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Wild rabbit ranch salad

This hearty and indulgent salad with ranch dressing shows off the flavour and texture of your carefully prepared rabbit, says Cai ap Bryn

Pulled rabbit, bacon lardons and croutons over salad leaves and sliced peppers with ranch dressing in a black pan — Pulled wild rabbit and crispy bacon under a creamy ranch dressing. Credit: A Sydenham

This recipe is a great dish, being extremely tasty, versatile and easy to make. The toughest part is butchering and preparing the rabbit. Wild rabbit salad with ranch dressing is not exactly what I would call healthy, but it is hearty and full of flavour.

Bagging a rabbit for the pot

I absolutely love hunting and eating rabbits. The one used in this recipe was shot using my CZ .22 LR on an evening stroll when there was a break in the weather. I always enjoy a nice evening walkabout and if a rabbit presents itself like this one did, it becomes a walk to remember. When butchering rabbits, it’s worth bearing in mind that proper knives and a good cleaver make it much easier than messing with poor equipment.

Prep time: 30 minutes, plus overnight brining
Cook time: 2 hours 10 minutes
Serves: 3–4
Difficulty: Medium

Ingredients

1 rabbit, pulled and stored in oil (see below steps on ‘Preparing the rabbit’)
80g bacon lardons
20g croutons
150g mixed leaf salad (I like to use lamb’s lettuce as well as some various mixed leaves)
2 small peppers, sliced
10g seeds and shoots
10 vine tomatoes, chopped in half
2 spring onions, sliced

Ranch dressing

Mix all items below in a bowl

6tbsp mayonnaise
5tbsp buttermilk
1 garlic clove, minced
½ white onion, diced very finely
1tsp chopped fresh chives
Half a lemon, squeezed
Salt and pepper to taste
⅓tsp of Dijon mustard

How to make wild rabbit ranch salad – step by step

Preparing the gutted rabbit

Step 1. Use your cleaver to remove the head and legs at the joints.
Step 2. Turn the rabbit around and pinch the skin on the centre of the rabbit’s back. Make a 2in incision along the width of the rabbit.
Step 3. Use both hands and, with your fingers in the incisions, pull the fur off the rabbit. One hand pulls towards the head, the other towards the tail. The younger the rabbit, the easier it should be. The fur should come off in two pieces.
Step 4. After the rabbit is skinned and washed, use a knife to make a cut in the diaphragm, then push two fingers inside the rib cage to hook the pluck – heart and lungs – and pull it away, so that it leaves a clean cavity.
Step 5. I have much better results if I place the rabbit in a bowl of water in which I’ve dissolved 3tbsp of salt and 2tbsp of sugar. Sit the rabbit in this overnight in the fridge and it will give you a very white, clean-looking rabbit. This process also helps to tenderise the rabbit and get rid of any earthy taste.
Step 6. For this recipe the rabbit will need to be placed in a pan of water and simmered for around two hours – enough for the meat to start pulling from the bone. Once done, remove the rabbit and let it cool for a couple of minutes before using your hands to remove all the meat from the bones. Once you have the pulled rabbit in a bowl, season with salt and pepper and cover with olive oil to prevent it from drying out. It can be stored in the fridge for a few days, ready for when you want to make a dish at short notice, or you can freeze it if you are keeping it for a longer period.

Making the salad

Step 7. Prepare the salad – be creative with what you have got. The listed ingredients are what I used at the time, but you can design your own salad that is more to your liking or to use up what you have left.
Step 8. Fry the bacon lardons and, when crispy, remove them from pan. Add the rabbit meat to the bacon fat and fry for three minutes. This will give it flavour and a nice colour.
Step 9. Place the rabbit, bacon and croutons on top of the salad, then slowly pour the delicious ranch dressing over the top. Its creamy, savoury flavour works very well with the rabbit and bacon.
Step 10. Some people like to serve the salad as it is, but I like to mix it around so that everything is covered in the dressing.

Tips for wild rabbit salad

Brining the rabbit overnight in salted, sweetened water gives a whiter, more tender meat with no earthy taste. The pulled rabbit keeps in olive oil in the fridge for a few days, or can be frozen, so it is ready when you want a quick meal. Use whatever salad leaves you have.

Frequently asked questions

How do you prepare a wild rabbit for a salad?

Cai ap Bryn skins and paunches it, brines it overnight in water with salt and sugar, then simmers it for around two hours until the meat pulls from the bone, before pulling the meat and storing it in olive oil.

Why soak a rabbit in salt and sugar water?

It gives a very white, clean-looking rabbit, helps to tenderise the meat and gets rid of any earthy taste.

How long does pulled rabbit keep?

Covered in olive oil, it keeps in the fridge for a few days, or it can be frozen for longer.

What goes in ranch dressing?

Mayonnaise, buttermilk, minced garlic, very finely diced white onion, chopped chives, lemon juice, Dijon mustard and salt and pepper, mixed in a bowl.

About the author

Cai ap Bryn

East Sussex-based Cai ap Bryn founded Game and Flames in 2016, pioneering open-fire catering using ethically sourced wild game. A hunter, fisherman and chef who's cooked across Europe, he caters weddings and corporate events, and is a regular on Fieldsports Channel TV.

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Wild rabbit ranch salad

Bagging a rabbit for the pot