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Roast duck breast with spicy sweet sour sauce

When you're short on ingredients, keep the meal simple. Duck is so rich and tasty it doesn't need too many spices and seasonings to cook it into a delicious dish. In this recipe, duck breast is seasoned with nothing but salt and pepper before it goes into the oven.
Roast duck breast with spicy sweet sour sauce
Chicken / duck / turkey recipe by Connie Veneracion | Last updated: 01.21.2026

Cook’s notes

A dish designed to be both simple and easy. Simple because the ingredients are few, and easy because the cooking process is not complex at all. Just sear and brown, and roast. The sauce that goes on top of the duck before serving doesn’t even require cooking.

Sear, brown and roast

In this recipe, the searing and browning happens on the stovetop, and the roasting takes place in the oven.

Can the duck be cooked in an air fryer?

I actually entertained that idea. Air fry the duck without searing and browning on the stovetop. But duck skin is extremely fatty and the melted fat that will collect on the bottom of the air fryer basket may start smoking before the duck is done. Not only will that ruin the dish, it might be terribly dangerous too.

Roast duck breast with spicy sweet sour sauce

Prep: 2 minutes mins
Cook: 20 minutes mins
Resting 10 minutes mins
Total: 32 minutes mins
Servings: 2 people
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Asian
Label: Rice bowl
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Ingredients

  • 1 duck breast fillet (that's half of the entire breast)
  • salt
  • pepper

For the sauce

  • 2 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 2 tablespoons chili garlic sauce available in the Asian section of groceries and supermarkets
  • 1 tablespoon honey
  • 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar

To serve

  • cooked rice
  • finely sliced scallions

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 375F.
  • Wipe the duck breast dry with paper towels and rub liberally with salt and pepper.
  • In a heavy oven-safe frying pan, sear the duck skin side down until fat has been rendered and the skin has browned.
    Browning duck breast fillet in pan
  • Flip the duck breast and sear the other side.
  • Transfer the frying pan with the duck to the preheated oven and roast the duck for 8 to 15 minutes depending on how rare or cooked you want it.
  • Take the duck out of the oven, transfer to a chopping board and cover loosely with foil. Allow to rest for 10 minutes before slicing.
    Oven roasted duck breast
  • Mix the ingredients for the sauce.
  • Slice the duck breast and divide into two portions.
  • Half fill two bowls with cooked rice, arrange the duck slices on top, drizzle the sauce over the duck and pile on the sliced scallions.
    Roast duck breast with spicy sweet sour sauce
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About Connie Veneracion

Home cook and writer by passion, photographer by necessity, and good food, coffee and wine lover forever. I create, test and publish recipes for family meals, and write cooking tips and food stories. More about me and my umami blogs.

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