Delicious Grilled Duck Breast Salad

Jump to:

• 🔪 Can You BBQ Duck Breast?
• 📖 How To Caramelize Pecans?
• 📋 My Honey Mustard Dressing Recipe
• 📖 Recipe: Grilled Duck Breast

Grilled duck breast with a side of roasted sweet potatoes and caramelized pecans sprinkled on a bed of greens. A honey mustard dressing drizzled on top, what could possibly go wrong with such a combo?

This is a salad that could be an official start to a 3-course meal or in a full meal version. Perfect for special occasions and a great opportunity to indulge with this tasty recipe of the grilled duck breast salad.

Quick, easy, and elegant, this salad has all you need: protein and vegetables, a great crunch with the pecans.

🔪 Can You BBQ Duck Breast?

You can either barbecue your duck breast or grill it on a cast iron pan. The cooking time is really short. I only cooked the half-pound piece of meat on the fatty side for 8 minutes.

The outside becomes crispy and the inside remains pinkish, the perfect medium-rare. Cooking this meat is really simple and it gives you the best flavors. Choose the smoked duck breast, you will not require any marinade or sauce prior to grilling it.

Remember before cooking your meat it should be at room temperature.

If you barbecue (gas or charcoal) or grill on the iron cast, do not move your meat. Leave it for 8 minutes or until the inside temperature reaches 135F as recommended on the packaging.

📖 How To Caramelize Pecans?

Making caramelized pecans is really easy with only 3 ingredients. I would recommend making a big batch and storing it in a container to add to any future salads. This sweet and crunchy topping is such a great addition to your leafy meals.

You just need to melt sugar with water in a pan, add your pecans. Then, cook the pecans nicely coated. Spread them on a mat to cool and voilà! How simple is this?

Adding caramelized pecans to your salad will become one of your favorite things, I promise you! And here, with the grilled duck breast, it is just heaven on a plate!

📋 My Honey Mustard Dressing Recipe

Don't get intimidated by the different steps this salad has. You can make a big batch of certain elements (like pecans or roasted sweet potatoes) and also make ahead.

Only simple ingredients to make this dressing. It's my favorite of all time and I can make it with my eyes closed. I always make more than I need so it's always on hand.

Roasting And Storing Sweet Potatoes

I love roasting vegetables, especially in salads like the roasted vegetables salad I shared in the past. Here it is just 2 sweet potatoes cut into macedoine size cubes, it is fairly quick to prepare and throw them in the oven.

I make them as simple as just adding some sea salt and a drizzle of olive oil. Bake for 20 minutes, toss them, and another 20. Very low maintenance as during this time you can do other things in the house or in the kitchen.

If you love it as I do, do 4 or 6 potatoes and save them in a container in the fridge. I can store it for a week in your container and either heat it up for a meal or cold for your salads.

What To Serve With Grilled Duck Breast?

This easy-smoked grilled duck can be served with a variety of side dishes. If you would rather have a warm side dish, some scalloped potatoes could be a great option. The potato dish does not have an overpowering taste to the duck. You can also serve it with some nice al dente green beans.

However, here I'm offering you a fresh leafy side dish with a mix of crisp greens. I added some crunch with caramelized pecans and the softness of roasted sweet potatoes. This bistro salad is complemented with a honey dijon dressing to make it even more irresistible.

Do you love ducks? Here are more duck recipes for you:
- Duck Taco With An Orange Cherry Fresh Salsa
- How To Make Potted Duck (Rillette)
- Honey Roast Duck Recipe
- Roasted Duck Recipe With Orange Sauce