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These juicy, slow roasted duck legs are so tender and flavorful. Cooked low and slow, it’s almost hands off as the oven does most of the work. One of my favorite dishes to make!
Since I was little, duck has always been one of my favorite things to eat.
When my dad lived uptown on central park west, we used to go to a restaurant called A (after the A train). They had an awesome duck confit with roasted pear that was to die for. I had to be probably 13 eating this. Ha!
Anyway, that’s where my love for duck began. This recipe takes time, but the majority of the cooking is done in the oven and it’s so easy to do. I hope you enjoy it.
Ingredients for roasted duck legs
- Duck Legs
- Salt
- Pepper
- Garlic Powder
- Red Wine
- Balsamic Vinegar
- Honey
How to roast duck legs?
Roasting duck legs is so simple. Two duck legs are needed for this recipe. Rinse and pat dry before cooking. Make sure there are no remaining feathers.
Season the duck legs with salt, pepper and garlic powder all over. The salt helps to draw out moisture from the duck legs and make it very tender so season generously with it. I like to use kosher salt. Leave at room temperature for about 20 minutes before cooking.
Place the duck legs skin side up in an oven safe dish. Lightly grease the dish, and I mean lightly! Duck renders so much fat that you barely will need any additional oil for this.
The baking dish should not be large, it should be just big enough to hold the duck legs. This is so when it bakes all the fat will melt off and create almost a braising liquid for the duck, so it cooks evenly.
Bake in the oven at 300 and let it cook for an 1 hour and 45 minutes. No need to pre-heat the oven in this recipe. Halfway through, baste the duck legs with the fatty golden liquid it produced while cooking.
Afterwards remove the liquid, but don’t throw it away. Duck fat can be used to cook with, it helps elevate potatoes and vegetables too.
Add the wine, balsamic vinegar and 1tbsp of duck fat to the baking dish with the duck.
Put back into the oven and cook for 15 minutes on 375. After 45 minutes, baste with the liquid then drizzle the honey on top and broil for one minute.
There you have it roasted duck legs. Serve with your favorite sides and enjoy!
The full written recipe is below on the recipe card.
Recipe Tip
You can also remove the duck legs when finished and bake the red wine mixture on 450 for about 10 minutes to produce a thicker sauce to top the duck with.
Commonly Asked Questions
Duck legs take a while to cook unlike duck breast. To get it nice and tender it needs to roasted low and slow. Two hours should do the trick.
Duck legs should be cooked at 300 degrees.
They take long to cook because duck legs have a lot of muscle. To make it tender it takes a while to cook so the meat won’t be tough.
Roasted Duck Legs
Ingredients
- 2 duck legs, Duck should have a lot of fat on it
- 1 tsp Kosher Salt
- 1/4 tsp Fresh cracked black Pepper, to taste
- 1/2 tsp Garlic powder
- 1/2 c Red wine
- 1/4 c Balsamic vinegar
- 1 tbsp Honey
Instructions
- Pat dry the duck legs very well. Prick the skin all over, the skin only not the meat! Place the duck legs in a baking dish with the skin side up very lightly grease the baking dish. The duck will render a lot of fat. The baking dish should not be large, it should be small, just big enough to hold the duck legs.
- Season the duck legs all over with the salt, pepper and garlic powder. Let rest for 20 min at room temp. This is important! You can even let it rest for up to an hour.
- Place the duck legs into the oven, turn to 300 degrees and let cook for an hour and forty five minutes. Do not pre-heat the oven. Halfway through, baste the duck legs with the fatty golden liquid it produced while cooking. Check the duck and see if it's tender, if not you may need to cook it a bit longer, it really depends on the size of the duck legs you are using and how much fat is on them. It can take up to two hours.
- Once the hour and forty five minutes is up, remove all the liquid from the baking dish. Save it on the side to use in dishes later.
- Add the wine, balsamic vinegar and 1tbsp of duck fat to the baking dish with the duck. Put back into the oven and cook for 15 minutes, turning the heat up to 375.
