Shortly before Mack arrived, I found a special edition of Lecker magazine (literally meaning tasty) full of fantastic sounding Christmas and New Year’s recipes. Then when we discussed having fondue here over New Year’s, I recommended we try their recipes for dipping sauces since we’re really not experienced fondue makers. The sauces turned out to extremely tasty so I’m sharing them.

We made all the sauces a few hours ahead of time so the flavors could really develop. Of course we cut up the meat and made the meatballs ahead also which is the beauty of fondue. Everything can be made ahead of time and the host can cook along with the guests. It’s not something that matters much in our house since we entertain right in our kitchen but it’s nice to not worry about getting everything cooked on schedule…although you do feel a bit like something is missing when you’re not running around making everything. 😉

We’ve never heard of meatballs with a fondue so I was eager to try these. They tasted awesome but I think we needed more breadcrumbs to hold them together. They didn’t want to stay on the skewers so we had to fish them out with a slotted spoon…but they were totally worth it. When combined with 2.5-3 pounds of bitesize chicken breasts, beef or other meat, this should serve about 6 people.

Fondue meatballs

  • 2 onions
  • 300g ground beef
  • 1 egg
  • 2 tablespoons breadcrumbs
  • 1 tablespoon yellow mustard
  • Salt & pepper, to taste

Peel and finely chop onions. Knead together with ground beef, egg, breadcrumbs and mustard. Add salt and pepper to taste. Form small balls from the mixture.


This sauce was SO good on the baguettes…but i also tasted incredible on the chicken. It compliments the beef fairly well also, but bread and chicken were my favorites.

Chili-Lime Sauce

  • 2 red chilies, sliced in rings (or jarred Jalepeno slices as we used)
  • 2 limes
  • Salt & pepper, to taste
  • 1 teaspoon brown sugar
  • 6 tablespoons olive oil

Press juice from limes into small bowl. Stir salt, pepper and brown sugar into juice. Add olive oil and chilies. (Note: the longer you let this sit, the spicier the oil will be.)


This and the chili-lime sauce were my favorites…but I love garlic and black olives anyway. You can make this with whatever kind of olives you prefer. Good for bread and beef especially.

Olive Garlic Sauce

  • 1/2 lime
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • 200g thick sour cream
  • 50g mayonnaise
  • 100g olives (pitted)
  • Salt & pepper

Squeeze juice from lime into bowl. Peel and press garlic. Mix sour cream and mayo into bowl. Add salt and pepper to taste.


This was not one of my favorites…I felt it just needed something more and the herbs didn’t really work for me. But it was still a decent sauce.

Yogurt Cream Sauce

  • 1/2 bunch fresh Parsley
  • 3-4 stems of chervil & dill
  • 250g creamy yogurt
  • Salt & pepper, to taste

Wash herbs and pat dry. Chop and mix with yogurt. Add salt and pepper to taste.


Also not one of my favorites for this but a really nice flavor otherwise.

Plum-Horseradish Sauce

  • 1/2 lime
  • 100g horseradish
  • 150g plum butter
  • Salt & pepper, to taste

Squeeze lime juice into small bowl. Stir together with horseradish and plum butter. Add salt and pepper to taste.