My Favorite Duck Breast Recipe
An update to one of my favorite recipes 🌞
A few weeks ago, I decided to recreate one of my favorite (and most popular) recipes: Seared Duck Breast with Cipollini Onions. I developed this recipe a few years ago but wanted to update it with new photography.
As I went through the recipe, I found myself making some modifications and updates based on things I’ve learned over the years, and now, I have a recipe that is similar but different enough that it deserves its own post.
I’ll go through each recipe component and give you the full recipe at the very end. If you want to get cooking, you can download the print-friendly PDF linked below.
First, the onions:
In this version, I use gold pearl onions instead of cipollini. Either is fine, or you can use white or red pearl onions.
You definitely don’t have to use pearl onions. You even can shorten the cooking time by dicing up a shallot or sweet onion and throwing them in with the mushrooms, which will still be delicious. Pearl onions are so much fun, even though they’re a pain in the butt to peel (anyone who says they’re sOoOoOo easy to peel is lying).
So, if you’ve decided to use pearl onions, let’s talk prep. Every package of pearl onions I’ve gotten has said to boil onions for 1–2 minutes and then pop them right out of the skin. It rarely ever works that easily for me, and I am not sure if I’m doing something wrong. What has worked for me is boiling and then using scissors to trim off the root end of the onion. You’re not cutting off much; it’s just enough that it’ll detach the onion from the skin. Then, you can pop the onion out by applying pressure around the very top of the onion (opposite of the root end). I’ve found that if you don’t cut off that end piece, it’s really difficult and annoying to remove the skins.
Typically, you need to only boil pearl onions for 2 minutes. However, in this recipe, I recommend going a little longer to soften them a bit more so you don’t have to sauté them quite as long. BUT! If you don’t mind dirtying another skillet, feel free to start those mushrooms and onions in a separate skillet as you cook the duck.
Next, the sweet potatoes:
These sweet potatoes don’t need much introduction but are truly delicious. My recommendation? Grab a jar of Aleppo pepper flakes. They add a unique fruity, tangy spiciness you won’t find in any other pepper flake. Silk chili is botanically identical and can be purchased from Burlap & Barrel.
The potatoes are simply boiled, drained, and blended with sour cream, Aleppo pepper flakes, garlic powder, butter, and milk.
Finally, the duck:
The star of the show. If you’ve never cooked duck breast, I’m here to tell you that it’s not (quite) as intimidating as you might imagine, but it requires some prep, patience, and peeking.
The prep:
Scoring! You must, must, must score the duck breast. Duck meat is very lean, and all the fat is concentrated in the skin. Scoring–which means making shallow incisions–into the skin encourages the fat to render out even from the thickest part of the fat.
Some people score in wide increments; some people make a cross-hatch pattern. I prefer to carefully score in ⅛-inch increments on an angle across the skin, from corner to corner. This creates the most opportunity for browning. It’s also nice because the score marks act as guides for when you slice the duck for serving. I recommend slices that are two score marks thick. Just be careful not to cut into the duck meat itself when you score the skin; otherwise, you’ll lose moisture from the meat, and it’ll dry out!
The patience:
Rendering duck fat takes time. Once the duck is scored and seasoned, place it skin-side down in a cold skillet. Then, turn the heat to medium. Starting in a cold skillet means the fat will have time to render slowly without worrying about overcooking the meat. Conversely, if you start in a hot skillet, the meat will be cooked before you fully render the fat.
You want to adjust the heat periodically between medium and medium-low. After about 7 minutes, turn the heat up a touch. You’ll hear the fat in the skillet begin to sputter and bubble. At this point, you’ll need to go another 7 or so minutes. It takes about 15 minutes to render the duck fat fully. You may need to use a metal flipper, cast iron press, or small skillet to add weight to the ends of the breast where the fat is thickest to help render out all the fat.
The peeking:
Don’t be afraid to peek at your duck skin as the fat renders. Lift it up, take a look, and adjust your heat as needed. You may need to rotate the duck breast, for instance, if it’s browning more on one side than the other. You can’t really mess it up, but you do need to be attentive and watch that fat!
Finish it up:
Once the fat is nicely rendered, flip that duck and cook until desired internal temperature is met. I cook mine until 135ºF, which is on the longer side of medium-rare. Follow these guides for temperatures:
125ºF: Rare
130–140ºF: Medium-rare
140–150º: Medium
150º–160ºF: Well-done
Tip: If using a meat thermometer (which you should be!), please pierce through the FLESH for an accurate reading. Do not pierce through the skin into the flesh, or you’ll get an inaccurate reading.
