Food Ingredients Meat + Poultry Duck + Game 27 Delectable Duck Recipes for When Chicken Won't Cut It Here's how to bake, braise, roast, or smoke duck for incredible entrées any day of the week. By Staff Author Published on September 15, 2023 Photo: Matt Taylor-Gross / Food Styling by Barrett Washburne "Preparing a whole duck for dinner is an occasion — and a gesture of generosity and serious sentiment," writes award-winning cookbook author Paula Disbrowe. Whether you're taking on the whole bird, duck breast, or duck legs, we have tender, juicy recipes for serving the flavorful meat. Chefs Anne Quatrano and Paul Kahan reveal tricks for salt curing, the legendary Jacques Pépin shares his classic Duck à l'Orange recipe, and Angie Mar prepares duck three ways, including cold smoking and a silky pâté. Here are our most show-stopping, melt-in-your-mouth duck recipes. 01 of 27 Classic Duck Confit Photo by Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Margaret Dickey / Prop Styling by Julia Bayless Cooking duck confit may sound like something best left to restaurant chefs, but F&W Test Kitchen's Adam Dolge says the process is simple, and results in tender, delicious meat that brings pleasure with each bite. Get the Recipe 02 of 27 Smoked Duck with Potatoes and Frisée Aaron Kirk According to Paula Disbrowe, grill-roasting a duck is as easy as a chicken (particularly when you use an instant-read thermometer to gauge doneness), and the deeply flavored results are as satisfying as anything you can get in a restaurant. She calls this recipe a griller’s version of a one-dish wonder. Get the Recipe 03 of 27 Peking Duck Photo by Christopher Testani / Food Styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Prissy Lee Soy sauce, honey, Chinese five spice, and hoisin season this rich duck with incomparably crispy skin from F&W Test Kitchen's John Somerall. Get the Recipe 04 of 27 Smoked Duck Breasts with Apple-Brandy Caramel William Hereford Thick, sweet duck fat caramel and tender apples make for a rich sauce that 2017 F&W Best New Chef Angie Mar pairs perfectly with smoky duck breast. Get the Recipe 05 of 27 Duck Tacos Photo by Antonis Achilleos / Food Styling by Ruth Blackburn / Prop Styling by Christina Daley Longtime test kitchen editor and cookbook author Grace Parisi simply seasons duck breast and heats it on the stovetop before roasting and pairing with a cilantro-lime sauce that gets heat from pickled jalapeño. Shredded carrot, sliced scallion, and radish sprouts round these tacos out. Get the Recipe 06 of 27 Juniper-Rubbed Roast Duck with Cherry Jus Christopher Testani Duck devotee Angie Mar cold smokes her duck after a prolonged salt cure so the fat picks up the whiff of sweet smoke, then slow-roasts the whole bird. Mar serves hers with a rich sauce of reduced duck broth and tart cherries as a nod to the cherry trees in the Pacific Northwest where she grew up. Get the Recipe 07 of 27 Braised Duck Legs with Spaetzle and Mushroom Ragout David Malosh Inspired by German celebratory harvest meals from centuries past, 1996 F&W Best New Chef Maria Helm Sinskey trades the traditional goose leg quarters for easier-to-source duck in this comforting braised dish, served with a bed of buttery-crisp spaetzle and saucy mushrooms. Get the Recipe 08 of 27 Jerk-Smoked Duck with Peach Barbecue Sauce Greg DuPree 2019 F&W Best New Chef Bryan Furman's method of smoking the duck over a drip pan is quick and efficient, infusing the duck with intense smoky flavor in only 30 minutes without toughening the meat. Get the Recipe 09 of 27 Smoked Duck with Sorghum-Glazed Alliums Angie Mosier Cookbook author Yewande Komolafe uses one of the oldest known grains in the world, sorghum, which researchers believe originated in northeast Africa. Like honey or molasses, sorghum syrup has an earthy sweetness, though it tends to be thinner in viscosity and a little more sour. Get the Recipe 10 of 27 Soba Noodles with Crispy Duck and Hot Dipping Sauce Photo by Greg DuPree / Food Styling by Paige Grandjean and Chelsea Zimmer / Prop Styling by Christine Keely Cooking instructor and author Sonoko Sakai's combination of cold, chewy homemade soba noodles with steaming-hot crispy duck and dashi-enriched dipping sauce is an unparalleled delight. Get the Recipe 11 of 27 Crispy Duck with Duck Dirty Rice and Peach Salad Matt Taylor-Gross / Food Styling by Barrett Washburne Crispy duck, savory dirty