Slow Cooker Rabbit Ragu

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Slow Cooker Rabbit Ragu. A delicious healthy slow cooker rabbit ragu that cooks in red wine with Mediterranean vegetables. Perfect if you like making effortless slow cooker family dinners.

Slow Cooker Rabbit Ragu

It took me a while to decide what to call my slow cooker rabbit ragu. After all, we know it as different things, depending on which country you associate it with.

There are many versions of slow cooker rabbit ragu throughout the Mediterranean. Kyle used to have it served for school dinners here in Portugal.

I used to have it served in France and Spain. Yet it slightly different depending on if you eat it in France, Italy or Spain.

The way I think of my slow cooker rabbit ragu is a split between France for the delicious red wine body and Italy for the amazing ragu.

No matter what you plan to call it where you live, this slow cooker rabbit ragu is delicious and if you have veggie hating kids, it is easy to follow the hidden vegetable rule.

Slow Cooked Rabbit With Red Wine

I am not a drinker. I am a chocolate addict and an ice cream addict and drink more Diet Coke than I care to admit to, but I am 95% tee total.

I am just not that into it, its not for a diet, but because I am fussy and would rather have other things.

I like a snowball at Christmas and a Malibu & Coke in the summer but that is my lot. Sometimes I think to myself I have gone 18 months without a drink and it truly doesn’t bother me.

But I love to cook with booze.

You will always find brandy, red wine and white wine in my kitchen. Right now, you will also find beer for cooking with too.

But I don’t drink it.

I particularly love to cook with red wine.

It makes food taste so good and gives it that lovely rich flavour that you often associate with French cookery.

That is what I am creating today with my slow cooked rabbit with red wine.

The vegetables that line the slow cooker are soaked in red wine and as the rabbit stew ragu cooks you get that rich flavour from the red wine.

But it gets better.

The juices from the rabbit drip down into the ragu giving it the perfect depth of flavour.

Also, with some red wine in your house you don’t need to worry about having a stock to cook with.

You could also use any type of red wine that you have. It doesn’t have to be from the vineyards of France. The red wine we cook with the most is local to where we live here in Portugal.

Cooking Rabbit In The Slow Cooker

Many people are put off cooking rabbit due to the unknown. It is like anything you try for the first time you always get nervous before you do it.

Well my husband and the resident chef here at Recipe This said to me:

“Just think of rabbit as a small chicken that is a little drier”

He couldn’t have put it better. I realised from my first ever time cooking rabbit in the slow cooker that it needed a little extra TLC to stop it being dry and reminded me of the flavour of chicken.

If you like chicken, you will love rabbit.

Another mention should go to the bones though. The bones are small, and I recommend keeping an eye out for small rabbit bones falling into your ragu and to be cautious if feeding small kids.

For example, our youngest was 2 when we first made slow cooker rabbit ragu and decided not to give him any, but we shared it with our 4 year old. As she is old enough to look for bones.

How Long To Slow Cook Rabbit?

Rabbit slow cooker time is slightly quicker than making a chicken casserole or a chicken stew. You want the rabbit just cooked, otherwise it will go dry and your rabbit bones will end up in your ragu.

I recommend 3.5 hours for cooking your slow cooker rabbit ragu on high or 6 hours if cooking on low.

Though of course do double check that your rabbit is cooked as slow cooker temperatures can vary depending on which slow cooker you own.

Slow Cooker Rabbit Ragu Ingredients

What I love about making slow cooker rabbit ragu is that you can mix and match your ingredients, depending what Mediterranean food you have in.

In our slow cooker rabbit ragu today we are including:

• Rabbit
• Tomatoes
• Parsnips
• Zucchini/Courgette
• Sweet Potato
• Garlic

As well as this we are using our favourite Mediterranean seasonings including:

• Oregano
• Thyme
• Paprika

You can mix and match your sweet potato for other potatoes or seasonal squash.

Parsnips work very well in Mediterranean cooking, but you could also swap parsnips for other seasonal root vegetables.

Slow Cooker Rabbit Ragu Vs Ragu Sauce

When you make your slow cooker rabbit ragu you can choose if it is going to be a chunky ragu or a homemade ragu sauce. I like the chunky ragu in summer and like a ragu soup in winter.

The ragu sauce also makes plenty of leftovers and is perfect for freezing as a ragu sauce.

Here is some of our rabbit ragu leftovers:

MORE Slow Cooker Stews & Casseroles

Here at Recipe This we love slow cooker stews and casseroles. Here are a few more that you can make in your slow cooker at home.

• Slow Cooker Rabbit Stew
• Slow Cooker Hunters Chicken Stew
• Slow Cooker Brazilian Chicken Casserole
• Slow Cooker Chicken Casserole
• Slow Cooker Beef & Pumpkin Stew

Can’t make it now? Then pin it for later!