How to Carve a Roast Chicken: Legs, Wings, Then Breast

To carve a roast chicken, let it rest about 15 minutes, then take it apart at the joints: cut through the skin between leg and body, bend the leg out until the hip joint shows and cut through it; split each leg into thigh and drumstick at the knee; take off the wings at their joints. Finally cut down one side of the breastbone, follow the ribs to lift each breast off whole, and slice it across on the board. The knife goes through joints, never through bone.

Before you carve

Check doneness first. The University of New Hampshire Extension roasts a whole chicken until a thermometer in the breast reads 165°F, and University of Maine Extension gives 165°F as the minimum internal temperature for poultry, measured in the thickest part. UNH then lets the chicken sit for 15 minutes after it comes out of the oven before carving.

Set the bird on a stable board with a groove or a tray for the juices, and have a platter ready. Steady the chicken with a carving fork, or with a folded napkin as Illinois Extension suggests for a turkey. Our carving board guide compares board sizes and juice grooves.

Step by step

1. Position the bird. Breast side up, legs toward you.
2. Take off the legs. Slice through the skin between the thigh and the body. Pull the leg outward and press it down until the hip joint opens, then cut through the joint to free the whole leg. Repeat on the other side.
3. Split thigh and drumstick. Lay each leg skin side down. University of Maine Extension’s guide to cutting up a chicken looks for the line of fat between the drumstick and thigh and cuts along it through the joint; bend the leg to feel where the joint is.
4. Take off the wings. Pull each wing away from the body and cut through the joint where it meets the breast.
5. Lift off the breasts. Find the breastbone down the middle. Cut down one side of it, keep the blade against the bone, and follow the curve of the ribs with short strokes until the breast comes away in one piece. Repeat on the other side.
6. Slice the breast. Lay each breast flat, skin up, and slice it across into pieces of the thickness you want.

These are the same joints extension guides use to cut up a raw chicken (see how to cut up a whole chicken), and the same order Illinois Extension and our turkey carving guide use for a whole turkey. A store-bought rotisserie chicken has the same joints, so the same steps apply.

When a joint will not give

If the knife meets hard resistance, you are on bone, not in the joint. Stop, bend the leg or wing again to open the joint, and move the knife a little to one side. Texas A&M AgriLife Extension makes the same point about raw chicken: cut gently, so that if you hit a bone you can stop and find the joint.

Leftovers

UNH Extension says to take any leftover meat off the carcass and refrigerate it within two hours of taking the chicken out of the oven, and to save the bones for stock. University of Maine Extension, citing the FoodKeeper app, gives 3 to 4 days in the refrigerator for cooked poultry dishes and 4 months in the freezer.

The knife for this job

You do not need a specialist knife. A sharp chef’s knife or gyuto does the whole job: it has a point to find the joints and enough length to slice the breast (our gyuto vs chef’s knife guide explains that the two are the same kind of knife). A Western carving knife works too and is more tolerant near bone; sujihiki vs carving knife explains the difference. A petty knife can take the smaller joint work in the hand (see what a petty knife is used for), and kitchen shears handle poultry joints and small bones that would risk a thin edge (see kitchen shears in the Japanese kitchen). Whatever you use, cut through joints and along bone, never through it; why Japanese knives chip explains what bone does to a thin, hard edge.

For a wa handle, our wa handle size guide puts a 196–255mm gyuto in the Chef size.

Sources: UNH Extension, Roasting a Whole Chicken (165°F in the breast; sit 15 minutes before carving; leftovers off the carcass and refrigerated within two hours); University of Maine Cooperative Extension, Bulletin #4068, How to Cut Up a Whole Chicken (hip joint, line of fat between thigh and drumstick, breast along the keel bone, 165°F, cooked poultry 3 to 4 days); Illinois Extension, Carving (carving fork or folded napkin; legs, wings, then breast; cut at joints, not through bone); Texas A&M AgriLife Extension, Chicken Cut-up: Family Style (cut gently, stop and find the joint).