Raclette
Raclette cheese melted and scraped over boiled potatoes with gherkins and pickled onions, at the table over two unhurried hours.
Recipe by I Want Some Food · Reviewed by the editorial kitchen.
- Prep
- 20 min
- Cook
- 30 min
- Rest
- None
- Total
- 50 min
- Difficulty
- Very easy
- Spice
- No chilli
- Cost
- A bit special$16–28 USD · indicative, not a store price
About
Raclette at home means a tabletop grill with small pans: each person melts a slice of raclette cheese under the element while the plate on top cooks whatever they like, then scrapes the bubbling cheese over boiled potatoes and eats it with gherkins and pickled onions. The Valais original melts half a wheel against a fire and scrapes it straight onto the plate. This version covers the grill if you own one and a hot oven grill with small ovenproof dishes if you do not. Potatoes are boiled in their skins, waxy, and kept warm wrapped in a cloth. Allow 200 g of cheese and 200 g of potatoes a head, and a dry white wine or black tea.
What you'll need
9 ingredients. Tap each one once it's out on the bench.
Ingredients
- Raclette cheese, sliced 5 mm thick, rind left on800 g
- Potato, small waxy potatoes, unpeeled800 g
- Dill pickles, small gherkins or cornichons150 g
- Pickles, pickled silverskin onions100 g
- Paprika, sweet, for dusting4.9 ml
- Black pepper, freshly ground2½ ml
- Ham, sliced, or any cured meat, for the table (optional)150 g
- Bell pepper, bell pepper, cut in strips for the grill plate (optional)1
- Mushrooms, sliced, for the grill plate (optional)150 g
Scaling multiplies the written quantities. Baking still prefers a scale.
Steps
Step 1
Boil the potatoes in their skins in salted water until tender, 20 to 25 minutes. Drain and keep warm in a cloth-lined basket or a low oven.
25 min
Step 2
Set out gherkins, pickled onions, pepper, paprika and any cold meats and vegetables in bowls. Put the cheese slices on a plate at the table.
10 min
Step 3
With a table grill: heat it 10 minutes, then each person puts a slice of cheese in a pan under the element and vegetables or meat on the top plate. When the cheese bubbles and starts to brown, after 3 to 4 minutes, scrape it over a split potato on your plate.
5 min
Tip: Scrape, do not pour. The crisp brown skin that forms on top is the best part.
Step 4
Without a grill: heat the oven grill to its highest. Lay cheese slices in small ovenproof dishes or on a lined tray and grill 3 to 5 minutes until bubbling and spotted brown. Serve a dish at a time over potatoes and go again.
5 min250°C
Step 5
Keep going in rounds for as long as the cheese lasts. Pepper and paprika on top, gherkin on the side, white wine or tea alongside.
60 min
Nutrition
Per serving · estimate
- Calories
- 1014 kcal
- Protein
- 67 g
- Carbs
- 44.3 g
- Fat
- 62.9 g
- Saturated fat
- 38.3 g
- Fibre
- 6.6 g
- Sugar
- 7 g
- Sodium
- 1655 mg
Calculated from canonical ingredient data (USDA FoodData Central averages and equivalent published tables). Estimates only.
Allergens
Informational only. Not a medical guarantee. Cross-contamination happens in real kitchens.
- Milk
- Vegetarian
- Gluten-free
Adapt this recipe
The original recipe stays as it is. Personal versions are labelled. Serving changes are simple maths.
Adaptations · 0 / 15 used. Resets 12 November.
Substitutions
Raclette cheese → Young Gruyère, Fontina or Appenzeller
They all melt well. Fontina is the closest in texture.
Tips
- Raclette cheese from the Valais is stronger and more interesting than the supermarket block made for grills. Both melt well.
- Leave the rind on the slices. It holds the cheese together in the pan and turns crisp.
- Cold drinks are blamed in Switzerland for the cheese setting in your stomach. Warm tea or wine is tradition; whether it helps is another matter.
History & culture
Winter, family and friends, two hours at the table. In Switzerland a raclette evening is as normal as a barbecue elsewhere and every household owns the grill. Nobody discusses how much cheese was eaten. Valais purists allow cheese, potatoes, gherkins, pickled onions and a shake of paprika; the rest of the country adds whatever the fridge offers.
Valais herders are recorded roasting cheese by the fire in the 16th century; the canton called the dish Bratchäs, roasted cheese. The name raclette, from the French racler, to scrape, was fixed at a cantonal exhibition in Sion in 1909. Tabletop grills with little pans arrived in the 1970s and made it a dish for flats.
Traditional — The tabletop grill is the modern Swiss norm. Valais traditionalists melt a half wheel at a fire or under a dedicated raclette oven and would consider the oven-grill method a compromise. It is one.
Provenance: Editorial adaptation.
Questions about this recipe
Answers taken from this dish's times, amounts, swaps and tips.
How long does Raclette take?
50 min all in — 20 min prep, 30 min cook. Cook and rest follow the method. Leftover storage and optional extra waits are not included.
How many does it serve?
The recipe is written for 4 people. Scale the ingredient list on the page if you are cooking for a different number.
How hard is it?
Very easy.
How spicy is it?
No chilli.
What allergens should I watch?
This recipe is labelled for Milk. Labels are informational — check the packets in your kitchen. This is not medical advice.
Does it fit a diet?
The published recipe is labelled Vegetarian, Gluten-free.
6 more questionsFewer questions
What does it cost to cook?
A bit special — about $16–28 USD, as a grocery budget for this recipe, not a restaurant price.
What equipment do I need?
Saucepan, Oven, Baking tray.
How much salt do I put in?
This recipe does not list a salt amount. We will not invent one.
What can I use instead?
Raclette cheese → Young Gruyère, Fontina or Appenzeller. They all melt well. Fontina is the closest in texture.
Any tips from this recipe?
Raclette cheese from the Valais is stronger and more interesting than the supermarket block made for grills. Both melt well. Leave the rind on the slices. It holds the cheese together in the pan and turns crisp. Cold drinks are blamed in Switzerland for the cheese setting in your stomach. Warm tea or wine is tradition; whether it helps is another matter.
Can I use an air fryer?
This method is not written for an air fryer. The core technique on the page still applies.
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