Deboning a Chicken Breast

1. The breast might have cartilage, bone, and tendons remaining from the original removal of the breast from the whole chicken.

2. Remove the entire wing from the breast, being careful to leave as much meat as possible on the breast portion. We like to remove the wing tips (as shown in the photo), saving the tips for stock, and using the wings in another recipe.

• Chicken Wing Recipes

3. Use a sharp kitchen knife to remove any unwanted bits and pieces of fat and cartilage.

• Use your fingers to carefully pull the breast meat away from the bones.
• Reserve the bones for making stock (keep them in the freezer in a zipper bag until you're ready to use them) or discard them.

4. Remove as much skin from the breast as you would like. Keep in mind a skinless breast contains less fat than a breast with skin intact. However, a skinless breast will require a small amount of added fat to sear or fry it nicely. You can cut the chicken breast into small chunks to add to a stir fry, cut it into strips, or leave the chicken breast whole to be fried, barbequed, or seared.

Related Articles

• Cutting Up a Whole Chicken
• Deboning a Chicken Thigh

5. Use boneless chicken breasts in these recipes:

• Apple-Stuffed Chicken Breast
• Garlic Chicken Fried Chicken
• Chicken and Summer Squash
• Quick Chicken and Wine