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    Home » Recipes » Side Dishes » What to serve with Duck

    PUBLISHED: June 18, 2022 • By Toni Dash 8 Comments

    What to serve with Duck

    This post may include affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

    what to serve with duck - side dish collage.

    Duck is a delicious main dish with crispy skin and rich flavors. If you aren’t sure what to serve with duck, this collection of exciting side dishes for duck will give plenty of delicious ideas!

    what to serve with duck - side dish collage.

    Duck is no longer a dish just for holidays or a special occasion. It’s a great alternative to chicken and roast duck is easy to prepare. Picking a delicious side dish makes it a perfect choice for dinner parties or a tasty change up from roast chicken.

    Try our easy recipe for Whole Duck or any favorite duck recipe with any of these best side dishes.

    Jump to:
    • How to pick a Perfect Side Dish
    • Duck Side Dishes
    • Potatoes and Polenta
    • Noodles
    • Salads
    • Vegetables

    Whether you are cooking duck breast or whole duck there are some things that differentiate duck meat from other poultry. Duck meat is darker than chicken but still considered a white meat. It is richer in flavor mainly due to a higher fat content of the skin.

    Any way you’d prepare chicken, you can do with duck. Because duck has a richer, stronger flavor due to the higher fat it is often prepared like red meat more so than chicken.

    How to pick a Perfect Side Dish

    Because of duck’s richness picking the right sides requires consideration of two things:

    Substantial dishes. Though duck is considered a white meat the strength of flavor works best with more substantial dishes to balance a meal.

    Flavor. Stronger flavored side dishes make a perfect pairing for duck. Root vegetables, sweet potatoes, a delicious sauce like orange sauce, cranberry sauce or red currant gravy that have some sweetness or sweet and tangy flavor complement the rich flavor of the savory duck.

    Duck Side Dishes

    You won’t go wrong with any of these easy side dishes! Pick one or a few for a perfect meal. You may find some new favorite side dishes too!

    Potatoes. Smashed potatoes, roasted potatoes with Parmesan cheese, dauphinoise potatoes, potatoes au gratin, mashed potatoes with creamy texture are all a great accompaniment with duck as a main course.

    Vegetables. Adding in vegetables is always a great choice whether it be simple green beans, or a combination of roasted vegetables with fresh herbs. Almost any vegetables dish is a good choice with easy recipes to choose from.

    Salads. Salads like spinach salad with pomegranate seeds or peppery arugula salad with balsamic vinaigrette deliver big flavors are a good option that go with the flavor with a duck dish. Salad is a simple dish and with the right ingredients are a perfect balance with the richer duck fat in the crisp skin.

    Potatoes and Polenta

    Soul-warming comfort food is always a perfect dish to pair with duck. These recipes aren’t just ordinary recipes. Hearty potatoes and creamy polenta each with unique flavors you’ll love any time.

    Instant Pot mashed sweet potatoes in a bowl
    Mashed Instant Pot Sweet Potatoes
    Mashed Instant Pot Sweet Potatoes are easy, fast and delicious with just a handful of wholesome ingredients!
    Check out this recipe
    Instant Pot Sour Cream Garlic Mashed Potatoes
    Instant Pot Sour Cream Garlic Mashed Potatoes
    For creamy mashed potatoes made fast, the Instant Pot pressure cooker can’t be beat.  These potatoes cook for 8 minutes, are drained and the other ingredients added in the Instant Pot insert. No extra bowls to clean up. 
    Check out this recipe
    garlic smashed potatoes from overhead.
    Roasted Garlic Buttermilk Smashed Potatoes
    Creamy Garlic Smashed Potatoes have a little tang from buttermilk. As the garlic roasts the potatoes may be boiled to time out when the garlic is done which leaves the cooking time to be 30 minutes total.
    Check out this recipe
    polenta on plate with sautéed greens
    Pan Fried Polenta with Sautéed Greens
    Fried polenta is has a wonderful consistency of a more of a cake of polenta than traditional looser form. The blend of flavors and textures with the sharp-flavored braising greens and whimsical garlic scapes are a soul-satisfying dish. The greens on top may be modified to add onion, traditional garlic or anything you like.
    Check out this recipe
    pumpkin polenta.
    Pumpkin Polenta with Maple Bacon Gravy
    This mouthwatering comfort food combo is perfect as a main dish or side dish! Creamy polenta with the light pumpkin flavor topped with sweet and salty maple bacon gravy that's irresistibly good!
    Check out this recipe

    Noodles

    Noodles can be a fun option especially is cooking duck breast that will be sliced and served on the noodles.

    spicy ramen in a white bowl
    10 Minute Spicy Ramen Noodles
    These spicy restaurant-style noodles are packed with Asian flavors and heat. They are fast to make and incredibly satisfying. Lots of ways to change them up too.
    Check out this recipe
    spiralized spicy sweet potato noodles.
    Spicy Spiralized Garlic-Cinnamon Sweet Potato Noodles
    Spiralized Sweet Potato noodles pass for traditional grain pasta with loads more flavor, nutrition and fewer calories. Tossed in a simple garlic, red pepper flake and seasonal spice browned butter makes a richly flavored filling option in less than 30 minutes.
    Recipe can be doubled or tripled keeping the ingredient proportions the same. See the Notes section for a link to an Spiralizer alternative.
    Check out this recipe

