A fabulously easy festive Christmas Roast Duck. Crispy skin rubbed with Christmas inspired spices, accompanied with an Apple Cider Drizzle. Easy to make, easy on the wallet, and a gorgeous centrepiece to add to your festive gathering!
*** This recipe is part of a Christmas Special where I show you how to make 3 mains and 4 side dishes that take 1.5 hrs to prepare and can be largely made ahead. So this Christmas, you can spend less time in the kitchen and more time with your family! 🙂 ***
Duck is not something I cook with on an everyday basis. But every time I make it, I wonder why I don’t. I think because like most people, I subconsciously have duck tagged as fiddly to cook with and expensive to buy.
Not true!! It’s time to get the story straight!!
Firstly, a whole duck costs around the same (on a weight basis) as chicken breast (at least, here in Sydney) – but it’s a whole lot more interesting and tasty!! A 2.3 kg / 4.5 lb duck cost me $20 from my local butcher. It is around $22 – $25 at large supermarkets.
Secondly, duck is alot easier to roast than a whole chicken for two reasons:
1. The flesh has more natural flavour so flavour infusion / thick gravy or strong sauce isn’t as necessary as it is with roast chicken; and
2. Duck is fattier than chicken which means you don’t end up with dry breast meat and burnt wing tips.
The roasting formula is simple. 40 minutes per kg / 20 minutes per pound. Just make sure you pat the skin dry so you end up with crispy skin. A simple sprinkle of spices on the skin, and a very quick sauce for the side.
That’s all there is to it!
I deliberately choose not to stuff it because depending on the size of the cavity and how much you pack it (or not) and the type of stuffing you use, the roasting time can significantly vary. In any case, stuffing made separately is so much more tasty because you get more brown crunchy bits. I dialled the crunchy bits aaaalllll the way up by making individual stuffing cups in a muffin tin lined with pancetta.
So, what do you think?? Will duck make it on the menu at your next festive gathering?! – Nagi
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Easy, Stress Free Seven Course Christmas Menu (1.5 hr prep)
You can read about this menu here, including a step by step of the order in which I prepared, baked, reheated and plated up each dish. I made all these dishes (with the exception of the cabbage salad) for a Christmas Party with my friends and these are photos of the actual dishes that I took to the party. I’m sharing this in the hope that it might inspire your Christmas menu!
-
Easy Maple Sticky Glazed Ham (15 min prep, 1 – 1 1/2 hrs inactive baking, can be made ahead)
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Juicy Slow Cooker Turkey Breast (5 min prep, then set and forget, reheats well but best slow cooked overnight on the night before serving)
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This Festive Duck with Apple Cider Drizzle (5 min prep, 1 1/2 hr inactive baking, reheats very well)
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Pork Apple Stuffing in Pancetta Cups (20 min prep and worth every second. Reheats extremely well)
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Julia Child’s Potato Dauphinoise Gratin (15 min prep, 45 min baking, reheats very well)
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Red, Green and White Christmas Salad (10 minutes prep)
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Warm Red Cabbage and Spinach with Garlic Herb Butter (10 minutes prep)
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Festive Christmas Roast Duck with Apple Cider Drizzle
Ingredients
- 1 whole duck (around 2 - 2.5 kg) (if frozen, it must be thawed) (Note 1)
- 1 onion (brown, yellow or white), unpeeled and quartered
- 1 cup water
- 1 whole head of garlic , cut in half horizontally
Spice Rub
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp cinnamon powder
- 1 tsp All Spice powder
- 1 tbsp salt
- 10 grinds black pepper
- 1 1/2 tbsp unsalted butter , softened (Note 2)
Apple Cider Drizzle
- 1 cup chicken broth/stock (or duck broth, which is better but more expensive and harder to find)
- 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar (Note 3)
- 1/2 cup apple juice
- Salt and pepper
Garnish
- Few handfuls of rocket / arugula leaves
- 1 pomegranate , halved
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 210C/410C.
- Place the onion, garlic and water in a baking dish, then place a rack on top.
- Rinse the duck under water, including inside the cavity. Use paper towels to pat dry. Or, if you have the foresight, rinse it the night before and leave it in the fridge overnight, uncovered, to dry out.
- Place the Spice Rub in a small bowl and mix to combine.
- Slather the Spice Rub all over the skin of the duck (not inside). Use most of it on the top and sides.
- Place duck on the rack and put in the oven. Roast for 20 minutes, then turn down the oven to 180C/350F. The total roasting time (including the initial 20 minutes) should be 40 minutes per 1 kg / 20 minutes per 1 lb of duck.
- To check if it is done, insert a skewer into the part where the leg meets the breast. If the juice runs clear, it is ready.
- Remove duck from the oven. Remove duck from the baking tray, loosely cover with foil and let it rest for 20 minutes.
- Place on a bed of rocket/arugula lettuce. Scatter with pomegranate seeds (Note 4) and serve with the Apple Cider Drizzle on the side.
