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Spicy Rabbit Tagine with Almonds & Apricots

Rabbit leg tagine with peppers, apricots and almonds gets a wonderful spicy hit from rose harissa and is fragrant with ras el hanout & sumac.

This recipe is wonderfully simple to cook and you spend most of the 75-minute cooking time with your feet up waiting for dinner to be ready!

Overhead rabbit leg tagine served with herby bulgur wheat.

Moroccan Influenced Rabbit Stew

I love North African flavours and in particular, the flavours you get from gently cooking ingredients in a tightly sealed pot.

I also love cooking and eating rabbit, whether it is spicy or much more trad as in this rabbit cacciatore!

As a meat it benefits greatly from gentle cooking techniques, as a result, this rabbit tagine ticks a whole load of boxes.

It combines the sweetness of dried apricots and peppers with spicy harissa with the almost tart flavour of sumac.

As with all rabbit recipes on my site this recipe is developed with farmed rabbit in mind. If you are new to cooking with rabbit it is a simple and safe place to start.

Cooking with wild meat takes a little experience this recipe takes out all of the guesswork. It is essentially a foolproof dinner!

If this recipe gets your juices going then check out some of my other rabbit recipes:

Rabbit leg tagine served with herby bulgur wheat.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I cook this in a tagine pot?

Yes, but on the proviso that you have a tagine that is large enough to hold the rabbit legs.

I cook most of my tagine recipes in a 20cm or 8″ tagine, it is perfectly sized for creating a meal for two. However, unlike my duck leg tagine and chicken leg tagine, rabbit legs are just a little too large to fit in.

Larger tagines tend to be a little deeper and as a result, you will need to add more vegetables (and liquid) to create the base to steam the meat over.

Can I use other cuts of rabbit?

I would avoid using the loin of rabbit because it is very tender and lean and can dry out very quickly.

What is rose harissa?

Rose harissa is a spicy North African pepper paste that, as the name suggests, contains either rose water or rose petals (or usually a combination of both).

It’s delicious and adds a wonderfully floral/perfume tone to recipes that it is used in. I use a brand called Belazu, but you can swap it out for any harissa paste if those floral tones are not for you.

What is sumac?

Sumac is the dried and ground “fruit” of the sumac plant. It has a delicious tart flavour that is almost like a cross between lemon and vinegar.

It can be used as both an ingredient and a finishing seasoning.

Close up dried apricot in a rabbit leg tagine.

Serving Suggestions

As far as I am concerned this recipe needs a relatively neutral side dish aimed at spreading all that delicious flavour!

I serve this version with herbed bulgur wheat that has a squeeze of lemon added.

It would work equally well with buttered couscous again with a squeeze of lemon juice.

I adore this dish with potatoes some well-salted fried potatoes work great, as do batata harra, spicy Lebanese potatoes!

But it would also work with a simple garden salad as a side too!

Spicy rabbit leg tagine served with herby bulgur wheat.

Equipment Used

I only name-check brands of equipment if I think that they make a material difference to a recipe. But, if you have any questions feel free to ask them in the comments section below the recipe.

  • Hob or stovetop.
  • 28cm or 11″ frying pan with a lid.
  • Small mixing bowl.
  • Stirring and serving spoons.
  • Chopping board.
  • Kitchen knife.
  • A combination of weighing scales, measuring jug, measuring spoons and cups.
Spicy rabbit leg tagine served with herby bulgur wheat.
Yield: 2 Servings

Spiced Rabbit Tagine Recipe

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes

Rabbit is a beautifully lean and sustainable meat and this North African/Moroccan style spiced rabbit tagine is simple quick and wonderfully spicy.

Ingredients

  • 2 Rabbit Legs
  • 1 Tbsp Sumac
  • 1 Tsp Ras el Hanout
  • ½ Tsp Salt
  • 2 Tbsp Olive Oil
  • 1 Cinnamon Stick
  • 1 (200g) Large Onion
  • 1 Small Red Pepper
  • 2 Garlic Cloves
  • 75g (½ Cup) Dried Apricots
  • 35g (¼ Cup) Blanched Almonds
  • 1 Tbsp Rise Harissa Paste
  • 50ml (3 Tbsp + 1 Tsp) Water
  • 20g (1 Tbsp) Runny Honey

Instructions

  1. Mix half of the olive oil with the sumac, half of the ras el hanout and half of the salt. The pour it over the rabbit legs and massage it in generously
  2. Heat a 28cm frying pan (with a lid) over a medium heat.
  3. Peel, top and tail the onion, then cut in half and slice it into 1cm (½") thick half-moon shapes.
  4. Add the oil to the now hot pan, throw in the onion and cinnamon stick, and cook for 10 minutes. Stirring occasionally.
  5. Peel and finely slice the garlic cloves.
  6. Remove the seeds from the red pepper and cut into 5mm (¼") thick strips.
  7. Add the garlic and red pepper and cook for a further 5 minutes. Stirring regularly.
  8. Cut the apricots in half.
  9. Add the apricots, almonds, harissa paste, remaining ras el hanout and salt, then stir well.
  10. Pour in the water and place the rabbit on top.
  11. Drizzle over the honey and add a lid, reduce the temperature to low and cook for 45 minutes.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

2

Serving Size:

1

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 834Total Fat: 48gSaturated Fat: 11gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 33gCholesterol: 100mgSodium: 682mgCarbohydrates: 72gFiber: 13gSugar: 39gProtein: 37g

Did you make this recipe?

If you made this recipe, I'd love to see what you did and what I can do better, share a picture with me on Instagram and tag me @krumplibrian and tell me how it went!

marlene

Saturday 2nd of May 2020

I love rabbit!!

Brian Jones

Sunday 3rd of May 2020

Me too!

Ramona

Thursday 24th of May 2018

This looks lovely Brian, I haven’t had rabbit in years until a couple of years back and somehow I didn’t like that much anymore- we’ll, I can never say I was crazy about. This dish looks so amazing that I really want to give mr rabbit another try. I love the colours and the presentation of this dish. Superb as always.

Brian Jones

Friday 25th of May 2018

Rabbit is a funny meat done well it can be sublime but it is insanely lean and really needs to be cooked well to be edible.

Laura

Thursday 24th of May 2018

I haven't had rabbit for a while now, this is a good opportunity to try this recipe. In France, I have no problem in finding rabbits. Wild bore instead and the irony is that the forest right next to us is full of them and they have to kill them regularly as they overtake. Unfortunately, I don't know any hunters but when I go visit my sister the vet, I can get plenty. Hunters are very friendly with vets

Brian Jones

Friday 25th of May 2018

Haha, yes vets are the very best source of wild meat here too! I love cooking with rabbit!

Amanda

Wednesday 23rd of May 2018

Stunning photos! I love the lighting!

Brian Jones

Thursday 24th of May 2018

Thanks Amanda

Raney Brown

Saturday 6th of January 2018

How long would I cook this on top of the stove in my tagine?

Brian Jones

Monday 8th of January 2018

Hey Raney... I had to do some research on this for you and it looks as though around 40 minutes should be good but I would personally check after 30 minutes as rabbit can dry very quickly.

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