- Baste the duck with the liquid then drizzle the honey on top and broil for one minute. Some broilers cook very fast, so 30 seconds might be fine, keep an eye on it so the skin doesn't burn or skip this step if you aren't comfortable.
- Remove from the oven, serve with your favorite sides & enjoy.
Video
@theres.food.at.home Slow roasted duck legs. For ingredients see full recipe button on the video 🤍.
♬ original sound – There’s food at home
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
WOW. Never made duck before and this was an instant classic with my family and friends. So easy, so delicious. YOU ARE THE DUCK GOD.
Thank you Nicholas, I’m so happy to hear that your family and friends enjoyed this recipe as well.
Hello, making this today and wondering if I need to leave uncovered in this recipe..I will cook it that way but if you can clarify so I may redo it again the correct way if it is meant to be covered. Thanks, looking forward to my dinner tonight…it sounds yummy
Hi Kimberly, leave the duck legs uncovered while roasting. I hope you enjoy this recipe. Thank you.
Thank you great recipe! My husband enjoyed but wasn’t to fond of blackened
Skin but he ate it all anyways. I will try a cover next time I make it. Again good recipe.
Very good recipe, the legs turned out tender with nice and crispy skin. Will definitely do it again!
Thank you! I’m so glad you enjoyed.
Hello! I am excited to try this recipe, put I beet to say that this yellow purée is looking so good is The picture , can you share with us what that is? Thank you
Hi Isa! The yellow puree is a butternut squash puree. Maybe I’ll do a recipe on it this fall/winter when I do my holiday recipes. =)
Delicious!
Cooking time is too long, my legs came out too dry. The honey at the end was a good touch though.
Sorry to hear that, but thank you for the feedback. Usually everyone enjoys this recipe. Perhaps the duck legs weren’t large enough or had enough fat on them. I will re-test this recipe over the weekend. I’ll adjust the recipe & notes to clarify cook times based on size etc, and to check the tenderness after 90 minutes. I’ll include step by step photos as well.
I absolutely love your recipe for roasted duck legs. It is probably the best recipe I’ve ever run across and so easy to make and I love your pictures. Your explanations are beneficial to somebody learning to cook duck. Thank you Carol
Thank you so much Carol!
Great recipe – love that I no have such an easy way to cook such a great ingredient and leftover duck fat, yahoo!
Thanks George! I’m glad that you like this recipe.
I’ve made this recipe twice, and each time it came out just perfect! The recipe is easy to follow plus you don’t need special tools or ingredients to turn out a perfect dish! I watched extra careful when I added the honey at the end—didn’t want it to blacken! I’m definitely going to check out August Dewindt’s other recipes.
Thank you so much Susan, I’m glad you enjoyed this recipe twice. =)
Great
I love duck, and have made all kinds of recipes for duck legs over the years, but this one is now my favorite. The red wine/balsamic/honey combination is complex and delicious, and your cooking instructions produce a succulent leg with crispy skin as promised. Am bookmarking your site for future recipes.
Thank you David!
my introduction to duck made at home and it’s the tastiest meal I’ve ever had.
Excellent recipe thanks! First time roasting duck legs but certainly not the last. I paired this with a red cabbage-butternut braise and sourdough bread, which went very well for us.
Should I prick the skin to remove excess fat?
Yes =) … it should still turn out fine if you don’t but this helps the skin get crispy.
This falls under our category of “Restaurant Grade.” Absolutely delicious. With my apologies to the chef, I made a couple of additions to the recipe. I had a sliced orange on hand, so I put a squeeze of juice on the legs for additional brightness when adding the other liquids. I put the pan juices into a small pan with another squeeze of orange, and brought it to a quick boil while the duck was under the broiler, whisked in a generous pinch of potato starch to thicken, and a pat of butter after it was off the heat..
would not hesititate to serve this to company.
Yum!!! I love adding some orange sometimes too. Thank you for the review Richard. =)