possibly injuring themselves or someone else.
• Cut the meat and veggies in uniform, bite-sized pieces for ease of dipping and eating.
• The dippers should be tender, but not so tender that they fall apart when placed on the fondue fork.
• Be sure that the dippers are not so small that they fall apart when placed on the fondue fork.
• Be sure that the dippers are not so large that they make the fork top heavy.
• Don’t go overboard with the selection of dippers that you lay out on the table. This can lead to overwhelm for guests; simple is best.

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