Once the duck finishes in the skillet, transfer it to a plate and cover it with foil to rest for 10–15 minutes as you finish the recipe.
Make sure you pour that rendered fat into a heat-proof jar. Next, wipe out the skillet, add your sliced mushrooms, and cook until they just begin to sweat and take on a deeper color. From there, toss in your rendered duck fat, parboiled onions, and thyme sprigs, and sauté for about 10 minutes until the onions are fork-tender. Finish it with garlic and parsley; then it’s time to eat!
I hope you found this post informative! The full recipe is below. If you’ve never made duck, this is a great recipe.
My Favorite Duck Breast Recipe
Servings: 2
Cook time: 1 hour 30 minutes
Seared duck breast:
1 duck breast, about 1 pound
Salt and pepper to taste
Mushrooms and pearl onions:
8 ounces gold or white pearl onions
12 ounces cremini mushrooms trimmed and thinly sliced
2 tablespoons reserved duck fat
3 sprigs thyme
4 garlic cloves peeled and thinly sliced
1 tablespoon freshly minced parsley, plus more for garnish
Salt and pepper to taste
Sweet potato puree:
2 sweet potatoes, about 1 pound, peeled and cubed
2 tablespoons butter
½ cup whole milk plus more, if needed
2 tablespoons sour cream
2 teaspoons garlic powder
2 teaspoons Aleppo pepper flakes or paprika and a pinch of crushed red pepper
Salt and pepper to taste
Parboil and peel the pearl onions:
Bring a medium pot of water to a boil. Add the pearl onions (skins on) and boil for 5 minutes. Transfer the onions to a bowl of ice-cold water using a slotted spoon.
Once the onions are cool enough to handle, carefully cut off the root end of the onion with sharp scissors. Pop the onion out from its skin. Continue until all the onions are peeled. Discard the skins.
Cook the sweet potatoes:
Dump out the water from the pot and add the sweet potatoes. Cover with fresh water and bring to a boil. Boil for 15-20 minutes until fork-tender.
Turn off the heat. Pour the potatoes into a colander and return the pot to the same burner. Allow the potatoes to dry off for 1 minute using the residual heat from the warm burner.
Add the butter, milk, sour cream, garlic powder, and pepper flakes to the potatoes.
Using an immersion blender, blend until creamy and smooth, adding more milk if needed. Taste and season with salt, pepper, garlic powder or pepper flakes. Set aside and keep warm.
Cook the duck:
Pat the duck breast dry. Using a sharp paring knife, score the skin at an angle in â…›-inch increments until the skin has been completely scored from edge to edge. Be careful not to pierce or cut into the flesh of the duck.
Place the duck, skin-side down, into a skillet. Turn the heat to medium and cook for 7 minutes or until the fat begins to render out. Adjust the heat periodically as it cooks. You want to stay somewhere between medium and medium-low.
If your duck breast is unevenly fatty (for example, the ends may have a thicker fat layer than the middle of the breast), use a small cast-iron press or skillet or a metal flipper to press that part of the duck into the skillet to encourage even browning.
After 7 minutes, get the heat back to medium or just slightly above. The fat in the skillet may begin bubbling and sputtering a bit more rapidly. Check the skin and continue frying and adjusting the heat until the skin is deep golden brown and crisp. This may take another 6–8 minutes. Just keep adjusting the heat and peeking at the skin.
Flip the duck and turn the heat to medium. Cook for 5-10 minutes or until desired internal temperature is met. For medium-rare, cook the duck to about 130ºF at the thickest part of the breast. Note: Do not take the temperature of the duck through the skin. Pierce the flesh to get an accurate temperature read. I prefer to cook the duck until it reaches 135ºF.
Transfer the duck to a plate and cover it tightly with foil. Set aside to rest as you finish the rest of the recipe.
Fry the mushrooms and onions:
Drain all the duck fat into a heat-proof jar through a small sieve. Next, wipe out the skillet and place it on the stove over medium heat.
Once hot, add the mushrooms and cook for 5 minutes until the mushrooms begin to sweat and take on a bit of color.
Add 2 tablespoons of reserved duck fat, pearl onions, and thyme sprigs. Season with salt and pepper. Cook over medium heat for 10 minutes until the pearl onions are fork-tender and golden around the edges.
Stir in the minced garlic and fresh parsley and sauté for 1 minute. Turn off the heat.
To serve:
Right before serving, remove the foil from the duck and slice it crosswise.
Spoon the sweet potatoes into a rimmed plate and pile on the mushrooms and onions. Arrange a few slices of duck on each plate. Garnish with more parsley and Aleppo pepper flakes if you like. Enjoy!