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Raclette: The Cheese, The Machine, The Meal — And How to Host the Perfect Night

Winter Entertaining

What Is Raclette?

Raclette is one of those rare things in the food world that defies a single category. It is a cheese. It is a machine. And it is a meal — one of the most social, warm, and utterly satisfying meals you will ever sit down to.

What truly sets this cheese apart is what happens under heat: the paste becomes extraordinarily silky, flowing and rich, without breaking or turning greasy. It melts the way you always hoped cheese would melt.

At Le Fromage Yard, we carry a range of cheeses that work beautifully for a raclette night — from the classic Raclette Nature Fondante to more adventurous options like our Truffle Gouda, Smoked Edelmont, Fourme d'Ambert, and the cave-aged Kaltbach Le Crémeux, which was unanimously voted the favourite at our last team dinner. Each brings its own character to the table, and mixing a few varieties makes for an infinitely more interesting evening.

The Machine

The modern raclette machine is a compact electric grill that sits in the centre of the table. It has two components: a flat or ridged grilling surface on top, and a heating element beneath it that accommodates small individual trays — called coupelles — one per person. Each guest places their cheese into their coupelle, slides it under the grill, and waits the short, delicious minute it takes for the cheese to bubble, brown slightly at the edges, and become perfectly molten.

No cook. No kitchen. No disappearing act. Everyone is at the table, everyone is involved, and the host gets to actually enjoy the evening.

Hosting the Perfect Raclette Dinner

The Philosophy: No One Left in the Kitchen

This is the golden rule of raclette entertaining — and it is the reason we come back to it again and again. There is no plating. There is no timing multiple dishes to finish simultaneously. There is no standing at a stove while your guests are in the other room having fun without you.

The machine goes in the middle of the table. Everything else goes around it. And from that point on, the meal runs itself.

Every guest is their own cook, melting their cheese exactly as they like it — some prefer just barely melted with a little colour on top, others like to wait until it's deeply golden and pulling at the edges. Everyone eats at their own pace. Conversation flows uninterrupted. The evening stretches out in the best possible way.

Host Outside: Highly Recommended

We love hosting raclette outside. There is something genuinely magical about a warm machine glowing on a table on a cool winter evening — the heat radiates up, the air stays fresh, and the whole experience feels both rustic and romantic.

Practically speaking, it also means your home won't smell of melted cheese for the following week. We wouldn't be devastated if it did — but your guests will appreciate the open air, and the setting adds enormously to the atmosphere. String some lights, put a candle or two on the table, and you have a dinner party that feels like an occasion without a single extra hour of effort.

Before You Sit Down: Light Nibbles Only

Raclette is a generous, rich, deeply satisfying meal. Go in hungry. We typically set out a small bowl of olives or nuts while guests arrive and drinks are poured — just enough to take the edge off without filling anyone up. Save every bit of appetite you have for the table.

What You Need

The Machine — One Pan Per Person

Invest in (or hire) a raclette machine that has enough individual coupelles for every guest. Sharing a pan means waiting. Waiting means cold potatoes, restless guests, and a slightly defeated feeling when someone else's cheese is ready and yours is still solid. One pan per person is not a luxury — it is the foundation of a good evening.

At Le Fromage Yard, we hire raclette machines in-store. Spend over $80 and the hire is free. A $100 refundable deposit is held per machine — speak to us in store to arrange.

The Quantities

These are our tried-and-tested numbers, adjusted over many, many raclette evenings:

Cheese — 200g per person This is the standard recommendation and a reliable benchmark. Some guests will go over (no judgement), others slightly under. If you're serving a varied selection of cheeses, 200g per person across the mix works well. Buy a little extra — leftover raclette cheese melted over eggs the next morning is one of life's great pleasures.

Potatoes — 300–400g per person Always err on the generous side with potatoes. Small, waxy varieties are ideal — chats, kipfler, or baby potatoes boiled or steamed in their skins until just tender. They hold their shape, absorb the melted cheese beautifully, and have a creaminess that pairs perfectly with the richness of the cheese. Leftovers are absolutely not a problem: cold raclette potatoes make an excellent tortilla or omelette the next day. And for those who like it crunchy, once boiled, pop them in the oven with some olive oil. 

