Game meat, squirrel, raw

Squirrel is a small, lean game meat with a mild flavor often compared to a cross between rabbit and dark chicken meat; it has more connective tissue than farmed poultry, so it responds best to slow, moist cooking. Traditional preparations include stewing with onions and root vegetables, frying pieces after a light dredge in flour, or simmering the meat into dumplings, gravy, or the long-cooked vegetable stew known as burgoo in parts of the American South and Midwest. The small joints mean more bone relative to meat than a chicken thigh, so cooks typically pick the meat off after braising rather than serving whole pieces.

Squirrel is typically sourced through hunting or specialty game suppliers rather than a standard butcher counter, so freshness and proper field dressing matter; keep it refrigerated and cook promptly, or freeze for longer storage. At 120 calories and 3.21 g of fat per ounce (28 g), it packs 21.2 g of protein into that small amount, 42% of the daily value, along with 26% of the daily value for iron, higher than most other game meats in this comparison, and 103 mg of sodium. It works well built into a rustic stew or braise the way rabbit or dark-meat chicken would be used.