Squirrel Recipes

Fried squirrel is a popular dish in the South, but making tender fried squirrel in a hurry is next to impossible. Young-of-the-year squirrels can be pan fried and turn out tender, but older squirrels take a little more work. This recipe uses an electric pressure cooker to cook the squirrel, making it tender and ready for a quick deep fry.

4 squirrels
2 tablespoons Cajun seasoning
Water
Oil
1 light beer
1 bag Louisiana chicken fry

Place squirrels – cut into fore legs, hind legs and back pieces – in an electric pressure cooker. Douse with Cajun seasoning and add enough water to cover the squirrels. Cook under pressure for about 15 minutes, depending on the size of the squirrels (fox squirrels generally take longer). Squirrel should be tender but not falling off the bone. When done, remove the pieces and allow to cool.

Heat oil in deep fryer to 350 degrees.

Follow instructions on the chicken fry bag, but use beer instead of water. After squirrel pieces have cooled and firmed up, coat in the wet mix and then shake in the dry mix. When oil is hot, place squirrel in fryer until a golden crust appears, about 90 seconds. Remove from oil, place on paper towels to drain excess oil, cool, and serve with rice, smashed potatoes or any other dish.

12 squirrels, cleaned and quartered
2 yellow onions, roughly chopped
4 ribs celery, roughly chopped
8 cloves garlic, smashed
2 bell peppers, roughly chopped
2 jalapenos, roughly chopped
2 bay leaves
4 tablespoons Cajun seasoning
2 tablespoons kosher salt
1 tablespoons coarse ground black pepper
1 quart chicken stock
2 tablespoons Tabasco sauce
1 bunch parsley, chopped
1 bunch green onions, chopped
4 cups long grain white rice, cooked

Place squirrels in a crock pot. Add the yellow onions, celery, garlic, bell and jalapeno peppers, bay leaves, 2 tablespoons of Cajun seasoning and chicken stock. Cover and cook on high for 6 hours until the squirrel begins to fall off of the bone. Remove the squirrel and separate the meat from the bones, place the meat in mixing bowl, discard the bones, strain the broth. Add the warm cooked rice to the meat mixture as well as the green onion, parsley, 2 tablespoons of Cajun seasoning and 1 cup of the reserved broth. Wearing gloves, mix until consistency is almost paste-like. Meat can be stuffed into hog casings and poached, rolled in breadcrumbs and fried or wrapped and fried in an eggroll wrapper. 

6 squirrels, skinned and quartered
2 tablespoons paprika
1 tablespoon Oregano
2 teaspoons ground black pepper
2 teaspoons garlic powder
2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 cups chicken broth
1 cup sour cream
1 cup of quesadilla cheese
20 corn tortillas
Enough rice oil for frying

Mix paprika, oregano, black pepper, garlic powder, and salt together to form a rub. Rub squirrel with seasoning mix. In a hot skillet, sear all sides of the squirrel. Place in an electric pressure cooker or crock pot with 2 cups of chicken broth. For pressure cooker, cook on meat setting for 20. In a crock pot, cook on high for 3 to 5 hours or until the meat falls off the bone. Remove from liquid, let cool, and shred boneless meat into a bowl. In the bowl, mix cheese, sour cream, and meat to form a mixture. You can chill this mixture to make the rolling process easier. To form taquitos, warm 10 tortillas in the microwave for about 20 seconds to make them more pliable. Spread about 1 T of mixture length wise in the tortilla and tightly roll up like a cigar. Firmly place the taquito seam side down on a tray. Once the first 10 are formed, repeat the heating step with the remaining tortillas until all mixture is used up. These can be placed in
the refrigerator up to over night to help keep the form while cooking. To cook, heat about 1 inch of rice oil in a skillet to about 350 degrees. Firmly place the taquitos seam side down, cook about 3 minutes, turn over, and repeat until crispy and golden brown. Place on paper towels to drain excess oil. Repeat until all taquitos are cooked. Serve as an appetizer or main dish!

10 squirrels
2 quarts of squirrel or chicken broth
2 cups flour
2 cups biscuit mix
4 eggs
1 tsp salt
Dash of mace or poultry seasoning
4 ½ egg shells of water ( use egg shell to measure the water)

To prep the squirrel, either boil squirrel in a large pot until tender, about 3 hours, use a
pressure cooker for about 21 minutes or wrap in foil and bake until tender. Separate meat from
the bone. If using squirrel broth, strain and reserve broth for later.

For the dumplings, combine dry ingredients. Add eggs and water. Mix by hand until dough
forms. Add more flour if the consistency is too sticky. Add more water a table spoon at a time if
the dough is too dry. Roll out on a well-floured surface until the dough is very thin. Cut into
squares and drop into boiling broth one at a time. Add the prepared squirrel to the broth and
cook covered for 20 to 40 minutes depending on thickness of the dumplings.

Dumplings can be made ahead of time and laid out to dry, can be frozen in parchment paper for later use.

