Slow-Roasted Duck Leg and Crunchy Root Vegetable Salad Recipe

By
Kerry Saretsky
a photograph of Kerry Seretsky, a contributing writer at Serious Eats.
Kerry Saretsky

Kerry Saretsky interned at Serious Eats in 2008, and wrote the French in a Flash recipe column. She also writes her own blog on modernized French cuisine called French Revolution Food.

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Updated Jan. 06, 2020
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Kerry Saretsky

The trick to this recipe is time—spent doing something else. The slaw is easy: Just run all the vegetables through a food processor or a mandoline for thin discs of celery root, beet, carrot, and fennel, then leave them to mingle and marry in an apple cider vinegar vinaigrette. The duck gets put into a low oven for two hours with next to no interference. Two hours later, come back, and you have salty, crispy duck and crunchy, deeply vegetal, and bright slaw.

Note: All vegetables can be sliced on a mandoline or a food processer fitted with a thin slicing blade.

Recipe Details

Slow-Roasted Duck Leg and Crunchy Root Vegetable Salad Recipe

Active 20 mins
Total 2 hrs 20 mins
Serves 6 servings

Ingredients

  • 6 duck legs

  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

  • 1/4 cup olive oil

  • 3 tablespoons cider vinegar

  • 1 tablespoon juice from 1 lemon

  • 1 teaspoon fresh thyme

  • 1/4 teaspoon honey

  • 2 cups thinly sliced fennel (about 1 medium bulb)

  • 2 cups thinly sliced celery root (about 1 medium root)

  • 2 cups thinly sliced carrot (about 1 large carrot)

  • 2 cups thinly sliced beet (about 1 medium beet)

  • 3/4 cup thinly sliced shallots (about 3 medium)

  • 1 cup roughly chopped flat-leaf parsley

Directions

  1. Adjust an oven rack to the center position and preheat the oven to 300°F. Pat duck legs dry with paper towels, then season with salt and pepper. Set skin-side down in a wide, oven-safe non-stick or cast iron skillet. Set over medium heat and cook until the skin is golden brown and begins to crisp, about 8 minutes. Transfer the skillet to the oven. Roast for 1 hour, then flip the duck legs, and roast for another hour.

  2. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk together the olive oil, vinegar, lemon juice, thyme leaves, and honey. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Add fennel, celery root, carrot, beets, shallots, and parsley to the bowl and toss to combine. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside until duck is cooked.

  3. To serve, mound the softened vegetable salad on a plate, and top with a duck leg.

Special equipment

food processor with the thin slicer attachment

This Recipe Appears In

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
213 Calories
11g Fat
23g Carbs
8g Protein
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 6
Amount per serving
Calories 213
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 11g 14%
Saturated Fat 2g 9%
Cholesterol 17mg 6%
Sodium 475mg 21%
Total Carbohydrate 23g 8%
Dietary Fiber 5g 20%
Total Sugars 11g
Protein 8g
Vitamin C 21mg 106%
Calcium 81mg 6%
Iron 2mg 12%
Potassium 725mg 15%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)