Food Cooking Tips & Techniques How to Break Down a Whole Chicken (With Step-by-Step Illustrations) Be your own butcher with these step-by-step instructions. By Dawn Perry Dawn Perry Dawn is the author of Ready, Set, Cook; How to Make Good Food With What's on Hand. She served as the food director for Real Simple and has worked in the test kitchens of Everyday Food, Bon Appétit, and the meal kit delivery service Martha & Marley Spoon. Dawn is the author of Short Stack Editions' Cucumbers and her recipes and writing have been featured in the LA Times, The New York Times, and The Washington Post among other publications. She recently started Superkind Cookies, a premium cookie company shipping treats nationwide. Highlights: * Author of Ready, Set, Cook; How to Make Good Food With What's on Hand. * Former food director for Real Simple * Worked in the test kitchens of Everyday Food, Bon Appétit, and Martha & Marley Spoon * Recipes and writing have been featured in the LA Times, The New York Times, and The Washington Post Real Simple's Editorial Guidelines Published on May 20, 2019 Share Tweet Pin Email Photo: Adam Cruft Breaking down a chicken is a skill all home cooks should master. In addition to being a useful culinary technique you'll keep in your back pocket forever, learning how to cut up a whole chicken will be a major blessing on your wallet. For around the same price as a couple of pre-cut boneless breasts, you're also getting thighs, drumsticks, wings, and a back. Using a plastic cutting board with a moat—called a channel—around the edges will help catch liquids, and you'll need a great chef's knife for the job, too. Follow these simple instructions to break down birds like a pro. 01 of 07 Before You Start Adam Cruft Secure a cutting board to the counter by placing a damp paper towel underneath it. Grab a sharp, sturdy chef's knife: it's best for cutting through skin and bones. 02 of 07 Wings Adam Cruft Wiggle the blade of your knife between the wing and breast until you find the joint. Slice all the way through the skin and meat and cut through the joint. 03 of 07 Legs Adam Cruft Tug the leg outward and make a shallow cut through the skin between leg and body. Bend the leg outward to expose thigh joint. Cut through joint to separate thigh and drumstick from body. 04 of 07 Split Legs and Thighs Adam Cruft Find the "V" where the drumstick and thigh meet. With the skin side down, you'll see a line of white fat running along the joint. Cut through the joint. Repeat with the other leg. 05 of 07 Remove Backbone Adam Cruft Stand the body of the chicken upright on your board. Cut along both sides of the backbone, through the ribs, to separate the breast from the back. (Reserve backbone for chicken stock.) 06 of 07 Split Breast Adam Cruft Place breast skin side down. Place the heel of your nondominant hand on the tip end of your knife and cut through the breastbone. 07 of 07 Halve Breasts Adam Cruft Cut each breast in half crosswise through the bones to create four smaller breast pieces. Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit