There is something deeply satisfying about transforming leftovers into a completely new meal. In fact, I sometimes think the leftover meal is the best part of a roast dinner! If you’ve cooked a whole roast duck and are wondering what to do with the remaining meat, this gnocchi dish is a wonderful solution.
Duck is rich and flavourful, which means a little goes a long way. Here it’s tossed with pillowy gnocchi, golden mushrooms and a simple hoisin sauce that coats everything beautifully. It’s ready in around 20 minutes, making it a perfect easy weeknight dinner.
If you enjoy finding new ways to use up roast dinner leftovers, you might also like to explore my leftovers recipe hub, which includes plenty of creative ideas for leftover roast chicken, lamb and more.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
• It’s a brilliant way to use leftover roast duck
• Ready in around 20 minutes
• Flexible depending on how much duck you have left
• A proper easy weeknight dinner!
Because the duck is already cooked, this dish comes together incredibly quickly. The gnocchi cooks directly in the pan, soaking up all the delicious flavours of the sauce.
Ingredients
- Vegetable oil – Used to sauté the vegetables and start building flavour.
- Onion – Adds sweetness and depth to the base of the dish.
- Chestnut mushrooms – Mushrooms pair beautifully with duck and give the sauce a savoury richness.
- Fresh gnocchi – Soft gnocchi is perfect here. It cooks quickly and turns beautifully golden in the pan.
- Hoisin sauce – Hoisin works wonderfully with duck. You can use shop-bought, or make your own using my hoisin sauce recipe here.
- Leftover roast duck – You can use anywhere between 200g and 600g depending on what you have. Simply shred the meat from the carcass.
- Frozen peas – A little pop of sweetness and colour at the end.
How to Make Leftover Roast Duck Gnocchi
This is a wonderfully simple one-pan dish.
1. Cook the vegetables
Peel and dice the onion and slice the mushrooms. Heat the vegetable oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat. Add the onion and mushrooms and cook for 3–4 minutes until starting to soften and release their flavour.
2. Add the gnocchi
Tip the gnocchi straight into the pan. Cook for 6–8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the gnocchi starts to turn lightly golden and crisp in places. This step gives the gnocchi a lovely texture.
3. Add the duck and sauce
Add the shredded leftover roast duck, the hoisin sauce and 200ml water. Stir everything together and bring the pan to a gentle simmer. The hoisin sauce will quickly create a glossy coating for the gnocchi.
4. Add the peas
Stir in the frozen peas and cook for another 2 minutes, until everything is heated through.
Taste and season if needed. Then serve immediately.
Tips for Using Leftover Roast Duck
If you’ve cooked a whole roast duck, you’ll often find you have a surprising amount of meat left over.
A few tips:
- Shred the meat rather than chopping it. This spreads the flavour through the dish.
- If the duck skin is still attached, you can crisp it separately in a pan and add it back for extra texture.
- Don’t worry if you only have a small amount of duck – the mushrooms and gnocchi help bulk out the dish.
This recipe works with anywhere from 200g to 600g of leftover duck.
If You Don’t Have Leftover Roast Duck
This recipe was designed as a way to use up leftover roast duck from a Sunday roast, but if you don’t happen to have any sitting in the fridge you can absolutely still make it.
The easiest option is to cook duck breasts. Simply score the skin, place them skin-side down in a cold frying pan and cook gently until the fat renders and the skin becomes crisp. Turn the breasts over and cook for a few minutes more until done to your liking.
Allow the duck to rest, then slice or shred the meat before adding it to the gnocchi as described in the recipe.
It won’t quite have the same deep roasted flavour as leftover duck, but it’s still absolutely delicious!
Swap the Gnocchi for Udon Noodles
If you’d prefer something a little closer to the classic flavours of duck and hoisin, you can easily swap the gnocchi for udon noodles.
Udon works beautifully with the rich duck and glossy hoisin sauce, creating something closer to a quick noodle dish.
Simply cook the udon according to the packet instructions, then add it to the pan in place of the gnocchi and toss everything together until coated in the sauce.
More Ways to Use Leftover Roast Dinner
One of the best things about a roast dinner is the leftovers. If you enjoy turning roast meat into a completely new meal, you might also like some of my other leftover recipes.
For leftover duck, try:
Or for leftover chicken, turkey, ham, lamb or beef, all of which can be transformed into quick and comforting weeknight dinners, head over to my easy leftover roast recipes hub!
Easy Leftover Roast Duck Gnocchi
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 onion peeled and diced
- 300 g chestnut mushrooms sliced
- 500 g fresh gnocchi
- 3 tbsp hoisin sauce shop-bought or homemade
- 200-600 g leftover roast duck shredded
- 150 g frozen peas
- 200 ml water
Instructions
- Heat the vegetable oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat. Add the diced onion and sliced mushrooms and cook for 3–4 minutes until beginning to soften.
- Add the gnocchi to the pan and cook for 6–8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the gnocchi starts to turn lightly golden.
- Stir in the shredded leftover roast duck, hoisin sauce and 200 ml water. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook for a few minutes until the sauce begins to coat the gnocchi.
- Add the frozen peas and cook for another 2 minutes until heated through.
- Taste and season if needed, then serve immediately.
Notes
Serving Suggestions
This dish is quite rich and comforting on its own, but it pairs beautifully with: • a crisp green salad• steamed greens
• stir-fried kale
• a squeeze of lime for brightness A glass of cold white wine works rather nicely too.
More delicious than you could imagine!