Easy duck confit side dish and serving ideas. From frisée salad to garlic farro, and garlic mushrooms to scalloped potatoes, discover what to serve with duck confit today.
Duck confit is a French dish that boasts the perfect blend of meaty and fatty flavors. Made with the entire duck, this classic French dish is considered one of the finest that the country’s cuisine has to offer.
But what to serve with duck confit to best complement its unique flavor profile?
From tarragon chicken to roasted fennel, these duck confit side dish ideas will round off your dinner perfectly.
Frisée Salad
Frisée salad is a classic French pairing for duck confit, with the fresh-but-slightly-bitter flavor of the frisée matching perfectly with duck’s rich and fatty meat.
The base of this salad is frisée, a pale-green leafy vegetable that is part of the chicory family. The salad can be as simple or as complex as you want: add chopped bacon, Dijon mustard vinaigrette, or just croutons for a bit of crunch.
You top this salad with bright flavors like oranges, onions, and apples. This salad’s bright freshness and complexity make it an excellent pairing for duck confit.
Try This Dish: This frisée salad is a great way to start your meal. It is light, refreshing, and full of flavor. Toss the salad in an orange vinaigrette to combine.
Citrusy Winter Avocado Salad
Salad is a great side dish for duck confit because this delicious poultry dish can sometimes feel too heavy. Even when you don’t have fresh lettuce on hand, you can make this delicious fresh salad using citrus as a base.
Start by slicing up oranges as the base of your salad. Add some greens such as arugula and chopped avocado. An orange juice-based dressing ties it all together.
Try This Recipe: This winter citrus avocado salad is a great way to add brightness to your meal, even if you prepare duck confit in the winter. The citrus’s acidity and the avocado’s creaminess add lighter notes to the overall dish without compromising what makes duck confit so special.
Roasted Carrots & Fennel
Duck confit is a popular meal for the winter because it is rich and heavy, perfect for colder weather, and feels indulgent enough to anchor a holiday meal. This side dish allows seasonal winter vegetables to shine, and their sweet, earthy flavor perfectly complements the duck confit.
Roasting carrots and fennel is super easy. Clean the carrots and cut the fennel bulb into wedges. What really helps this dish stand out is what you season the roast with. A balsamic glaze or a honey and fennel seed sauce will help it shine.
Try This Dish: These roasted carrots and fennel feature a light vinaigrette, but the real key is its roasted lemons.
Crispy Roasted Potatoes
Roasted potatoes are a classic for a reason. This simple side dish still requires some knowledge of cooking to pull off perfectly and has hearty, comforting flavors, just like duck confit. Even better, you can use the fat from the duck confit to roast the potatoes for even more flavor.
To get started with this dish, boil the potatoes first so they roast faster. Then, coat with oil (or duck fat), salt, and herbs, add to a lined baking sheet, and roast in the oven until crispy.
Try This Dish: These crispy roasted potatoes are a must-have side dish. The crispiness of the thinly sliced potatoes contrasts perfectly with the tender duck confit to create a match made in heaven.
Broccoli Salad
There are so many ways of preparing broccoli, but few people think to put it in a salad! That’s a shame, because the crunch and mild flavor of broccoli make it a great salad base. Plus, broccoli salad is a great holiday side dish if you’re making duck confit for a family gathering.
You can use raw broccoli for this, just make sure the florets are cut into manageable pieces and the vegetables are washed. Add your choice of fruits, nuts, and other vegetables, and cover with a creamy mayonnaise-based dressing.
Try This Dish: This broccoli salad is bursting with flavor. The sweet cranberries, salty almonds, and tangy vinaigrette are rounded out by salty bacon bits. The crunchiness of this salad contrasts perfectly with the richness of duck confit.
Scalloped Potatoes
Scalloped potatoes are a British and American twist on a French classic – potatoes au gratin. If you want to keep the French theme, scalloped potatoes are the way to go.
Try This Dish: These scalloped potatoes are the perfect comfort food. They are creamy, cheesy, and packed with flavor. The cheesy richness of this dish matches the extravagance of dog confit. The two together are pure luxury.
Creamy Tarragon Chicken
This dish is inspired by the classic French dish, chicken fricassée. Fricassée is a stew made with chicken and mushrooms, and you serve the moist chicken with a delightful tarragon sauce with layers of flavor.
The best part about this dish is that it pairs wonderfully with duck confit. Duck confit is traditionally a smaller dish that may not fill you up. Serving it with some creamy tarragon chicken guarantees you will be full at the end of the meal.
Try This Dish: Creamy tarragon chicken requires a bit of time to put together, but the results are well worth it. You must cook the chicken for about 45 minutes, but most of that time is hands-off. While the chicken is cooking, you can make the tarragon sauce.
Asparagus with Hollandaise Sauce
Fresh, slightly bitter asparagus is a great side dish for any rich meaty main dish such as duck confit because it balances the flavors and adds nutritional value. Cooking asparagus using French techniques such as classic sauces ties the whole meal together.
A hollandaise sauce is an egg yolk-based sauce that you make by beating the egg yolks with lemon juice, melted butter, salt, and a splash of water over low heat. Pour over steamed asparagus to complete the dish.
Try This Dish: This roasted asparagus with hollandaise sauce is a real treat. Top with a squeeze of lemon for a zesty finish.
Creamy Garlic Farro with Spinach
If you are looking for an unorthodox side dish to go with the classic main of duck confit, try farro. This ancient grain is gaining in popularity recently thanks to its nutty flavor and nutritious content, but you will still impress people by serving it.
You can prepare creamy garlic farro similarly to risotto. Toast the farro in butter or oil with onions and garlic, then cook in broth until tender. Stir through spinach at the last minute for freshness.
Try This Dish: This creamy farro spinach recipe is incredible. Stir the farro and cream cheese together, add some salt and pepper, and you’re good to go.
Garlic Butter Mushrooms
Garlic butter mushrooms provide the vibrant side that the richness in duck confit needs. Rich in earthy, umami flavor, they are a great way to balance out the heaviness of the duck.
The texture of the mushrooms contrasts nicely with the confit duck, plus the robust flavors of mushroom and garlic can compete with the duck confit.
Try This Dish: Duck confit is a time-intensive dish. Thankfully, these garlic mushrooms come together quickly. All you need is a handful of ingredients and about 30 minutes. Sautée the mushrooms in butter and garlic until you can no longer resist the smell.
