Cutting a whole chicken is easier than you might think! Check out our video tutorial to master the art of cutting and deboning a whole chicken. While whole chickens are great for roasting, learning how to break them down into different parts opens up endless possibilities for other recipes.
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Not only will butchering the chicken yourself save you money compared to buying pre-packaged chicken breasts, drumsticks, thighs, and wings, but you’ll also have a carcass left over to make the most flavorful Chicken Bone Broth. It’s worth buying a whole chicken and doing it yourself!
How to Cut up a Whole Chicken
All you need to cut a whole chicken is a sharp knife and, of course, the chicken itself. If you have a pair of good kitchen shears, that will make the job even easier.
Whole chickens are available at almost any grocery store. I typically buy organic whole chickens at Costco. They are larger, meatier, and seem to have the best price for organic whole chickens. If you can purchase pasture-raised, then that is even better.
I buy them, slice them up, just like in the video below, then seal and store the parts in the freezer, ready for when you’re ready to make Chicken Parmesan or Chicken Fajitas.
Watch Deboning Chicken Video
Watch this video tutorial and you’ll be cutting up chicken like a pro in no time!
This may have been one of our most controversial videos 😅, but DON’T WORRY! Our chicken was not harmed in the making of this video. She’s still running around happily and laying eggs. Our chickens are for eggs (and occasional guest stars on YouTube), while the grocery store supplies our whole chickens for cooking.
Pro Tip:
Did you know the fat lines in a chicken serve as a roadmap for where you should cut? If you remember that one tip, you can repeat this process without instructions.
How to Cut a Whole Chicken
- Remove the Legs – Pat the chicken dry with a paper towel. Place the chicken breast-side up and start by removing the whole legs (drumsticks with thighs attached). Using a sharp knife, make a slit just behind the drumstick to separate it from the breast, cutting through the skin to expose the meat underneath. Gently pull the leg away from the chicken and pop the hip bone out of its socket just below the breast. Use a knife to cut past the joint, ensuring you get as much meat as possible, including the small, meaty “oyster” section next to the tail.
- To separate the drumstick from the thigh, cut along the fat line, positioning your knife between the joints. If you feel resistance, adjust the angle of your knife until it slides through more easily.
- Removing the Wings – Place the chicken breast-side up with the wings facing away from you. To remove the wings, locate the joint and cut through the skin and joint (not the bone). If feel encounter resistance, adjust the knife slightly until it cuts through smoothly. For better control, pull the wing away from the chicken as you cut.
- To remove the chicken breast, turn the chicken on its side and use kitchen shears to cut along the fat line on the side of the carcass, snipping right through the ribcage. To debone the chicken breast, make a cut through the center of the skin over the breast. Locate the breastbone and carefully cut the meat away from the bone using long, smooth strokes (avoid going back and forth in a sawing motion). Continue cutting all the way down to completely debone the chicken breast.
How Much Chicken Does One Whole Chicken Yield?
When you cut your own chicken, you can decide exactly how many pieces you get from a single bird. Depending on whether you separate the breast halves and legs from the thighs, you can yield anywhere from 6 to 10 pieces.
- 2 chicken breasts
- 2 chicken wings
- 2 drum sticks
- 2 thighs
- 1 backbone and 1 breast bone (used to make homemade bone broth that can be used in SO many chicken broth recipes)
Did this tutorial on how to cut up a whole chicken give you any “AHA!” moments? If you’ve never given it a go, I hope you’re excited to break down your first chicken after watching this.
If you have any tutorial requests, let us know and we’ll do our best to get your burning cooking questions answered! 😉
Our Favorite Chicken Recipes
Once you’ve mastered cutting a chicken, it’s time to use those skills to try some of our very favorite chicken recipes. From soups to sandwiches, fried or roasted chicken, there is something for everyone here.
