Marmalade-glazed roast quail

Name: Marmalade glazed roast quail
Cook time: 25 min
Yield: 2 servings

If you're planning a more intimate Christmas, try this quick and easy roast quail recipe from Diana Henry that's ideal for two.

Marmalade glazed roast quail with parsley and orange stuffing

By Diana Henry | Published - 18 Dec 2025

Really simple, no waste, no leftovers, and very festive. The only thing you do have to make an effort with is the chicken stock. Make your own if possible – it has a much better flavour than anything you can buy. And it is Christmas, so it’s worth going that extra mile.

Cooking Time

25 mins

Serves

Ingredients

For the roast quail

4 tbsp orange marmalade
5 tbsp whisky
1 tbsp orange juice
Salt and pepper
4 quails
4 small rindless rashers of streaky bacon

For the sauce

600ml well-flavoured chicken stock
10g butter
10g caster sugar
30ml whisky
75ml orange juice

For the stuffing

15g butter
¼ small onion, very finely chopped
30g breadcrumbs
1 tbsp parsley, very finely chopped
Finely grated zest of ½ orange
1 tbsp orange juice
Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg

Method

Mix the marmalade, orange juice, 4 tbsp of the whisky, and the salt and pepper together – use the back of a spoon to break the marmalade down. Spoon over the quails, both inside and outside. Cover loosely and leave to marinate for a couple of hours (or you can leave them overnight).
Preheat the oven to 220C/gas mark 7.
To make the stuffing, melt the butter in a medium-sized frying pan and sauté the onion until soft and golden. Add the other stuffing ingredients and mix well. Stuff each quail with the mixture – it’s a sticky affair doing this, but possible. Wrap each bird in a piece of bacon, season with pepper and put in a small roasting tin. Spoon the marinade over the birds again. Roast in the oven for 25 minutes.
While the birds are roasting, make the sauce. Boil the stock until it is reduced to 200ml. Melt the butter and sugar in a pan, and heat until they caramelise, then add the whisky and reduce by half. Now pour in the orange juice and boil until reduced by half. Add the reduced chicken stock to the orange and whisky mixture, and bring to the boil together. Taste for seasoning – you shouldn’t need to add anything – and strain through a sieve.
Serve the birds – which should be quite dark and glossy – with a few spoonfuls of the sauce, and offer the rest in a warmed jug.

Notes

You can make the sauce the day before and just reheat it before serving.

It might seem a bit austere but, really, all you need on the side with this are some lightly dressed watercress leaves and something starchy. I like a pilaf of brown and wild rice, with some soaked, dried cranberries stirred through it. But you may prefer a few roasted potatoes.

(Hero image credit: Shutterstock)

Written by: Diana Henry

Diana Henry is one of the UK’s best-loved food writers.
She has published 12 recipe books, writes for the Sunday Telegraph, Waitrose Weekend and other national publications and has a series of popular food podcasts.

View author page

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Marmalade-glazed roast quail

Ingredients

For the roast quail

For the sauce

For the stuffing

Method

Notes

Written by: Diana Henry

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