Apple Cider Drizzle
- Pour all the fat, juice, onion and garlic in the baking tray through a sieve placed over a bowl. Use a spoon or potato masher to mush the onion and garlic so you can extract maximum flavour.
- If there is an excessive amount of fat floating on top of the juices, try to spoon it off (save it for roasting potatoes or vegetables, that stuff is gold!).
- Pour 1/4 cup of the juices into a small saucepan. Add apple cider vinegar, apple juice, chicken broth and place over medium heat. Bring to simmer and let it simmer for 2 to 3 minutes until it reduces by about 1/4, then remove from the stove.
- Season to taste with salt and pepper. Also, adjust tartness and sweetness to your taste with more apple cider vinegar or white sugar.
- Serve on the side of the duck.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Just on a side note, last time I cooked duck I made stock from the frame and offcuts with the usual stock veg – onion, celery, carrot – in the slow cooker and froze for just this purpose! (along with extra gravy put away in the freezer)
This was so good and very easy to make. The skin wasn’t super crispy – not sure where I went wrong on that one. I didn’t make the drizzle, but also didn’t really miss it. Definitely would make it again.
The duck came out great! But I wonder if the proportions in the apple cider drizzle need to be re-checked? Originally made it as written, and found it to be overwhelmingly vinegar-y for my taste. Added the rest of the juice from the pan and another half cup of apple juice, and it came out great.
Happy Christmas Nagi & Dozer. We made the Christmas duck with lentils and a beet salad last night and loved all three paired together. It was an especially easy recipe to follow and we’ll definitely make this again (and share with all our friends & family). To go full “test kitchen” on Christmas is a testament to how much we trust your recipes, Nagi. We did add a little more palm sugar to the drizzle (as per your notes) and used ACV in place of balsamic since we modify everything to be AIP friendly, and loved every morsel. Thank you for your excellent recipes and your generosity of spirit. Happy New Year!
The duck was perfect but the apple cider dressing was disgusting. Was fine without sauce. Merry Christmas Nagi! Thanks a million for all your great recipes.
well, this was disastrous. The skin did not crisp and the meat was tough. I’ve only found a few of Nagi’s recipes not great but this was the biggest fail.
Hi Nagi,
Just want to know if I cook the duck with breast side-up or down?
Thank you
Hi Jessica! Breast side up! N x
Thank you very much Nagi.
made this for christmas dinner and it was a lot easier than i would ever think it was to make duck! meat came out tender, moist and flavorful! will make it again next year.
was wondering if it matters to put duck breast side up or down? Also, is it preferred to put in middle of oven?
thank you Nagi for your awesome christmas saving recipes!!!
First time I’ve cooked duck, brilliant. No stressing looking at it. Had this Christmas Eve and leftovers Christmas Day.
Two of us so we have enough to put in a stir fry soon! Thank you. Happy Christmas x
I tried this, it’s so so good! It works so well with the apple cider sauce and the rockets/pomegranate siding. I’ll definitely make this again on the next special occasion! Thanks!
Amazing flavor! The best duck I’ve ever had! Thank you Nagi for the receipt! I made it with the sour cherries sauce for the New year eve celebration.
I’m going to make this recipe this weekend and saw you mention a sour cherries sauce. I can’t find this recipe and sounds like it would be great to make. Would you provide the link?
Thanks!
Amazing flavor! The best duck I’ve ever had! Thank you Nagi for the receipt! I made it with the sour cherries sauce for the New year eve celebration: it looked amazing 🤘
Hi Liliana, do you happen to have the recipe for the sour cherry sauce? Sounds delish!
I love your recipes. Had the steamed mussels last night and they were delicious. I want to try the duck this Christmas and have never roasted one before. You don’t mention about scoring the skin of the duck and I can’t tell from the photo. Is it necessary to score the skin and flip the duck during roasting?
Hi Nagi I am just wondering if I can brine the duck overnight.
Hi! Would this recipe work with duck legs or butterflied duck?
I plan on cooking this for Christmas. Could I use apple cider instead of the apple juice in the drizzle.
Yes 100% Helen! N x
Thank you. Just recently discovered your site and I love the recipes. Had the sweet and sour pork last night. My husband and I loved it. I love the pictures too and suggestions for sides.
Hi Nagi
Can you please advise if the oven temperature in the recipe is for a fan forced oven?
Thank you for this recipe. Will try making this. Can we substitute all spice powder with something else?
Hi Tan, the all spice is what gives this that stand out flavour. If you can’t find it, you can make your own substitute with equal quantities of nutmeg, cloves and cinnamon – N x
Happy Xmas Nagi! I am planning on doing your Xmas roast duck and pork sausage pancetta cups for NYE. I think JP’s iceberg salad would be a good side (to cut through duck’s richness) but which “carb” dish would you suggest? ie potato? Cheers
Lia 🙂
love the sound of this duck recipe,will be trying it,as we are having duck some time over the Christmas holidays.
will also try several of the starters on boxing day as family will be decending.