Learning how to cut a whole chicken is mostly a matter of finding joints and following natural seams. With a sharp boning or chef’s knife, a stable cutting board, and a cold chicken, you can separate two breasts, two wings, two thighs, and two drumsticks without forcing the blade through thick bone.
To learn how to cut up a whole chicken, work with the breast facing up unless a step says otherwise. Keep a bowl nearby for usable pieces and a separate container for the backbone and wing tips.
How to cut a whole chicken: Stabilize the board and remove the legs
Set the board on a damp towel so it cannot slide. Pat the chicken dry; a dry surface gives you better control. Place the bird breast-side up with the legs pointing toward you. If the chicken feels slippery, chill it for 15 minutes before cutting.
- Pull out one leg. Bend the leg away from the body until the hip joint rises or pops. Do not cut into the leg while it is still tight against the carcass.
- Open the hip joint. Slice through the skin between the thigh and body, then use the tip of your knife to expose the pale cartilage where the thigh meets the hip. Cut through that joint and remove the leg quarter.
- Repeat on the other side. Look for the same rounded joint and natural skin seam rather than copying the first cut by position alone.
If you want to preserve the small oyster of meat on the back, angle your knife around it as you pull each leg away. If the knife meets hard resistance, stop and bend the leg farther; you have probably not located the joint yet.
How to cut up a whole chicken into thighs and drumsticks
Place a leg quarter skin-side down. Find the knee joint between the thick thigh and the narrower drumstick by flexing the pieces back and forth. The joint will move easily and reveal a slight seam or strip of cartilage.
Cut directly through that seam with one firm stroke. You should feel the knife pass through soft cartilage, not crack through bone. If necessary, make a shallow cut first, bend the joint open, and finish along the exposed connection. Repeat with the second leg quarter. You now have two thighs and two drumsticks.
Remove the wings by locating each shoulder joint
Pull one wing away from the body and bend it backward at the shoulder. Cut through the skin where the wing joins the breast, then flex the wing until the shoulder joint opens. Use the knife tip to find the joint and sever the cartilage. Remove the wing without cutting deeply into the breast.
Repeat on the opposite side. For smaller portions, bend each wing at its middle elbow joint and cut through the seam to separate the drumette from the wingette. The narrow tips contain little meat but work well in stock, so save them with the backbone if desired.
Follow the breastbone and ribs to remove the breasts
Keep the chicken breast-side up. Find the raised breastbone, or keel, running down the center of the breast. Make a shallow cut through the skin along one side of it, starting at the tail end and working toward the neck.
Use short strokes to keep the blade against the breastbone. As the meat releases, angle the knife slightly outward and follow the curve of the rib cage. The ribs are your guide: keeping the blade close to them removes the breast cleanly while leaving the carcass intact. Do not saw downward through the ribs or force the knife into a hard section.
Continue down the side until the breast comes free. Cut through the remaining skin near the shoulder and remove the whole breast with its tenderloin attached. Repeat on the other side. If meat remains on the ribs, trim it with shallow strokes rather than digging into the bones.
Split a whole chicken at the breastbone or save the backbone
For two breast portions, place each removed breast skin-side down and find the center seam. Separate the halves along that line with a sharp knife. If you encounter firm cartilage, use poultry shears instead of forcing the knife through it.
To make two bone-in halves rather than individual pieces, leave the legs, wings, and breasts attached. Open the cavity, then use poultry shears to cut through the backbone and breastbone along the center line. Shears give you better control around the ribs than a knife driven through bone.
To save the backbone, cut through the rib connections on both sides after removing the breasts. Add the backbone, wing tips, and any trimming to stock, or chill them promptly for later use. The finished breakdown is two breasts, two wings, two thighs, two drumsticks, and an optional set of stock bones.