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A very traditional French dish, this Rabbit in Mustard Sauce recipe, or Lapin à la Moutarde, features braised rabbit in a mustard-based cream sauce with herbs. Easy to make with gourmet results, this dish is perfect for everything from a casual family meal to a fancy dinner party!

Rabbit has been eaten since ancient times and continues to be eaten throughout the world. While its popularity has waned in the U.S., it is still very common in the Mediterranean, most notably in Italy, France, and Spain who are also, after China, the largest producers and exporters of rabbit.

Is Rabbit Healthy?

Yes it is! In fact, rabbit is one of the healthiest meats you can eat. When you compare rabbit to beef, veal, pork, lamb, chicken, and turkey, rabbit is the leanest in fat, has the fewest calories per pound, and has the highest percentage of protein. Raising rabbits also has a very low environmental impact compared to other animals. “Rabbits produce six pounds of meat on the same feed and water as cattle consume to produce only one pound” (Modern Farmer), and so raising rabbits for their own meat has been a practice easily accessible to families for thousands of years.

Aside from rabbit’s perks as a healthy and environmentally friendly meat is its flavor factor: It’s delicious! It has a similar texture to chicken but with a stronger flavor that is sometimes described as meatier, earthier, with a very mildly sweet-gamey flavor. Wild rabbit has a richer flavor than farm-raised rabbit.

Whether you’re trying rabbit for the first time or are a long-time fan of it, this recipe is one of my favorite ways to enjoy it.

A very traditional French recipe, Lapin à la Moutarde, or “Rabbit with Mustard”, this dish features braised rabbit in a mustard-based cream sauce with herbs. It’s one of those dishes that is very easy to make but produces gourmet results. I actually had my husband prepare the dish this time. While he’s a decent cook, he’s not overly experienced and he made this entirely by himself and the outcome was fabulous.

Whether you’re serving it for a casual family meal or for a fancy dinner party, this dish is a showstopper. I love to serve it with creamy mashed potatoes but buttered egg noodles also make a good accompaniment.

Rabbit in Mustard Sauce Recipe

Let’s get started!

Cut the rabbit into serving pieces. For tutorials there are numerous videos you can watch on YouTube.

Let the meat sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes. Lightly salt and pepper the pieces.

Heat the butter in a heavy saucepan or Dutch oven and then brown the rabbit pieces. Transfer them to a plate and set aside.

Add the shallots to the pot and cook until tender, 4-5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for another minute. Stir in the flour and cook for another minute.

Add the wine and bring to a boil for one minute.

Add the mustard, thyme, rosemary, and salt.

Nestle the rabbit pieces in the pot, bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for one hour or until the meat is tender.

Stir in the heavy cream, crème fraîche, and parsley and heat through. Add salt, pepper and mustard to taste.

Serve with creamy mashed potatoes or hot buttered egg noodles.

Enjoy!

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