    Salads

    Regular green salads can be an easy side dish choice using a brighter flavor dressing with balsamic vinegar for instance. Or choose one of these salads with stronger flavored ingredients, some sweetness, tanginess or spicy heat.

    fennel salad from overhead.
    Fennel and Orange Salad
    Fennel Orange Salad is an exciting mix of sweet and spicy flavors. It's a simple, fresh winter salad perfect for any meal.
    Check out this recipe
    winter salad with warm cranberry dressing.
    Warm Cranberry Honey Dressing and Winter Salad
    This flavor packed seasonal salad will make salad in winter something exciting!  Warm Cranberry Honey Dressing compliments spicy winter greens, sweet fruit and crunchy seeds.  It can also be made and kept in the refridgerator to dress up greens when the mood strikes.
    Check out this recipe
    Warm Dandelion and Bacon salad in a white salad bowl
    WARM DANDELION AND BACON SALAD (Pissenlits au Lard)
    This simple warm Dandelion and Bacon Salad is bursting with delicious flavors and ingredients.
    Check out this recipe
    roasted pumpkin in bowl with feta and arugula
    Roasted Pumpkin Salad with feta and almonds
    Sweet roasted pumpkin, salty crumbled feta cheese and crisp dry roasted almonds on spicy arugula with an orange vinaigrette. A perfect fall salad any time and for Thanksgiving.
    Check out this recipe
    strawberry salad
    Strawberry Salad + fresh Strawberry Poppy Seed Dressing
    Fresh colorful Strawberry Salad is full of vibrant flavors and wholesome ingredients. Topped with an easy sweet Strawberry Poppy Seed Dressing for a delicious main or side dish.
    Check out this recipe

    Vegetables

    Roasted vegetables are both colorful and add a hearty side dish to a meal. It’s a great way to use seasonal vegetables you love that add caramelized sweetness to a meal.

    rosemary maple roasted vegetables
    Rosemary Maple Roasted Vegetables
    Colorful assorted vegetables are roasted to a caramelized finish with maple mustard drizzle. Perfect easy side dish any time.
    Check out this recipe
    Balsamic Roasted Fall Vegetables with Sumac
    Balsamic Roasted Fall Vegetables with Sumac
    This easy recipe for roasted fall vegetables is packed with flavor and flexible to be changed up with your seasonal favorites.
    Check out this recipe
    scoop of sunchokes in pan.
    Creamy Scalloped Ginger Sunchokes
    This ginger scalloped sunchoke dish is irresistibly good. Lightly crunchy sliced sunchokes in a creamy ginger sauce, topped with golden toasted breadcrumbs and pecans.
    Check out this recipe
    brussels sprouts sweet potatoes and carrots
    Herb Roasted Garlic Brussels Sprouts Sweet Potatoes and Carrots
    Roasted fall vegetables with simple herbs, lemon zest, and garlic always make a deeply flavorful side dish that is easy to prepare. The combination of Brussels sprouts, sweet potato and carrots makes a wonderful medley of flavor as well as a colorful combination to adorn the dinner table.
    Check out this recipe
    « Raspberry Pandowdy
    Easy Raspberry Sauce »

    ABOUT THE AUTHOR

    TONI DASH
    Toni Dash head shot

    Toni Dash, is a Certified Nutrition Coach and the writer/blogger, photographer, recipe developer and creator of Boulder Locavore®. She has been developing easy to make, well-tested recipes since 2010. Her seasonal recipes bring excitement to the dining table for both gluten-free and gluten diners. Toni has been featured in numerous publications and on culinary websites for her creative, delicious recipes and travel features. For more details, check out her About page.

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    1. Michelle says

      June 21, 2022 at 10:18 am

      These all look so yummy it’s hard which to try first! Maybe the pumpkin polenta!

      Reply
    2. Cynthia | What A Girl Eats says

      June 20, 2022 at 1:29 pm

      Such a lovely collection of side dishes! I can’t wait to try some of them out!

      Reply
    3. Kristyn says

      June 20, 2022 at 12:51 pm

      Thanks for sharing this wonderful list!! They all look so yummy & I bet they would taste great with so many other meats!

      Reply
    4. Mirlene says

      June 20, 2022 at 12:42 pm

      We usually have duck with roasted veggies on the side. I like the idea of having them with the sprialized sweet potato noodles. I’m going to try that next!

      Reply
    5. Linda says

      June 20, 2022 at 12:28 pm

      Roasted sweet potatoes and vegetables are my favorites to serve with duck. You have so many other wonderful choices I may wind up having duck a lot more often just to try them all. lol

      Reply
    6. Hailey says

      June 20, 2022 at 12:24 pm

      I feel totally inspired to make duck breasts after reading through all of these delicious sides! I’ll refer back to this post for sides for all kinds of poultry in the future.

      Reply
    7. Agnes says

      June 20, 2022 at 12:21 pm

      What a great compilation- I’m eyeing the balsamic root vegetables and pumpkin salad in particular. Thank you for sharing these amazing side dish ideas.

      Reply
    8. jess says

      June 20, 2022 at 11:56 am

      thank you so much for sharing this recipe and helping me find some amazing side dishes!

      Reply

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    About Toni Dash

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    Welcome! I’m Toni. I’m a Certified Nutrition Coach and my goal is to MAKE YOUR LIFE EASIER with delicious, well-tested recipes and travel tips! More About Me …

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