Can You Eat Squirrel? Yes, With Some Real Caveats

Yes — and for most of American history this was not an unusual question. Squirrel was ordinary food, appearing in mainstream cookbooks into the twentieth century, and it remains the traditional base of Brunswick stew.

It is also legal small game across most of the United States, with seasons and limits.

The legal part first

Squirrel is game, and that means regulation:

• Hunting licence required in essentially every US state.
• Defined seasons, usually autumn through winter.
• Bag limits.
• Firearm restrictions — often .22 rimfire or shotgun only.
• Hunting inside city limits is generally illegal, as is discharging a firearm there.

In the UK, grey squirrels are a non-native invasive species and may be controlled year-round, but red squirrels are protected and it is an offence to harm them. Rules elsewhere vary considerably.

Check your own state or country’s regulations. They are specific and they are enforced.

Safety

Judging an animal:

• Behaved normally when alive — alert, wary, active.
• Coat clean, no bald patches or scabbing (mange).
• No lumps under the skin — botfly larvae, called warbles. Harmless to the meat, unpleasant to look at, and many people discard the animal regardless.
• Organs normal in colour, not swollen or spotted.
• No off smell.

Cook thoroughly, to an internal 165°F. That handles the pathogens that cooking can handle.

Check local advisories. In some regions squirrels accumulate heavy metals or other contaminants, and state wildlife agencies publish guidance.

What it is like to eat

Lean, mild, slightly nutty or sweet. Closest to rabbit. Not gamey in the way venison is.

There is not much of it — a squirrel yields maybe half a pound of meat, so recipes typically use several.

Age decides the method. Young animals are tender enough to fry. Older ones are genuinely tough and want long slow cooking.

How it is cooked

Brunswick stew — the classic, with tomatoes, corn, lima beans and potatoes, simmered long.

Fried, for young squirrels: parboiled, then floured and fried like chicken.

Braised or slow-cooked, which is the reliable option for any animal you are unsure about.

In a pie, with root vegetables and stock.

Common thread: slow, moist heat. Lean meat with active muscle does not suit fast dry cooking.

Why the question feels strange now

It did not used to. Squirrel was standard rural protein across Britain, Europe and North America, and disappeared from the table with urbanisation and cheap farmed meat rather than for any reason to do with the animal.

In the UK there has been a deliberate push to eat grey squirrel as an invasive-species control measure, and it appears on some restaurant menus.

If it appeals, the route is a licence, a season, gloves, and a thermometer.