Rabbit
Lean, mild meat that turns soft and shreddy when it's slow-cooked.
Checked against official guidance on October 18, 2026 · How we review
Quick answer
Babies can eat rabbit from around 6 months, once they show signs of being ready for solids. Prepare it as shown below.
How to serve rabbit by age
6 months+
Soft shredded strips or minced
Braise or stew rabbit in unsalted liquid until the meat falls off the bone. Pick the meat off by hand, feeling for bones as you go, then offer soft, finger-length strips pulled along the grain, or mince it and stir it into mashed potato or another mashed vegetable.
- Size
- Strips about the size of an adult finger, roughly 6–8 cm long and 2 cm wide (2½–3 × ¾ in), or minced and mixed into mash.
- Check before serving
- Squash a strip between your thumb and finger. It should fall apart into soft shreds. If it's springy or you have to pull hard, cook it longer or mince it.
US and UK advice differ here. The AAP suggests mashed food or soft pieces no larger than ½ inch; the NHS suggests soft finger-sized pieces your baby can hold in their fist. Both agree the food must squash easily.
9 months+
Small soft shreds
Offer small shreds of slow-cooked rabbit for pincer-grasp practice, or stir them into a soft pasta sauce, risotto or mashed root vegetables.
- Size
- Pieces no bigger than about 1 cm (just under ½ inch).
- Check before serving
- Each shred should squash flat between your thumb and finger. Feel every piece for bones before serving.
12 months+
Shredded or in family meals
Serve tender rabbit from family meals: shredded from a stew or casserole, or stirred into pasta or rice. Take your toddler's portion out before adding salt, stock cubes or gravy.
- Size
- Bite-sized pieces about 1 cm (just under ½ inch), or shredded.
- Check before serving
- It should still pull apart easily with a fork. Check every piece for bones and remove any tough or stringy bits.
18 months+
Pieces or mixed into dishes
Offer rabbit the way your family eats it, cut small: in stews, pies, pasta sauces or soft tortillas. Always serve it off the bone, because bones are easy to miss in mixed dishes.
- Size
- Bite-sized pieces about 1 cm (just under ½ inch).
- Check before serving
- Still check every piece for bones before serving.
Always have your child sit upright in a high chair or at the table, and stay with them the whole time they eat. Keep to the size and texture for their stage. Every baby develops on their own timeline.
How to prepare rabbit
- 1
Choose farmed rabbit from a butcher or shop. If someone gives you wild rabbit, see the guidance note below about lead shot and safe handling. There's no need to rinse raw meat: the NHS says washing it can spread bacteria. Wash your hands, board and knife after handling raw rabbit.
- 2
Cover the rabbit pieces with water or unsalted liquid and simmer gently, or braise them in a covered pan, for about 1 hour or until the meat falls off the bone. Rabbit is lean, so slow, moist cooking keeps it tender. Don't add salt or stock cubes.
- 3
Check it's cooked to at least 160°F (71°C) in the thickest part with a food thermometer.
- 4
Let it cool, then pick all the meat off the bones with your fingers, feeling for small bones as you go. Pull it into strips or mince it, and do the squash test before serving.
How much to offer
Start with a strip or two, or a spoonful of minced rabbit mixed into mash. Your baby decides how much to eat: stop when they turn away or close their mouth. Lots of sucking and chewing with little swallowed is normal at first.
Common mistakes
Missing small bones
Whole rabbit and bone-in pieces have bones, and the CDC lists bones in meat as a choking hazard. Pick all the meat off the bone by hand and feel every strip before serving.
Undercooking it
USDA FSIS says to cook rabbit to at least 160°F (71°C), checked with a food thermometer, and the NHS says to cook game all the way through, with no pink left. Slow-cooking until it falls off the bone takes it well past this.
Serving chunks or roasted pieces
Tough or large chunks of meat are a choking hazard, and lean roasted rabbit can turn dry and chewy. Use slow-cooked rabbit that shreds easily, or mince it and mix it into other food.
Adding salt, stock cubes or gravy
Babies shouldn't have added salt, and the NHS says stock cubes and gravy are often high in salt. Cook your baby's portion plain, or take it out before seasoning.
Where US and UK guidance differ on rabbit
United States(AAP and CDC)Your setting
USDA FSIS says to cook rabbit to at least 160°F (71°C), checked with a food thermometer. Inspection of rabbit is voluntary in the US, so look for the USDA inspection mark when you can. If someone in your family hunts, the CDC advises wearing gloves when handling rabbits, because of tularemia, and cooking game meat thoroughly.
