I am indebted to the late, great Penelope Casas for this braised rabbit recipe. Casas, who died in 2013, was one of the foremost experts on Spanish food, and her cookbook The Foods and Wines of Spain, remains an invaluable part of my collection. This dish is from that book.
Spain has all kinds of vinegary-meaty wild game dishes, notably their famous escabeche with partridges or pheasants. The theory is that vinegar can offset any sort of gaminess, while at the same time helping to preserve things for a few days; it’s not a bona fide preservation technique, but it will help keep everything nice for a week in the fridge.
It is ridiculously simple.
Rabbit, browned in olive oil, braised with vinegar and lots of garlic and onion, served with some sweet peas right at the end. Everything is in balance, from the zippy sherry vinegar, the warmth of the slow-cooked garlic, the rabbit, which turns luscious after simmering for hours, and even the peas, which really come off as sweet when juxtaposed with everything else in the bowl.
Add good black pepper and you need nothing else — except for maybe a nice white wine.
Chances are you are here looking for a rabbit recipe, but know that you can substitute chicken, turkey, quail, partridge, pheasant, squirrel or grouse here. Basically any white meat.
Once made, this, like many stews will keep for a week in the fridge.
Braised Rabbit with Garlic
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 domestic rabbit or snowshoe hare or 2 cottontails, cut into serving pieces
- 1 large yellow onion, sliced into 1/4" pieces from root to tip
- 1 head of garlic, cloves whole but peeled
- Salt
- 1/3 cup sherry vinegar
- 1 bay leaf
- Black pepper
- 1 cup peas
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a large, lidded pot like a Dutch oven or, if you have one, an earthenware pot. Brown the rabbit pieces well, salting them as you do. Remove them as they brown and set aside. When the rabbit is browned, add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until it begins to brown, about 8 to 10 minutes. Add the garlic cloves and cook another minute or two.
- Nestle the rabbit back into the pot, sprinkle some salt over everything and add the vinegar and bay leaf. Pour in enough water to get about halfway up the sides of the rabbit. Cover the pot and cook slowly over low heat for about 2 hours.
- When the rabbit is tender, add black pepper and mix in the peas. Serve with lots of crusty bread.
Delicious. However, I did not get tender rabbit, nor flavorful rabbit with cooking it on the cooktop. Perhaps I had the setting too low, but I cooked it for four hours instead if two. (I’m still getting used to cooking on induction. I like it, but there is a learning curve for me) I decided I needed to braise it the way I braise venison shanks- in the oven at 350 ( for three hours). This I did and the result was terrific. Rabbit was tender and the sauce reduced and the flavors intensified this way.
My local grocery store had just about every kind of vinegar except Sherry vinegar. I bought some imported Italian white wine vinegar that wasn’t too hard on my wallet to use instead, since white wine vinegar was mentioned in the recipe. I tasted it when I got home, and it really didn’t taste a whole lot different than plain white vinegar to me, which was a little disappointing. It concerned me that maybe it wouldn’t work in the recipe. Am I over thinking this? I have Sherry cooking wine, would that be better to use as a substitute? I also have some good apple cider vinegar.
Cinnamon: Yep, you’re overthinking it. 🙂 Use whatever vinegar you like. Sherry vinegar is brownish and mellow, which is why I like it. If you have malt vinegar, that might work.
I tried this recipe with 5 quail quartered and I have to admit it was simple and delicious. I also added gold potatoes and carrots to make it more hardy and it came out perfect. The potatoes did absorb most of the liquid so add more water/sherry if you want some extra sauce. Excellent recipe would recommend!
Nice, easy way to cook rabbit. House smells wonderful! It was a hit, even with a lifelong rabbit-hater! added some carrots and mushrooms the last 30 min to make it a bit more of a stew. It worked!
I have never eaten rabbit before, let alone served it to my family.
I bartered a duck for a rabbit, so then what?
Hank is my go-to guy for things like this.
I chose this recipe for it’s unadulterated simplicity and was NOT disappointed. We devoured every morsel.
We thickened the juices with a bit of cornstarch at the end and served it over buttery herbed rice (which made me think that the juices would be divinely lovely for risotto) with a simple side of spring greens and a balsamic vinaigrette.
Thanks again Hank!
Hi Hank:
Can I substitute part white wine instead of water in the spanish rabbit receipe. I love the wine background umami.
Bil
Bil: Absolutely.
My first dish for 2022. The rabbit turned out so good that only a small fraction is left. Simple ingredients and procedure, but flavors are out of this world. I also grow my own garlic, Romanian Red porcelain is my favorite but there are several other types equally good.
Eat this rabbit recipe all the time. I’ve crock potted it and slow braised in a cast iron dutch oven. It is such a perfect melding of garlic and rabbit.
Hello,
My son is a hunter, and he got a rabbit. I want to make this recipe. But I don’a have a dutch oven or earthenware. Can I use a crock pot instead?
Lilia: Absolutely you can.
Great recipe and a regular throughout the winter during snowshoe hare season!
Very good, and like many braised dishes, even better the next day. I took all the little bits of meat from the neck and some small leftover pieces, chopped them up, threw them back in the liquid and turned it into pasta sauce.
This was amazing with roasted delicata squash, mashed potatoes sprinkled with the roasted squash seeds, and a cold beer! Substituted sherry for the sherry vinegar and we were out of peas; otherwise, followed the recipe to a tee. This was fantastic!
A truly wonderful dish.
Just made this and subbed squirrel… DELICIOUS, will be trying it again in the near future with rabbit.
I made this recipe for my Mom on Christmas using a Fryer Rabbit our local butcher ordered for us, and it was simply excellent. I appreciate the subtlety of the flavors and the precision of this recipe–regular unroasted garlic, or browning the meat/onions, would have indeed overwhelmed the rabbit.
Thank you for the informed and inspired recipe.
What temperature do you cook at??
Nikki: It’s on the stovetop.
Nice flavor but Do Not make this in a crockpot since the cloves of garlic will virtually melt away unless added for just the last couple of hour at low temp. We had this with a bed of mash potatoes with the rabbit and peas over the top to get all that good sauce. Next attempt will be complete stove top.
What temp should this be cooked at?
Wow. Scored my first rabbit yesterday and prepared it for a friend and myself tonight. I’m better on the grill than the kitchen bit that may have changed a little tonight. I owe you and this recipe for one of the best meals I’ve made in my life.