A duck fat pie crust is the secret to a perfect pie, delivering a golden brown finish and an incredibly flaky, melt-in-your-mouth texture. This rich, indulgent fat takes your pie game to new heights, adding a savory depth that can’t be matched by butter alone. It's perfect for both sweet and savory pies!
Recipe Highlights
Incredibly flaky: Duck fat produces a super light, flaky crust that is melt-in-your-mouth tender.
Rich flavor: Duck fat adds a savory depth unmatched by butter alone. For another sweet treat made with duck fat, try duck fat cookies.
Versatile: Great for sweet pies (apple pie) and savory pies (rabbit pot pie) alike.
What's so special about duck fat?
Rendered duck fat is a culinary delicacy that can be used for a variety of dishes. Duck fat has a silky smooth texture and a nutritional profile more similar to olive oil than other animal fats. It is higher in unsaturated fats and lower in saturated fats which makes it semi-solid at room temperature instead of being completely solid like pork lard and other animal fats.
The rich but mild flavor can be paired with many different ingredients. It is most often used to make confit duck legs, but can be used for pie crust recipes, duck fat potatoes, sous vide duck breasts, and more!
Ingredients
- Duck Fat: Duck fat is a flavorful, versatile fat that gives pie crusts a rich, savory taste and enhances flakiness. Unlike other animal fats like beef tallow and leaf lard, it has a very neutral flavor. Its smooth consistency helps create a pliable, easy-to-work-with dough. You can find duck fat online, at specialty food stores, or render your own from duck skin. It is most often used to make duck confit but can have many other cooking applications as well!
- Butter: Butter performs slightly differently than duck fat in pie dough because it contains water while duck fat is pure fat. When cold butter is incorporated into the dough, it forms small pockets rather than fully blending with the flour. During baking, these butter pockets melt and the water turns to steam, creating layers in the dough that result in a light, flaky crust. I like to add a touch of salted butter along with the duck fat to give the crust a slightly puffier appearance.
- Ice Water: Ice water (not just cold water!) is essential for creating flaky pie crusts. Keeping all the ingredients as cold as possible interrupts gluten development which leads to a flakier pie crust. Ice water also keeps the fats from melting before the crust goes into the oven.
See recipe card for quantities.
Equipment
Recommended
Pastry Blender
Helps cut cold butter and/or fat into flour quickly, creating small, uniform pieces to create a perfectly tender, flaky crust.
How to Make Duck Fat Pie Dough
- Step 1: Combine flour, sugar, and salt in a large bowl.
- Step 2: Add cold butter and cold duck fat to the dry ingredients.
- Step 3: Squish pieces of butter and fat between your fingers to flatten them.
- Step 4: Once all the butter and fat pieces are flattened, use a pastry blender to blend the fats into the flour mixture.
- Step 5: Blend until all fat pieces are pea-size or smaller.
- Step 6: Drizzle ice water over the flour mixture. Gently incorporate the water into the dough using your hands. Start with 6 tablespoons and add more as needed. The amount of water needed will depend on the type of flour used, humidity, etc.
- Step 7: Add water until you can form the dough into a ball. The dough should stick together and be pliable but not sticky.
- Step 8: Form dough into 2 discs. If you're making a double-crust pie, make 1 disc slightly larger than the other disc. If you're making two single-crust pies, divide the dough into 2 equal discs. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
Pro Tip
For a perfect duck fat pie crust, chill all your ingredients—duck fat, butter, and even the flour—before starting. Keeping everything cold helps maintain the flaky layers by preventing the fats from melting too early. Also, avoid overworking the dough; mix just until combined to prevent a tough crust.
How to Shape Pie Crust
- Step 1: Grease a pie pan with butter.
- Step 2: Lightly flour a work surface. Lightly flour both sides of the dough disc.
- Step 3: Using a rolling pin, roll the dough into a rough circle.
- Step 4: Hold your pie pan above the dough to ensure the circle is large enough to cover the bottom, sides, and lip of the pie pan.
- Step 5: Transfer the dough to the greased pie pan. Cut the excess dough around the rim of the pan.
- Step 6: Using your thumb and forefinger, gently squeeze a small amount of dough until a small ridge forms. Repeat on the entire lip of the pie.
