In all honesty, I had never made duck prior to this one! I had eaten it out a lot, but I’d never thought to roast it myself at home. I was so surprised at how easy and delicious it was! IMO, if you can make a Whole Roast Chicken, you can easily make a whole roast duck! This honey roast duck is perfect for any special occasion and is a great idea for a smaller Thanksgiving, or for a Christmas or New Year’s Eve dinner. Stuffed with onion, garlic, and fresh rosemary, the duck is seasoned with a flavorful dry rub, and glazed with honey and roasting juices. The honey just helps crisp up the skin and give that beautiful dark color to the finished bird, but the overall flavor was very savory from the garlic and onion that I stuffed inside the duck cavity before roasting. We love serving this duck roast with homemade-from-scratch Green Bean Casserole, this delicious Cranberry Jello Salad, and my super easy Slow Cooker Creamed Corn.
What was eaten at the first Thanksgiving?
Everybody knows that basically none of what we currently eat as “traditional” Thanksgiving favorites were served on the first Thanksgiving, right? We aren’t even sure if the turkey was on the menu for that first Thanksgiving! What we do know about that first Thanksgiving meal is available from just a couple of snippets of surviving documents from that time, and historical research. One such snippet is from a letter from one of the original Plymouth colonists, Edward Winslow. He was writing home to a friend about the feast that later became the basis for our Thanksgiving celebration: That whole article is really interesting reading if you want to learn more about what the Pilgrims and Wampanoag really ate on the first Thanksgiving. My Historically Hungry cohort and I decided to each contribute a recipe that is a closer nod to the original offerings than the sweet potato casserole or cranberry sauce that we eat today. Jenni has a recipe for Nasaump (sort of a cornmeal porridge with berries and nuts) for the Wampanoag side of the meal, and I’m sharing this Honey Roast Duck recipe for the Pilgrim side of things. It’s likely that the birds prepared by the Pilgrims for the first Thanksgiving were spit-roasted or boiled. These methods were historically typical for meat preparation, but these days, it’s just much easier to grill, smoke, or roast duck instead.
Must-know tips for Roasted Duck Recipes
I opted to roast our duck in the oven, as it’s super easy and also leaves you with the wonderful excess duck fat that you can use in other recipes! One big consideration when roasting a whole duck is how to deal with the layer of fat under the skin that adds tons of flavor but can be tricky to cook with properly, given its thickness. The key is to score the skin with a sharp knife so that the fat can escape (a process called “rendering”) while the duck slowly roasts in the oven. There is no need to rub a duck with butter or oil before roasting as you do with chicken or turkey because the duck is going to naturally have plenty of fat to keep it juicy and moist on its own. This method of preparing and slowly roasting ducks (and geese, which are also likely to have been served at the first Thanksgiving) has been used for centuries. The only downside to this slow-roasted method of cooking duck is that the breast meat will be fully cooked. Some may prefer medium-rare breast meat when it comes to duck, and that’s just not really achievable when roasting an entire duck. That said, even the breast meat is still moist, and the legs and thighs are perfect when prepared this way. This preparation isn’t the same as sauteeing duck breasts in a pan for that perfect medium-rare, so be prepared for a fully cooked bird.
Why we love this Roast Duck Recipe
You can easily customize this recipe with your favorite roast flavors and garnishes. With very few ingredients, your roast duck will have that restaurant quality that is perfect for special occasions! This easy recipe will tell you everything you need to know to roast duck.
Roast Duck Recipe Ingredients
Scroll down to the recipe card below this post for ingredient quantities and full instructions.
Salt – Mixed in with the dry rub to enhance all the flavors, kosher salt or sea salt is great for this. Paprika – Adds a bit of an earthy, sweet, and peppery flavor to the duck. Use smoked paprika if you want a bit of added smokiness too! Garlic Powder – Garlic is wonderfully aromatic, and we’ll use garlic powder for the dry rub for its intense flavor. Pepper – Freshly ground black pepper is best for a flavorful peppery punch! Honey – We use honey to baste the bird to ensure we get a crisp skin. Use your favorite type of honey, or just whatever you have to hand. Duck – You’ll want a whole duck for this recipe, you can use fresh or frozen. If using frozen, remember to account for the 2-3 days of defrosting time when you’re planning to make it. Onion and Garlic Cloves – A quarter of an onion and some garlic cloves will be stuffed inside the duck to give it a great savory depth of flavor. Fresh Rosemary Sprigs – Use fresh rosemary sprigs inside the duck to flavor it from the inside out, and also have some on hand for a great presentation too.
