How many calories in a duck breast
One duck breast with its skin has about 300 kcal and 37 g of protein.
Portion
To burn it off
Duck is a richer meat than chicken, and nearly all of that richness lives in the layer of fat under the skin. That's where 16 g of fat comes from.
The meat underneath is lean and dark, with 37 g of protein and no carbs. The sauce is the wild card: plum, orange or cherry sauces bring sugar to the party.
At a Chinese takeaway, crispy aromatic duck is a different story again, with pancakes and hoisin on top of the duck itself.
Tips
- 1Score the skin and render it slowly in the pan, then pour the fat off. You keep the crisp, lose some of the fat.
- 2Slice it thin and fan it over a big salad so one breast feeds two.
- 3Ask for the sauce on the side and dip instead of pour.
Where it comes from
Nearly all farmed ducks descend from the wild mallard, which people in China, Egypt and Europe were already keeping thousands of years ago. The Muscovy duck is a separate species, tamed in Central and South America before Columbus. In 1873 one Pekin drake and three hens were shipped from China to Long Island, New York, and started the American duck industry.
Where does our food come from? · Source: University of Wisconsin Extension, The origin of ducks
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duck breast with salad
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Questions
How many calories in duck without the skin?
Noticeably fewer, because most of the fat sits in the skin. The meat itself is lean.
Is duck higher in calories than chicken?
Yes, mainly because of the skin and fat. Breast meat on its own is closer than you'd think.
How much protein is in a duck breast?
About 37 g.
Is duck red meat or white meat?
It's poultry, but duck breast is dark meat and chefs often cook it like a steak. In the kitchen it's treated more like red meat than chicken.
Does duck have more iron than chicken?
Yes, a lot more. Duck meat has several times the iron of chicken breast, which is part of why it's so dark.
