Grilled Duck Recipes

Here are my grilled duck recipes. I love duck but to be honest I really don’t grill it often enough! I tend to vary from the more standard poultry meats for cooking (chicken and turkey) to the more exotic (at least for the US) game birds (quail, partridge, squab, pheasant, guinea hen, etc.). I seem to always forget about duck! And that became quite obvious as I prepared this page and realized I only have one duck recipe posted on the site!

OK, you’ve just helped me make a resolution… I need to grill more duck! I’ll work on that and get back here soon with more grilled duck recipes. So check back soon!

One note about grilling duck – This is directed towards the duck and game hen novices out there. Duck and some other game birds, like quail and squab, have relatively dark meat. That is normal! It stays quite red even when fully cooked. People who are used to only cooking chicken may cut into a cooked duck breast and think “Geez, this is blood red still, I need to throw it back on and cook it longer!” Don’t do it! That is a recipe for dried out, burnt duck! Another thing: Duck has a richer, more powerful flavor than chicken and turkey. Part of that is due to the rich meat itself but some of that flavor comes from the abundant duck fat under the skin of the breast. Leave that thick pad of fat on there! It helps protect the meat from burning at the same time melting and infusing the underlying meat with a rick, juicy flavor.