Game
Rabbit Stew
Jointed rabbit browned with smoky bacon, then braised slowly in cider and stock with onion, carrot, celery, garlic and thyme until falling from the bone, the sauce finished with wholegrain mustard and a little cream.
- Serves 4
- Hands-on 30 min
- Braise 1½–2 hours
- Oven 160°C (fan 140°C)
- Better made a day ahead
- British
Method
Heat the oven to 160°C (fan 140°C, gas 3). Season the rabbit pieces (1.4 kg) and dust with the flour (2 tbsp).
Heat the oil (2 tbsp) in a flameproof casserole and brown the rabbit in batches over a medium-high heat, 3–4 minutes each side, until golden. Lift on to a plate.
Add the bacon (100 g) to the pan and fry for 3 minutes until crisp, then add the onion (1 onion), carrots (2 carrots) and celery (2) and cook for 8 minutes, until softened. Add the garlic (2 cloves) for 1 minute.
Pour in the cider (325 ml) and scrape up the browned bits from the bottom. Add the stock (300 ml), thyme (a little) and bay (2 bay leaves), return the rabbit and bring to a simmer.
Cover and cook in the oven for 1½–2 hours, until the meat comes easily away from the bone. Wild rabbit can take longer than farmed.
Lift out the rabbit. Simmer the sauce on the hob for 5 minutes to thicken, then stir in the mustard (1 tbsp) and cream (75 ml). Return the rabbit, check the seasoning and scatter with parsley (a little). Serve with mash or crusty bread.
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See also
Chef’s notes
- Rabbit is very lean, so it needs a slow, gentle braise. Fast boiling makes it dry and stringy.
- Rabbit is not sold by the big supermarkets: buy it from a butcher, a game dealer or a farmers’ market. Two rabbits of about 700 g each serve four.
- For a red-wine version, replace the cider with 150 ml red wine and 150 ml more stock and add a handful of soaked prunes, as BBC Good Food does.
- Watch for small bones when serving.
How this recipe was developed
We compared BBC Good Food’s slow-cooked rabbit stew with the hasenpfeffer and the Maltese rabbit stew on Allrecipes.
- Bacon and soffritto. BBC Good Food (4.35/5 from 50 ratings) browns floured rabbit with smoked streaky bacon, carrot, onion and celery; we do the same.
- Slow braise. Allrecipes’ Hasenpfeffer (4.8/5 from 173 ratings) braises the rabbit with bacon, wine and bay; we braise in the oven at 160°C.
- Cider and mustard. We braise in cider and finish with wholegrain mustard, in the style of the French lapin à la moutarde, instead of the red wine and brandied prunes of the BBC Good Food version.
- Vegetables in the pot. Allrecipes’ Maltese rabbit stew (4.6/5 from 27 ratings) adds carrots and potatoes to the pot; we serve mash on the side.
Sources we compared (ratings as shown on each site on 1 November 2026):
- BBC Good Food (Good Food team): Rabbit stew (4.35/5, 50 ratings)
- Allrecipes (Lovesmurfs): Hasenpfeffer (Rabbit Stew) (4.8/5, 173 ratings)
- Allrecipes (Joely): Maltese Rabbit Stew (4.6/5, 27 ratings)
This is an original Cookeryonline recipe written in our own words. Ingredient choices and techniques are credited above; no source text has been copied.