How to portion a rabbit

Whether you have bought a whole skinned rabbit at the market or are slaughtering your own, learning to portion a rabbit is a crucial step towards preparing dinner. A medium-sized rabbit carcass can be cut into 7 pieces: two hind leg pieces, a loin, two rib pieces, and two front leg pieces. A fryer rabbit usually fits into one gallon- or two pint-sized freezer bags.

TIP: Don’t use a cleaver when portioning the rabbit but a really sharp chef’s knife (or similar.) A cleaver could splinter the bones as you chop through them.

1. Separate the front legs from the rib cage.
2. Cut across the back at the end of the ribs and separate it into two equal halves by splitting along the backbone.
3. Leave the center loin in one large piece.
4. Cut the backbone between the two rear legs and remove it from loin section.

Larger carcasses can be cut into twelve pieces by cutting each hind leg piece into two pieces, the loins and back portion of the ribs into five pieces, and the front portion of the ribs and each of the front legs into one serving each.

Take a look at a few photos of the process here.

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2 Responses to “How to portion a rabbit”

1. Fred Genchi says:

   March 5, 2010 at 4:15 am

   In your photo of the finished portion cuts you are showing 9 portions. I was under the impression that a rabbit portioned out to 7 items……? Yes?
2. Tiffany says:

   March 5, 2010 at 2:45 pm

   Hi Fred,
   Yes, the other blogger who shows the process of cutting up a rabbit has cut two filets or tenders from the saddle which gives a total of 9 pieces. It seems that just about everyone who portions rabbits has their own techniques. Another really nice tutorial I found actually ends up with 8 pieces. I guess I should just get my camera out the next time I am doing this and show my way too!

   Thanks for bringing that to my attention!