Charcuterie — 60–90g per person (when serving alongside vegetables) Traditional raclette is served with dried and cured meats — think jambon cru, viande des Grisons (Swiss air-dried beef), coppa, or prosciutto. The standard recommendation is around 150g per person, but when you're also putting vegetables on the table, 60–90g is plenty. The charcuterie is not the star — it is a supporting player, and a little goes a long way when it's being draped in molten cheese.

The Non-Negotiable: Cornichons

Do not — under any circumstances — sit down to a raclette without cornichons. This is not optional. The sharp, vinegary acidity of a good cornichon is the essential counterpoint to the fat and richness of the cheese. It cuts through, it refreshes, it resets the palate, and it makes you want to do the whole thing again immediately. Put a generous bowl in the centre of the table and make sure it is refilled before it runs out.

Great Additions for Variety

• Baby pickled onions — another acidic note that works alongside the cornichons beautifully; don't skip these if you can find them
• Green salad with a vinaigrette on the side — refreshing and light, a clean contrast to the richness of the meal
• Cauliflower — roasted or steamed florets hold up beautifully under a pour of melted cheese; the slight bitterness of cauliflower works wonderfully against the dairy richness
• Mushrooms — grilled on the top plate of the machine, mushrooms become deeply savoury and earthy; add them to your coupelle with the cheese for a few minutes and the result is remarkable

The Experience: What a Raclette Dinner Actually Looks and Feels Like

Picture this.

It's a cool winter evening. The table is set outside — candles lit, glasses poured, a string of lights overhead. In the middle of the table, the raclette machine hums quietly, its grill warming to temperature. Around it: a board of charcuterie, a bowl of steamed chat potatoes still in their skins, a generous dish of cornichons, a cluster of mushrooms, some cauliflower florets, a scattered pile of baby pickled onions. And the cheeses — three or four different varieties — in generous wedges, sliced and ready.

Everyone takes their coupelle. They choose their cheese — perhaps a thick slice of Raclette Nature for one guest, a piece of smoky Edelmont for another, a sliver of truffle gouda for someone feeling adventurous. The cheese goes into the pan, and it slides under the grill.

Now, here is the hot tip — the raclette commandment, if you will: no one picks up a piece of charcuterie without it going under cheese. No one eats a potato plain. Every bite should have molten cheese draped over it. Do not waste precious stomach room on anything unadorned. There simply isn't space.

While the cheese melts — and it takes only a minute or two, though it is tempting to just sit and watch it — guests load a small section of their plate. Not everything at once. A couple of potatoes, a slice or two of charcuterie, a floret of cauliflower. Just a small corner of the plate. A considered, deliberate little arrangement. Because when that coupelle comes out from under the grill — bubbling, golden at the edges, smelling of warm cream and toasted milk — it gets poured immediately, in one slow, glorious motion, over that small section of food.

The cheese settles. It flows into the creases of the potato skin. It drapes itself over the charcuterie in thick, silky ribbons. It pools around the cauliflower, finding every crevice. Insert more cheese into pan once emptied You eat it while it's hot, because you absolutely must eat it while it's hot. You snap a cornichon. The acidity cuts straight through the fat. You reach for your glass. You watch your new cheese bubbling away as you are enjoying your current melted mess.

Some guests discover they prefer to grill their meats, mushrooms, or potatoes on the top plate of the machine first — building another layer of flavour before the cheese arrives. The top plate gets properly hot, and a slice of charcuterie pressed against it for thirty seconds becomes something entirely different: caramelised, savoury, and deeply satisfying.

The conversation never stops. No one has left the table. The kitchen has not been visited since the potatoes came off the stove. The evening goes on exactly as long as everyone wants it to — because there is always one more pan of cheese worth waiting for. There is always one more combination to try. There is always someone at the table who wants to see what happens if you mix the mushrooms with the smoked cheese in the same coupelle. (The answer, for the record, is that it is excellent.)

A Final Word

Raclette is, at its heart, about time. Time spent together, unhurried, around a table that doesn't require anything of you except appetite and good company. It is one of the simplest meals to prepare and one of the most memorable to experience.

We hire raclette machines in-store at Le Fromage Yard, and our cheese room is stocked with everything you need for an exceptional evening. Come and speak to our cheesemongers — we will help you choose the right cheeses for your guests, advise on quantities, and send you home ready for a genuinely beautiful winter night.

Browse our Raclette cheese selection → Enquire about machine hire in-store →