How to Butcher a Rabbit

If you have never tried rabbit, you are seriously missing out! I first learned how to cook rabbit when I was in culinary school. We made it for our paella dishes and I instantly fell in love. The flavor is like a mix between chicken and pork, a lighter meat that when cooked right, falls off the bone.

When it comes to cooking rabbit at home, you almost always have to buy a whole rabbit and break it down yourself. This may seem intimidating, but it is actually quite easy. In this post I am going to go over how to break down a rabbit, so you can get to cooking delicious rabbit dishes!

Steps to butchering rabbit:

• Remove anything from the inside cavity.
• Remove the front legs at the shoulder joint
• Remove the hind legs through the thigh joint
• Cut away the thin meat that hangs off of the ribcage
• Cut away excess bones around the tenderloin
• Cut off the tenderloin

This leaves you with six pieces of meat that are great for things like braising or frying! I also save the bones and use them to make stock, so there is zero waste!

Below are the detailed steps along with the video that will get you butchering rabbit in no time!

Ingredients:

• 1 rabbit

Preparation:

STEP 1.

Remove the organs and any gizzards that remain in the stomach cavity of the rabbit.

STEP 2.

Using a boning knife or sharp chef’s knife, remove the front legs. Do this by finding the natural seem between the ribcage and shoulder and cut through the joint. It should be easy as long as you go through the joint, if you have to force it, you are cutting in the wrong place.

STEP 3.

Next remove the hind legs and thighs. Do this by popping the legs out of the socket that attaches it to the spine, then run your knife through that socket and slice the legs off.

STEP 4.

Next remove the thin meat that hangs from the rib cage. Do this by slicing it off with kitchen sheers.

STEP 5.

Lastly, remove the tenderloin. Do this by finding it along the spine, and cutting away excess bones to the left and right of it (ribcage and tailbone) with a meat cleaver or sharp knife. From their, slice the tenderloins off the spine, following the bones with your knife.

This will leave you with 6 great cuts of rabbit, the two front legs, hind legs and tenderloins. I like to save the rest of the scraps for stock!