- Spatchcock Chicken
- Chicken Tortilla Soup
- Baked Chicken Legs
- Chicken Pot Pie
- Crispy Chicken Sandwich
- Chicken Noodle Soup
- Crispy Buffalo Wings
How to Cut Up a Whole Chicken (VIDEO)
Instructions
- Removing Chicken Legs – Pat dry chicken with a paper towel. Place chicken breast-side-up and first remove the whole legs (drumsticks with thighs attached). Make a slit just behind the drumstick separating the drumstick and the breast, just cutting through the skin to expose the meat underneath. Pull the leg away from the chicken and pop the hip bone out of its socket just below the breast. Cut with a knife just past the joint, getting as much meat as possible including a small meaty "oyster" section next to the tail.
- To separate the drumstick from the thigh, cut along the fat line and you should cut right between the joints – if you feel resistance, shift your knife around until it slides through fairly easily.
- To remove the wings: Place the breast side up with wings away from you. To remove the wings: feel for the joint then cut through the skin and joint (not the bone) – shift the knife around slightly if you get resistance until it goes through easily. Pull the wing up away from the chicken for greater control while cutting.
- To remove the chicken breast: Turn the chicken on its side and cut along the fat line on the side of the chicken carcass with kitchen shears, snipping right through the ribcage. To debone chicken breast, cut through the center of the skin over the chicken breast – locate the breastbone and cut the chicken away from the bone with long strokes (not a sawing motion) and cut all the way down which should completely debone the chicken breast.
Notes
- 2 chicken breasts
- 2 chicken wings
- 2 drum sticks
- 2 thighs
- 1 backbone and 1 breast bone (used to make homemade bone broth)
Natasha Kravchuk
Hi! I'm Natasha Kravchuk. Here you'll find delicious, trusted recipes with easy step-by-step photos and videos. 
Awesome video. Easy and well explained!
Thank you so much, Melanie. I appreciate it!
Great easy way! Thanks!
You’re welcome! I’m so happy you enjoyed this recipe David!
At our house in the 50s and 60s, we fixed the back as a piece to eat…
Thank you so much for sharing that with me!
Great! Now I know how to do it!
I hope you love this recipe Darryl!
Hi Natasha
Thanks for the tutorial and all your recipe – I am an ardent devoted fan – However STOP ! In your video you use shears to remove the ‘bottom’ of the carcase and then set it aside (probably for stock or soup) but you are wasting what is THE best bit of the chicken. . . . beneath the thigh is a small (avocado stone size) portion we in the UK call the ‘oyster’ it is the tenderest sweetest meat ever – whenever you de-bone a chicken save them in a freezer until you have enough for you favorite chicken treat.
My job at Thanksgiving (because I volunteer) is to put the leftover turkey away and I always, ALWAYS take those two nuggets. It’s my favorite part!
Thank you for sharing that with us!
Thank you, Natasha. I always buy whole chickens because of their lower price and am not great at cutting them up. I really needed this tutorial. I just bought new knives and will try them out on a chicken tonight. I’ll let you know how it goes.
I’m so glad this is helpful! We look forward to your feedback once you try it.
Tried out my new boning knife with this. Very simple steps to follow! great thank you
You’re welcome! I’m so happy you enjoyed it!
You cut that chicken in peaces so easily. I wish i can do that.
Hi Lapik, it definitely helps to have a sharp knife. Check out our knife sharpening video.
So happy to see this video! I was just complaining that I used to be able to easily find a package of a whole chicken cut into pieces – not anymore! Now I feel like I have to buy three or four packages so that everyone can have their favorite. You took the intimidation out of doing it myself with this video!!! Can’t wait to give it a try! Thank you!!!
I’m so inspired reading your review. Thank you!
5 Stars because I love your detail. I am trying this this evening, as I just bought 2 whole chickens. Love to make fried chicken as well as yummy broth. I will let you know how I come out with this….I have only done it once in my lifetime. Sidenote on your gas station chicken comment…..there is an Exxon station here in Farmersville, TX that has HANDS DOWN the best fried chicken ever!!! Thats my go to when I do not have the time to make my own….Not fresh whole chickens, but still the BEST!!
That’s just awesome Shannon! Who knew gas station chicken could be good! Thank you for stopping by with the best comment. I hope you love our recipe.
