My mother in law, Beate, is an amazing cook. Her roasted duck with gravy sauce is one of my favorite dishes.
I recently interviewed her on how she makes it and she revealed me some tips and tricks to achieve a perfect roasted duck and gravy. I’ve made it few weeks ago for some of our friends and everyone loved it!
Roasted duck with lots of gravy is one of the typical Sunday dishes in the Franconian region, in Bavaria, Germany. It’s so good, easy to follow and uses a handful of simple ingredients.
Makes a perfect recipe for every occasion, from Christmas to birthdays. Tastes great served with dumplings and/or savoy cabbage puree, red cabbage or sauerkraut.
What you’ll need to make German roasted duck and gravy
- 1 whole duck, (about 2 ½ kg/ 5.5 lbs))
- 2 medium onions
- 4 medium carrots
- 80 g (2.8 oz) parsley root, optional
- ½ leek (200 g/ 7.1 oz)
- Approx. 1 liter (33.8 fl oz/ 4 cups) of water
- salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
How to make whole roast duck with gravy German style
Wash the duck inside out and pat dry with paper towels. Next, cut off all visible fat.
Rub the duck inside and out with roughly 2 teaspoons salt and ½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper. Put the duck on the roasting pan with the breast side down. Then peel the onions, carrots and parsley root and cut into small pieces.
Wash the leek and slice it (see how to clean leek here). Then scatter onions, leek, carrots and parsley root slices in the pan around the duck.
Pour about 1 liter (4 cups) of water into the pan. Turn on the oven and bake for 1 hour @ 180°C (356 °F).
After 1 hour turn the duck over (breast side up) and bake for another 1 hour.
Afterwards, take the pan out of the oven, remove the duck and put it on a different roasting pan.
Put it back into the oven, increase the temperature to 200 °C (392 °F). Roast for 30 minutes or until it’s nicely golden brown.
Turn it to the other side and roast for another 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside.
How to make duck gravy
The drippings that came out of the duck while roasting are the foundation to a perfect gravy.
Using a spoon, skim off most of the fat from the broth that you previously kept away. Sieve the broth into a pot (you can throw the vegetables away. I normally keep the carrots and eat as a snack).
Pour some into the roasting pan that you used to roast the duck. Then mix well while scrapping up all the brownish staffs from the pan bottom with a spatula.
Add the brownish-staffs sauce mixture to the broth that you sieved in a pot. Let simmer for about 5 minutes.
Taste the sauce and season again with salt and pepper if necessary. Using a spoon, skim off most of the fat from the gravy and serve.
To serve cut the duck into serving-size pieces and serve.
What to serve with German roasted duck
Rpasted duck tastes great served with potato dumplings, bread dumplings, savoy cabbage puree, sauerkraut or Blaukraut.
Love this German whole roast duck Recipe? Try my Rrasted goose leg and gravy and roast goose breast and gravy recipes
German Roasted Duck with Gravy Recipe
Equipment
- Roasting pan
- Baking sheet
- Cutting board
Ingredients
- 2 ½ kg (5.5 lbs) whole duck
- 2 medium onions
- 4 medium carrots
- 80 g 2.8 oz) parsley root, optional
- ½ leek 200 g/ 7.1 oz
- 1 liter (33.8 fl oz/ 4 cups) water
- salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Instructions
Make roasted duck
- Wash the duck inside out and pat dry with paper towels. Next, cut off all visible fat.
- Rub the duck inside and out with roughly 2 teaspoons salt and ½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper. Put the duck on the roasting pan with the breast side down.
- Next, peel the onions, carrots and parsley root and cut into small pieces. Wash the leek and slice it. Scatter onions, carrots and parsley root slices in the pan around the duck. Pour the water into the pan. Turn on the oven and bake for 1 hour @ 180°C (356 °F). After 1 hour turn the duck over (breast side up) and bake for another 1 hour.
- Afterwards take the pan out of the oven, remove the duck and put it on a different roasting pan. Put it back into the oven, increase the temperature to 200 °C (392 °F). Roast for 30 minutes or until it's nicely golden brown. Then turn it to the other side and roast for another 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside.
How to cook duck gravy
- The drippings that came out of the duck while roasting are the foundation to a perfect gravy. So now take a spoon, skim off most of the fat from the broth that you previously kept away. Sieve the broth into a pot (you can throw the vegetables away. I normally keep the carrots and eat as a snack). Then pour some into the roasting pan that you used to roast the duck, mix well, while scrapping up all the brownish staffs from the pan bottom with a spatula.
- Add the brownish sauce mixture to the broth that you sieved in a pot and let simmer for 5 minutes. Taste the sauce and season again with salt and pepper if necessary. Using a spoon, skim off most of the fat from the gravy and serve.
- To serve cut the duck into serving-size pieces and serve with dumplings, savoy cabbage puree or Blaukraut. Enjoy!
Video
Did you make this German roasted duck and gravy recipe? I’d love to hear from you! Simply write a review and add rating to it.