How to Carve a Roasted Chicken or Turkey

With just a few easy cuts, you can carve up a roasted chicken or turkey and have a platter full ready to present in mere minutes to the table, ready to impress your guests.

Whether you are carving up a store bought Rotisserie chicken or roasting your own poultry from scratch, carving it is made simple with just six easy cuts. Let me talk you through!

First... let me say.. My husband started to carve the chicken, when i shouted at him to stop, so I could do this as a post. So it has a carving mark in the top of the chicken breast... ignore it in the first couple of shots.. you gotta love real life around here!

Use a large chef knife to make the cuts.

1. Place Chicken, breast side up, on a cutting board. Pull one of the legs slightly away from the body of the bird, and carefully run the knife down between the leg and body.

2) Next pull back the leg and thigh: Now that the drumstick has been cut, and the leg joint has been opened up, place your knife down between the rounded up of the hip bone and where it attaches to the body of the chicken. Push the knife straight down until the leg is detached.   Repeat for the other drumstick and thigh on other side of bird. 

3) If you'd like the separate the thigh and drumstick, find the natural line between the drumstick and the thigh and cut through the joint by pressing the knife straight down. Place all pieces on the serving platter. 

4) Wings: Pull wing entire wing away from the bird, and carefully slide the knife along the joint and cut between the wing meat and the bird, cutting through the joint. Repeat on other wing. Place wings on serving platter.

5) Cutting the breast: Cut along the breast bone. 

Slide your knife along one side of the center breastbone at the front of the breast cavity. Move your knife from the front to the back of the chicken while at the same time, gently  pulling the breast meat away from the bone. Repeat with the remaining breast.

6) One side done.. now to slide the knife down the other side, and pull the breast meat away..

 7) Now... cut through the 2 pieces of breast meats into serving slices... see last photo so your serving platter now should have 2 thighs, 2 drumsticks, 2 wings, and breast meat sliced into serving pieces.

You a few easy cuts and done!