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Sous Vide Recipes

Sous Vide Rabbit in Piquant Sauce

Rabbit legs browned, sealed with a rosemary-tomato-wine sauce and cooked sous vide until tender, then finished with vinegar, capers and anchovy — an Italian classic made easy.

By The Vacuum Sealer Expert Editorial Team Updated 1 min read
Meat braising with tomatoes in a pot on the stove
Photo: Muhammad Khawar Nazir / Pexels
In this guide
  1. Sous Vide Rabbit in Piquant Sauce
  2. Tips
  3. Will it vacuum seal?

Rabbit is lean and easy to overcook, which is why many home cooks avoid it. Sous vide removes the guesswork: the legs cook slowly in their sauce until tender, then the sauce is sharpened with vinegar, capers and anchovy for a bright, savoury Italian finish.

Adapted, with credit, from Stefan’s Rabbit in Piquant Sauce at Stefan’s Gourmet Blog.

Recipe card

Sous Vide Rabbit in Piquant Sauce

  • Water bath167°F (75°C)
  • Prep40 min
  • Cook8 hr 20 min
  • Serves2 servings

Ingredients

  • 2 rabbit legs (about 14 oz / 400 g total)
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 garlic clove, minced
  • ½ tbsp minced fresh rosemary
  • ½ cup (120 ml) puréed canned plum tomatoes
  • ¼ cup (60 ml) good white wine vinegar
  • 1 anchovy fillet, minced (or ½ tsp anchovy paste)
  • 1 tbsp capers, rinsed, dried and minced
  • ½ tbsp minced flat-leaf parsley

Method

  1. Preheat your sous vide water bath to 167°F (75°C).
  2. Season the rabbit legs with salt and pepper and brown on all sides in the olive oil. Set aside to cool.
  3. Add the rosemary and garlic to the pan and stir for a few seconds without browning.
  4. Deglaze with the wine, scraping up the browned bits, and reduce by about half.
  5. Add the puréed tomatoes and simmer until thick — the sauce won’t reduce in the bag.
  6. Cool the sauce completely (chill it if you have time), then seal it with the rabbit legs. With an external sealer, freeze the bag briefly first or fold a paper towel below the seal line; a chamber sealer handles this easily.
  7. Cook for 8 hours.
  8. Pour the sauce into a frying pan, add the vinegar and simmer until thick again.
  9. Add the rabbit legs, parsley, anchovy and capers and warm through over low heat, turning the legs in the sauce.
  10. Serve on warm plates with polenta, mashed potatoes or crusty bread.

Tips

  • Cool before sealing. Warm sauce releases steam under vacuum and is more likely to reach the seal.
  • Doubling up? Seal each portion separately so the legs lie flat and cook evenly.
  • Prefer it firmer? Some cooks use 149°F (65°C) for a juicier, less falling-apart texture — the time-temperature combination still fully cooks the meat when held for several hours.

Will it vacuum seal?

Leftovers freeze well. Cool them, put the rabbit and sauce in a bag, pre-freeze for an hour until mostly solid, then vacuum seal and freeze. Use within 2–3 months and reheat gently in a 150°F water bath.

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