This orange-maple roast duck recipe may be time-consuming but it’s so unbelievably easy to prepare and tastes incredible.
If you’ve ever been intimidated by a roast duck recipe but you’ve wanted to try making it, this recipe is for you. It truly is a no-fuss recipe that tastes absolutely delicious.
How to Make this Orange-Maple Roast Duck Recipe:
To make this orange-maple roast duck, simply start by removing the giblets from the duck. If the neck is attached, you can remove it with kitchen shears or simply leave it in the cavity like I did.
Next, create slits along the fatty part of the duck – the breasts, in between where the legs meet the body, and in between where the wings meet the body. Alternatively, you can also prick the bird all over but slits is the preferred method. This allows the fat to render from the bird.
Next, pat the duck all over with season liberally with salt and pepper. Stuff the duck with quartered clementines and shallots.
From there, it’s simply the slow process of roasting. Line a sheet pan with foil and place a raised rack on top. Place the duck, breast-side up, and tie the legs together. If you don’t have kitchen twine, you can cut a 1” wide piece of foil and roll it into a tube and use that to tie the legs up. You’ll alternate roasting the duck breast-side up, breast-side down, and breast-side up for the final roasting time.
While the duck is roasting, you’ll prepare the glaze. Simply combine juice from 4 clementines, star anise pods, maple syrup, and Dijon mustard in a pot and simmer it for 10 minutes.
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Orange-Maple Roasted Duck
Equipment
- Sheet pan
- Roasting rack
- Small pot
Ingredients
- 4–5 pound whole duck; giblets and neck removed
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 8 clementines divided
- 3 shallots
- 4 star anise pods
- ½ cup maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon whole-grain mustard
Instructions
Prepare the Duck:
- Preheat oven to 350ºF.
- Pat the duck dry and use a sharp knife to create angled slits along the breast. Cut into the fatty parts around where the legs meet the body and between the wings and the body. You just want to make enough slits around the fatty part of the duck skin so that the fat renders out.
Stuff the Duck:
- Peel the shallots and quarter. Quarter 4 of the clementines. Stuff the duck with the clementines and shallots and tie the legs together. Season the duck liberally with salt and pepper.
Roast the Duck:
- Line a baking sheet with foil and place a raised roasting rack on the foil. Place the duck on top and transfer to the oven, breast-side up, for 1 hour.
- Flip the duck and roast, breast-side down, for 1 more hour.
- Remove the duck from the oven. At this point, you can drain off the duck fat and reserve it for another use.
- Roast the duck, breast-side up for 20 minutes more.
Prepare the Glaze:
- As the duck finishes the 20-minute roast from the previous step, make the glaze. In a saucepan, combine the juice of the remaining 4 clementines, maple syrup, 4 star anise pods, and the Dijon mustard and whole-grain mustard. Bring to a boil and whisk until smooth. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Turn off the heat.
- Remove the duck from the oven and brush half the glaze over the duck. Return to the oven for 20 more minutes.
- Brush the duck with the remaining glaze and bake for 10 minutes. Turn on the broiler and broil for 4-5 minutes until the skin darkens on top, being careful not to burn the sugars in the glaze.
To Serve:
- Remove from oven and let cool for 5 minutes before carving.
In your cooking directions, you should put that portion of when you should be adding the glaze during the last 20 minutes. It’s kind of confusing.
Thank you for the feedback! I’ll take a look at the recipe to make it clearer. I’m sorry it was confusing but I hope it turned out well 🙏
Could you prep and stuff the duck the day before and leave it in the fridge overnight?
You can salt the duck and leave it in uncovered in the refrigerator overnight (kind of like a mini dry-brine). I wouldn’t stuff it personally. Just not sure how cut clementines would do overnight in the duck cavity. You can prep them clementines and shallots the night before and keep them in a container together and then stuff the duck right before roasting.
How would a two lb duck change the roasting times?
Hi! I’ve never roasted a duck that small, but I would start with 1 hour roast. Check it after about 45 minutes and continue roasting for the remaining 15 minutes until the skin is golden and crisp (if needed). Glaze it and then roast 10-20 minutes. You can skip flipping it midway through 🙂 let me know how it turns out! I just made this recipe again last night for my birthday and loved it so I hope you enjoy it too!
Hi,
I am looking to make this soon. Does this generally leave the breasts well done? Or should I carve them off and cook separately to keep them medium rare?
Thanks!
This method will leave the breasts well-done. I think I would instead carve up the entire duck prior to cooking and then roast just the legs and reserve the wings and carcass for stock and prepare breasts by searing. That said…as someone who LOVES medium rare duck breasts, I actually do love the breasts as prepared in this recipe, so it may be worth trying it as-is with a whole duck just one time 😉
Alternatively, you can buy just legs or just breasts and just serve the sauce on the side.