Roast Duck Recipe with Step by Step Photos and Cooking Videos

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Today I’ll show you my recipe for Roast Duck. Some time ago I cooked this dish with my friend Wolfgang and documented it for you. The duck is one of my favorite dishes and in the article there are extra many tips for the preparation at star level.  The many step by step pictures accompany you cooking yourself. Additionally I have added some videos. Here you get the perfect instructions for roasting duck whole, preparing crispy duck, carving duck professionally, preparing duck sauce, side dishes to duck.  Have fun reading!
Bavarian roast duck
The recipe for Bavarian roast duck can be found elsewhere on my blog.
The recipe for Bavarian duck roast can be found elsewhere in my blog.

1. Preparing Roast Duck in the Oven, the Overview

The preparation of the duck takes place today in the oven. First I would like to give you an overview, so that the duck roast succeeds simply For the preparation of the duck you can reserve a time frame of 2-3 hours.

1.1 Fill Duck or prepare Duck without Filling

I learned how to roast ducks from Alfons Schuhbeck. The ducks were always filled with a mixture of apple pieces and onion pieces, seasoned with marjoram.
Stuffed duck after roasting
Duck stuffed with apple and onions.
Duck stuffed with apple and onions. The filling helps to develop flavours. The gravy and the duck fat will taste delicious. You can also put your duck unfilled in the oven. Put the apple and onions on the baking tray and you will get a similar effect. The preparation of the duck resembles the preparation of goose roast, therefore I have inserted you the video:

1.2 German Roast Duck with Dumplings

In today’s recipe I will show you a simple variation with potato dumplings made from half and half potato dough. This is the preferred dumpling mass in Bavaria. The preparation of this dumpling mass is very easy, you just mix the powder with cold water. Because then still time remains I fill the dumplings with roasted pumpkin seeds. These are then surprise dumplings and these always arrive with guests.
Insider tip for the dumplings: Roast breadcrumbs light brown, add butter and parsley, pour the butter crumbs over the dumplings.
As an alternative I can offer you a recipe of napkin dumplings, Bohemian dumplings and pretzel dumplings. The video of the dumpling preparation follows here:

1.3 Duck and Red Cabbage

You can find a recipe for making red cabbage yourself on my page. My recommendation is: Prepare the red cabbage the day before and then heat it up again. Red cabbage gets better and better on the second day. If you would like to use a prepared, already cooked red cabbage from the glass, then refine the cabbage with red wine, port wine and apple sauce and let the cabbage simmer gently on the stove.
blue cabbage red cabbage red cabbage harvest
Red cabbage tastes best from the field to the pot.
From the field to the pot the red cabbage tastes best. Refining tips: Add cranberries and a little cinnamon to the red cabbage. I’ll show you how to prepare red cabbage in the following video:

1.4 Duck Sauce

I have already written elsewhere about the different types of duck sauce. For a good homemade duck sauce you need the duck carcasses, apple and onions, veal stock and vegetable broth. The roasted duck you can release at least two, better four hours before serving and prepare the duck pieces on a baking tray. The duck bones = duck carcasses move into a pot with the gravy and the cooked apples and onions. Add the veal stock and the vegetable stock or chicken stock. Let this cold sauce simmer gently for two to four hours, then pass through the sauce, reduce, thicken with grated potatoes, mix with butter and serve.
Prepare duck sauce
Duck bones the carcasses are hot in a saucepan while cooking duck sauce.
Duck bones the carcasses are hot in a pot with the duck sauce cook.
My insider tip for duck sauce: Cut the duck liver raw into small pieces, bring the prepared duck sauce to the boil and add the liver. Do not boil the sauce again, mix, pass through a fine sieve and serve.
The preparation of the duck sauce works like the preparation of sauce for roasting goose, following two videos: Prepare the Duck Gravy: Duck Sauce Tip Video:

2. How to prepare a Crispy Duck

The preparation of the crispy duck is very easy. Please heed the following tips: But I have also a video…

2.1 How to carve the Roast Duck – Video

2.2 Crispy Duck Video

3. Recipe Duck with Dumplings and Red Cabbage

The following is the recipe with exact quantities. I wish you good luck!

Roast Duck with Dumplings and Red Cabbage

Duck Roast recipe with comprehensive instructions and videos. Perfectly prepare duck as a whole with tips from German chef Thomas Sixt.

Servings 4 Persons
Calories 1848
Total Time 330 Min.
Preparation Time 90 Min.
Cook Time 140 Min.
Duck roast recipe with cooking videos and step by step photos. All tips and tricks for the optimal preparation of duck as a whole. Prepare duck with side dish like a star chef.

