Canned Rabbit Stew

This is homesteader-style preserving the way rural cooks did it before grocery store freezers. Cooked rabbit meat gets combined with root vegetables, peas and seasoning, then water-bath canned in jars for shelf-stable storage that lasts through winter. The yield is impressive: 25 quarts of ready-to-eat stew from one cooking session.

Rabbit is one of the most sustainable meats available, especially for those who raise their own. It’s lean, mild-flavored, and adapts to long cooking beautifully. Cooking and deboning the meat before canning is the smart approach. Cooked meat tolerates the long preserving process without becoming tough, and removing bones makes the finished stew easier to eat from the jar.

A critical food safety note: pressure canning at 90 minutes is the modern recommended method for meat-containing recipes. The 3-hour boiling water bath listed in older recipes does not reliably reach temperatures high enough to safely preserve low-acid foods like meat. The USDA and modern canning safety standards strongly recommend pressure canning meats. Please consult current canning safety guidelines before processing.

The vegetable choices (potatoes, carrots, celery, onions, peas) are classic stew vegetables that hold up well to canning. Root vegetables retain their texture better than tender vegetables, which is why this recipe leans heavily on them.

Pro Tips

• Use only fresh, recently butchered rabbit. Quality of canned meat depends on quality going in.
• Sterilize jars and lids properly before filling. Improper sterilization causes spoilage.
• Leave 1-inch headspace in each jar. Underfilled or overfilled jars don’t seal properly.
• Check seals after cooling. Any unsealed jars should be refrigerated and used immediately.

Variations

• Substitute chicken or venison for rabbit using the same canning method.
• Add diced tomatoes for a more acidic, tomato-based stew (which is safer for water bath canning).
• Pressure can meat stews following current USDA guidelines (90 minutes for quart jars).
• Open a jar and heat through for a complete meal; thicken with a flour-water slurry if desired.