Rabbit substitute

Best substitute

Bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs

Use the same amount by weight; 6 thighs per 3 lb rabbit as the rabbit you are replacing

Best for Lapin a la moutarde

Different texture

Bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs are the answer, 1:1 by weight, and they are close enough that most people cannot tell in a mustard braise or a ragu. Rabbit is leaner, firmer and slightly sweeter than chicken with a faint mineral edge, so a rabbit dish is a touch more delicate and a chicken version comes out richer and softer. For wild-tasting depth, use hare, which is dark and genuinely gamey, or chicken thighs plus a splash of red wine and a couple of juniper berries. Guinea fowl is the closest match of all if you can find it.

Other rabbit substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

2Guinea fowl
Close match
Use the same amount
The closest match available, and worth seeking out if your recipe is a classic French or Italian one.
What changes
Guinea fowl is leaner and firmer than chicken with a faintly gamey, more savory character, which lands almost exactly where rabbit does. Its meat is a little darker than rabbit's and slightly more assertive, and like rabbit it dries out if you overcook it.
Best for
Braises, Roasting, Ragu, Casseroles with wine and herbs
Usually needs to be special ordered, and often sold whole. Joint it like a chicken and treat the legs and breast separately, since the breast finishes much sooner.
3Hare
Taste and texture differ
Use the same amount
Botanically a relative, culinarily a different animal.
What changes
Hare is dark red, strongly flavored and properly gamey, where rabbit is pale and mild. Swapping it into a delicate mustard-and-cream rabbit dish will overwhelm it, but for hasenpfeffer, a red wine stew or a rich pappardelle ragu it is excellent and often what the original recipe meant.
Best for
Hasenpfeffer, Red wine stews, Pappardelle ragu, Jugged and marinated dishes
Hare needs longer, two to three hours braised, and benefits from a day in a red wine and juniper marinade. Do not use it in a cream sauce, where the strong flavor clashes.
4Chicken thighs plus juniper, red wine and a spoonful of tart jelly
Different texture
Use the same amount chicken by weight, plus 4 crushed juniper berries and 1 tbsp redcurrant jelly per 3 lb
The practical fix when the recipe is written for wild rabbit and you only have supermarket chicken.
What changes
Juniper supplies the piney resinous note associated with game, red wine adds tannin and depth, and a spoonful of redcurrant or crab apple jelly brings the sweet-sour balance that game dishes are built on. The result tastes rustic and wild rather than merely chickeny, without pretending to be identical.
Best for
Rustic stews, Wild rabbit recipes, Winter braises, Ragu
Crush the juniper lightly with the flat of a knife and add it with the wine. Add the jelly in the last 10 minutes so it does not scorch.
5Pork shoulder or pork loin, cubed
Taste and texture differ
Use the same amount by weight
A sensible choice for a rabbit ragu or a rice dish, where the meat is cut small and cooked long.
What changes
Pork shoulder is far fattier and sweeter than rabbit, so the sauce comes out heavier and glossier and less clean-tasting. Pork loin is a better leanness match but is much less forgiving and turns dry in a long braise, so shoulder is the safer pick.
Best for
Ragu, Paella and rice dishes, Stews, Terrines and pates
Cut shoulder into 1 inch cubes and braise 90 minutes to 2 hours. Skim the fat before finishing the sauce, or the dish will taste much richer than the rabbit version.
6Turkey thighs or turkey legs
Different taste
Use the same amount by weight
Underrated for this job and easy to find.
What changes
Turkey dark meat is firmer and more coarsely grained than chicken, which is actually closer to rabbit's texture, and it is more strongly savory. It is not as lean as rabbit and not gamey at all, so the dish reads deeper and more wintry, which suits a wine-based stew well and a light spring rabbit dish less well.
Best for
Braises, Stews, Ragu, Wine-based casseroles
Turkey thighs need 90 minutes to 2 hours to become tender, considerably longer than chicken. Cook to 180F or higher so the connective tissue softens.

