Easy Chocolate Fondue

By
Katie Workman
Katie Workman
Award-winning food writer, blogger, and author of two cookbooks. She frequently appears on broadcast media sharing her expertise.
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Updated on 02/3/23
Easy chocolate fondue recipe

​The Spruce Eats / Julia Hartbeck
Prep: 5 mins
Cook: 10 mins
Total: 15 mins
Servings: 12 to 14 servings
Nutrition Facts (per serving)
574 Calories
34g Fat
73g Carbs
5g Protein
Show Full Nutrition Label Hide Full Nutrition Label
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 12 to 14
Amount per serving
Calories 574
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 34g 43%
Saturated Fat 18g 92%
Cholesterol 46mg 15%
Sodium 121mg 5%
Total Carbohydrate 73g 26%
Dietary Fiber 6g 22%
Total Sugars 52g
Protein 5g
Vitamin C 26mg 131%
Calcium 66mg 5%
Iron 3mg 17%
Potassium 452mg 10%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)

Making fondue is surprisingly easy. Just pick your favorite brand of chocolate chips, as the flavor will be critical to the finished dip, and your choice of dippers and dig in!

The nice thing with the chocolate is that you can use the chocolate chips, as mentioned, or you can also use bars of chocolate that can be chopped up before melting. Make sure to watch that the heat stays low—otherwise the chocolate can separate, get grainy, and burn easily.

As for dippers, you can dip all kinds of things into the fondue: bananas, apples, pears, orange segments, strawberries, marshmallows, cake or banana bread cubes, cookies, biscotti—you ​​and the kids can have a pretty good time figuring out what to serve with your chocolate bliss. Find some great platters or cake stands to present your dipper choices, and make sure you have skewers (if you have a fondue pot, it often comes with skewers in different colors so everyone can keep track of whose is whose—or just put out some disposable wooden skewers). This is a guaranteed crowd-pleaser. If you have a smaller group the recipe can easily be cut in half.

Ingredients

For the Fondue:

  • 2 cups heavy cream

  • 24 ounces semisweet chocolate chips, or chopped semisweet chocolate bars (see Tips)

  • 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

To Serve:

  • Sliced bananas

  • Sliced apples

  • Sliced pears

  • Orange segments

  • Strawberries

  • Marshmallows

  • Cake, or banana bread, cut into cubes

  • Cookies

  • Graham crackers

Steps to Make It

  1. Gather the ingredients.

    Ingredients for classic chocolate fondue
    ​The Spruce Eats / Julia Hartbeck

  2. If you have a fondue pot, prepare it according to the manufacturer's instructions and set it on the stand.

    Pot
    ​The Spruce Eats / Julia Hartbeck

  3. In a large saucepan over medium-low heat, warm the cream until hot, but not simmering.

    Warm
    ​The Spruce Eats / Julia Hartbeck

  4. Add the chocolate and stir just until melted and smooth.

    Add the chocolate
    ​The Spruce Eats / Julia Hartbeck

  5. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla.

    Remove from heat
    ​The Spruce Eats / Julia Hartbeck

  6. Pour the chocolate fondue into the fondue pot and set it up over the heat. 

    Melted chocolate
    ​The Spruce Eats / Julia Hartbeck

  7. Serve with your choice of the selected dippers.

    Serve
    ​The Spruce Eats / Julia Hartbeck

Tips

  • If you don’t have a fondue pot, you can just put the pot on the table—warn everyone, especially the kids, that the pot is hot. Rewarm it over very low heat as needed.
  • If you are looking for a more intense chocolate flavor, you can use bittersweet chocolate instead of semisweet. For the most part, semisweet and bittersweet can be used in baking interchangeably, depending on personal preferences.
  • Bittersweet chocolate is at least 35 percent pure chocolate with some small amount of sugar added. In Europe, it might be labeled dark chocolate. It’s usually (but not always) darker and less sweet than semisweet. Specific sweetness and color intensity vary by manufacturer's recipes and cacao bean sources. It can be used for baking and eating.
  • Semisweet chocolate is also at least 35 percent pure chocolate, but it has added cocoa butter and usually a bit more sugar. It’s the most versatile chocolate, and you’ll see it called for in all kinds of baking recipes. It comes in many forms such as block, discs, squares, and chips. It also can be used for baking and eating.