Sliders, little hamburgers, are all the rage now, and it’s easy to make duck sliders from ground duck or goose meat, mixed with a little bacon for richness.
All duck sliders are are tiny, three-bite hamburgers — ideal for appetizers, kids’ parties, or standing parties where you don’t want your guests to have to sit down and eat. Duck sliders are mingle food.
Sure, you could buy ground duck online, or if you are a hunter or you raise ducks, grind your own. I normally use wild duck meat mixed with bacon. I used the cheap “bacon ends” you get in big packages at the supermarket. The combination of the ground duck and bacon is divine.
Goose works, too, and this is an excellent use for snow goose or Canada goose breasts.
You will need a grinder for to make duck sliders, although if you had pre-ground duck (or hell, any ground meat) you could get away with buzzing the chopped bacon in a food processor; just pulse it a few times, don’t turn it into a puree.
The duck burger can be ground several days in advance and held in the fridge, if you want to save time on party day.
And no burger is complete without a little cheese, and something sharp, so I added some pickled sweet onions and a slice of Monterey Jack cheese, plus a little homemade mustard.
Make more than you think you need, because they will fly off the plate. I could have eaten six of these little buggers. So good.
Could you make these as full-sized burgers instead of duck sliders? I don’t see why not.
I also have a similar recipe for regular duck burgers, and I have other recipes for chorizo burgers and a green chile cheeseburger that will work well with ground duck or goose.
Duck Sliders
Ingredients
- 1 pound chopped, skinless duck breasts
- 1/4 pound chopped bacon
- 1 teaspoon chipotle chile powder (optional)
- 16 Slider buns (little potato dinner rolls work great)
- 16 cheese slices (I used Monterey Jack, but you could use any cheese)
- Pickled onions, for garnish
- Dijon mustard or ketchup
Instructions
- Get the duck and bacon cold by putting it in the freezer for 30 minutes or so, then grind through the fine die of a grinder, at least 6.5 mm, and I prefer the 4.5 mm die.
- Sprinkle the chipotle chile powder over the meat mixture and mix well with your clean hands. Shape into small burgers — look at the size of the buns and match the size.
- Grill the burgers, or fry them in a little duck or bacon fat. Typically sliders need about 2 to 3 minutes per side over medium high heat. I prefer them medium-well, so just a little pink inside.
- Toast the buns if you want, then add your fixins' and eat up!
We tried this last night with a mixxed bag of smaller diving ducks and a coot. All I can say is wow, the flavour and cosistency was amazing. I was very skeptical whether the meat mixture would hold together without egg or crumb but it wasn’t the slightest problem. Another home run Hank!!
Steve and Heather, Prince George BC