How to Break Down a Whole Chicken into Pieces Like a Pro

Anyone who cooks at home needs to know how to properly cut up a whole chicken. This not only gives you more ways to cook chicken, but it also saves you money over buying chicken pieces already cut up. It only takes a few minutes to cut a whole chicken into pieces once you know how to do it right. This guide will walk you through the entire process step-by-step.

Why Break Down a Whole Chicken?

There are several benefits to breaking down whole chickens yourself:

It’s cheaper to buy a whole chicken than to buy breast, thigh, and wing pieces separately. You also get more meat for your money.
Control portions – When you cut up the chicken yourself, you can divide it into whatever size pieces your recipe calls for. This helps reduce waste.
Make stock—You can use the back, neck, wing tips, and any other scraps you don’t need to make tasty homemade chicken stock.
Learn a useful skill – Mastering basic butchery skills impresses dinner guests and helps you become a more confident cook.

What You’ll Need

Breaking down a chicken is a simple process that only requires a few essential tools:

Sharp chef’s knife—For clean cuts through joints, an 8-inch chef’s knife is best.
Cutting board – Choose one that won’t slide around and is reserved for cutting meat
Kitchen shears (optional) – Shears make cutting through bones and cartilage easier.
Whole chicken – Fresh, never frozen is ideal. Opt for air-chilled chicken if possible for better flavor.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Follow these simple steps to properly break down a whole chicken:

1. Remove the leg quarters

Place the chicken breast-side up on a cutting board with legs facing you.
Pull each leg away from the body and slice through the skin between the breast and drumstick.
Flip the chicken on its side. Bend one leg back to pop the thighbone out of the hip socket.
Cut through the hip joint to fully detach the leg quarter. Repeat on the other side.

2. Remove the wings

Pull a wing away from the body and slice through the wing joint.
Repeat with the other wing. Set wings aside.

3. Separate the breast and back

Use your chef’s knife or kitchen shears to cut down along both sides of the backbone to detach it.
You can save the back to make stock.

4. Split the breast in half

Place the breast skin-side down and cut lengthwise along the breastbone to halve each side.
For four total pieces, you’re all done! For more cuts, keep going.

5. Cut breast halves into quarters

For smaller pieces, slice each breast half diagonally into two pieces for a total of four breast quarters.

6. Divide leg quarters into drumsticks and thighs

Cut each leg quarter at the joint between the drumstick and thigh.

And that’s it! In less than 10 minutes you’ll have 8 to 10 pieces of chicken ready for any recipe. The more often you practice these steps, the faster and more confident you’ll become. Before you know it, you’ll be breaking down chickens with ease. Put your new skills to use right away and turn a whole chicken into delicious homemade meals for your family.

how do you break up a whole chicken

Shopping for and Storing Chicken

Just two quick tips here:

Buy air-chilled chickens. There are a few “premium” brands, like Bell and Evans, that chill their chicken with cold air after they are killed instead of putting them in an ice bath like mass-market brands do. This means they have less water held back when they go on the market. This not only gives you a better deal because you’re not paying for water weight, but it also makes the flavor stronger.
Avoid kosher birds. Before they are packed, kosher birds are heavily salted to get rid of extra liquid. In some situations, like when you’re roasting it, this is a good thing. But in others, the extra salt can ruin a recipe. If you reduce the braising liquid after braising the chicken, the extra salt in the chicken can make it taste too salty. It also makes it harder to make stock because you can’t lower the salt level of a salty stock. If the recipe calls for it, you should buy a regular bird and salt or brine it yourself.

When it comes to your other choices, I personally like to spend more on premium brands of free range or specialty heirloom breeds because they taste better. Theres not much worse than bad chicken. Maybe bad margaritas, but thats about it.

How to Break Down a Chicken Into Four Pieces