How to Debone a Rabbit (Step by Step Picture Guide)
It is important to learn how to debone a rabbit because it can make cooking with rabbit meat so much easier! The cuts of meat are easier to cook and throw into recipes! This step by step picture guide will teach you how to debone a rabbit.
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Step 1: Remove Belly Flap
To begin, lay the rabbit meat on the back with the rib cage facing up. At the base of the rib cage, identify a muscular flap that stretches down to the legs called the belly flap. Cut along that flap, down the spine, to the back legs.
Save the belly flap for ground meat. The belly flap is best for ground meat because otherwise it will be rubbery and tough when cooked.
Step 2: Remove the tenderloins.
Flip the rabbit carcass on its back and find the two tenderloins in the center along the spine. The tenderloins are small, stringy pieces of meat that are easily peeled or cut off. Save for ground meat.
Step 3: Remove the front legs.
Flip the rabbit meat over and find the front shoulder blade. Make a deep cut between the rib cage and shoulder.
Remove the front legs by holding the carcass steady with one hand and pulling the front leg off with the other hand. You do not want to cut the front legs completely off with a knife because you do not want to cut through bone and splinter it throughout the meat.
Try to pull the front legs directly off of shoulder bones and keep the shoulder bones intact. It makes the deboning process easier. The bones inside the front legs are small and difficult to remove, therefore, cook the front legs as is or save them for stock.
Step 4: Remove the back legs.
Turn the rabbit carcass belly side down. On the outside of the body, find where the back legs “crease” and attach to the rest of the body. Make a cut along the outer crease on each side.
On the inner part of the leg, the end of the spine called the tailbone runs between the legs. Make a cut on either side of the tailbone to loosen the back legs even further. Hold the carcass with one hand and twist each back leg off. Save the legs for deboning later.
Step 5: Remove the backstrap.
Flip the carcass on the stomach. Find the spinal chord and slice your knife along either side of the spine. Slowly follow the same cut on either side until both backstraps can be easily removed.
- Each will have a part of the belly flap still attached, this is easily peeled off and used for ground
Flip the carcass on its sides and cut along the backstrap to completely remove it.
Peel off any excess fat or belly flap from the backstrap so that you have a clean piece of meat.
Step 6: Clean up the carcass.
Clean up and remove any extra belly flap that might remain attached to the rib cage and save it for ground meat. Save and freeze the leftover bones and carcass to make a bone broth.
Step 7: Debone the back legs.
To debone the back legs that were removed from the carcass, slice down the middle of the leg to expose the bone. Once the bone is exposed, slice down either side of the bone until you can fit the knife underneath the bone.
With the knife fitted underneath the bone, slice upward towards the top of the leg to remove as much meat as you can in once piece. Then slice downward towards the base of the leg to remove as much meat as you can from the bone in one piece.
Save the bones for bone broth or throw the bones to chickens for them to clean off and get extra protein.
Learning how to debone a rabbit is one of the best ways to prepare rabbit meat to be eaten later. The meat off the bone is easy to throw in soups, on the grill, or grind into ground meat!
