Duck Breast Fajitas

There are not many cuts of meat as delicious as a well prepared pan-seared duck breast. It’s so good that i usually serve it simply: sliced, with a side of greens and potato over a rich deglazed sauce. But i also LOVE spicy, Mexican inspired food. I mean, who doesn’t love a good taco or fajita?  I recently decided to see if a pan seared breast would work in a taco…. and boy howdy the results were so good we made them two nights in a row!  I served my fajitas with caramelized onion, rice, cheese and a super spicy sauce. The only thing better would have been the addition of avocado.

The key to perfecting these fajitas is to get the pan seared breast just right. It’s all about timing, and a smokin’ hot pan. One other note: the skin on the breast gets crispy and delicious, but it can also be a little stretchy when taking a bite, so don’t be afraid to use your fingers to rip and tear at your delicious fajitas…. or try chopping up the meat in smaller bites.

Print Recipe

Duck Breast Fajitas

Prepare perfectly pan-seared duck breasts then slice thinly into flavorful and SPICY fajitas. Cook up a gourmet 'week night' meal in about 30 minutes. *Note on serving sizes: one breast from a large drake as shown serves 2 adults with 3 big fajitas each or 3 adults 2 fajitas each. One smaller duck breast will serve 2-3 adults a smaller meal.

Course

Dinner

Cuisine

Mexican/Spicy

Prep Time

10 minutes

Cook Time

20 minutes

Passive Time

15 minutes

Servings

people

Ingredients

Meat

• 1 boneless breast Muscovy Duck
• cumin
• chorizo chilli powder
• 1 wedge lime or a half teaspoon lime juice
• salt

Fajita anatomy

• 1 cup rice
• 1/2 large white or red onion See instructions per carmelizing onions
• 1/4 cup dehydrated zucchini or substitute with fresh/shredded zucchini or omit
• generous shmear Miranda's Secret Spicy Sauce Ask me for the recipe 😉
• pinches favorite spices cumin, chilli powder, hot pepper flakes, liquid aminos
• 6 tortillas I like fajita sized flour tortillas

Optional other toppings

• shredded cheese
• sour cream/yogurt
• guacamole/ sliced avocado

Course Dinner Cuisine Mexican/Spicy Prep Time 10 minutes Cook Time 20 minutes Passive Time 15 minutes Servings people Ingredients Meat 1 boneless breast Muscovy Duck cumin chorizo chilli powder 1 wedge lime or a half teaspoon lime juice salt Fajita anatomy 1 cup rice 1/2 large white or red onion See instructions per carmelizing onions 1/4 cup dehydrated zucchini or substitute with fresh/shredded zucchini or omit generous shmear Miranda's Secret Spicy Sauce Ask me for the recipe 😉 pinches favorite spices cumin, chilli powder, hot pepper flakes, liquid aminos 6 tortillas I like fajita sized flour tortillas Optional other toppings shredded cheese sour cream/yogurt guacamole/ sliced avocado

Instructions

Pan sear breasts

1. Carefully breast the duck leaving the skin on.
2. Season the breast meat with a few dashes of cumin and your favorite chilli powder. Carefully slice just the skin of the breast in a crosshash pattern, salt and allow to rest at room temperature for 15 minutes.
3. Heat your pan (preferably cast iron) on high until it begins to smoke. Melt some lard in the pan and place the breast in skin side down and press. Turn pan down to medium (i use setting 3) and squeeze the juice of one lime wedge over the breast meat.
4. Cook the breast, skin side down for 6-8 minutes then flip, cooking meat side down for a remaining 5 minutes. I also like to prop the breast against the edge of the pan to sear the long sides, each side for about a minute. While breast cooks, prepare vegetables.

   
5. Set cooked breast aside in a foil tent to rest for 10 minutes.

While breast rests, sautee veg

1. If using dehydrated zucchini: rehydrate (optional: with a dash of liquid aminos) with some water in the microwave by heating for 2 minutes. If using fresh zucchini: shred and squeeze out most the water.
2. Finely slice onion. Toss veg with a bit of olive oil, salt, chilli powder and optional hot pepper flakes.
3. Toss the onions and zucchini into the hot duck fat in the pan. Stir often and cook until well caramelized. I find the vegetables are cooked perfectly at the end of the 10 minutes resting period.

Assemble Fajitas

1. Turn heat off or to low/warm. Thinly slice duck breast (use a sharp knife!) and place back in the warm pan while you prepare tortillas.

   
2. Warm tortillas: in a warmer, heat 30 seconds, flip stack, heat another 30 seconds.
3. Spread a generous shmear of spicy sauce onto fajitas. Can substitute guacamole for a mild fajita.

   
4. Add rice, not too much
5. Sprinkle shredded cheese
6. Place slices of duck meat over rice, about 3 slices per fajita.
7. Top with onion mixture
8. Add optional dollups sour cream/yogurt/avocado
9. Eat! Enjoy! Want to make again tomorrow!

   

Seriously: So good. And with the amount of sauce i added on night one, you’ll be sweating and begging for more! Stay tuned for a recipe for “Miranda’s secret spicy sauce” – trust me, you want it. And now that you’ve breasted a Birdsong Farm muscovy duck for these fajitas, you’ll want to braise or crock pot the rest of the carcass to make shredded carnitas tacos, and serve those with even more spicy sauce….