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Duck Fat Fries are crispy on the outside and soft and tender on the inside.
There’s a very popular restaurant up in Portland, Maine, called Duckfat – and customers line up outside the door to wait for a table and enjoy their great food.
As you might guess by the name, the restaurant is best known for their Duck Fat Fries, which are made from hand-cut Maine potatoes that are fried in duck fat until crispy and golden brown.
The molten-hot duck fat fries are then served sprinkled with seasoned salt. You can order a variety of dipping sauces to eat with your duck fat fries, or you can enjoy them poutine-style – with duck gravy and chives on top.
After making our roasted duck recipe (shared here earlier this week), Jack and I knew that we wanted to try making Duck Fat Fries at home. After our recipe testing, we had enough rendered duck fat to make this recipe – but if you don’t plan to roast a duck at home, you can order duck fat online here.
We also took inspiration from Duckfat up in Portland, by making a duck gravy to serve along with our duck fat fries. We used the leftover carcass from our roasted duck recipe to create a duck stock – just like you would make a homemade chicken stock.
Frying thick-cut potatoes (or frites as they call them) in duck fat originated in Belgium. And wow – does the duck fat make a difference! The super-rich duck fat gives the fries an incredible and almost meaty flavor that is decadent and outrageously delicious!
You may enjoy these other Fries recipes:
- Baked Zucchini Fries
- Perfect French Fries
- Parmesan Truffle Fries
- Loaded Pub Fries
- Eggplant Fries with Marinara Sauce
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Duck Fat Fries
Duck Fat Fries are crispy on the outside and soft and tender on the inside.
Ingredients
3 large russet potatoes, skin on
3–4 cups duck fat
Kosher or flake sea salt
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley
2 tablespoons finely shredded Parmesan cheese
Optional duck gravy
2 cups duck stock
2 ounces butter (or duck fat)
2 ounces all-purpose flour
Instructions
Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. This is to hold the cooked potatoes as you cook in batches.
In a small Dutch oven or cast-iron skillet, heat duck fat to 325 degrees F using a candy or deep-fry thermometer to gauge the heat.
Wash and cut Russets into large thick fries up to ¾ inch wide. Hold in cold water as you cut each potato.
Drain and dry the potatoes thoroughly with paper towels.
Cooking in three batches, place one third of the potatoes in the 325-degree F fat and cook for 6-8 minutes until tender when pierced with a fork. Remove with tongs to a rack that is sitting over a sheet tray. Wait until the fat is up to heat and continue cooking the other two batches.
Bring the heat to about 385 degrees F and add one third of the cooked fries and let the fat settle on 375 degrees F. Try to keep it at that temperature. Once the fries are crisp, about 3-5 minutes, remove to the sheet tray and sprinkle with kosher or sea salt then place the pan in the oven to keep hot. Repeat for the other two batches and serve with the chopped parsley and Parmesan cheese.
If you are making the optional duck gravy to serve along side the fries, heat the stock in a small sauce pan. In a separate small saute pan, melt butter over medium heat, add flour and cook over medium low for two minutes.
Slowly add the butter/flour mixture to the hot stock whisking until the desired thickness is achieved. Season with salt and pepper if needed and serve immediately with the fries.
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They came out really good, but I couldn’t get them to stay crispy. By the time I served them on the table, they were kind of soggy. Thoughts?
Hi Mike – Assuming that you are already following the recipe – using russet potatoes specifically, soaking the fries to remove starch, and double frying – you could double check that your oil is hot enough as you fry, and/or maybe try smaller batches so the oil temp doesn’t drop as you add the fries to the oil. (You can keep the first batches warm on a sheet pan in a hot oven.) You could also try frying them a third time – although you don’t want to burn them. Those are some suggestions – but I suspect the oil temp might be the culprit!
This sounds SO good…I am actually headed to Portland next week, so will be sure to check out Duckfat!! Thanks!
Hope you love it Karen!
Where can Buy duck fat?
Hi Patricia – I’m not sure where you live but you can ask at your local butcher or supermarket. Or, after doing a quick Google search, it looks like both Walmart and Amazon sell some jarred rendered duck fat online. Hope that helps!