Pro Tip
I love to make pie crust cookies with the extra scraps I cut off the sides of the pan. Roll the scraps out and cut them into 1-2" strips, place them on a parchment paper lined pan, sprinkle with cinnamon sugar, and bake at 350 degrees F for 10-15 minutes, or until golden brown and crisp. They're a fun little treat to enjoy while you wait for your pie to cool!
Serving Suggestions
Duck fat pie crust pairs beautifully with both savory and sweet fillings. For savory options, use it with pot pies, quiches, or venison hand pies with rich fillings like wild mushrooms.
For sweet pies, try it with fruit like cherry or apple pie, where the crust’s rich flavor complements the natural sweetness. No matter what pie you choose to make, you're going to wish every pie was made with this crust!
Duck Fat Pie Crust FAQs
Duck fat is an excellent choice for pie crust. It's smooth, easy to work with, mild-flavored, and adds a wonderful richness to pie crust.
Yes! Duck fat is a great substitution for lard in pastry dough. It is softer than lard and is easier to work with.
Animal fats are best for pie crust. A mix of pure fat like duck fat, lard, or tallow with butter is perfect!
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Annie
📖 Recipe
Duck Fat Pie Crust
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon cane sugar
- 1 teaspoon table salt
- 4 tablespoon salted butter, cubed
- ¾ cup cold duck fat
- 6-8 tablespoon ice water
Instructions
Dough:
- Combine flour, sugar, and salt in a large bowl.
- Add in butter and duck fat. Squish pieces of butter and fat between your fingers to flatten them.
- Once all the butter and fat pieces are flattened, use a pastry blender to blend the fats into the flour mixture. Blend until all fat pieces are pea-size or smaller.
- Drizzle ice water over the flour mixture. Gently incorporate the water into the dough using your hands. Start with 6 tablespoons and add more as needed. The amount of water needed will depend on the type of flour used, humidity, etc.
- Add water until you can form the dough into a ball. Dough should stick together and be pliable but not sticky.
- Form dough into 2 discs. If you're making a double crust pie, make 1 disc slightly larger than the other disc. If you're making two single crust pies, divide the dough into 2 equal discs. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
Shaping:
- Grease a pie pan with butter. Lightly flour a work surface. Lightly flour both sides of the dough disc.
- Roll the dough into a rough circle. Hold your pie pan above the dough to ensure the circle is large enough to cover the bottom, sides, and lip of the pie pan.
- Transfer the dough to the greased pie pan. Cut the excess dough around the rim of the pan.
- Using your thumb and forefinger, gently squeeze a small amount of dough until a small ridge forms. Repeat on the entire lip of the pie.
- Fill and bake according to your chosen recipe. Enjoy!
Notes
- The dough may be more crumbly than other pie doughs. It can be a little more difficult to roll out, but it's worth it for how flaky the crust turns out!
- Duck fat is a flavorful, versatile fat that gives pie crusts a rich, savory taste and enhances flakiness. Unlike other animal fats like beef tallow and leaf lard, it has a very neutral flavor. Its smooth consistency helps create a pliable, easy-to-work-with dough. You can find duck fat online, at specialty food stores, or render your own from duck skin. It is most often used to make duck confit but can have many other cooking applications as well!
- Butter performs slightly differently than duck fat in pie dough because it contains water while duck fat is pure fat. When cold butter is incorporated into the dough, it forms small pockets rather than fully blending with the flour. During baking, these butter pockets melt and the water turns to steam, creating layers in the dough that result in a light, flaky crust. I like to add a touch of salted butter along with the duck fat to give the crust a slightly puffier appearance.
- Ice water (not just cold water!) is essential for creating flaky pie crusts. Keeping all the ingredients as cold as possible interrupts gluten development which leads to a flakier pie crust. Ice water also keeps the fats from melting before the crust goes into the oven.
- For a perfect duck fat pie crust, chill all your ingredients—duck fat, butter, and even the flour—before starting. Keeping everything cold helps maintain the flaky layers by preventing the fats from melting too early. Also, avoid overworking the dough; mix just until combined to prevent a tough crust.
- I love to make pie crust cookies with the extra scraps I cut off the sides of the pan. Roll the scraps out and cut them into 1-2" strips, place them on a parchment paper lined pan, sprinkle with cinnamon sugar, and bake at 350 degrees F for 10-15 minutes, or until golden brown and crisp. They're a fun little treat to enjoy while you wait for your pie to cool!
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