Have you ever wondered how to cut up a whole chicken? We ate a lot of chicken backs when we were a kid. Yes, chicken backs… I often wonder why you can’t purchase them in the grocery stores anymore. Back then they were plentiful and economical and that little nested oyster spot was my absolute favorite part.
The first time I remember cutting up a whole chicken was during Food Lab at college. This class was a companion class to Nutrition 101 and I remember being surprised how easy it was to learn how to cut up a whole chicken and how inexpensive it was to cook with all the pieces instead of buying them separately.
Let’s get started!
If you have ever been intimidated by cutting up a whole chicken, don’t be. It really is quite simple. Just follow the following five steps in the photos and you will be good to go.
Use a sharp knife and take caution when cutting through bones. Please let me know if you have any questions as you work through the steps. After the first one, you’ll most likely be an expert and quite proud of yourself.
Step 1: Cut the chicken in half.
Step 2: Remove the back.
Step 3: Separate Thigh/leg and Breast/wing.
Step 4: Separate Thigh from L eg.
Step 5: Separate Breast from Wing.
Get ready to cook!
You will now have eight chicken pieces to either roast together, cook separately, or freeze for later. Curious what to do with that neck? It’s perfect for making broth because it has meat and bones. An excellent combination.
Here are ten recipes that you may be interested in now that you have parts and pieces to work with. Is there one that you are ready to try for dinner tonight?
1. Perfectly-browned roasted chicken and root vegetables.
Use any cut up chicken part for this recipe: Jump to recipe
2. Chicken and beef teriyaki sushi rolls.
Use white or dark meat for this recipe: Jump to recipe
3. The best cashew chicken noodle soup.
Use breast meat or thigh meat for this recipe: Jump to recipe
4. Delicious baked balsamic chicken wings.
Use wings and dummies for this recipe: Jump to recipe
5. Buttery instant pot lemon chicken breasts.
Use chicken breasts or chicken thighs for this recipe: Jump to recipe
6. Grilled honey-glazed chicken breasts.
Use chicken breasts for this recipe: Jump to recipe
7. Better than Whole Foods chicken tortilla soup.
Use white meat or dark meat for this recipe: Jump to recipe
8. Grilled chicken breast with fresh jalapeno-cilantro tomato relish.
Use chicken breasts for this recipe: Jump to recipe
9. Don’t pound your chicken breasts. Make cutlets.
This is a quick tip for chicken breasts. Jump to how-to
10. How to perfectly roast a whole chicken with simple techniques.
For those times you want to cook a whole chicken and cut it up afterwards. Jump to recipe
It is my sincerest desire that we all master the art of cutting up a whole chicken and that we pass this skill down to the next generations.
Have you ever tackled cutting up a whole chicken? How were you taught how to do it?
Happy cutting!
Eat well, my friends.
Lyndi
Love your blog! And thank you for the how-to. I love to cook, but cutting up a whole chicken always intimidates me ;).
Thank you so much, Heather! I totally get it… same thing for cooking a whole fish! But once we do it, it's so much easier than we think!
It’s so hard for me to find good bones to make bone broth now days, that I actually am considering cutting up my own chicken just so I have the bones! Thanks for the guide. It’s a different way to cut up a chicken than I was taught. I’m going to try it and see if it’s better!
Tell me what you think! I’m loving buying chicken breast on the bone and then removing the breast and saving the rest just for broth!
Ah the back is the best part! 🙂
Laura, you are SO RIGHT!!!