Pan Roasted Rabbit in Wine and Garlic Sauce is the best and easiest way to cook whole rabbit. I will show you not only how to cook the rabbit, but also how to make it flavorful and moist with minimum time and effort.
What does pan roasted rabbit taste like
The Italians and French, and also Russians eat rabbit the way Americans eat chicken, which is to say, quite often. Rabbit meat is white and tender, and in taste is very comparable to chicken.
How to defrost a rabbit
Usually, you will buy a whole rabbit that is frozen. It’s important to let it defrost in a deep dish (whether it’s a baking pan or a large plate) inside the fridge, as the process of defrosting a whole rabbit will release quite a bit of liquid and you don’t want your fridge swimming in raw rabbit’s juices.
What skillet to use for pan seared rabbit?
Your pan needs to be at least 12 inches as you need space in order to get that nice color on the rabbit. Space them too closely and the liquid will have nowhere to go, which means no caramelization and steamed rabbit instead of pan seared rabbit.
Make sure to use a good heavy skillet here, such as cast iron and make sure it’s a large one too. I used 12 inch Lodge Pro-Logic Seasoned Cast Iron Skillet in this recipe – it’s well designed, has a helper handle and sloped sides – very sleek looking for cast iron! And it’s one of my most used kitchen tools!
A more traditional looking cast iron skillet that is also very well made is this 12 inch Lodge Cast Iron Skillet – it never sticks or leaves weird black dots like other cast iron skillets do. And it has over 9,000 positive reviews on Amazon:
It’s very easy to get that nice golden color on the rabbit when using a large cast iron pan.
How to cut up a rabbit
Butchering a rabbit is no harder than cutting up a chicken. In fact, I used regular large knife that wasn’t even sharpened recently and it was just fine.
Rabbit’s bones are thinner than chicken’s and it’s very easy to cut. Much easier than it looks.
Lay a whole rabbit on the cutting board and prepare a large knife.
Cut the rabbit in 4 parts: back legs, 2 pieces for the bust and another piece front legs. Then divide the leg pieces in two so that each piece was only one leg.
That’s it! It took me about 3 minutes.
How to cook rabbit
Make sure to use either sunflower oil or olive oil (not extra virgin olive oil, but regular cooking olive oil). Sunflower oil is a better choice here due to its high heating point, but if you don’t have it, olive oil will do a great job as well.
Add the rabbit pieces and sear them on all sides until it is all well browned (5 minutes per each side).
Be patient when pan searing the rabbit
It’s important to be patient when coloring the meat – don’t turn too often. Season the rabbit with salt and pepper while it’s cooking.
Let’s add rabbit pieces to the hot pan and start cooking!
Deglaze with wine
Make sure that the pan is on medium heat now. Season the rabbit again and deglaze with white wine to get all the caramelized juices from the bottom of the pan. After the wine evaporated, we’re left with syrupy substance of the wine. Now add chicken stock.
Roast the rabbit
Put the pan with the rabbit pieces into the preheated oven and roast for about 30 minutes until the internal temperature is about 140 to 145°F.
One thing to keep in mind is that the meat will continue to cook while it is resting, and the internal temperature will reach the desired temperature of about 150°F.
Enjoy!
Interested in more pan seared dishes? How about these delicious recipes:
- Easy Pan-Seared Chicken
- Herb Roasted Chicken Thighs in Wine Sauce
- Dijon Mustard French Style Chicken and Potatoes
How to Cook Rabbit in Wine and Garlic Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil, (or sunflower oil)
- 1.5 lb. rabbit, (defrosted and cut up)
- 3 cloves garlic, (chopped)
- 1 cup dry white wine
- ½ cup chicken stock
- sea salt
- fresh thyme
- a splash of water
Instructions
Cut the rabbit down
- Using a very sharp knife or a meat cleaver, cut the rabbit in 4 parts: back legs, 2 pieces for the bust and another piece front legs. Then divide the leg pieces in two so that each piece was only one leg.
Pan Sear the Rabbit
- Heat a large pan on medium-high heat and add oil to the pan. Add the rabbit pieces and sear them on all sides until it is all well browned (5 minutes per each side). It's important to be patient when coloring the meat - don't turn too often. Season the rabbit with salt and pepper while it's cooking.
