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Special Valentine’s Fondue Dinner for Kids

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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!

Valentine's Veggies- Special Dinner for Awesome Kids. A fun dinner to celebrate Valentine's day with the family!

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 Veggies- Special Dinner for Awesome Kids. A fun dinner to celebrate Valentine's day with the family!

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!

Valentine's Veggies- Special Dinner for Awesome Kids. A fun dinner to celebrate Valentine's day with the family!

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.

Valentine's Veggies- Special Dinner for Awesome Kids. A fun dinner to celebrate Valentine's day with the family!

And of course no Valentine dinner 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
Woman dipping strawberry into pot with chocolate fondue on wooden background, flat lay

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!

cheese fondue in a white bowl with a mushroom and broccoli
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
Cook Time1 hour 20 minutes
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

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

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10 Comments

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!

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.

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.

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.

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. 🙂

5 stars
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!

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!