How to Cook Muskrat

Muskrat has a tender, fine-grained meat that tends to taste gamey. However, with a little preparation and creativity, muskrat meat can make a tasty meal. Read on to learn how to clean and cook muskrat meat.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• 1 Muskrat
• 1 can tomato paste
• Salt
• Pepper
• 1 whole medium onion
• 1 Green pepper
• ½ lb mushroom
• Olive oil

1. Soak the muskrat meat overnight in a salt water (1 tbsp. salt to 1 quart of water) solution to reduce the power of the game taste before cooking.
2. Drain the salt water solution from the meat and cut muskrat into pieces. Be careful to cut the muskrat at the joints and to not saw through the major bones, as bone dust intensifies the gamey taste.
3. Add 1 quart water, salt, pepper, ½ of the onion and muskrat meat into a deep pot. Cook at least 1 hour or until the meat is tender.
4. Remove the meat from the pot and fry in olive oil until browned.
5. Add green peppers, mushrooms and the rest of the onion to the meat in the fry pan. Cover the meat with Worcestershire sauce and tomato paste. Add one cup of water, cover and simmer for 30 minutes or until the tomato gravy is thick.

Tips & Warnings

• If soaking in a salt water solution does not remove the game flavor enough to suite your taste, try soaking in a weak vinegar solution (1 cup vinegar to 1 qt. water) instead.
• When you skin your muskrat, remove as much fat as possible from all the meat. This also helps reduce the gamey taste.