Making Mealtime Meaningful: Discover how we're giving back with the 12T Cares program →

This recipe is a total show stopper! It takes a fair amount of time and attention and care (don’t burn yourself on hot duck fat!), but it is completely worth the effort. This makes an amazing holiday or family get-together dish if you want to switch up Thanksgiving, this is the clear choice and we guarantee you will impress everyone once they’ve seen it and tried it. With this beautifully roasted duck you’ll be a legend what more could you ask for?

Honey-Glazed Roast Duck

(Serves 4-5)

Ingredients

Duck:

  • 1 whole, Pekin duck; 5-6 pounds
  • kosher salt and pepper, to taste

Glaze:

  • 1/4 cup honey
  • 3 tablespoons molasses
  • 3 tablespoons orange juice
  • 2 tablespoons orange zest
  • 2 tablespoons soy sauce
  • Chili sauce, to taste

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 300º F.
  2. Pull out any quills or feathers still in duck and trim excess fat. Remove innards and set aside. (Use for other purposes or discard.) Rinse duck and pat dry with paper towels.
  3. Place on a baking rack, breast side up, over deep baking dish. Make sure it’s deep enough to contain drippings. Sprinkle the cavity with salt and pepper.
  4. Score the outer surface, just the fat, of the duck with a sharp knife. Make a diamond pattern. It’s important to not pierce the meat, so be careful you’re only slicing the fat.
  5. With a skewer or sharp knife, prick the duck all over, only hitting the fat. This allows holes for the fat to escape, making the duck extra crispy.
  6. Tie the legs of the duck together and tie with butcher twine, tuck the wings under itself.
  7. Sprinkle with salt and cook for 4 hours, taking duck out every hour, on the hour to re-pierce fat all over and flip from breast side up to breast side down. Poke/flip a total of three times. Should start breast side up and end breast side down.
  8. While duck is roasting during the fourth and last hour, start making the glaze. Combine honey, molasses, orange juice, zest, chili and soy sauce in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir constantly until liquid becomes viscous and syrupy. Remove from heat.
  9. Take duck out of oven, flip over and very carefully drain fat from the pan. Turn oven up to 400º F. Return duck to oven for 10 minutes. Should be brown and crispy.
  10. Take duck out and brush glaze all over until completely covered. Return to oven for 4-7 minutes. If glaze starts to burn, remove immediately.
  11. Let rest for 10-15 minutes, carve, serve and enjoy!

Recipe adapted from Hungry Mouse