Here’s an interesting fact: in my faith, the chicken, or any animal such as cows, goats, sheep have to be sacrificed a certain way before they can be cooked and eaten.
Thank you for sharing that with us 🙂
Loved your easy instructions and your enthusiasm! You’re a blast in the kitchen!
I’m so happy to hear that! Thank you for sharing your great review, Rosemary!
Thanks for showing how to cut whole chicken up.
My pleasure Audrey! I’m glad you find the tutorial helpful!
Hi Natasha! So thankful for your videos. Was feeling so beat up giving in to the lies of me not being an adequate cooking wife. But God is faithful, and your videos are faithful too! Lol I’m so serious. 🙌Followed it to a T, paused after I cut every part of chicken and whallaaa. Loved it, super easy, thank you! 🙂 Do you think you can make a teaching video on how to cook each part of the chicken? Not like full out recipes with each (although you do have them) but on how for example, this morning I was about to marinade all the parts of the chicken and then just pop them in the oven. But there’s a difference in baking times and tenderness with each part of the chicken it seems. Just an idea bc I was so lost searching online the difference to baking thighs or breasts and why I couldn’t just put it all in the oven 😩lol there’s not much resources out there, there are but not easy ones like yours.
Hi Snizhana, if you wanted to bake all of the chicken parts together, it is do-able and the bake time will be consistent for all of the parts as long as you leave the bone on under the chicken breast. Also, leave the skin on all parts if you are roasting everything together. I usually use the chicken breast in recipes so I debone it completely but I do roast the thighs, drums and wings together. For example, if you used the marinated chicken drum-sticks, you could use that same recipe for all of the chicken pieces that are bone-in and skin-on.
Thank you so much! Very helpful tip I will remember!
You’re welcome! 🙂
You didn’t cut out the “pulley bone”
That was always the most fun to eat when I was a kid but don’t know how to get it.
Hi Darla, we never gave it much attention, just cut around it 🙂
I would cut around it if I knew where it is! Can you tell or show me please?
Hi Darla, it is at the top of the chicken breasts near the neck of the chicken. It’s easiest to see it in video. Just searching youtube, I came across this video which may help 🙂
I noticed that right away. I grew up on a farm the oldest of 5. I was responsible for the chickens most of the time. In order to have one chicken feed 7 people, the wishbone was always removed. If the chicken was a large one, the bones under that were cut away in one piece to make yet another piece of chicken.
Thank you Natasha! I hadn’t ever done this and tonight is the second time now I’ve done it. I play the video and pause it after each step. (And disinfect mt IPad after😊) Hopefully after a few more times I’ll have it memorized and won’t need the video anymore. Your video is much simpler and more concise than other videos I’ve tried to follow.
You’re welcome Jackie! I’m glad you find the video so helpful, thanks for sharing!
which brand of knives do you recommend to cook like a chef?
Hi Katerina, this is the brand we use and love 🙂
I’m just wondering, did you actually cut your own chicken. I know probabobly not but just wondering. And thanks for sharing , very helpful tutorial.
Oh ofcourse not :). Our chickens are only used for eggs and pets. Our chicken was not harmed in the making of this video. We purchase organic whole chickens at Costco for cooking 🙂
Thanks for the refresher course. I’d forgotten that was an option and so easy to do. My mom showed me many years ago and I’ve gotten lazy in my old years. LOL I give lots of thumbs up for all your recipes and helpful hints.
You’re welcome! I’m happy you found the tutorial helpful!
Thank you for this video. I knew how to cut up a chicken, but I did not realize how easy it was to de-bone the breast and thighs. You can add the wing tips to the back bone when making broth, also.
You’re welcome DeAnna! I’m glad you found the video so helpful. Thanks for sharing!
It is just like my grandmother did. And, yes, she made wonderful healing soup of what was left while the chicken was baking for Sunday lunch. Thank you so much for reminding me of her ways !
You’re welcome! I’m happy to hear it brings back fond memories!
Love this I never knew how and so never did!
It’s a worthwhile venture, especially so you can make bone broth with what’s left. Every part of the chicken goes to good use 🙂