Roast Duck makes a meal special and is as easy as roasting a chicken! This Easy Whole Roast Duck recipe with Chinese Five Spice is great for holiday entertaining.
Holiday meals are a hallmark of the season. It’s fun to make unexpected or fancier food but that doesn’t mean it has to be hard!
A classic Christmas dish is whole roast duck. I love this recipe for Easy Whole Roast Duck with Chinese Five Spice.
Roast Duck is not something people make often and can seem intimidating. Duck seems exotic and as though it would be difficult to make. It’s actually as easy as roasting a chicken though there are a few unique things about it.
Make it meal with ideas what to serve with duck!
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The Scoop on Roast Duck
This simple duck recipe is flavorful and a wonderful way to change up the entree for a special meal.
The duck has delicious crisp skin without being dry. The meat is perfectly moist and flavorful.
Ducks are smaller than chickens with a leaner, longer frame.
They are usually available in a 5-pound weight which with a full dinner will serve 3-4. For a larger group, make more than one roast duck.
Having more dark meat and richer meat, smaller portions usually are perfect, again when paired with other side dishes.
Being water fowl, ducks have a thicker skin with more of a fat layer. This is what contributes to the wonderful flavor.
How Long Does it Take to Roast Duck?
With about a 15-minute prep time and 2 hours cooking, duck is a really easy dish to change it up this holiday.
A Secret Tips for Perfect Roast Duck
Piercing the skin (not the meat) helps the rendered (melted in this case) fat drain more easily.
Removing the rendered fat from the pan during cooking also helps keep oven smoke to a minimum.
How to Remove the Duck Fat
Duck fat is delicious to add to many dish. Be sure to save any rendered fat for other recipes!
Removing it from the pan when cooking also keeps oven smoking low!
- Remove the pan and the duck to drain the fat into an auxiliary container 1 or 2 times during cooking.
- EASIEST METHOD: using a bulb baster to remove it from the pan.
- Trimming extra fat around the neck and cavity before roasting will cut down on the fat rendering too.
Using Duck Fat from Roast Duck
Duck fat is a coveted cooking ingredient. As with rendered bacon fast, it can be kept to add to favorite recipes for a rich flavor.
I love adding it to Roast Potatoes:
- Cut up about 8 red new potatoes into bite size pieces,
- Drizzle them with a tablespoons of duck fat,
- Lightly salt and pepper them and
- Bake on a baking sheet at 400 degrees F for 35-40 minutes.
They come out with a golden crust and soft inside, with full flavor. They make a great side dish to the duck.
Another great recipe to use it is Shortcut French Cassoulet. A French peasant stew that uses duck fat.
Chinese Five Spice
If you have not used Chinese Five Spice, it’s a must at this time of year.
It’s a spice blend with an Asian influence: blend of cinnamon, cloves, fennel, star anise, and Szechwan peppercorns.
The blend is perfect with duck and the flavor is not so pronounced that it overwhelms the natural flavor of the roast duck.
What to Serve with Roast Duck
Since duck is a richer meat with loads of flavor, I suggest serving side dishes that complement the flavors. Here are some favorites:
- Mashed Instant Pot Sweet Potatoes are slightly sweet with a wonderful texture and are fast to make!
- Winter Salad & Warm Cranberry Honey Dressing is light but full of flavor from the cranberry dressing and other ingredients.
- Fresh Green Beans with Bacon and Sliced Almonds
- Fresh Cranberry Orange Sauce
- Herb Roasted Garlic Brussels Sprouts, Sweet Potatoes and Carrots
- Haricot Vert and Mushroom Casserole with Gruyere and Lardons {bacon}: this is a completely upscale version of a classic Green Bean Casserole. The same flavors elevated with some French flair. Though this recipe is not difficult, it has several steps so is more likely to be made for a special occaision, holiday meal or when you have more time for preparation (it’s REALLY good)!
Suggested Supplies for Easy Whole Roast Duck
- Roasting Pan with Rack
- Poultry Shears (for trimming the tail area and cutting the roast duck when done cooking)
- Bamboo Skewers or Paring Knife (for piercing the duck skin before roasting to allow the rendered fat to drain)
How to Roast Duck – Step by Step
STEP 1: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Equip a roasting pan (at least 13-inch by 9-inch) with a rack.
STEP 2: Combine the spices.
STEP 3: With a bamboo skewer or paring knife, pierce the skin (avoid the meat) in 1-inch spacing to help the rendered fat drain while cooking.
STEP 4: Rub the duck inside the cavity and externally with the spice mixture. Stuff the cavity with shallots, rosemary and orange wedges.
STEP 5: Place the duck breast side DOWN on the rack, insert into oven and cook for 30 minutes.
STEP 6: Remove rendered fat from the pan.
STEP 7: Turn duck over (breast side UP) and cook an additional 90 minutes. The skin should be a deep golden-brown and the juices from piercing the drumstick should run clear.
STEP 8: Remove from oven, tent with foil and allow to site for 10 minutes before serving.
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Recipe
Easy Whole Roast Duck with Chinese Five Spice
Ingredients
- 1 5- pound Duck , completely thawed if frozen
- 2 teaspoons Kosher Salt
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground Black Pepper
- 1 teaspoon Chinese Five Spice
- 1 Orange or Tangelo cut into 6 wedges
- 4 medium fresh Rosemary sprigs , but into 2-inch lengths (roughly)
- 2 large Shallots , cut into large pieces
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Equip a 13 by 9-inch roasting pan with a roasting rack. Combine the salt, pepper and Chinese five spice in a small bowl; mix together.
- Remove the neck and organs and rinse the duck inside and out and pat is dry with paper towels.
- Trim any excess fat at the neck and cavity*. If the tail is still present, remove it by cutting it at the joint next to the duck body.
- With a sharp paring knife or a bamboo skewer, pierce the skin of the duck avoiding the meat, in 1-inch spacing. This allows the rendered fat to more easily drain.
- Rub the salt-pepper-spice mixture into the duck outside and inside the cavity. Fill the cavity with the orange, shallot and rosemary.
- Place the duck breast down on the rack and insert into the heated oven for 30 minutes.
- Pour off rendered fat or using a bulb baster, remove as much as possible from the pan (this will help keep the smoke levels down during cooking), or remove duck and pour it out of the pan.
- Turn the duck over to be breast side up and cook an additional 90 minutes. The skin should be a deep brownish-gold and when the drumstick is pieced the juices should run clear.
- Remove from the oven, tent with foil and allow the duck to rest for 10 minutes before serving.
Notes
Nutrition
Originally published December 5, 2015
Christine says
Could I make this same recipe, but with a goose instead? Could you share cooking times for a goose and one that is larger than 4 pounds?
thank you.
Toni Dash says
Hi Christine. Unfortunately I’ve never cooked goose so couldn’t advise on that swap. Geese are quite a bit bigger.
mimi rippee says
So beautiful. And you presented the duck so nicely. I love that you used chinese 5 spice, because then that allows the side dishes to compliment with other Asian flavors. Really nice. Unfortunately I’m the only duck eater here…
Toni Dash says
Sounds like you get plenty for yourself then!
Lori says
My husband has dubbed this one as the best recipe for our holiday dinner!