- Reduce the heat slightly and add chopped garlic to the pan. Brown the garlic while continuing to cook rabbit, about 2-3 minutes. Make sure that the pan is not too hot at this point.
- Preheat oven to 350 F.
- Make sure that the pan is on medium heat now. Season the rabbit again and deglaze with white wine to get all the caramelized juices from the bottom of the pan. After the wine evaporated, we're left with syrupy substance of the wine. Now add chicken stock.
- Put the pan with the rabbit pieces into the preheated oven and roast for about 30 minutes until the internal temperature is about 140 to 145°F.One thing to keep in mind is that the meat will continue to cook while it is resting, and the internal temperature will reach the desired temperature of about 150°F.
- Serve with fresh thyme.
Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy only. This information comes from online calculators. Although whatsinthepan.com attempts to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures are only estimates.
Jenn W. says
Just made this for dinner with one of my own fresh rabbits. Absolutely hands down the best rabbit I have ever had! The only change I made was I used avocado oil in place of the olive oil. This is going to be a regular on the menu now! Thank you so much for sharing it!!
Olya says
Avocado oil is a great choice!
Amanda says
Thank you for the recipe. I used two fresh rabbits. You might want to add a note about removing the head and organs? I’m not new to butchering rabbits, but a friend recently tried cooking one for the first time and was horrified to find the eyes staring at her. Anyway, followed your recipe using my cast iron dutch oven because I love the way it makes the meat tender and keeps it moist. I rushed it a little because everyone was hungry–next time I’ll leave it in longer so the meat is more tender. I thickened the sauce with a spoonful of cornstarch to make it more gravy ish. All kids and adults in the house loved it, including our ghanian housemaid who’s never had rabbit before. Thanks again–this one will be a regular meal for us.
Olya says
Wow! Fresh rabbits! My rabbits came frozen, with no heads or organs, but that’s a good point. I think thickening the sauce is a great option – I will update my recipe with both suggestions.
Alex says
it would be even better if you fry rabbit in butter – it gives it a wonderful flavor
Olya says
Yes, I agree!
Kim says
Made this dish tonight for my husband and I. It was our first time cooking and trying rabbit we harvested ourselves. We absolutely loved it!! One fed us both perfectly. Recipe was so simple for a first try. We’ll definitely be doing this again soon. Thank you for sharing.
lynn says
cooked this last night for my husband, i used 2 legs and he absolutely loved it.
Olya says
Thank you Lynn so much for cooking this for your husband:). Very happy that he loved it!
Russ says
Just made this for myself and it was delicious. I did notice that this could only feed about two people. The third person would be wanting for more meat.
Make sure you add the wine and let it evaporate before adding the chicken stock.
Ate it with some rice and broccolini. The leftover juice made a nice sauce for the rice and the rabbit legs.
I wish the article had more pictures.
Olya says
Thank you for your feedback, especially about feeding only about two people:). You’re right – rabbits are quite small and sort of lean!
Paul Burress says
My family and I have tried this rabbit recipe on a couple different occasions even tried it with chicken it has been amazing every time we used a sparkling white wine instead of the one that you chose but we greatly appreciate it please post more recipes
Olya says
Thank you for making this! I shall try sparkling white wine with this.
Tony says
wine and garlic (hunting recipe) is a Portuguese recipe— what are you talking about?
Karen says
When it comes to portions on a rabbit you might want to mention that the whole large back side of rabbit has very little meat on it. 1 rabbit feeds 2 adults.
Brian says
Recipe sounds fantastic, and good to see the comments. I have a question on the ingredients. It says use a 1 lb rabbit for 6 people. That does not seem right. I am planning to use this recipe this week with a 3 lb rabbit, but want to make sure if I truly need to triple the remaining ingredients. Thanks in advance for your response, and the recipe!
Olya says
Brian, I would double the ingredients.
Shaldon Micallef says
One rabbit feeds 3 persons more or less, you would need 2 for 6. Rabbit is a national dish in my country, we do know our rabbits 🙂
Olya says
Sheldon, where are you?