United Kingdom(NHS)Your setting
The NHS doesn't give temperatures. It says to cook poultry and game all the way through, until no pink is left. The Food Standards Agency lists rabbit among lead-shot game and says cutting down on lead-shot game, particularly small game, is especially important for toddlers and children. Not all game is shot with lead: if you're not sure how a rabbit was killed, the FSA says to ask your supplier.
We cover US and UK guidance in detail. Elsewhere, check your national health service's advice too.
Questions parents ask
Can rabbit be a choking hazard for babies?
Tough or large chunks of meat and bones in meat are on the CDC choking list. Rabbit is lean, and whole or bone-in pieces have bones. Slow-cook it until it falls apart, pick it off the bone by hand, feel every piece for bones, and serve it as soft strips that shred easily or minced into other food. Stay with your baby during meals.
Can babies be allergic to rabbit?
Rabbit is not one of the common food allergens.
Is rabbit healthy for babies?
A source of protein, iron, zinc and vitamin B12. FoodData Central lists about 30 g of protein, 2.4 mg of iron, 2.4 mg of zinc and 6.5 µg of vitamin B12 per 100 g of stewed farmed rabbit, with about 8 g of fat.
Is rabbit good for babies' iron?
It helps. 100 g of stewed rabbit has about 2.4 mg of iron, so a baby portion of about 30 g gives around 0.7 mg. The NHS suggests including iron-rich foods such as meat, fish, fortified cereals, dark green vegetables, beans and lentils, so offer them at several meals.
Is wild rabbit safe for babies?
Farmed rabbit is the simpler choice. Wild rabbit may have been shot with lead. The UK Food Standards Agency lists rabbit among lead-shot game, advises cutting down particularly on small game, and says this is especially important for toddlers and children. If you handle a wild rabbit yourself, the CDC says to wear gloves, because rabbits can carry tularemia, and to cook game meat thoroughly.
Can babies have rabbit stew?
Yes, from around 6 months, if the meat is off the bone and soft enough to squash. Take your baby's portion out before adding salt, stock cubes or gravy, shred or mince the meat, and mash any vegetables to a texture your baby can manage.
If your baby refuses rabbit
- Many babies need 10 or more tries before they accept a new food. Keep offering it alongside foods they already like.
- Mix a little minced rabbit into foods your baby already likes, such as mashed potato or pasta sauce.
- Moisten dry rabbit with a little of its cooking liquid, breast milk or formula.
- Eat some yourself at the same meal. Babies copy what they see.
Never force or pressure your baby to eat. Some days they'll eat more, some days less, and that's normal.
Buying and storing rabbit
- Keep raw rabbit in the fridge at 40°F (4°C) or below and cook it within 2 days, or freeze it. Thaw frozen rabbit in the fridge, never at room temperature, and never put frozen rabbit straight into a slow cooker: thaw it first.
- Refrigerate cooked rabbit within 2 hours. It keeps for 3 to 4 days in a covered container in the fridge. Rice dishes, such as risotto, are the exception: cool them within 1 hour, keep them in the fridge for no more than 1 day, and reheat them only once.
- Cooked rabbit and rabbit stew can be frozen for 2 to 3 months. Reheat only once, to 165°F (74°C), until steaming hot, then let it cool before serving.
- Throw away any food left out at room temperature for more than 2 hours (1 hour if it's hotter than 90°F / 32°C).
When to talk to your doctor
Contact your pediatrician, GP or health visitor if:
- You notice mild signs of an allergic reaction after eating, such as a few hives or a little vomiting. See signs of a reaction.
- You're worried about how much your baby eats, their growth, or they refuse most solid food for weeks.
Call 911999your local emergency number (such as 112 in Europe or 000 in Australia) now if your baby has trouble breathing, wheezing, can't cough or cry, has lips, mouth, tongue or throat that suddenly swell, or becomes pale, bluish, floppy or unresponsive. Also call if hives come with repeated vomiting.
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Helpful guides
Sources
- USDA FSIS: Rabbit from farm to table
- USDA FSIS: Freezing and food safety
- CDC: Choking hazards
- NHS: Your baby's first solid foods
- NHS Best Start in Life: Preparing food safely
- NHS: Meat in your diet
- Food Standards Agency: Lead-shot game
- CDC: Preventing tularemia
- USDA FoodData Central: Game meat, rabbit, domesticated, composite of cuts, cooked, stewed
- NHS Best Start in Life: Storing and reheating food
- USDA FSIS: Leftovers and food safety
More first foods
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