What is Rabbit?

Rabbit is Rabbit is very lean pale meat from a farmed or wild rabbit, sold whole or jointed, and it eats far more like poultry than like game despite being classed with game in most butchers.

Cooking tips

The key fact for substituting is that rabbit is extremely lean, with almost no fat and no skin worth speaking of. That is why nearly every classic rabbit recipe involves either braising in liquid, larding with bacon, or a cream or mustard sauce: the recipe is supplying the fat the animal does not have. When you swap in chicken thighs or pork shoulder, that fat is already there, so skim the braise and consider cutting the cream or butter by a quarter.
Rabbit is not really game in flavor, whatever the butcher counter says. Farmed rabbit tastes like a firmer, slightly sweeter chicken, which is exactly why chicken is such a successful swap. Wild rabbit and especially hare are a different matter and genuinely gamey, so check which one your recipe assumes before deciding how much juniper and wine to add.
Match the cut, not just the animal. A rabbit's front legs and saddle are two very different things: the legs are sinewy and want an hour of braising, while the loin or saddle is tender and delicate and is ruined by long cooking. If you are substituting into a recipe that uses the saddle, use chicken breast or pork tenderloin and cook it briefly. For the legs, use chicken thighs and braise.
Brown the substitute harder than you think. Rabbit browns pale and much of the flavor in these dishes comes from the fond in the pan plus the wine and mustard. Chicken thighs and turkey brown much better, so take full advantage: get real colour on the skin side, then deglaze with wine and scrape everything up before the liquid goes in.
Rabbit is small-boned and the bones splinter, which is why jointed rabbit is often served on the bone and eaten carefully. Chicken and turkey substitutes are much easier to eat and easier to shred, so for a pasta ragu you can simply pull the meat off after braising, which gives a cleaner dish than a traditional rabbit ragu with bones in it.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best substitute for rabbit?

Bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs, swapped 1:1 by weight, are the practical answer for nearly every rabbit recipe. Rabbit is leaner and firmer with a slight mineral note, so the chicken version comes out richer and softer, and you should skim the fat from the braise. Guinea fowl is a closer match if you can source it, being lean and faintly gamey in the same way.

Does rabbit taste like chicken?

Closer than most people expect. Farmed rabbit is pale, mild and clean-tasting, like a firmer and slightly sweeter chicken with a faint minerality, and not gamey. Wild rabbit is stronger and more savory, and hare is genuinely dark and gamey and tastes nothing like chicken. That difference determines how much you need to add when substituting.

Can I use chicken in a paella that calls for rabbit?

Yes, and it is completely standard even in Spain, where mixed chicken and rabbit paella is common. Use bone-in chicken thigh pieces cut small, brown them hard first, and reduce the cooking time slightly since chicken cooks faster than rabbit legs. The rice takes its flavor from the browning and the sofrito more than from the animal, so the dish holds up very well.

Can I leave the rabbit out of the recipe altogether?

In a stew or ragu you can build the same dish around another protein, and mushrooms with white beans make a surprisingly convincing vegetarian version of a mustard-and-wine rabbit braise, since the sauce is doing most of the work. What you cannot do is simply omit the meat and cook the rest, because the braise depends on the fond and gelatin from browned bones for body. Add a cup of good chicken stock and a teaspoon of Dijon to compensate.

Where can I buy rabbit if my supermarket does not stock it?

Butchers will usually order it with a few days notice, and it is commonly stocked frozen at Italian, Portuguese, Chinese and Latin American markets, as well as farmers markets. Frozen whole rabbit works perfectly well for braises, which is what most recipes call for. If sourcing it is the problem, chicken thighs plus juniper and red wine will get you a very good version of the dish tonight.

Related substitutes

More meat & protein substitutes

Rabbit substitute

Other rabbit substitutes

2Guinea fowl

3Hare

4Chicken thighs plus juniper, red wine and a spoonful of tart jelly

5Pork shoulder or pork loin, cubed

6Turkey thighs or turkey legs