Duck legs don't have to be hard to make, but they do need to be crispy. Get dinner on the table with just three ingredients and one pan.
Disclosure: The wines featured in this post have been provided as media samples. All opinions are my own.
A cozy meal for chilly nights
Warm up your home with this very easy one pan meal that takes advantage of all the gorgeous silky fat duck has to offer.
Think ultra crispy skin, the creamiest of potatoes, and the hearty flavor of duck that was way more flavor than chicken.
The healthy fat that keeps on giving
Unlike chicken, ducks have a thick layer of fat between the meat and skin that keeps them buoyant so they can swim.
Duck fat:
- Allows the the duck skin to become incredibly crispy when cooked, more so than chicken
- Can be rendered and add sublime flavor to potatoes and other vegetables
- Is a healthy unsaturated fat with a high amount of monounsaturated fat with omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids
In restaurants, the fat is rendered and used to cook duck legs for a classic duck confit. Due to the volume of duck legs they serve, they use the fat over and over again.
For the home cook though, duck confit is not an ideal dish because it requires so much duck fat that you may or may not use again.
There is a MUCH easier way to make duck legs at home.
Easy baked legs with creamy duck fat potatoes
These duck legs are so crispy, you can almost hear them quacking.
To get the skin crispy, you simply need to bake the duck in the oven for a prolonged period of time.
As the legs cook, all the duck fat renders out and leaches into the pan where we have our obedient little potatoes ready and waiting to soak up all that glorious (and healthy) fat.
You might consider using sweet potatoes or purple potatoes for their anthocyanins and added health benefits.
But there is one caveat to this baked duck leg method.
Warning: These legs are chewy
If you don't like gnawing your meat off the bone, you're not going to like this recipe.
If you don't mind picking up your duck leg and biting into it caveman style, this recipe is for you.
In order for dug legs to become fall off the bone tender, they require:
- Moist heat (such as the above described confit method)
- OR a very long period of time at a low temperature (as if 4-6 hours at 200 degrees F).
Afterwards, you would broil the legs at a higher temperature to make the skin crispy.
The baked leg method skips these extra steps and just goes for crispy skin. We'll deal with the chewiness with our teeth.
If you prefer one pan meals that you stick in the oven and forget about for awhile, this is your recipe.
Only 3 ingredients in 1 pan
- Duck legs - We cooked 2 duck legs, about ½ pound each, in a 10" skillet
- Potatoes - A rainbow of colors would be ideal: purple, yukon gold, and yams
- Salt and pepper - Season to taste. We used ½ teaspoon of pink Himalayan salt per leg and ¼ teaspoon black pepper. Important to season prior to baking to really penetrate the meat.
The Process
Time needed: 1 hour and 45 minutes
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Chop potatoes into 2" chunks.
Use any combination or color of potatoes or sweet potatoes. Optional peeling if using potatoes.
- Slash and season the duck legs
Put 3 slashes into the top of the duck legs. Season with salt and pepper. For my taste this is a ½ teaspoon of pink Himalayan salt per duck leg and ¼ teaspoon of black pepper.
- Sear one side of the legs.
Heat a pan to medium hight heat and add the dug legs, top side down. No additional oil is needed, since the duck legs have so much fat. Sear the legs for 3-5 minutes until they are golden brown.
- Remove from heat, and add potatoes to the pan.
By now the duck will have rendered some fat. Toss the potatoes around in the fat and season with salt and pepper. It might help to remove the duck legs first, add the potatoes, then nestle the duck legs back in the pan. Add fresh or dried herbs if using.
- Bake in the oven
After an hour in the oven, they may look like this. Starting to turn golden brown but not quite totally crispy.
- Cook longer
After an hour and a half, the duck legs should become completely golden brown. Depending on the size of your duck legs, this may take longer. You can either continue baking or raise the temperature to 375 degrees F to make them turn browner faster.
- Serve hot
There will be lots of rendered fat in the pan. Drain the potatoes and duck before serving.
Wine Pairing: Merlot
October is #merlotme month, and I can't think of a better way to celebrate than warming up your whole house with wafts of duck and potatoes sizzling in fat.
California is known for big, juicy, full flavored red wines and these three are no exception.
Chelsea Goldschmidt Dry Creek Merlot: Lush, round, and ripe with blueberry, black cherry, hints of cocoa and sage. The duck fat calms the tannins and brought out more blackberry and rich fruit flavors.
Charles Krug Merlot: With a rich meal, you really do need some acid to balance out all that duck fat. This merlot offers a good combination of acidity, oak, structure, and dark fruit.
Decoy: This very well known California Merlot is food friendly. It paired with the duck fine, but I liked it with vegetarian dishes even more.
Helpful Tips
- These duck legs are not fall off the bone tender. They are chewy due to the dry heat method from baking.
- Duck legs that are about ½ pound each will take approximately 1 hour 30 minutes to become golden brown and crispy. If you have larger duck legs, continue cooking until they are the color you desire. You can also raise the temperature to 375 degrees F if you'd like the legs to cook quicker. However, they need at least 1 hour 30 minutes in the oven to become tender enough to eat.
- Don't worry if your pan is crowded with food. The potatoes and duck will shrink as they cook.
More easy recipes
Easy Roasted Garlic Green Beans with Walnuts (as a vegan main dish)
Roasted Delicata Squash (the easiest pumpkin to cut)
Easy Paleo Thanksgiving Dinner for 2
Recipe
Crispy Baked Duck Legs (easy one pan meal)
Ingredients
- 2 ea duck legs
- 1 lb potatoes or sweet potatoes chopped into 2" chunks
- salt and pepper
Optional
- hearty herbs such as thyme, rosemary, marjoram, oregano, and/or sage fresh or dried
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F;
- Score duck with 3 slashes through the skin. Season with salt and pepper. For me this is about ½ teaspoon of salt and ¼ teaspoon of pepper per duck leg.
- Heat a pan over medium heat and put the duck legs in the pan skin side down. Sear for 3-5 minutes until browned and the legs start to release some fat.
- Remove pan from heat. Add potatoes and coat with the duck fat in the pan. Season with salt and pepper. (You may need to remove duck legs from the pan if that makes it easier to stir the potatoes.)
- Nestle the duck legs into the center of the pan. Put in the oven and cook for an hour and a half or until the duck legs are golden brown and crispy.
Notes
- These duck legs are not fall off the bone tender. They are chewy due to the dry heat method from baking.
- Duck legs that are about ½ pound each will take approximately 1 hour 30 minutes to become golden brown and crispy. If you have larger duck legs, continue cooking until they are the color you desire. You can also raise the temperature to 375 degrees F if you'd like the legs to cook quicker. However, they need at least 1 hour 30 minutes in the oven to become tender enough to eat.
- Don't worry if your pan is crowded with food. The potatoes and duck will shrink as they cook.
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