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Roast duck on plate recipe picture
Duck crispy with dumplings, red cabbage and Brussels sprouts

Ingredients

Duck Roast

1 pc Duck (ca. 2,2 kg)
3 pc onions (for filling/stuffing)
3 pc Apple (for filling/stuffing)
2-3 tbsp majoram
Salt
Pepper

Duck gravy

cooked stuffing of duck (Apple and onions from the roasted duck)
crushed, cooked duck bones
Duck’s intestines and neck
Roast set from baking tray and duck fat
0.5-1 l veal stock
0.5-1 l chicken broth or vegetable broth
1 pc potato (raw to grate finely and tie the duck gravy)
Salt
Pepper
60 g Cold butter

Potato Dumplings

1 pc Half and half dumplings
Salt
Pepper
nutmeg
4 tbsp roasted, salted pumpkin seeds
1/2 bunch Parsley

Red Cabbage for Roast Duck

500 g red cabbage finely chopped
100 ml Vegetable broth
120 g apple compote
3 tbsp Cranberries (or cowberries)
150 ml white wine (dry)
30 ml balsamico
1 pc onion
1 pc Bay leaf (place onion)
1 pc clove (stick through bay leaf and onion)
Salt
Pepper

Instruction

Duck Preparation

Roast duck ingredients
Fresh duck with apple and onions

Defrost the duck, wash and dry. Place the innards such as liver, stomach, heart, throat and belly fat on the baking tray. If you want to prepare the liver sauce, prepare the liver extra. Wash the Enetn, dry it and place it on the baking tray. Preheat oven to 180°C hot air.

Stuffing for duck
Filling for the roast duck

Prepare the filling: Peel and quarter the onion and place in a large bowl. Wash the apples, cut them into quarters and add to the onions. Season the filling with salt, pepper and marjoram. You can also add some garlic.

Ducks stuffed on the baking sheet
Duck stuffed on a baking sheet

Season the duck on the baking tray with salt and pepper, fold down the wings and give the duck a good stand. Put the filling in the belly. You can close the duck with a wooden skewer, sew the belly with a roast string or leave it open. Season the duck from above with salt and pepper and put it in the oven.

Roast ducks
Roasted ducks ready to trigger.

The cooking time of a duck with approx. 2 kg is at 175°C 85 minutes. Cook small ducks accordingly shorter. Pour the resulting gravy over the duck every 30 minutes and add a little salt. Professionals carefully prick the skin with a sharp needle so that the fat runs out and the skin becomes crispier. Note: The breast is always cooked before the legs. That’s why in gourmet restaurants the duck is served in two courses, first the duck breast, then the post-garden legs.

Throw breast of duck
Carving the duck.

Remove the ducks from the oven and leave to cool for 30 minutes. Place the gravy with the stuffing and the cooked duck in a high saucepan. Remove the duck breasts starting from the sternum.

Trigger duck legs
Trigger the duck's legs.

After the breasts trigger the duck legs.

Detached pieces of duck
Duck pieces thrown on a baking sheet

Place the prepared pieces of duck on the baking tray.

Gravy fur Roast Duck

Prepare duck sauce
Duck bones the carcasses are hot in a saucepan while cooking duck sauce.

Dismantle the duck carcass and put it into the pot. The roasted filling is already there. You can also add fresh onions and apples. Now fill up with veal stock and vegetable stock and simmer for at least 2 hours, better up to 4 hours.

Pass the sauce through a fine sieve, reduce the sauce to the desired taste and thicken with fresh, finely grated raw potato. Mix up the sauce, season to taste again and bring to the boil before serving and assemble with the butter. For the liver sauce, follow the instructions in the article!

Potato Dumplings

Roast the pumpkin seeds
Pumpkin seeds when roasting in the pan.

Put the pumpkin seeds in a pan, roast and season with salt. Let the pumpkin seeds cool down.

Prepare potato dough for dumplings
Potato dough for dumplings half and half.

Prepare the dumpling mass for the half and half potato dumplings according to the instructions on the packet and let it steep.

Fill the dumplings with pumpkin seeds
Dumplings filled with pumpkin seeds.

Portion the dumpling mass with an ice-cream scoop or a small ladle. Fill the pumpkin seeds in the middle, close and form round dumplings. Place the dumplings in boiling salted water and cook over a low heat for about 12 minutes.

Red Cabbage or Roast Goose

Knead the marinated red cabbage with your hands
Knead the red cabbage

Attention the day before! Or follow the tips for preparing red cabbage from the glass from above.

Mix the finely chopped red cabbage with chicken stock, apple sauce, cranberries, white wine, balsamic vinegar as well as salt and pepper – knead the red cabbage well.

The marinated red cabbage can now be marinated overnight in a pot in the fridge or prepared immediately. Before bringing to the boil, add the onion, halved and larded with bay leaf and clove.

Bring the red cabbage to the boil with the lid on, then simmer lightly for 1.5-2.5 hours with the lid on, if necessary add some vegetable stock.

Season the red cabbage to taste with salt and pepper and keep ready for serving.

Serve Duck with Side Dishes

Detached pieces of duck
Duck pieces thrown on a baking sheet

After the arrival of the guests, fry the duck pieces again lightly salted under the grill at approx. 230 ° C until crispy.

Serve side dishes and duck
Serve the crispy roast duck with side dishes.

Heat the side dishes and the plates. Arrange the side dishes: Remove the dumplings from the water and drain on kitchen paper, squeeze the red cabbage on a sieve. Carve the crispy duck pieces and put them on the plate.

Mix the sauce with butter, season to taste and add to the duck on the plate.

Serve the duck
Serve the duck served.

Serve the served duck quickly.

Note on Brussels sprouts:

I additionally blanched halved Brussels sprouts until firm to the bite and then tossed them in reduced cream with salt, pepper, nutmeg and a little truffle oil.

4. Calories (kcal) Roast Duck with Dumplings and Red Cabbage, Nutritional Values

5. Other Recipes with Duck

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