How To Break Down A Chicken

Learn how to easily break down a whole chicken like a pro. It’s much easier than you think to break down a chicken and only takes about 10 minutes. This is a great skill to have for your culinary adventures. 

Breaking Down A Chicken

Knowing how to break down a whole chicken is a great skill to have. Even if you eat out more than you cook, having this skill can save you money. Not just that, you can impress your guests by servings a dish where they can choose any cut of chicken they want. 

A whole chicken costs about as much as a pack of just chicken breast but you get legs, wings, and a back with it. Back part of the chicken is perfect to use in homemade chicken stock and chicken noodle soup. (It’s even better if your whole chicken also comes with giblets.) So really, you get two recipes out of one whole chicken!

Looking at the whole chicken can seem intimidating, especially if you don’t know what to do with it. But don’t you worry, it’s really easy to learn how to break it down and I’m happy to show you. You can break it down into as little as 5 pieces or as many as 10. Stick around and you will make a delicious chicken dinner with a whole chicken.

Things To Know When Buying a Chicken

First things first, consider when you will be cooking this chicken. If you’re buying a couple of days ahead of time, get the chicken sealed well in packaging and not one that is loosely wrapped in plastic wrap or bag. Any meat that is not vacuum sealed in thick plastic packaging will not last long in the refrigerator. 

Remember that the taste of your chicken and texture will highly depend on the quality. So if you want better tasting chicken, go for better quality. Thing to consider when choosing a chicken are terms like “organic,” “free-range” or “pasture-raised,” and “air-chilled.” There are many labels that companies use to get you to buy their product and many of them mean absolutely nothing. 

Like the term “hormone-free” is kind of a “duh” because USDA actually prohibits the use of hormones. But if the chicken is labeled “antibiotic-free” that actually does mean something. It means that chicken was raise without any antibiotics that could transfer into the meat.

All these terms are of course given with a range in a meaning so choose the brand that you trust. 

What Tools Are Needed

I really only use two and that is a chef knife and kitchen shears. If you want to get fancy, you can use a cleaver to cut through the backbone and chest bone but that’s not necessary. Even the shears are not completely necessary so it’s okay if you try it an not feel comfortable.

You can break down a whole chicken with just your chef knife. Just make sure it’s sharp!

Step-by- Step Instructions

First of all, deep breath! Don’t be scared and remember you’re the boss. 

Clear out counter space to work with raw chicken safely and get a large plastic cutting board.  

Step 1: Remove The Legs

To do that, slowly pull the thigh away from the body and slice the skin between the thigh and the body. Don’t cut all the way through but just close to the bone.

Feel around for the joint and once you find the joint, pull it up and down to pop the hip bone out of the joint. Cut through the remaining meat and skin to separate the leg. 

Do the same thing with the other leg. 

To separate each leg into a drumstick and thigh, make a cut where the joint is between the drum and thigh. Find the joint and pop it out. Cut through the rest of the meat and skin. 

Step 2: Remove The Wings

Follow the same process of making a small cut, finding the joint, and popping the bone out of the joint with the wings as well. 

Step 3: Remove The Back Bone

Stand chicken up, neck side down. Cut through the middle between the front and the back. You may need to use a heavy chef knife of a cleaver to cut through the rib bones and all the way down. Another way to cut it is by using kitchen shears. Use the method that you feel the most comfortable with.

Set the back part aside but do not discard. You can use it to make chicken stock and soup.

Step 4: Separate Breast

Place the beasts on the cutting board skin side down to easily see the bone. Cut through in the middle to separate the breasts in two. You will need to put a little muscle into it to cut through the bone. Cleaver is another tool you can use to cut through the bone.

Optional Steps:

Split Each Breast In Two

Cut each breast in half to create smaller quarters. Since chicken breasts are larger than thighs, cutting them in half will help cook them evenly in the same amount of time at the thighs. 

Remove The Wish Bone

Remove wish bone at the neck next. Feel around to find the wish bone and separate it off the meat. Pull it out and discard. (Note: some whole chickens may already come with this bone removed.)