Duck is an underrated protein. It’s not as popular as its cousins chicken or turkey, but it has a delicious fat layer that crisps up when you cook it, and a tender, juicy flavor. So make duck a part of your diet, and you can start with some of these favorite paleo duck recipes for salads, one-pan meals, and even meatballs!
1. Clementine Duck With Thai Basil
This dish is a super simple one-pan, oven-baked dinner with delicious flavors of clementines, garlic, ginger, coconut aminos, onion, celery, and Thai basil. Some black pepper is perfect if you’re not on AIP (but if you are, the rest of this recipe is completely perfect!).
Photo: The Unmanly Chef
2. Chinese 5 Spice Duck Tacos
These duck tacos are deliciously seasoned with Chinese 5 spice blend, freshly ground black pepper, and a homemade plum sauce (so good). I love the fusion of Asian and Mexican cuisines here, and since this dinner is super easy to make, you can throw it together on a weeknight.
3. Duck With Raspberry Sauce
There’s something about duck that makes it go so nicely with fruit sauces and sides. I especially love this duck with raspberry sauce, cooked tender and flavored with shallots, garlic, balsamic vinegar, sea salt, freshly ground black pepper, and ghee. So tasty and fancy.
4. Nectarine Thyme Roast Duck
It’s “thyme” to try this recipe for your new favorite roasted duck…okay, okay, I’ll stop. But seriously, this fruity and herbal flavor is fabulous with an orange-nectarine-thyme brine and a sauce with garlic, honey, onion, nectarines, and more fresh herbs.
5. Roasted Plum Duck With Cider Maple Glaze
The flavors and ingredients in this recipe remind me of fall, and I think this roasted duck would make a fabulous autumn family dinner with hard apple cider, chicken stock, bay leaves, maple syrup, peppercorns, plums, and a handful of fresh sage leaves.
Photo: Naked Cuisine
6. Crispy Roasted Duck With Habanero Honey Glaze
I love the spicy-sweet flavor combination in the glaze for this recipe. So delicious, and really easy to make. This duck is roasted and glazed with olive oil, garlic, habanero pepper, honey, rice wine vinegar, and coconut aminos. Simple pantry ingredients make an easy dinner.
7. Easy Pan Seared Duck Breast
If you’re looking for a simple starting point because you’ve never made duck before, try this recipe. It doesn’t have any fancy flavors or ingredients because it doesn’t need them—duck fat is incredibly flavorful, so you only need some sea salt and black pepper to taste.
8. Seared Duck Breast With Pomegranate Reduction
Pomegranate is a flavor of the gods, and this duck breast is the perfect vehicle for that sweet reduction with pure maple syrup, cinnamon, and kosher salt. Searing the duck breasts with salt and pepper gives them a juicy, golden brown color and flavor you’ll love.
9. Just Ducky Cobb Salad
Made with duck breasts, lettuce, avocado, tomato, hard boiled eggs, and a brown derby dressing with mustard, red wine vinegar, and garlic, this salad is delicious and easy to throw together. You can leave out the bleu cheese or keep it in—your choice.
Photo: The Primitive Palate
10. Duck Leg Confit
This simple duck confit is made with duck legs, kosher salt, freshly ground black pepper, garlic cloves, bay leaves, fresh thyme, black peppercorns, and olive oil or duck fat. Olive oil or work just fine, but if you have rendered duck fat, the flavor is unimaginably good.
11. Roasted Duck With Cherry Sauce With Brussels Sprouts and Fennel
This full meal is the fancy-pants dinner you’ve been wanting to make for a date night at home. The duck is delicious seasoned with honey, sage, rosemary, and cherry sauce, while the Brussels sprouts are cooked with fennel in melted bacon fat your butter. Yes PLEASE!
12. Pan Roasted Duck Legs With Black Cherry Sauce
For as fancy as it looks, this dinner is actually super simple and made with just a handful of ingredients. You’ll need duck legs, cracked black pepper, smoked sea salt, black cherries, shallots, red wine (or grape juice), chicken stock, and butter or ghee.
13. Carrot Habanero Duck Meatballs
Perfect for tailgating or parties, these duck and carrot meatballs have a savory flavor with carrot, yellow onion, garlic, ground duck, kosher salt and black pepper, butter or ghee, and a carrot habanero hot sauce for tossing them while they’re nice and hot.
Photo: Seasonal and Savory
14. Easy Duck Carnitas
These carnitas are a great way to get new ingredients, like duck, into your family if they’re a little skeptical of anything that doesn’t cluck or moo. You’ll need fresh duck legs, smoked paprika, salt, Aleppo pepper, whole cumin seeds, Mexican oregano, and a navel orange.
15. Duck Prosciutto
This elegant preparation requires just duck breasts, kosher salt, fresh thyme, and black peppercorns. The rest is all in the process, and you better start two weeks in advance of when you want to enjoy it, because that’s how long this prosciutto takes to cure.
16. Crispy Duck Legs With Braised Vegetables
Another perfect date-night-in meal, this duck legs with braised vegetables dish is ideal for popping a bottle of wine after the kids have gone to bed. The veggies are cooked with the duck fat and chicken stock for fabulous flavors in the zucchini, rutabaga, and Brussels sprouts.
17. Shaved Asparagus, Blackberry, and Seared Duck Breast Salad
This simple salad is done in less than half an hour, with ghee-cooked suck breast, bright asparagus, fresh blackberries, and (if you eat dairy), some shaved parmesan. Drizzle with a homemade lemon vinaigrette with grated garlic and Dijon mustard.
Photo: Eat Drink Paleo
18. Paleo Peking Duck Pancakes
Love these pancakes at your favorite Chinese restaurant? Now you can have them paleo-style, with seasoned duck including orange, fresh ginger, cloves, coconut oil, and Chinese 5 spice powder. Serve them with tapioca-and-coconut-flour pancakes, cucumber, red chili, and spring onions.
