Make these holidays extra special by serving up Crispy Whole Roast Duck! This method ensures crispy skin with finger-licking glaze and super moist meat inside!
Roast duck is a perfect dish for any special occasion, and is a great idea for a smaller crowd during holidays. To roast a duck it does take a few hours, but it’s incredibly easy to do. Be sure to watch all recipes via IG Reels for a nice visual.
HOW DO YOU MAKE DUCK SKIN CRISPY?
Be sure to completely defrost your duck in the refrigerator for 1-2 days if using a frozen duck. And then leave the duck uncovered in the refrigerator overnight. This will ensure the bird dries perfectly before roasting which means crispier skin!
Then score the skin on the breast to help release some of the fat during the cooking process. Just take a sharp knife and make cuts in a diamond pattern, without reaching the breast meat below. The fat will escape (a process called “rendering”) while the duck slow roasts in the oven. Poke the bird all over with a knife. Only prick the skin, don’t hit the meat.
By slowly roasting the duck in the beginning for a few hours and finishing up at higher temperature you will achieve the beautiful crispy golden skin. Follow my step-by-step instructions in the recipe below and you are into different kind of delicious!
I highly suggest to collect the rendered fat from roasting the duck for future use. We love using it for roasted potatoes or fried eggs. Once the drippings are cool enough to handle, strain it through a fine mesh sieve and place in the fridge until cold. The fat will separate from the liquid and turn solid. You can scrape it off and store it in the fridge in an airtight container for weeks.
At the end brush the duck with glaze and finish for a few more minutes.
Let it rest and serve the Crispy Whole Roast Duck with mashed or roasted potatoes and the greenest salad ever. Pure comfort!
More Holiday Feast Recipes:
Cranberry Pecan Stuffed Baked Brie
Crispy Whole Roast Duck
Ingredients
- 5-6 lb duck
- 2 tbsp salt
Cavity Stuffing:
- 4 garlic cloves halved
- 2 shallots halved
- 1 orange quartered
- 1 apple quartered
- 1/4 cup prunes
Glaze:
- 1 cup honey
- 1 tbsp molasses
- 3 tbsp orange juice
- 1 tbsp hoisin sause
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 tbsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp salt
Presentation:
- fresh herbs (sage, rosemary, tarragon), pomegranate, figs, grapes
Instructions
- Completely defrost the duck in the refrigerator for 1-2 days, if using frozen. Once defrosted, rinse and pat dry. For best results, let the duck sit uncovered in the refrigerator overnight. This will help to dry and crisp the skin.
- Use a sharp knife to score the skin on the duck's breast in a diamond pattern, trying to cut only the skin without reaching the breast meat below. Cut off excess fat and poke the bird all over with a knife. Only prick the skin, don't hit the meat.
- Season the duck all over with salt, including the cavity. Stuff the cavity with garlic, shallots, orange, apple and prunes. Use 2-3 toothpicks to sew the skin around the cavity opening tightly together, to keep the inside moist during roasting. Cross the legs and tie them together with a cooking twine. Fold the wings under the duck.
- Place the bird on the rack inside the roasting pan and cook at 350 F for 1 hour, breast side up. After 1 hour, remove the bird and prick the skin all over again. Flip the duck breast side down and roast for another hour.
- Prepare the glaze by combining the glaze ingredients in a medium pan. Simmer until thickens, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
- After 2 hours, remove the duck from the oven, poke once more, turn up heat to 400 F and blast for 15 minutes, breast side up. Then brush with glaze and finish for another 5-7 minutes.
- Rest. Carve. Enjoy!
Notes
We love roasting a duck as a christmas alternative. Yours looks delicipus.
Thank youuu! 🙂
Lily,
2 tbl of garlic powder seems like a lot plus the crushed cloves.
Does this work out
I’m making this now and have reduced the ingredients for the glaze significantly as personally I think it would be overpowering
This looks amazing! And such a great alternative for Christmas dinner.
Thank you so much, Michelle!
Duck is one of my favourite meats! You’ve prepped this to perfection! It’s so golden delicious 🙂
Thank you so much, Chris!
