Irma Dütsch grew up as the youngest of six children on a farm in the Gruyère region of French-speaking Switzerland.

She attended school in Gruyère in the canton of Fribourg. She had to move to German-speaking Switzerland because, as a woman in French-speaking Switzerland, nobody wanted to give her an apprenticeship in the kitchen.

Later she worked in Neuchâtel in the Restaurant des Halles. In 1967 she cooked at the Montreal Hilton, in 1969 at the St. Louis Club in the USA and in 1971 at the Hilton in Mexico.

From 1976 to 2004 she worked with her husband Hans-Jörg Dütsch in the Waldhotel Fletschhorn in Saas-Fee. Since 2004 she has been increasingly active as a guest chef. She is also the author of several gastronomy books.

In 1994, Gault-Millau awarded Irma Dütsch 18 points and the title of chef of the year, which she was awarded again in 2001.

In 1994 she was the first woman in Switzerland to receive a Michelin star.

She is an authoritative member of the Chaine des Rôtisseurs, formerly of the National Council and president of the competition for the best young Chef Rôtisseurs.