Having family traditions for the holidays is a great way to have your kids feel connected and loved. Our special Valentine’s Fondue Dinner is a great tradition to connect with your kids on this fun holiday!
Holiday Traditions and Involving Food
Valentine’s Day is a day to express your love to those you love, so of course we include our kids. While I’m definitely snagging some alone time with my husband, I’m also deeply in love with my kids and want to spend time with them also. My kids look forward to this tradition every year. What I didn’t realize when I first started this tradition is how successful it could be in getting my kids to try and eat different foods they normally don’t love.
So, if you want to see your kids eat double the vegetables than you expect, serve your veggies with fondue! One mom said about this fondue, “This was a big hit even with the adult picky eaters!” LOL.
Valentine’s Fondue Dinner Menu
The star of our dinner is always the cheese fondue. We like to have a protein option as well. This is our typical menu:
Entrees
Roasted Chicken + Steak
Cheese Fondue with Dippers
Dessert
Chocolate Fondue
Berries + Fresh Fruit
Dessert Dippers
We love to have a lot of different options for dipping in the cheese fondue! These are some ideas for dippers:
Veggies:
- Broccoli
- Asparagus
- Zucchini
- Carrots
- Cauliflower
- Cherry Tomatoes
- Bell Peppers
- Celery
- Mushrooms
Fruit:
- Apples
- Pears
- Grapes
Grains:
- French Bread
- Multi-grain bread
- Sourdough bread
- Soft or hard pretzels
- Tortellini
- Tortilla Chips (think nachos)
If you have really little kids and raw veggies are too hard to chew, you can blanch the veggies. To do this, I dunked the veggies in boiling water for 2 minutes, than I removed them from the boiling water and shocked them with a cold water bath. This stops the vegetables from continuing to cook. It’s a great method for kids, because you get a softer veggie than raw, but it’s not so cooked that they turn mushy. Great for fondue!
Cheese fondue is really easy to make. We bought this fondue pot years ago, and it has worked great for this tradition! I would highly recommend the Cuisinart brand. The fondue only takes a few minutes to make and then stays warm and melty in the pot.
It is also fun to serve a fancy drink with our Valentine’s dinner. Sometimes we will do a 100% choose mixed with club soda. Some years we have made Italian Sodas which my kids love! You can even print a fancy menu and make it feel like you are at a restaurant.
And of course no Valentinedinner is complete without some chocolate dipped strawberries! Some of our other favorite things to dip in chocolate fondue are:
- Pineapple
- Bananas
- Cuties
- Kiwi
- Pound Cake
- Rice Krispie Treats
- Marshmallows
- Strawberries
- Pretzels
- Nilla Wafers
- Caramel Pieces
Whatever you decide to serve, adding a few decorations, or fancy dinnerware makes it feel really special. I hope you can enjoy this fun Valentine’s traditions with your kids!
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
3.8 from 37 votes
Valentine’s Fondue
Fondue makes dinner extra special and is also a fun and delicious way to include more veggies in your meal.
Prep Time1 hour hr
Cook Time1 hour hr 20 minutes mins
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: American
Servings: 4 servings
Calories: 1688kcal
Ingredients
Cheese Fondue
- 1 cup cooking wine can use chicken broth instead
- 1/2 pound cheddar cheese, shredded
- 1/2 pound gouda cheese, shredded
- 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
Chocolate Fondue
- 10 ounces semisweet chocolate pieces
- 1/3 cup milk
- 1/3 cup heavy cream
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
Cheese Fondue
Turn your fondue pot (or pot on the stove) to medium-high. Add cooking wine or chicken broth and bring to a simmer. Turn heat down to medium. Add cheeses 1/4 pound at a time. Stir after each addition of cheese until melted.
Stir in flour. When the cheese has melted and flour is incorporated, stir in salt and nutmeg. Turn heat to low and serve with dippers!
Chocolate Fondue
In a saucepan, combine the chocolate milk and cream over low heat. Stir often until the chocolate is completely melted and the mixture is smooth.
Add the vanilla. If needed, stir in heavy cream or milk one tablespoon at a time until the consistency is how you like it.
Pour the mixture into a fondue pot or small slow cooker to keep warm while serving. Serve with dippers of your choice!
Notes
Cheese Fondue Dipper Ideas:
- Broccoli
- Asparagus
- Zucchini
- Carrots
- Cauliflower
- Cherry Tomatoes
- Bell Peppers
- Celery
- Mushrooms
- Apples
- Pears
- Grapes
- French Bread
- Multi-grain bread
- Sourdough bread
- Soft or hard pretzels
- Tortellini
Chocolate Fondue Dippers:
- Strawberries
- Bananas
- Pineapple
- Marshmallows
- Rice Krispie Treats
- Pound Cake
Nutrition
Calories: 1688kcal | Carbohydrates: 74g | Protein: 98g | Fat: 113g | Saturated Fat: 57g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 434mg | Sodium: 1513mg | Fiber: 9g | Sugar: 54g
Keyword : chicken, special dinner, strawberries, valentines, Veggies
www.superhealthykids.com
Natalie Monson
I'm a registered dietitian, mom of 4, avid lover of food and strong promoter of healthy habits. Here you will find lots of delicious recipes full of fruits and veggies, tips for getting your kids to eat better and become intuitive eaters and lots of resources for feeding your family.
Learn More about Natalie
Great blog with practical and appealing ideas. Nice job!
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What a beautiful valentines day Amy! Curious…did u make ur own bbq sauce or was it store bought? Every label of bbq sauce that i have read at the store contains hfcs and i prefer one without. So its been a while i have not served bbq chicken. Thanks!
Reply
Miriam- The Trader Joes brand does not have HFCS!
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You changed the recipe. Is the old one anywhere on your blog? I’ve used this for years, and the recipe never called for wine or gouda. I can’t remember what cheeses it used though.
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Sorry about that- we updated the recipe to the one that we have started using. But here is the old version:
1 lb Monterey cheese, shredded
2 tablespoon flour
1 cup milk
1 clove garlic (crushed)
Toss the cheese with the flour, add the milk and garlic to the fondue pot. Bring to a simmer. Slowly add the cheese/flour mixture while stirring.
Reply
This sounds so fun, I will try it out! I did want to check if you think an all purpose gluten free flour would be ok (as I have celiac so can’t do wheat flour); do you have a recommendation on what to do if I don’t own a fondue pot? I don’t want to buy one for a one time celebration.
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I think cornstarch might be a better substitute than gluten free flour, but I haven’t tried it! And you can melt your fondue on the stovetop over low heat. When it starts to cool and thicken, return it to the stove and gently heat until melted again. 🙂
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Family had a great time with this, delicious & fun! Used chicken stock for the cheese and crockpot for both. So good. The kids loved the gooey cheese. Roasted mushrooms were the surprise fav, but steamed cauliflower & tomatoes we’re good too. Chocolate was ridiculously delish & perfect texture. Thanks for the recipes!
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Sounds delicious! Thanks for sharing!!
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Hi, I made these for Valentine’s Day. I don’t think I took enough time to fully melt the cheeses before we added the flour as it was lumpy and we had to work at it for awhile adding more broth. Was still tasty though! Our 4 year old has particular tastes and wouldn’t eat it but my husband & I finished it. The chocolate fondue was super easy to make and we all enjoyed it, including our daughter. The vanilla added a special touch. Thank you for sharing!
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