Squirrel Recipes

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. When life gives you a brief power outage on a chilly November night due to a squirrel meeting his end on a transformer in your front yard, look up squirrel recipes on Permies.

Unfortunately, while the Badge Bit instructions for squirrel skinning and gutting were very useful, I'm afraid this squirrel won't count for the Foraging Sand BB, Harvest/Prepare a Squirrel or Rabbit as I did not set the trap or kill the squirrel myself. It was, however, good practice and I'm chuffed with the pelt currently salt-curing and the tidy carcass stowed in my freezer.

Please share your recipes or tell me any secret health-and-safety reason not to eat this fresh and fine-looking electrocuted squirrel. I have never eaten or caught a squirrel before, and was pleased with how neatly the skinning and cleaning went. Thank you in advance for any input!

That's hilarious cause one time when I saw that happen the squirrel was what you might call pre-cooked, one crispy critter in fact.  Assuming that's not the case here and if you want to get real hillbilly about it. I suggest a simple white flour coating and in keeping with my granny's preference a good amount of black pepper, and of course salt to taste. Be liberal with the flour and fry that tree rat up in some lard. When he's nicely browned add some milk to the skillet and stir up some gravy. Serve with mashed potatoes to accommodate the gravy and don't forget some green beans with plenty of bacon or salt pork. An alternative I prefer is to remove the meat from the bones and add it back to the gravy. A nice dry crumbly corn bread on the side sounds pretty good too.

I have a whole topic on this in TGN:

Squirrel recipes:

Squirrels in cream sauce: Brown chopped mushrooms and ramps in butter. Brown squirrel pieces a few at a time, turning to make sure each side is well browned. Add heavy cream enough to cover, parsley, more black pepper to taste. At this point, add a good dash of brandy or sherry. Cover and let simmer on low heat. Simmer until done and fork tender. Add another good shot of brandy, a grind or two of fresh pepper and fresh herbs of your choice just before serving. I like this served with asparagus , spinach, broccoli or cauliflower - something that benefits from the cream sauce. Grated parm or even a sour goat cheese is a nice compliment.

An old southern favorite is "Biscuits with Squirrel Head Gravy", but if you are squeamish you can leave the heads out. Brown your mushrooms, onions and meat as before. Then, make a roux. Allow the roux to brown to about medium color, and whisk in some stock or broth. Let the squirrel meat simmer in the gravy until tender. No need to get fancy with herbs or wine in this one, but you can if you like. Those who like the squirrel heads, enjoy cracking the skulls and spreading the brains on biscuits. Otherwise, just serve your biscuits on the side of the meat, and cover with gravy.

Save the livers, hearts and kidneys for pate! You can combine this with chicken or duck liver, add some nuts and mushrooms, plenty of butter, a shot of brandy, maybe a little green apple or dried cherries and some nice spices for a real treat!

Oh yeah, pan seared squirrel meat and mushrooms, is very good with a sauce made of butter and olive oil, sage and garlic... serve over pasta and top with parm. Any good recipe for "Sage Butter Sauce" will work very well. I like a few capers with that, too.

Oh yeah, again... Put your squirrels in a casserole with onions, tomato and artichoke hearts and a good dash of olive oil. Add a cup of rice and two cups chicken broth. Herbs of your choice, salt and pepper. Cover and bake. I like to uncover it when the rice is cooked, return to the oven and let the rice get a little crispy on top.

Oh, and if you have a smoker or grill... or campfire... , you can use whole squirrels, put chopped jalapeno and a green onion and a water chestnut inside and wrap in bacon, marinate in soy sauce. Smoke low and slow, then hot to crisp the bacon.

Or, marinate in barbecue sauce overnight, then smoke.

Another great baked option is to put them in a casserole, cover with onions and sauerkraut, add a little mustard and white wine. Serve with fried potatoes. Oops, I almost forgot the caraway seeds!

Another one for leftovers is to shred and simmer the meat with some chili powder and salsa... or, my old stand by, "El Pato" sauce. Makes great taco meat! Simmer some beans with cumin and avocado leaf. Drain, add lard and mash.

Okay, last one... probably. This is for leftovers. Take 1 (per person) large baking potato, rub it down in oil and salt and roast (not wrapped in foil) for an hour or so. Cut in half. Scoop out the potato, leaving enough to make like canoes. mix the mashed baked potato with chopped meat, opinions, garlic, butter, mayo and cheese... you could do cheddar if you want to top with salsa or blu if you want to mix with sour cream and bacon. Put all that back in the skins, broil until brown.

Thank you both! One of my coworkers said that his Grandma always used to make the squirrels and raccoons she caught into jerky, but I like your ideas far better. Now I have the pleasant problem of choosing which delicious-sounding preparation to go with!

I cut the squirrel in pieces and dusted it in flour, salt, pepper, and dried sage. Browned in bacon grease. Removed the meat and deglazed the pan with white wine, then whisked in raw cream and a pinch more flour, finally returning the meat to the pan with diced celery and simmering until the meat was tender and the sauce was thick. Served on toasted flat bread with Dijon-dressed green salad with walnuts.

Utterly delicious, and a little like turkey.
I definitely will be seeking out more squirrel in the future!

Mark Reed wrote:That's hilarious cause one time when I saw that happen the squirrel was what you might call pre-cooked, one crispy critter in fact.  Assuming that's not the case here and if you want to get real hillbilly about it. I suggest a simple white flour coating and in keeping with my granny's preference a good amount of black pepper, and of course salt to taste. Be liberal with the flour and fry that tree rat up in some lard. When he's nicely browned add some milk to the skillet and stir up some gravy. Serve with mashed potatoes to accommodate the gravy and don't forget some green beans with plenty of bacon or salt pork. An alternative I prefer is to remove the meat from the bones and add it back to the gravy. A nice dry crumbly corn bread on the side sounds pretty good too.

This is the way my granny did it.

I am also of the pan cooking sort when it comes to squirrel.

Prepare squirrel into manageable pieces. Flour lightly with a seasoned flour. I like to heat up some fat in a cast iron and panfry the squirrel with some sweet onion alongside it. It is a nice treat after an afternoon of hunting.