Air Fryer Duck Breast With Cherry Sauce

5 from 4 votes

Air fryer duck breast with cherry sauce makes an excellent dinner. Use my go-to cherry sauce for duck or your favorite sauce!

Prep Time10

Cook Time30

Marinating Time8

Total Time8 40

Course: Dinner, Main Course

Cuisine: American, Chinese, French

Keyword: air fryer duck, air fryer duck breast, cherry sauce for duck, duck breast with cherry sauce

Servings: serving

Calories: 1189kcal

Defrost duck breast in a bowl of cold water, then remove from package. Use skewers to poke a series of holes into the underside of the duck breast, then lightly score the skin in a criss-cross pattern with a sharp knife and pat dry.
In a medium bowl, combine marinade ingredients then place duck breast into the mixture skin-side up, keeping skin dry. Cover bowl with saran wrap and refrigerate overnight (or a minimum of 2 hours).
Place duck breast in the air fryer basket skin-side up and cook for 7 minutes at 300° F. Mix 1/2 tsp honey and 1/2 tsp olive oil and brush over the skin. Raise the temperature to 400° F and cook an additional 7-12 minutes or until duck breast has reached an internal temperature of at least 135° F.

Soak dried cherries in a small bowl of chicken stock to rehydrate. Meanwhile, add oil, butter, and diced shallot to a saucepan and sauté until shallot is soft and translucent.
Mix in cherries, stock, red wine, Demi glacé concentrate, salt, and pepper. Simmer over medium-low heat until liquid reduces by half, about 5-10 minutes, stirring often. Lower heat and incorporate the cream, simmering 3-5 minutes until thick.
Slice duck breast and serve with cherry sauce on the side or drizzled over the top.

If too much moisture is retained, it can prevent the skin of the duck breast from getting crispy! This is why we don't submerge the skin in the marinade and why marinating overnight is ideal so the skin has ample time to dry out.
You don't have to line the tray with foil, but I like to because it helps contain the rendered duck fat.
No two air fryers are exactly the same, so you may need to adjust the cook time.
I strongly recommend using a meat thermometer to confirm that the duck is fully cooked and has an internal temperature of at least 135° F.

Save the duck fat and using it to make duck fat roasted potatoes, duck confit, duck fat roasted chickpeas, and much more!

You only need a small amount of Demi glacé concentrate, so you'll have a lot left over! Use it to make stews, gravies, glazes and marinades for meats, or use it to add flavor to stir-fries and roasted vegetables. You can also freeze it for later use.