Wowza! You really know how to make crispy skin! I will definitely be using your techniques for the perfect crisp! Thanks for this recipe
Thank you, Liz!
2 questions
What do you do with the fruit?
Carving instructions?
Put the fruit in the cavity. It makes the duck taste great. After cooking, I put mine in a blender with some other ingredients and make a fruity plum sauce to eat with the duck. Its delicious!
This is a great recipe! I really appreciate your tips for making the skin roast properly! The criss cross on top looks great, too. Thank you for this brilliant idea, I’ll for sure use it!
Thank you so much!
Had to roast duck for an additional 1/2 hour to get right temperature in oven thermometer. Skin NOT crispy, marinade made up for it. Will try it again,
Ive never been able to get my skin crispy, either, but it sure tasted good!
1 tablespoon of pepper sounds like a lot. Did you mean teaspoon? What about garlic powder, is that 2 tablespoons? Also, should the scoring of the skin NOT be so deep that the meat shows through?
Ideally yes, the flesh is perfectly visible along the scoring lines BUT NOT cut/punctured. It’s trickier than one might think, too, because you need to be able to feel (through your knife) the point by which the fat has been completely sliced-through and then let up on the pressure before the tissue beneath that fat layer (which has a lesser density, and is much more delicate) is damaged. Incidentally, it’s easiest if you practice on duck breasts first, to learn the right amount of force on a smaller, flatter, and more even piece before taking on a whole bird. That’s what the Chef had me do at that restaurant, and it worked out well…
I’m going to cook this for Christmas Eve dinner. My question is what do you do with the stuffing? Is it just for cooking/seasoning purposes, or do you serve it? Thanks
#notacook
No mention of a lid. Do I foil or put the roasting pan lid on till its time to glaze.?
No. I never saw anything about covering, so skin gets fully cooked
My duck turned out absolutely perfect 🙂 I cooked it a bit longer, at a higher temperature to get the skin crispy. Thank you for sharing your method!
So the recipe didn’t work the way they said it would you had to improvise. It seems like every recipe that I look at the comments say the skin IS NOT CRISPY. I just wish there was one recipe on the Internet after trying several that I could find and follow that will get my skin crispy.
Ive seen a lot of different things to try to get the skin crisp. Some are very eleborate. I’ve never had the skin come out right. Lady above said cook at a higher temp for a little longer. I’ll try that next! Keep practicing!
Have cooked your crispy duck recipe many times, all the family love it from the young to the old, keep up the great recipes
The duck looks beautiful. So you are cooking the duck for 5 hours? “Place the bird on the roasting pan and cook at 300 F for 1 hour, breast side up. After 1 hour, remove the bird and prick the skin all over again. Flip the duck breast side down and roast for another hour. Continue doing this process of poking and flipping the bird every hour for 3 hours.” You may want to reword that if you only mean 3.
I understood it as three:P it’s not that complicated
If u thought like that it Would make it 6 not 5
I need your help, are you there?!!
I will use this recipe for Thanksgiving…Can’t wait.
I followed the recipe to the letter, almost – improvised the stuffing, and it was an utter success. Thank you for this easy to follow recipe.
Hi there! I was wondering! for the last 15 minutes of blasting, do I turn up to 400F and blast the duck for 5-7 minutes then glaze or do I blast for 15 minutes then remove then glaze and continue to roast for another 5-7 minutes? Sorry for the confusion! I can’t wait to make this for Christmas!! 😀
It’s 15 minutes of. Lasting at 400 without the glaze, then put the glaze on and blast for another 5-7. I found that blasting with the glaze for 12 minutes instead of 5 to 7 makes the skin more crisp.
I agree, it should say “flip the bird one last time,” not continue to flip it.
Thanks for your comment. I felt the same and was wondering just how many hours this needed to be in the oven.
To all who can’t follow this simple recipe
Are you all idiots or are you all just looking to bitch about something?
RUDE!
This recipe looks great. I’m going to try it in the morning.
Just one question – Do I roast the duck on a drip tray because if the bird needs to be turned onto the breast side for one hour, it will be cooking in lots of fat.
