Pan Fried Duck with Red Wine Jus

Pan Fried Duck with Red Wine Jus is a definite winner when it comes to preparing an impressive looking dish. The simply cooked duck breasts with a crispy skin served with a red wine jus that only takes 10 minutes to create. When combined they are a perfect match. Serve as a main dish with rice, seasonal vegetables or mashed potato for a filling tasty meal.

For me. there’s something wonderfully indulgent about cooking pan fried duck at home. Perhaps it’s the ritual of scoring that layer of rich fat, or the way the kitchen fills with a warm, aromatic cloud of garlic and rosemary as the pan heats up. Maybe it’s simply the knowledge that you’re creating a dish that feels fit for a special occasion, even if you’re standing in your slippers on a Tuesday night. Pan fried duck with a glossy red wine jus is one of those meals that transforms the everyday into something worth lingering over.

Duck breasts, especially the plump, generously fattened ones you find in good butchers, give you the best of both worlds: crisp, golden skin and tender pink meat. The key is to treat them with a bit of respect and patience. I always start by taking a sharp knife and gently scoring the fat in a criss-cross pattern. There’s something oddly therapeutic about it, like sketching a rustic pattern on a canvas. You aren’t cutting through to the meat — just through the fat — which helps it render beautifully later on.

Once that’s done, I season the duck generously with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Duck has a strong personality, flavour-wise, and it enjoys a bit of bold seasoning to bring out its best. While the oven heats to a steady 180°C, I move to the stove, where the magic really begins.

A hot, oven-safe frying pan is essential here. Into it goes a handful of crushed garlic cloves and a few sprigs of rosemary. Just a minute in the heat is enough to send their aroma drifting through the house — the kind of smell that makes people wander into the kitchen asking, “What’s for dinner?” The moment the fragrance peaks, the duck goes in, skin side down, and you can hear that lovely sizzle as the fat starts to render and crisp. This part is thrilling every time. You watch the edges turn golden, the fat slowly liquefying, creating its own cooking medium. A few minutes later, once the skin is properly bronzed, the duck gets a quick turn before it slips into the oven to finish cooking.

There’s a sweet spot with duck where the meat is blush pink, succulent, and just the right side of tender. For me, seven minutes in the oven is perfection, but if you prefer something a little more cooked-through, a few minutes longer will do the job. The secret afterwards is not to rush. Resting the duck — loosely covered in foil — lets the juices settle back into the meat instead of running out the moment you slice into it. This little pause is what takes duck from simply good to absolutely excellent.

While the pan fried duck takes its rest, the real fun begins: building a red wine jus in the very pan where the duck worked its magic. All those caramelised bits at the bottom are culinary gold. I mash the softened garlic into the pan juices before adding a dusting of flour — just enough to give the sauce a bit of body. Once that flour cooks briefly, I add the real stars: red wine, cranberry sauce, a drizzle of honey, chicken stock, a squeeze of fresh orange juice, and a final seasoning of salt and pepper.

The moment the wine meets the heat, the flavour begins to transform. It softens, deepens, and rounds out, mingling with the sweet cranberry and bright citrus. It’s the sort of sauce that feels silky on the tongue and elevates the duck into something restaurant-worthy without any of the fuss.

By the time the jus has thickened into a glossy pourable delight, the duck is ready to slice — tender, fragrant, and lightly blushing in the centre. Pouring the jus over the slices feels almost ceremonial. Pan Fried Duck is a dish that reminds you that cooking at home can be as special as dining out.

Whether you serve Pan Fried Duck with Red Wine Jus with buttery potatoes, roasted roots, or even something as simple as steamed greens, pan fried duck with red wine jus is a dish that deserves to be lingered over. It’s rich, comforting, and wonderfully satisfying — the kind of meal that turns an ordinary night into a memory worth savouring.

Pan Fried Duck with Red Wine Jus

Pan fried duck with red wine jus is a wonderfully indulgent dish that combines crisp golden skin, tender rosy meat, and a rich, fragrant sauce made from wine, citrus, and sweet cranberry. Pan Fried Duck is an elegant yet achievable home-cooked meal that turns an ordinary evening into something special.

4.80 from 92 votes

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Course: Main Dish

Cuisine: French

Keyword: Alcohol, Duck, Orange, Pan Fried Duck, Red Wine Jus, Sauce, Vegetables

Prep Time: 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes minutes

Total Time: 20 minutes minutes

Servings: 4 Portions

Calories: 90kcal

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Ingredients

 

MetricImperial

Duck Breast Ingredients

• ▢ 4 large duck breasts
• ▢ 8 cloves garlic peel mince
• ▢ 4 tsp salt
• ▢ 4 tsp ground black pepper
• ▢ 4 sprigs rosemary

Red Wine Jus Ingredients

• ▢ 100 ml red wine drinkable
• ▢ 3 tsp cranberry sauce
• ▢ 60 ml chicken stock
• ▢ 2 tsp honey runny
• ▢ 1 large orange juice only
• ▢ ½ tsp salt
• ▢ ½ tsp ground black pepper
• ▢ ½ tsp all-purpose flour plain

Instructions

• Turn on the oven and preheat to 180C/350F/Gas Mark 4
• With a sharp knife, score the fat of the duck on the diagonal, spin round and score on the other diagonal to create a criss cross pattern. You don’t want to cut all the way through the fat.
  4 large duck
• Sprinkle each breast with a teaspoon of both salt and pepper on both sides.
  4 tsp salt, 4 tsp ground black pepper
• Add an oven proof frying pan/saucepan to the stove over a medium heat and when hot, add the garlic and rosemary for about a minute to release their flavours and aroma.
  8 cloves garlic, 4 sprigs rosemary
• Add the duck breast skin side down to render and crisp the fat. When you first put the duck in, gently hold it flat so the middle doesn’t rise. Fry for about 4 minutes and then flip over and cook the other side for about 1 minute.
• Pop the duck into the oven and cook according to how you enjoy it. 7 minutes is medium rare to 10 minutes for medium well done.
• Transfer the pan fried duck breasts to a warmed plate and allow the ducks breasts to relax for 5 – 7 minutes covered with foil. Remove the rosemary sprigs and discard.
• Using the same pan, mash the garlic cloves from earlier and place over a medium low heat for 1 minute. Add the all-purpose flour and stir so the flour absorbs the fat in the pan. Normally about 1 minute.
  ½ tsp all-purpose flour
• Add the red wine, cranberry sauce, honey, orange juice, chicken stock, salt and black pepper and stir well to combine making sure no lumps of flour remain.
  100 ml red wine, 3 tsp cranberry sauce, 60 ml chicken stock, 2 tsp honey, 1 large orange, ½ tsp salt, ½ tsp ground black pepper
• Serve the Pan Fried Duck with red Wine Jus with vegetables of your choice.

Nutrition

Calories: 90kcal | Carbohydrates: 15g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 0.4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 1mg | Sodium: 2641mg | Potassium: 190mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 9g | Vitamin A: 122IU | Vitamin C: 26mg | Calcium: 45mg | Iron: 1mg