READY IN 3+ hrs

Honey Duck

Read Reviews (45)

"Orange-stuffed duck sprinkled with fresh basil and ginger and basted with a honey citrus glaze. Delicious, flavorful, moist duck recipe!" — KAYLEEW

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
In a small bowl mix together mix together the basil, ginger and salt and sprinkle mixture on inside and outside of duck. Stuff duck with orange quarters and lay in roaster. Add water.
In a small saucepan combine the honey, butter, lemon juice and orange juice concentrate. Simmer together over low heat until syrupy; pour a little of the mixture over the duck, saving the rest for basting. Cover roaster.
Bake/roast ducks in preheated oven for 30 minutes. Turn duck breast down, reduce heat to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C) and roast covered for another 2 to 2 1/2 hours, or until very tender. If desired, turn duck breast up during last few minutes of cooking, to brown.

Kitchen-Friendly View

PREP 20 mins
COOK 3 hrs
READY IN 3 hrs 20 mins

Reviews More Reviews

Most Helpful Positive Review

Dec 20, 2003

I made this for my Christmas Eve dinner party. The only "problem" with it was it was SO tender I could not turn it breast up in the last few minutes of cooking. I served it with a raspberry sauce. Everyone loved it!!!! It was the best duck I ever ate.

—LEGRANDE

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Most Helpful Critical Review

Nov 25, 2005

While very good, this recipe needed a bit of revisement to bring the taste factor up a bit. Also, as many other reviewers have noted, if you cook a bord this size and weight for the suggested amount of time, it comes out dry...even at low temperatures (300 F). Using my method, I cooked my 6lb. duck and it was done within 2hours and 20minutes, far below the time limit set for this recipe for a smaller duck. Since it only takes about 20 minutes per pund for a duck to cook at 375 uncovered, and an extra 5 minutes with it covered at 300F, I used a combination of both to achieve a tender and still crispy duck. First,I set the oven to 375F. Since I was doing a 6lb. duck, I had to adjust all of the ingredients by and additional half. for the rub portion, I also found it was necessary to add some additional spice/herbs since I know that ginger and basil alone aren't enough for my pallete. I added about 2 tablespoon's worth of a combination of equal parts rosemary, sage (ground), marjoram, thyme and oregano. If you don't have a mortar&pestil, you get a simmilar blend that works the same way from the Spice Hunter brand of seasonings; it's called "Poultry Seasoning".

—Kas E.

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57 Ratings

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Dec 21, 2003

Outstanding recipe! I varied the recipe a bit by adding some ground rosemary and ground ginger inside and out, which always works nicely with oranges. I added water with a bit of orange concentrate on the bottom of the pan to use for basting, the rest of the concentrate I brushed over the duck, then lightly dusted a touch more seasoning on. My husband, 2 year old son and myself devoured the whole thing in one sitting, and if a picky toddler will eat this, then it deserves 10 stars! :) Thank you for sharing the recipe!

—DDNOBES

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Dec 25, 2005

Great recipe.. would use it again. Made a couple of revisions that I think really enhanced the flavour. First, I added mango chutney to the honey / orange glaze. There was a hint of the exotic that my family really liked. Also, I turned the duck over (breast up) about 45 minutes before finished in order to have a lovely dark skin presented on the platter. Oops, one other thing.. I totally filled the cavity of the duck with orange and squeezed the cooked orange juice onto the meat before serving. Thanks!

—ramona620

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Feb 08, 2011

The duck was really good but came out a little dry because the cooking time was a little too long. I will make the duck this way again but will make sure to cut the cooking time way down.

—Amber

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Apr 15, 2006

This was the first time we had ever even eaten duck...(well most of us) it was a wonderful substitute for the over worked turkey that comes around on holidays. I made my own mango chutney which included fresh ginger root and honey vinegar and nutmeg, cloves,cinnamon fresh herbs like basil and some brown sugar and stuffed the inside of (both ducks) with the chutney and orange 1/4's. I made the glaze (suggested here) and it was beautiful!!! I even made an orange mango gravy that was rich in flavor of fresh fruits and herbs. I will definately use this recipe again and again and again...It came out perfectly cooked and tender after two hours and a half (they were 5 lb ducks!). THANK YOU for this amazing new addition to our holiday tradiotion!

—aerynn

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Jun 05, 2003

I have never prepared a duck before this but will continue to use this recipe forever. Even my picky husband ate it! The prep time for this recipe is fairly short but it takes a while in the oven (I think its worth it though). The duck was not greasy and the orange-honey glaze was perfect. This recipe is not kid friendly as they probably wouldn't be interested in the recipe (although I think they'd like the sweet taste). Excellent recipe that I recommend to all!

—TWOARCHYS

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Jun 05, 2003

My family loves duck. We hunt them every year. This year we were a little tired of the same old thing and so my dad told me that he had heard of this web site. We were so excited to see that there are so many recipes for duck. I decided that this sounded great so we printed it up and fell in love! It is a delicous recipe!

—TYLANOL

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Nutrition

Calories
382 kcal
19%

Carbohydrates
43 g
14%

Cholesterol
92 mg
31%

Fat
17.8 g
27%

Fiber
0.5 g
2%

Protein
15.3 g
31%

Sodium
434 mg
17%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.

Nutritional Information

Honey Duck

Serving Size: 1/8 of a recipe
Servings Per Recipe: 8
Amount Per Serving
** Calories: 382
** Calories from Fat: 160

% Daily Value *
** Total Fat 17.8g 27 %
** Saturated Fat 8.9g 45 %
** Cholesterol 92mg 31 %
** Sodium 434mg 17 %
** Potassium 166mg 5 %
** Total Carbohydrates 43g 14 %
** Dietary Fiber 0.5g 2 %
** Protein 15.3g 31 %
** Sugars 42.4g
** Vitamin A 9 %
** Vitamin C 52 %
** Calcium 3 %
** Iron 14 %
** Thiamin 6 %
** Niacin 52 %
** Vitamin B6 3 %
** Magnesium 3 %
** Folate 18 %

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.
** Nutrient information is not available for all ingredients. Amount is based on available nutrient data.
(-) Information is not currently available for this nutrient. If you are following a medically restrictive diet, please consult your doctor or registered dietitian before preparing this recipe for personal consumption.