The picture shows the duck placed on a rack on a tray. I had to place the duck direct on the wire shelf with a tray on the shelf below to catch the fat.
Thanks for the response Ian. Our timeline is different I presume – we’re here in Ireland.
I cooked the duck on a rack tray earlier today and it turned out beautiful, and very tasty. Yes, the photo shows the duck on a rack tray but I didn’t notice it.
Happy Christmas
Great Duck!!! This was my first time roasting duck and it turned out perfect, crispy skin and moist meat. Will be doing another one for New Years.
I had a 4.5 lb duck and cooked per directions and I thought it was over cooked. My bad because I didn’t check the temperature till after 2nd flip. I should have Upped the heat then and save 40 minutes. the glaze is great and will use the remainder for a chicken. I did really en joy the duck.
Followed this recipe to the letter! BIG FAT NOPE!
1) The cooking time is too long, The duck was definitely dry dry dry! So dry that it had the texture of rope.
2) The glaze that they ask you to make has way too much garlic. You can do without the garlic powder for sure, Also, IMHO, the molasses ruined the taste of the glaze. Perhaps a Maple syrup instead? Finally, 1 tbsp of pepper is way too much. Everyone at the dinner found the glaze too peppery. Perhaps 1 tsp.
3) The stuffing was just bizarre! Lemons and limes, garlic, apples and plumb. No binder like bread? And the garlic was again so overpowering. Perhaps Orange instead of Lime? And skip the garlic, as it is already in the glaze.
Sorry, but my experience with this recipe was bad and sad.
Funny I didn’t see in the recipe anything about stuffing
Your bizarre stuffing rant tells me you didn’t cook your duck per recipe because obviously you can’t read
Dont pay attention to that otherfellow. Hes being rude. Other people have said its too much garlic and pepper. So you’re not alone. The stuffing is for flavor only. It makes the bird taste great! After cooking, I put mine in a blender with other ingredients and made a fruity plum sauce to eat with the bird.It wa really good!
Very nice recipe. Due to low cupboard items I just put an orange and garlic in the cavity. Same with glaze; had a teaspoon of rice malt syrup, couple tablespoons of marmalade, soy sauce, a bit of dry garlic and some pepper. I would probably go with a Chinese spice and maple syrup mix next to experiment, but I found the cooking times and tips bang on, and it’s the first time the duck was super crispy!
Thanks!
3rd time doing this recipe, works great everytime! Only change I made was to skip the mollasses, seems to sweet.
Crispy everytime, I spare the fat which is delicious! Ypu people who get this to be dry, you are doing somethibg wrong!
People with the dry duck are cutting into the meat when scoring the duck and pricking it to deep when flipping it
Just supposed to render the fat not the juices
beautiful! used soft dark brown sugar instead of molasses and adjusted pepper and garlic to my liking. it came out gorgeous.
Sounds great! I didnt have apples and oranges to put in the cavity, so I made a mix of mango, lemon juice, peppercorn, soy sauce, garlic clove, and half an onion. It came out wonderful!
Cooked to 165• in only two hours. (Could be my oven)
Used Pomegranate molasses. What a compliment!
I tried this last year at Thanksgiving, without the glaze, and it was amazing! The crispy skin without the duck being dry made it absolutely delicious. I am doing this recipe again this year, maybe even trying it with the glaze. But honestly, it’s so good even plain, and I was so proud of my accomplishment. I definitely recommend this recipe!
I love your review! It will be my first time making a duck for Thanksgiving and I do believe I’m totally overthinking it. Any further tips you could offer will be appreciated!
Hi Pamela, I invite you to trust the recipe, and yourself, because it really works. I believe I did it again at Christmas last year, without the glaze, and it worked beautifully. What works so well is that by flipping the duck every hour, it’s crispy all around, and then the last 15 minutes on higher heat made it absolutely delicious and crispy. Again, I stopped at that point because I didn’t glaze it. Let me know how it turns out!
Sorry if this is duplicated, I can’t figure out if my first reply went through or not, thank you so much! I needed a confidence boost and I’m going with this recipe, enjoy your holidays!
