Chicken breast is a kitchen staple for good reason. It’s affordable, lean, easy to cook, and endlessly versatile. You need to know how to cut chicken breasts though before you can cook them.
If you cut a chicken breast the right way, it will cook evenly, have a better texture, and give you more than one serving. You can prepare chicken for any recipe like a pro with just a sharp knife and a few easy steps.
Why Learn Proper Cutting Techniques?
Knowing how to cut boneless, skinless chicken breasts makes cooking them much easier. Here are some of the benefits:
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Saves prep time. Once you know the basic methods, you can quickly cut chicken into strips, cubes, or cutlets for any recipe.
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Ensures even cooking. Uniform pieces cook more evenly than whole breasts or uneven cuts.
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Allows better portion control. By cutting the chicken into portions, you can get just the right amount for a meal.
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Maximizes value. One breast can be turned into multiple cutlets, strips, or other pieces.
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Improves texture. Cutting against the grain makes chicken more tender.
So whether you’re making chicken salad, skewers, sautés, or other dishes, proper cutting techniques are essential for getting the most from this versatile ingredient
What You Need to Get Started
Cutting chicken breast is simple with just a few essential tools:
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Sharp chef’s knife. A quality knife makes cutting easier and safer.
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Cutting board Choose a large board that won’t slide around
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Plastic wrap or bags. Useful for pounding cutlets and storing prep.
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Meat mallet or skillet (optional) For pounding chicken to an even thickness
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Kitchen shears (optional). Helpful for cutting through bones.
Always sanitize cutting boards, knives, and other tools before and after handling raw chicken to prevent cross-contamination.
How to Cut a Whole Chicken Breast into Cutlets
Cutlets are thin, evenly sized slices perfect for dishes like chicken Parmesan or schnitzel. Here’s how to slice a whole breast into two or more cutlets:
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Place chicken breast smooth-side down on a cutting board. Hold it steady with your non-dominant hand.
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Position your chef’s knife horizontally about 1/3 of the way up from the bottom. Make sure the knife is sharp.
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In one smooth motion, slice horizontally through the breast to divide it into two even cutlets.
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If the cutlets are thick or uneven, make additional horizontal cuts to get the desired thickness. Two or three cutlets per breast is ideal.
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Lay cutlets flat and cover with plastic wrap. Gently pound with a meat mallet or skillet to a 1/4-inch thickness.
With this simple process, you can turn one chicken breast into several professional-looking cutlets for schnitzel, piccata, marsala, and more.
Slicing Chicken Breast into Strips
Also called tenders or fingers, strips are great for fajitas, skewers, stir fries, and other dishes. Here’s how to slice a breast into long, thin strips:
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Place chicken breast smooth-side down on a cutting board. Anchor it firmly with your hand.
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Hold your knife perpendicular to the breast, starting about 1/2 inch from the tapered end.
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Make vertical cuts down through the breast, slicing with the grain to get long strips.
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Cut strips to the desired thickness, usually 1/2 to 1 inch wide.
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Trim off any uneven end pieces and scrape strips into a bowl. They’re ready for marinating and cooking.
The length of the strips will depend on the size of the breast. Leaving them longer results in more tender meat when cooked.
Dicing Chicken Breast into Cubes
Cubed chicken is perfect for salads, kabobs, stir fries, and more. Follow these steps for uniform diced pieces:
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Slice the chicken breast horizontally into thin cutlets.
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Stack the cutlets and make vertical cuts 1/2 to 3/4 inches apart to form thin strips.
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Line up the strips and make horizontal cuts 1/2 to 3/4 inches apart to dice into cubes.
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For larger cubes, cut breast into thick strips first, then cube. For smaller cubes, cut thinner strips before dicing.
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Transfer diced chicken to a bowl and season or marinate as desired.
Cutting the breast into even cutlets first helps produce uniform cubes or dices for balanced cooking.
Chopping Chicken Breast into Pieces
For chicken salad, soups, casseroles, and other recipes, coarsely chopping the meat saves time. Here’s how:
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Dice the chicken breast into approximately 1-inch cubes first. This gives you some uniformity of size.
