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Oma's Traditional Roast Duck Recipe

➤ by Gerhild Fulson

This German roast duck recipe is so easy to make for your traditional holiday dinner. With very little work, it goes into the oven and you have time to make all the trimmings. For me, that's potato dumplings (with roasted bread crouton inside) and red cabbage.

For the full list of ingredients & detailed instructions, see the recipe card at the end of this post. But before you scroll, there’s important & interesting stuff to know right below.

German Roast Duck dinner

You'll find that the following method of how to cook duck is very tasty and very easy. Perfectly delicious intimate dinner for two!

I really don't remember Mutti cooking duck that often. Perhaps, because most ducks will only serve about 4 and our family had 5 very hungry people. That would make an expensive meal. 

However, it's perfect for an intimate dinner for two. Or, if you wanted to keep up with German Christmas traditions, you could make several. Traditional for Christmas, but perfect for Easter as well.

There’s something absolutely mouth-watering about having a German meat-and-potato dinner. Get Oma's revised collection of her favorites in German Meat Dishes.

Take a look at Oma's German Meat Dishes eCookbook filled with traditional favorites.

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Oma says,

I naturally served this with potato dumplings and red cabbage, but green beans would be awesome, as well.  

When you make the gravy with the pan juices that are left in the pan, remove the fat first. And, most importantly, KEEP that fat! You'll want to use it to fry potatoes. So good! In fact, that duck fat is called "liquid gold"!

German Roast Duck

I was surprised how easy it was to make duck this way. I know I've seen it done various ways to remove some of the fat by poking the skin with a fork either before or during the roasting time.

However, cooking it in the method below, the duck was very moist and not fatty at all. There was a fair amount of fat in the roasting dish which I saved for other uses.

The only thing that is really needful is knowing that a duck doesn't usually have too much meat. The duck (4 pound) shown above served 3 of us with some leftovers. 

Ready to make this roast duck recipe?

Oma's Traditional Roast Duck Recipe

Oma's Traditional Roast Duck Recipe

This German roast duck recipe, aka Entenbraten,  is so easy to make for your traditional holiday dinner. With very little work, it goes into the oven and you have time to make all the trimmings. For me, that's potato dumplings (with roasted bread crouton inside) and red cabbage.

Prep Time

30 minutes

Roast Time

2.5 hours

Total Time

3 hours

Servings:

Makes 3 - 4 servings

Ingredients:

  • 1 duck (about 4 pounds)
  • 1 large apple, quartered
  • 2 stalks celery, coarsely chopped
  • 4 large carrots, cut into chunks
  • 2 medium onions, quartered
  • salt and pepper or seasoning salt
  • 1 tablespoon cornstarch

Instructions:

  1. Preheat oven to 325°F.
  2. Rinse duck under running water. Remove any innards. Pat dry with paper toweling.
  3. Season duck, inside and out with salt and pepper or seasoning salt.
  4. Stuff apple into duck's cavity. Either sew shut with kitchen twine or use skewers to close cavity. 
  5. Place duck with the breast side down into shallow roasting pan. Scatter the celery, carrots, and onions around the duck. Add about 1 inch of water.
  6. Roast in preheated oven for 1 hours. Turn duck over so the breast side is up and continue roasting for 1½ to 2 hours or until internal temp reaches 180°F and leg joint moves freely. About ½ hour before it is finished, baste with pan juices.
  7. If you want the skin crispier, increase the oven to 400°F, put the duck onto a new roasting pan and roast it for another 10 minutes or so.
  8. Remove from oven. Tent loosely with foil and let sit about 10 minutes before serving.
  9. To make the gravy, strain the pan juices into a bowl. Skim the fat off with a spoon (keep the fat for other purposes such as frying potatoes!) and return some the pan juices to the roasting pan and scrape up the browned bits at the bottom with a spatula. Pour all the pan juices into a saucepan, heat to a simmer. Make a cornstarch slurry by mixing a tablespoon of cornstarch with a bit of cold water. Stir in just enough into the simmering pan juices to thicken. Season with salt and pepper. 
  10. Cut duck into 4 pieces and serve with the gravy.

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Unless otherwise noted recipe, images and content © Just like Oma | www.quick-german-recipes.com

11.06.2021 revision update

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How to cook duck simply! This recipe is so easy, delicious, and German!



Roast Duck Recipe made Just like Oma



By


Roast Duck Recipe made Just like Oma


This German roast duck recipe is so easy to make for your traditional holiday dinner. With very little work, it goes into the oven and you have time to make all the trimmings.


Ingredients: duck, apple, celery, onion, carrots, cornstarch, seasonings,

For the full recipe, scroll up ...

WORDS TO THE WISE

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Proverbs 15:32 (NLT)


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