Wonderful! You’ll have to let me know how it turns out. I’ll be making one too on Thanksgiving as well… so, we’re both going for it!
I am making 2 whole ducks (Rohan & Muscovy) for Thanksgiving this year. Was wondering if there is any way to cook them before guests arrive and reheat with still getting crispy skin? Planning on cooking low & slow for 3+ hours.
I want to spend time with my family instead of cooking most of the time.
I’m wondering same. Can you make ahead? Also, what do you do with stuffing?
Thanks so much, I’m going for it!
Love this recipe! It is my go to for duck. I am attempting a goose for Christmas Eve this year and have never done it before. Could I use the same recipe? Anyone have tips on cooking a goose?
Love this duck recipe! It is my go to for duck. I am attempting a goose for Christmas Eve this year and have never done it before. Could I use the same recipe?
Anyone have tips on cooking a goose?
This was my first ever roasted duck and this recipe nails it! I made a few alterations: 1tsp of black pepper instead of a Tbsp, 2 tsp of garlic powder, and I added Chinese 5 spice and a dollop of hoisin sauce in the sauce to give it some umph. It was delicious! Skin was crispy and duck was juicy and tender following the instructions. Thank you!
Made our Christmas. All the best to you. Of course as a greenhorn. I scored too deep. But that’s on me. This recipe killed it. For us.
Cooking time is way too long. Very dry.
I never cooked duck before and didn’t have all the ingredients, and made a couple of mistakes but it was still super good
Your recipe gave me the confidence to make a duck for the very first time. It was so beautiful! I can hardly believe that I’m the one who made it. My entire family raved over how delicious it was!
This duck looks so elegant and delicious!! It’ll be perfect when we have a bunch of family come stay with us in a few weeks!
These turned out soo amazing, everyone loved it in my family. It was a mouth-watering dinner.
The duck is in the oven!!
will let you know how it all makes out.
Wondering, on a previous recipe they suggested 1/2 cup of water in the roasting pan. any thoughts on this?
Maybe that keeps the renderings from burning the bottom of the pan like mine did!
Guys you need to let your duck sit in the fridge on a wire rack for at least 24hour 48 if you have the time to dry out the skin.
Next the cook time on this has red flags all over maybe a super super massive duck.
Finally you shouldn’t be cooking duck or any meat without a thermometer. I mean my oven sits at 86f higher than what the dials say.
My duck turned out pretty great! A tad over done but that’s my fault since I didn’t use a meat thermometer. It was still fairly tender. Regardless, everyone loved it and the glaze was perfect. Thank you! This was my first time roasting a duck.
It’s only 1 hour each side then glaze for 7-15 min. Budget 2 1/2 hours, if you have a larger duck, depending on your oven and the level of defrosted your bird is. I would highly advise temping the bird every 30 min to gauge doneness and adjust cook time accordingly. And lid off no foil, the skin will not dry out and crisp up if it’s covered. Not like cooking a turkey or chicken, the fat layer keeps the meat moist. Just an aside the items stuffed into the cavity is NOT stuffing, it’s the to keep the bird moist and give some flavor so discard after cooking or leave sewn in and discard when done with the meal. Comes out perfect if you do not slice through the skin and keep an eye on the bird’s temp (not the oven temp)
Lucky for me the birds I buy have cooking times and temps on the package. Or, you can google it. Its a certain amount per pound. I made a mistake and put the glaze on too early and blasted for 30 minutes. It was rather brown and the wings were dry. But the rest was great. I put the stuffing items in a blender after cooking and made a fruity plum sauce to have with the bird. It was very good. It felt weird to throw it away.
Can you follow the same recipe in a rotisserie oven – perhaps 90 minutes? Back in England pubs and restaurants used to spit roast duck by fires or on rotisserie.
Thank you
Mark
I would think so. Maybe be sure to use a meat thermometer to make sure its not overcooked. And back off on the temp if it starts browning too fast. Im not sure what would happpen if it’s cooked too fast. Maybe not tender enough?
The recipe doesn’t say whether to roast the duck covered or uncovered. Seems an important point for a novice duck cooker like me.