How to Cook Duck
Prepare the duck. Be sure to completely defrost your duck in the refrigerator for 2-3 days if using a frozen duck. Remove the giblets and neck from inside the duck. Rinse well, inside and out, with cold water, and pat completely dry using paper towels. Allow the duck to sit out on the counter at room temperature for 30 minutes before roasting. It’s best to allow it to warm up a little before putting it in the oven. Score the skin. Use a very sharp knife to score the skin on the duck’s breast in a diamond pattern. Try to cut only the skin without reaching the breast meat below. If there are other fatty areas, like where the duck legs connect to the body, give those a poke or slash as well. This is going to allow the fat from the duck to render and baste the bird while it roasts. Stuff the duck. Stuff the body cavity of the duck with garlic cloves, a quartered onion, and a couple of sprigs of rosemary. You could also use lemon slices or a quartered apple. The stuffing should be discarded after cooking. The aromatic veggies add flavor to the meat while roasting but won’t be great to eat on their own. Truss the duck. Fold the loose skin on both ends of the duck to hold everything inside and tie the duck legs together. Do this with butcher’s twine or string. Truss the duck by tying a loop around one duck leg, then crossing it over the other leg. Wrap the twine around both legs once or twice, then tie it off. I don’t actually know if it affects how the duck cooks, but it makes for a much prettier presentation! Make a dry rub and season the duck. In a small bowl, combine the salt, paprika, garlic powder, and pepper, then rub it all over the duck. Place the duck breast side up, on a wire rack over a baking sheet, or on the rack of a large roasting pan. Don’t sit the duck on the bottom of the pan. You will be surprised how much fat will cook out of the duck. You don’t want the duck sitting in the fat while it cooks. At this point, you can put potatoes or another veg under the duck to roast them in the duck fat at the same time if you wish. Cook and glaze with honey. Start the duck by roasting it at a higher temperature of 425°F for 15 minutes, then decrease the oven temp to 350°F and roast for 1 hour and 15 minutes. At the 60-minute mark, brush half of the honey over the duck, then cook for 10 minutes before brushing the duck with the remaining honey. Check for doneness. If the juices are still running pink after a total of 1½ hours, let it roast another 15 minutes before pulling it out of the oven and tenting it with foil for 15 minutes to let the juices redistribute before carving. The duck will be done when the juice that runs from the thigh after poking it is barely just a rosy pink color.
Duck Recipes Temperature and Time
It will take around 2 hours to roast a whole duck in the oven, including the resting time after removing the duck from the oven. The duck will be done when the juices that come from the fattest part of the thigh or drumstick are still just barely rosy pink when the duck is pricked. The USDA recommends cooking poultry to 165°F, but since duck is not a common salmonella carrier like other poultry, many people prefer duck breasts to be around 135°F. Although I typically prefer using a digital meat thermometer, this is one situation where I find sticking to a roasting time and using the prick test to be the better choice. We are going to go higher than the 135°F that I would want if I were cooking only the duck breasts in a saute pan. Start making this honey-roasted duck recipe by roasting it at a higher temperature of 425°F for 15 minutes, then decrease the oven temp to 350°F and roast for 1 hour and 15 minutes. If the juices are still running pink, let it roast another 15 minutes before pulling it out of the oven and tenting it with foil for 15 minutes to let the juices redistribute before carving. Depending on the size of your duck and the temperature it was at when you put it in the oven, this might take a little less time or maybe even a little longer. Start checking around the 60-minute mark when you brush half the honey onto the top of the duck. Check again ten minutes later when you brush the remaining honey on the duck to get this beautifully dark roasted skin.
Serving this Crispy Roast Duck Recipe
Present the whole duck. When you serve this duck roast, present the whole bird at the table by putting it on a large platter with brightly colored greens or fruit under or around it. I used fresh spinach leaves and a segmented pomegranate for color. But you could surround a roast duck with roasted potatoes or root vegetables, and use rosemary sprigs for pops of color. Feed the family. Calculate the size of duck you will need before preparing your meal. You may need to plan for some filling carby sides, or even some meaty ones, to bulk it out if you want to feed 4+ adults with one bird.
Duck Recipe Variations
Flavor: You can use lemon slices, orange slices, or a quartered apple to flavor the duck from the inside out instead of rosemary sprigs. Duck also goes well with more tropical flavors like mango, and apricot would work well too. Spices: Try out different spices on your roasted duck. Warming flavors like cinnamon, star anise, cardamom, and cloves go well with duck. Nuts: Garnish with some nuts, or add them to side dishes for your duck. Walnuts, pine nuts, or pecans are good. Dried Fruit: Dried fruit goes well with duck, think of trying them in the garnish or in some side dishes to go with your duck. Raisins, dried cranberries, dried cherries, and even dried apricot, dried mango, or dried peaches can be delicious. Garnish: If you use fruit on the inside, try decorating the duck to present it with fruit slices around it too. Onions: Use white, yellow, or red onions depending on how potent you’d like their flavor to be in this dish. (White onions are the most potent, yellow onions are medium, and red onions are mild in flavor.)
What to serve with Honey Roast Duck
Cranberry Jello Salad with Cream Cheese Topping Winter Pear, Pomegranate & Swiss Salad with Poppy Seed Dressing Sweet Potato Casserole with Marshmallows and Pecans Easy Southern Cornbread Dressing
How to store Crispy Duck
If you have any leftovers, they can be kept in the fridge for up to 3 days. Store them in an airtight container, or cover them tightly in plastic wrap on a plate.
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