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A clay dish of traditional arroz de pato just out of the oven.
Meat

Arroz de Pato (Portuguese Baked Duck Rice)

Leonor Perreira · Updated Nov 5, 2026
Prep
30 min
Total
2 h 20 min
servings
6
Difficulty
Medium
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Arroz de pato is one of the best-loved Sunday dishes in Portugal, the kind that fills the house with the smell of the oven. The rice stays moist inside, from the broth the duck cooked in, and crisp on top, with the browned slices of chouriço.

Its origin is usually traced to the Minho, around Braga, as a way of using older, tougher birds, simmered slowly in a fragrant broth before going into the oven. Today it’s made all over the country.

Recipe

Arroz de Pato

Duck simmered slowly in a fragrant broth, long-grain rice cooked in that broth, and everything baked with slices of chouriço until crisp on top. The duck rice of Portuguese Sunday lunches.

Ingredients

6 servings

For the duck

For the rice

Method

Cooking the duck

  1. 1
    Remove the excess fat from inside the duck. Put it in a large pot with the chouriço, the bacon, the onion, the carrot, the bay leaves, the parsley and the salt, and cover with the water.
  2. 2
    Bring to a boil, skim off the foam that rises and turn the heat down. After 20 minutes, take out the chouriço and set it aside.
  3. 3
    Let the duck simmer for 1 hour to 1 hour 30 minutes, until the meat comes off the bones easily.
  4. 4
    Take out the duck and the bacon. Strain the broth, measure out 1.1 liters and keep it hot. When the duck is cool enough to handle, shred the meat, without skin or bones. Cut the bacon into small cubes and the chouriço into rounds.

Making the rice

  1. 5
    Heat the oven to 200 °C (400 °F).
  2. 6
    In a wide pan, heat the lard with the olive oil and cook the onion and garlic for 5 to 6 minutes, until the onion is soft.
  4. 7
    Add the white wine and let it bubble for 2 minutes. Add the rice and the bacon cubes and stir for 1 minute.
  5. 8
    Pour in the hot broth, taste and season with salt and pepper. Cook for 8 to 10 minutes over medium heat, until the rice is al dente and there is still some broth.

In the oven

  1. 9
    In a clay baking dish, spread half the rice, scatter the shredded duck over it and cover with the rest of the rice and broth.
  2. 10
    Arrange the chouriço rounds on top, close together.
  3. 11
    Bake for 20 minutes, until the rice dries out and the chouriço browns. For a crisper crust, switch on the grill for the last 3 to 5 minutes.
  4. 12
    Let it rest for 5 minutes before serving.
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Tips

Don’t rush the duck. The fat and the marrow in the bones flavor the rice. Strain the broth well, but don’t skim the fat off the top; it helps the rice stay separate.

Leave the rice al dente and with some broth in the pan. It still spends 20 minutes in the oven and soaks up the rest. If you use carolino rice instead, which absorbs more, add a little more broth.

The crust is half the dish. If your oven has a grill, switch it on for the last few minutes so the chouriço gets properly browned.

Use a white wine you’d drink, not cooking wine.

Storing and freezing

Leftovers keep in a closed container in the fridge for 3 to 4 days. Reheat in the oven at 150 °C (300 °F) with a few drops of water on top, covered with foil at first so it doesn’t dry out.

It also freezes well. Assemble everything in the clay dish, cover it well and freeze it before baking. On the day, put it straight from the freezer into the oven and allow about 15 minutes more.

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