While a whole roast duck might seem like a special-occasion dish—something you’d serve for Christmas dinner or order in certain Chinese restaurants—it’s actually very simple to make. If you can prepare a Thanksgiving turkey (or even a roast chicken), you can cook a whole duck. In some ways, cooking duck is even easier than cooking chicken: Thanks to duck fat, the bird’s breast meat is less prone to drying out, making it easier to achieve crispy duck skin and juicy meat.
This simple main dish uses a technique common in traditional Peking duck recipes: dousing it with boiling water. Pouring hot water over a room-temperature duck tightens its skin, which is necessary for proper rendering. (Afterwards, you’ll need to pat the duck cavity and skin with paper towels to dry them thoroughly.) Then all you need to do is season the bird and roast it at a high oven temperature, flipping it occasionally, until the internal temperature of the duck meat reaches 135°F for medium-rare (or to your desired doneness).
If you want to take this duck a step further, start glazing it after the final turn. Use our favorite ham glaze (with brown sugar, Dijon mustard, and honey), or make a glaze of marmalade, soy sauce, and hot mustard. Brush it across the skin every 15 minutes to develop a burnished shellac and the ultimate crispy skin.
Wondering what side dishes to make alongside this roast duck recipe? Start with a sweet-tart plum applesauce. We also love this dish with garlicky green beans, a bittersweet endive and orange salad, and savory scallion pancakes, soft Mandarin pancakes, or fluffy Parker House rolls.