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Home > All Recipes > 41 Traditional French Recipes

Orange Sauce Duck Recipe

Modified: Jun 30, 2026 by Judith E. Coates · This post may contain affiliate links · Leave a Comment

Duck a l'Orange is a famous, long-established duck recipe with a delectable orange sauce made from orange juice, grated orange rind, orange marmalade, Cointreau, or Grand Marnier, and red wine. A real treat, and a tasty dish
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A delicious duck l'orange dinner with sliced orange peel in the luscious sauce on duck meat.

Duck a l'Orange

Orange Sauce Duck recipe or duck l'orange in French, is a famous, long-established duck recipe with a delectable orange sauce made from orange juice, grated orange rind, orange marmalade, Cointreau, or Grand Marnier, and red wine. A real treat, and a tasty dish just like an orange chicken sauce recipe, because they can be prepared with the same sauce. It is a versatile, easy sauce made even more special with additional ingredients mentioned below.

If you would like a different sauce than orange, try Duck Breast With Cherry Sauce, and something easy and quick, Roasted Duck Recipe.

A delicious duck l'orange dinner with sliced orange peel in the luscious sauce on duck meat.
Jump to:
  • Duck a l'Orange
  • ❤️About This Recipe
  • 🗝️ Key Ingredients
  • 🙌Variations
  • More Delectable Duck Dishes
  • 📖 Recipe

❤️About This Recipe

Duck a l'orange is a tried and trusted duck dish, with just about every French mother having her own variations on the theme. Some use marmalade to enhance the flavor and others would rather die than use marmalade!

The bonus to roasting a duck is that it produces lots of duck fat that can later be used to roast potatoes or other vegetables.

🗝️ Key Ingredients

A photo showing the ingredients required to make duck a l'orange.

🙌Variations

  • Add more fruits like cranberries, apples, plums, or lemons
  • Add a combination herbs like fennel, coriander, rosemary, thyme, or sage
  • Add alliums like onions, shallots, and/or garlic

More Delectable Duck Dishes

  • Duck Breast With Cherry Sauce tastes as amazing as it sounds.
  • For dinner party appetizers with duck serve Foie Gras Potato Stacks, Duck Foie Gras With Truffles, or Duck Rillettes with star anise & rosemary.

📖 Recipe

Prep Like a Pro
Before you start cooking, chop, measure, and prep every ingredient, and gather your tools.
This simple habit reduces stress, prevents overcooking, and instantly improves your meals. Mise en Place - "Everything in its place."

A delicious duck l'orange dinner with sliced orange peel in the luscious sauce on duck meat.

Orange Sauce Duck Recipe

Judith Coates
Duck a l'Orange is a famous, long-established duck recipe with a delectable orange sauce made from orange juice, grated orange rind, orange marmalade, Cointreau, or Grand Marnier, and red wine. A real treat, and a tasty dish
Print Recipe Pin
Prep Time 30 minutes mins
Cook Time 45 minutes mins
Total Time 1 hour hr 15 minutes mins
Course dinner
Cuisine French
Servings 4

Equipment

  • roasting pan

Ingredients

  • 4 lb duck or 4 breasts
  • 2 teaspoon flaked sea salt plus extra to season
  • 2 bay leaves
  • ½ onion cut into four wedges
  • freshly ground black pepper
  • ½ onion peeled and thinly sliced
  • 4 tablespoon orange liqueur such as Cointreau or Grand Marnier
  • 2½ oz red wine
  • 1½ oranges freshly squeezed juice and peel (around 150ml/5fl oz)
  • 3 tablespoon orange marmalade
  • 2 teaspoon cornflour if you want a thinner sauce only use 1 tsp
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Instructions
 

  • Preheat the oven to 210°C (400°F/Gas 6½).
  • Peel the skin off the half orange in wide strips; a vegetable peeler is fine for this. Place a stack of three strips on top of each other and trim the sides. Cut the strips into very thin julienne strips. [OR use a julienne peeler.] Set aside the strips.
  • Prick the duck skin lightly all over with the tip of a skewer or fork to help release the fat. Don't be too heavy handed here.
  • Place the duck on a rack set inside a roasting tin. Place the orange half inside the duck, pushing towards the neck end (this helps to support the breast during cooking).
  • Add the bay leaves and onion.
  • Season the duck with the salt and lots of freshly ground black pepper.
  • Roast for 45 minutes.
  • Take the duck out of the oven and carefully take the rack off the roasting tin using oven gloves to hold it.
  • Tip any fat that has collected in the tin into a heatproof bowl, and reserve for future use. [Any excess can be left to cool, and used to roast potatoes at some future time.]
  • Place the rack back into the tin and return the duck to the oven for a further 35-45 minutes, or until the skin is golden-brown and crisp.
  • Remove the duck from the oven and check that it is thoroughly cooked. If not, return the duck to the oven for a further 10 minutes, or until cooked.
  • Transfer to a board or warmed serving dish. Cover very loosely with foil and leave to rest for 15 minutes.
  • Drain all but one tablespoon of any more duck fat that has accumulated in the roasting tin into the heatproof bowl with the earlier lot.
  • Return the tin to the hob and add the sliced onion. Fry over a medium heat for 5 minutes, stirring regularly until the onion starts to soften and colour.
  • Pour the orange liqueur and wine into the pan with the softening onion and allow to bubble for a few seconds.
  • Add the orange juice and 150ml/5fl oz cold water and simmer together for about 2 minutes, stirring to lift any of the meat sediment from the bottom of the tin.
  • Carefully strain the liquid through a fine sieve into a small non-stick saucepan.
  • Stir the reserved julienne orange strips and marmalade into the jus and bring to a simmer.
  • Mix the cornflour with one tablespoon of cold water in a small bowl until smooth. Stir it into the orange sauce and cook for 1-2 minutes more, stirring regularly until the sauce is thickened and glossy.
  • Pour any juices that have collected from the resting duck into the sauce and simmer for a few seconds, stirring.
  • Pour into a warmed jug.
  • Carve the duck at the table with an onion wedge for each person, pour a little of the sauce over and serve the rest separately.

Notes

  • Prepare the orange sauce while the duck is in the oven.
  • Let the duck sit for 15 minutes after roasting before carving.
  • Pour the orange sauce over the duck meat after it is on the serving platter, with some in a sauce boat for adding more once it is on the plates.

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Nutrition

Calories: 716kcalCarbohydrates: 26gProtein: 1gFat: 0.2gSaturated Fat: 0.04gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.1gMonounsaturated Fat: 0.04gSodium: 12mgPotassium: 168mgFiber: 2gSugar: 20gVitamin A: 124IUVitamin C: 29mgCalcium: 37mgIron: 0.3mg
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