rice, and a sweet peach salad give Top Chef favorite Tiffany Derry's dish memorable flavor and texture contrast. Get the Recipe 12 of 27 Spiced Duck Breasts with Mandarin Oranges and Dates Alison Miksch Cookbook author Andrea Slonecker seasons duck a l’orange with ras el hanout, a bold Moroccan spice blend that complements the full-flavored meat. Get the Recipe 13 of 27 Duck Liver Pâté with Blackberry Conserva William Hereford The tartness and texture of the blackberry conserva is a nice contrast to Angie Mar's rich, silky pâté that you can spoon on pancakes, waffles, or ice cream. Get the Recipe 14 of 27 Duck à l'Orange © Con Poulos Iconic chef Jacques Pépin's whole roast duck recipe incorporates orange zest, orange juice, orange segments, and Grand Marnier for layers of citrus flavor. Get the Recipe 15 of 27 Four-Spice Duck Breasts with Carrots © Dave Lauridsen Wine pro Richard Betts makes preparing duck easy with a quick spice blend to combine, grind, and use as a rub before cooking on the stovetop in a cast-iron skillet and finally roasting in the oven. Get the Recipe 16 of 27 Roast Duck with Citrus Pan Sauce © Quentin Bacon Longtime F&W Test Kitchen supervisor Marcia Kiesel's roast duck has rich, crispy skin and is scented with lemons and oranges. Get the Recipe 17 of 27 Duck Two Ways with Chickpea Crêpes and Fennel Compote © Tina Rupp 2004 F&W Best New Chef Bradford Thompson braises duck legs and glazes duck breasts in this layered dish. Get the Recipe 18 of 27 Pan-Roasted Duck Breasts with Onions and Crisp Pancetta © Anna Williams Back in 2000, this roast duck was one of the most popular and well-reviewed dishes at Nicole's, the New York restaurant in a retail flagship from British fashion designer Nicole Farhi, helmed by chefs Annie Wayte and Anna Kovel. Their recipe stands the test of time. Get the Recipe 19 of 27 Salt-Cured Duck Breasts with Fava Beans & Sweet Peas © Chris Court 1995 F&W Best New Chef Anne Quatrano has a simple trick for making these duck breasts juicy and flavorful: Just a few hours before pan-roasting, she rubs them with a fresh herb and salt mix, which lightly cures the meat. Get the Recipe 20 of 27 Bomba di Riso (Stuffed Rice Cake) with Shredded Duck Greg Dupree / Food Styling by Ruth Blackburn / Prop Styling by Thom Driver At the iconic restaurant Ostreria Fratelli Pavesi in Italy's Emilia-Romagna, the three Pavesi brothers pay homage to a mid-19th-century delicacy: the molded baked rice “bomb” stuffed with a hearty filling of shredded duck and earthy porcini mushrooms. Get the Recipe 21 of 27 Slow-Cooked Duck with Green Olives and Herbes de Provence © Matthew Armendariz The Food & Wine Test Kitchen calls Paula Wolfert's duck recipe the most forgiving and delicious you’ll ever find. Slow-cooking duck with aromatics until it’s as tasty and tender as confit, then broiling it until the skin is shatter-crisp, plays to all of the bird’s strengths. Get the Recipe 22 of 27 Pappardelle with Duck Ragù © Con Poulos James Beard Award-winning chef Marco Canora of Hearth in New York City calls for duck confit in his recipe for pasta with braised duck. Get the Recipe 23 of 27 Rice with Duck and Apricots © David Malosh 2013 F&W Best New Chef George Mendes makes this signature dish with poached duck breast and homemade duck confit. Get the Recipe 24 of 27 Dry-Aged Duck Breasts with Golden Beet Panzanella © Antonis Achilleos 1999 F&W Best New Chef Paul Kahan of The Publican in Chicago has a great trick for heightening the flavor of duck breasts: He ages them on the bone in the refrigerator for up to one week. Get the Recipe 25 of 27 Peking Duck Stir-Fry © Rick Lew Ken Hom is and authority on Chinese stir-frying — he's written four books on the subject. So when Hom replaced chicken with meatier, richer duck breasts in a stir-fry, we knew it would be a good idea. The duck has enough flavor to stand up to the mix of chiles, garlic, and peanuts here. Get the Recipe 26 of 27 Sour-Cherry-Stuffed Duck Breasts with Thyme © Con Poulos Maria Helm Sinskey stuffs this festive duck roast with a delicious sweet-and-sour cherry filling. Get the Recipe 27 of 27 Cassoulet with Duck Confit © Cedric Angeles Chef Laurence Jossel created this stripped-down version of the classic French stew, with creamy white beans, luscious store-bought duck confit, smoky French garlic sausage, and slab bacon. Get the Recipe Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit