Raclette is a traditional Swiss dish made of melted cheese served with boiled potatoes, pickles, and cured meats. Learn how to make raclette at home for a fun and cheesy dinner.
Raclette is a type of cheese from Switzerland. Raclette is also the name of the Swiss dish that traditionally involved taking a big chunk of raclette cheese and melting the side of it near a fire. You would then scrape the melted cheese onto some bread or boiled potatoes.
Video On How To Have Raclette At Home:
What Kind Of Cheese Is Raclette?
Raclette is a semihard cheese made from cow’s milk. It’s originally from Switzerland, but is also made in France and the US.
Raclette cheese is the traditional choice and can sometimes be found in slices or small wedges in grocery stores. If you can’t find it you can use another kind of Swiss cheese, like Emmental or gruyere. And even Cheddar will do in a pinch, you just need a good cheese that melts nicely.
If you’re not in a hurry and want a traditional raclette party with a giant Swiss raclette wheel, you can order the cheese online.
Do I Need Special Equipment To Make Raclette?
In Swiss restaurants, raclette is made using a big machine that you put a massive half round of cheese onto. This machine heats one side of the cheese and then you scrape the melty bits off onto the diner’s plate.
For raclette at home, some people opt for a table top raclette grill like this. This allows everyone to melt cheese as needed that can be served at the table.
However, I’ve dispensed with the need for any special equipment. I do mine under the broiler in a cast iron skillet. Instructions are in the recipe below.
What Else Is Served With Raclette?
Raclette is traditionally served with boiled or steamed potatoes and various charcuteries. Try small white potatoes, Yukon gold, or fingerling varieties. Some pickled items that you buy at the store are great, like cornichons or gherkins, olives, and pickled onions. Along with cured meats like ham, salami, or prosciutto that are also usual accompaniments.
A modern raclette dinner may also include cooking sausages or veggies on top of the grill if you are cooking at the table instead of under the broiler. You could also keep it simple with a salad served alongside. A dry white wine or light beer works well to pair with the raclette cheese if you need a beverage for your raclette dinner party.
Serving Raclette Dinner
Raclette is a fun and interactive dinner, like fondue. Though instead of dipping food into melted cheese, you’re pouring melty cheese on top. You cook a bit of the cheese at a time and then share it as you pass the meats and pickled items between you.
What I like to do is to put some potatoes and meats onto my plate, then scrape the melted cheese over top of it all. The pickled foods are on the side to munch on in between since they cut the richness of everything else really well.
I hope you love having a raclette meal at home. If you’re looking for more cheesy goodness, try my Beer Cheese dip. It’s perfect to dip bread in. Enjoy!
Podcast Episode: Making Raclette
Listen to learn how to make this recipe, along with some great tips from Christine, by clicking the play button below:
Listen to more Recipe of the Day episodes here.
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Raclette Instructions
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 2–4 servings 1x
- Category: Entrée
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: Swiss
DESCRIPTION
Raclette is a traditional Swiss dish made of melted cheese served with boiled potatoes, pickles, and cured meats. Learn how to make raclette at home for a fun and cheesy dinner.
Ingredients
- 1 lb. of small white potatoes
- Salt
- 1 small jar of cornichon or gherkins and other pickled items like artichokes, small onions, etc.
- 1 lb. cured meats like ham, prosciutto, salami
- Vegetable oil
- 1/2 lb. raclette cheese (you can use gruyere or emmentaler if you can’t get raclette)
Instructions
- Preheat your broiler.
- Put the potatoes in a large pot and just cover them with cold water.
- Add a tablespoon of salt. Put them over high heat uncovered until the water boils. Reduce heat to low and partially cover allowing it to simmer until the potatoes are just fork tender (the amount of time depends on the size of your potatoes but can be anywhere from 5-10 minutes).
- Drain the potatoes and return them to the pot and put the cover on the pot to keep them warm. Set the covered pot of potatoes on the table.
- Meanwhile, set out your cornichons and other pickled items and your meats on a serving tray. Put them on the table.
- Drizzle a bit of vegetable oil into a cast iron skillet. Rub it around with some kitchen towel.
- Cut two ¼” slices from the cheese. Put the slices in a single layer in the skillet.
- Put the skillet about 8 inches from the broiler elements. Cook until it is melted and bubbling and just starting to brown at the edges.
- While the cheese is cooking, serve some potatoes, meats, and pickles onto your plates. When the cheese is ready, use a spatula to slide it over the potatoes.
- Once you’ve eaten a bit and are ready, slice some more cheese and put it under the broiler.
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This post originally appeared in February 2013. It was revised and republished in September 2022.
I haven’t tried the recipe yet, but I want to thank you so much for posting this! I just got back from a week in Switzerland and I ordered raclette several times when eating out, because small individual portions were available on the menu for 1/3 of the price of most of the entrees, and I absolutely loved it! I don’t like ordering big meals unless I can take a lot home for future meals! I plan to follow your recipe to serve for next month’s book group!
How fun! I’m sure your book club will love it, Mardi!
This is so amazing! I wanted to do a raclette dinner without a special machine and found these instructions. It all worked just like I hoped!
Charlotte, I’m so happy you liked it! Thanks for letting me know :-)
Beautiful! I wrote a post about eating raclette in Switzerland and am sharing your link as a great way to enjoy at home. Thanks!
I never knew how to make Raclette and now I can’t wait to give it a try. I do not have a cast iron skillet. Will a saute pan work?
Thanks so much!
Raclette is the best! Before we moved to Switzerland we laughed at the idea… now we can’t wait for it to get cold enough each year to pull out the raclette grill :) There is something wonderful about food shared around the table with friends and family and Swiss food is great for that.
So true! I always look forward to my in-laws raclette parties. They invite a bunch of people over and it’s a long cheesy night. So good!
I think the same rule applies to all holidays really – if you’re exhausted you simply can’t enjoy what the holiday is really about. And simple doesn’t mean it can’t be extraordinary!
Jen, that’s so true. I just posted about tips for making dinner more romantic and the biggest one in my mind is to not go crazy with a complicated dinner. You end up all sweaty and exhausted and then are definitely NOT in the mood for romance.
I dated a Swiss man, who introduced me to raclette. He had a raclette oven that melted the cheese in little individual pans. So yummy and very easy. We ate it just as you describe, with potatoes and cured meats.
Jean, I don’t have a Swiss man but I do have a British one who once had a Swiss Aupair, which is how is parents wound up with a big Raclette machine (a gift from the aupair one Christmas) which is how it is that I am treated to raclette whenever I find myself in the UK. I so look forward to it, even if we do make it at home. There’s something extra special about sitting around the table with a bunch of people and that firey machine that just makes it so much more special. I’ve never had it tabletop as you describe. I hope to try it some time.
Thanks so much for responding! The same man taught me his family recipe for fondue – so delicious. I am enjoying your fondue week!
Thanks Jean! Our Fondue week has been such fun. We have more coming too so stay tuned :)
Love this. We are big cheese eaters here and growing up in Germany it seems just what you do… :)
I remember eating a lot of cheese when I was in Germany. And asparagus. I was there in June. Oh, and pasta. And spaetzle. It was delightful.