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Learning how to cook duck breast is not as intimidating as it seems. This post will help you perfect your duck breast for your next romantic dinner date at home.

Learning how to prepare a duck breast is a skill worth having.

If you want to impress anyone, serve them a perfectly cooked duck breast with beautifully rendered skin and tender, juicy meat. While it requires a bit of prep, it’s still a relatively easy protein to make when you want something fancy that isn’t beef or steak.

How to cook a duck breast:

Preparing

Step 1: Remove the duck tender. First, remove the duck tender. If you leave it on, it won’t be the end of the world but it can mess with your cooking time. It will also make your slices look a bit more sloppy if you leave the tender on. Typically, duck breasts are sold with the duck tender almost cut off, so you can just lift it up from the breast and remove it with your hands or cut it off with a small knife. Don’t throw away the duck tender, though!

Step 2: Cook the duck tender (optional). Apparently, this is the prized part of the duck breast! I read that chefs usually reserve this one for themselves. Simply salt and pepper it and fry it up quickly for a little pre-dinner snack. That’s what we do!

Step 2: Score the skin. After you’ve had your little snack, pat the duck breast dry. Score the skin–meaning, cut shallow slices in the skin–across the breast. I like to cut on a diagonal across the breast in ¼-inch increments. Be careful not to cut into the breast meat. Scoring the skin gives the fat a place to render from. Because duck has such a thick layer of skin, you must score it in order to render the fat properly, so don’t skip this!

Cooking

Step 4: Render the duck fat. Place the duck breast, skin-side down, in a cold skillet. Turn the heat to medium and cook for 10 to 15 minutes, peeking under the duck periodically to ensure the skin isn’t burning. You can occasionally use a flipper to press the breast into the skillet to ensure the fat renders from the deepest part of the skin.

Step 5: Finish cooking the duck breast. Once the skin is very golden brown, flip the duck breast and cook it to your desired internal temperature. You may need to adjust the heat to ensure the bottom doesn’t get too crispy or too done. It will take an additional 10 to 15 minutes for the duck to finish cooking. Make sure you have a meat thermometer handy! I like to cook my duck breast to an internal temperature of 140ºF for a medium doneness. If you like medium-well, cook the breast until it reaches 155ºF.

Serving

Step 6: Remove the duck. Transfer the duck to a cutting board and tent loosely with foil. Carefully strain the rendered fat through a sieve into a heat-proof bowl. Wipe out the skillet and return it to the stove.

Now, you’re ready to serve it up.

Slice the duck breast crosswise and serve with your favorite side dish. It goes beautifully with a vanilla parsnip purée and red wine sauce, mashed potatoes, or sweet potato purée. It’s also perfect with roasted vegetables or pearl couscous.