How to Joint a chicken

As i have a week off i thought i would sneak in a cheeky little cooking lesson, so i gathered my ingredients and off i went to Keen2Cook. We had a whole chicken and we had to joint it and cook from it. I had never had to joint a chicken before and at first the idea horrified me, but actually its so easy to do. and so much cheaper to buy this way as you pay £3 or £4 for a chicken, but get a good deal of chicken on it and even with just the breasts - you have your money back in one go!

Here's the how to.......

Step 1
Start with the chicken breast-side up on your board and a sharp knife to hand. Cut the wings off just past the joint and set to one side for your stock.


Step 2
Using a sharp knife cut through the skin around each leg. Turn the chicken over and bend each of the legs back to break the joints.

Step 3
Slice down just to the side of the breast bone and follow down to cut off the breast. Do the same on the other side - it may help to turn the bird round so you can hold onto the bit you're cutting.


Step 4
To make the chicken go further, you can cut it down more. Feel the joint between the thigh and drumstick with your finger. Cut where the join is - the knife should go through easily.

More information on jointing a chicken can be found on 4food - how to joint a chicken

Then we made a meal ......

Once this was done we cut up our vegetables and laid them to one side, whilst we fried our chicken untill it was sealed.


 We then chopped a variety of vegetables and  fried them to soften them.


 and we added it all together into a casserole dish, with plum tomatoes, tomato paste, pearl barley, and we popped it in the oven for an hour, but you could cook it in a slow cooker too.



Keen2Cook is a charity helping families learn to cook healthy and cheap meals on a budget. They have a Facebook page to follow and are always keen to hear feedback :)