6 squirrels, cleaned and quartered
2 large yellow onions
2 lbs red potatoes
2 cups flour
Your favorite seasoning
1 cup of your favorite beer
Enough oil to shallow fry
Large cast iron skillet or Dutch oven with lid

Start by generously seasoning the squirrel quarters with your favorite seasoning, set squirrels to the side to allow the seasoning to penetrate the meat while you prepare the vegetables. Peel two large yellows onions, then slice into ¼ inch thick rounds, set aside. Next, scrub and wash the potatoes to remove any dirt, while leaving the skin intact. Slice the potatoes length wise into ¼- ½ inch slices. Set aside. In a cast iron skillet or Dutch oven, heat enough vegetable oil or shortening for a shallow fry. Coat squirrel quarters in flour, fry on each side, 2 to 3 minutes in order to set the crust on the meat. The squirrels do not have to be completely cooked at this point. Once all pieces of squirrel are fried, remove skillet from heat and drain excess oil. Place the onion slices in the skillet until the bottom is completely covered. Place the squirrel on top of the onions, followed by the potato slices on top of the squirrel. Pour a cup or so of your favorite beer over the dish, cover with a lid or foil. Place in the oven at 300 degrees for 2 to 3 hours. By the end of the cooking process, the meat should be falling off of the bone. This dish can also be adapted for cooking over a campfire or with coal.

Boneless meat of 6 Squirrels
2 8oz packs of cream cheese
1 cup Franks Red Hot Sauce
4 oz crumbled blue cheese
½ cup Ranch Dressing
1 pack egg roll wrappers
Oil for frying

Start by preparing your squirrel either by slow cooking, pressure cooking, boiling, or baking, until tender. Separate the meat from the bones.

In a large bowl, combine the cream cheese, hot sauce, blue cheese, and ranch dressing. Once mixed well, add the squirrel. Mix well.

Wet the edges of the eggroll wrapper, place a heaping spoonful of mixture in the middle. Fold according to directions on the package. Continue until all wrappers or mixture is gone.

Heat a fryer to 325-350 degrees. Fry 3 to 5 minutes.

4 Squirrels deboned
½ lb Pork Shoulder in 1 inch cubes
1 yellow onion
½ Cup green onions chopped
1 egg
1 T Siracha Sauce
1 T Soy Sauce
1 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp salt
2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp ground ginger
A dash or two of ground red pepper
1 package of won ton wrappers
1 cup water
1 cup chicken broth
½ cup canola oil

Start by mincing the squirrel and pork in a food processor. About 8, 1 second pulses should do.
Put meat into a bowl. Next, mince the yellow onion and add to the meat. To the meat, add the
egg, green onion, soy, Siracha, garlic powder, salt, pepper, ginger, and red pepper. Mix thoroughly by hand. Set aside.

To assemble, lay 4 to 8 won ton wrappers on a hard dry surface. Place ½ tsp of filling in the
center of each wrapper. With your finger, brush the adjacent sides of the won tons with water.
Fold up the 2 sides and pinch together in the center. Pinch together the remaining edges,
forming "pleats" along one side. Set aside until all dumplings are formed.

In a hot skillet, heat enough oil that coats the bottom of the pan. Cook the dumplings about 3
minutes on medium to high heat. With dumplings still in the skillet, add ¼ cup squirrel or
chicken broth, cover and cook another 2 to 3 minutes. Remove dumplings, place on a baking
sheet, wipe out pan and repeat the process until all dumplings are cooked.

4 tablespoons vegetable oil
4 squirrels, boiled and picked
2 tablespoons Cajun Seasoning
2 cups diced yellow onion
1 cup diced celery
1 cup diced bell pepper
2 cups chopped smoked cajun sausage
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 cup dry red wine
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 cups button mushrooms
3 tablespoons dark roux
1 quart chicken stock
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Hot sauce
8 cups cooked long-grain white rice
1 cup diced green onion tops

In a large black iron pot with a heavy lid over medium-high heat, add the oil.

Add the trinity vegetables along with the sausage to the pot and sauté until the onions begin to brown, about 8 minutes. Add the garlic and deglaze the pot with the wine and Worcestershire. Cook until the some of the alcohol burns off, about 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms, roux, squirrel, and chicken stock. Lower the heat to a simmer, cover the pot and let cook for 1 hour.

Uncover and check to see that there is still plenty of liquid (add water, if needed). Cover
and cook for another hour until the gravy thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon.

Taste the gravy and adjust seasonings to your taste with salt, pepper, and hot sauce.

Serve over a mound of white rice and garnish with a sprinkle of green onion tops.

About 6 squirrels
1 tsp ground ginger
2 T minced garlic
4 stalks green onion chopped
½ -3/4 head of green cabbage shredded
2-3 carrots shredded
½ tsp cayenne pepper
2 T Soy sauce
1 package of egg roll wrappers
1 cup cold water
Oil for frying

Start by boiling or pressure cooking about 6 squirrels. In all honesty, use what is on hand, some hunts are better than others! Once squirrel is tender, pull the meat from the bones and set the
meat aside for later. The broth from the squirrels can be frozen and used later for squirrel and dumplings.

Shred cabbage and carrots using a food processor or manual grader, making sure there are no large chunks of vegetable remaining. Chop green onion stems and bulbs and add to the carrot and cabbage mixture.

Start a large skillet on medium heat, add about 2T of oil. When oil is hot, add the vegetable mix, minced garlic, ground ginger, cayenne pepper, and soy sauce and cook on low-medium heat until cabbage and carrots are tender. About 20 minutes.

When the mixture is close to done, add the squirrel meat and mix well. Set, aside mixture to cool before wrapping. With the point of the egg roll wrap facing you, spoon a large spoon
of mixture into the center of the wrap. Fold the corner over the mixture, fold left and right corners over and continue to roll. Using your finger, brush some cold water on the corner of the wrap to seal. Place on a cookie sheet and repeat until all of the mixture is gone.

Cook the eggrolls immediately or freeze, otherwise the bottom side will become soggy and will tear.

In a fryer, or large pot, heat oil to 350* . When oil reaches ideal temp, place the egg rolls in the oil, cook until golden brown. About 3 minutes.