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Gather the cubes together on the cutting board in a mound.
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Hold your chef’s knife perpendicular to the board and coarsely chop the chicken using a rocking motion. Don’t overchop.
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The pieces should be roughly 1/2 to 1 inch in size. Avoid large chunks or fine dices.
Chopped chicken gives you tender bits of meat and saves you from having to dice everything precisely. It’s great for weeknight meals.
Butterflying a Chicken Breast
Butterflying cuts the breast almost in half horizontally without separating it, allowing it to lie flat. It’s perfect for stuffing or pounding for schnitzel.
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Place chicken breast smooth-side down. Make a horizontal cut into the thickest side, stopping before the knife cuts all the way through.
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Open the breast up like a book to butterfly it.
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Optionally, cover with plastic and gently pound to a uniform thickness.
You can then stuff, roll, bread, sauté, or grill the butterflied breast. It cooks quickly and evenly due to its thin profile.
Key Tips for Cutting Chicken Breast
Follow these tips for clean, efficient cuts:
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Always use a sharp knife. This requires less effort and prevents ragged cuts.
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Cut against the grain for more tender results. Identify the grain first.
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Work with partially frozen chicken for easier slicing, especially for thin cuts.
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Cut away from yourself and curl fingers under to avoid nicks.
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Rinse chicken before cutting to remove excess water for better friction.
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Pat chicken dry so it doesn’t slide around. Anchoring it down is key.
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Change cutting boards and knives between uncooked and cooked poultry to avoid cross-contamination.
With the right tools and these simple techniques, you’ll be prepping chicken breast like a professional cook for recipes that are sure to impress!
StepsMethod
- 1 Debone a chicken breast if you bought bone-in meat. Put the chicken breasts on a cutting board so the bones touch it after taking it out of the package. To follow the bone, use your hand to feel where it is. With care, cut the breast near the rib bones with a knife. Cut as close to the bone as you can with your knife so you don’t take off too much meat. [1] Keep cutting the chicken breast down the length until you get rid of the rib bones and are left with a piece of meat without bones. Be careful when cutting close to the rib bones, because you don’t want to cut the hand that’s holding the chicken in place. Remove extra fat from the chicken breast’s sides and ends to make the meat lean.
- 2 Lay a boneless chicken breast on a cutting board. Put the chicken breast on a cutting board after taking it out of the package. Check to see if your cutting board slides around. If it does, put a kitchen towel under it so it doesn’t move around while you cut the meat. [3] Advertisement .
- 3 Get out a sharp chefs knife. Choosing the right knife makes this process so much easier. To make the meat even, don’t use a small paring knife. Instead, cut it back and forth. The meat gets torn when you use a serrated knife, making your cutlets look rough. To get the best cut, get a chefs knife that is sharp and easy for you to handle. [4] If the knife is dull, sharpen it for a moment before you start.
- 4 Place your non-dominant hand flat on the chicken breast. This keeps the meat from moving around while you cut it into thin patties. Don’t forget that each chicken breast you cut will give you two cutlets.
- 5. Run the knife across the middle of the chicken breast to make a cut. Hold the knife in your strong hand and lay the blade flat on the ground. Then, make one smooth cut down the middle of the chicken, close to where the breast gets thick. You should only move the knife straight to the thin end of the chicken breast since it is a sharp knife. Do not move it back and forth. If you saw back and forth, the cutlets might not be level and will have a rough surface.
- 6: To finish cutting the cutlets apart, open up the chicken breast. If you weren’t able to cut all the way through the chicken breast, open the breast up like a book. Next, finish cutting the meat into two thin cutlets. [5] The cutlets can now be cooked or put in the fridge in a container that keeps air out for up to two days. Change: If your recipe says to butterfly the chicken breast, don’t split it in half. Instead, stop cutting the meat when you’re about 1/2 inch (1 3 cm) from the edge of the breast. When you open it up, this makes one thin piece of chicken.
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Things You’ll Need
- Chefs knife
- Cutting board
- Plastic wrap
- Meat mallet
How to Cut a Boneless Chicken Breast | Cooking Basics by Yummly
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