How to Cut a Chicken Breast

There is so many recipes that will require you to cut up a chicken breast into cubes, chunks, or strips and to butterfly the chicken breast for sauteing.

In this post, I have given you a written description of how to do it, and a video that also walks you through all the steps simply.

Cutting strips is an easy way to mimic a popular chicken tender. You can the go bread the chicken or saute them.

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Steps to cut a whole chicken breast

If you follow these few steps you will be able to create cubes and strips pretty quickly and it will become second nature to you when you cut up a chicken breast.

Removing the tenderloin

There is a good chance that your chicken breast will not have a tenderloin attached when you get your chicken breast.

My chicken breast has a tenderloin attached because I get my chicken breast from a whole chicken. I have an entire post that covers how to cut up a whole chicken.

Cutting into cubes

Cut a third of the chicken breast off close to the bottom of the chicken breast. This is the section that would be the thinnest.

For the other 2/3 that is thicker your going to want to change the thickness of the breast by cutting into the breast to cut the width in half.

Now all the chicken breast is the same thickness. Take that sharp knife and create strips that are the same thickness of the width of the chicken breast.

After you have created the strips you can cut across the chicken strips to create consistent-sized cubes that will cook the same.

Cutting your chicken breast into cubes is extremely common. It’s a great way to add chicken breast to a stir fry or into a chicken salad or a chicken and cheese quesadilla.

The first step is to keep the chicken breast all the same thickness so that the cubes you create will cook the same.

If you are not sure what knife is best I have an entire post on kitchen knives for beginners.

Cutting into strips

Just like the steps you follow to create cubes you’re going to want to follow the same first steps to create chicken strips.

Cut the bottom 1/3 of the chicken breast off and then cut the 2/3 thicker end the width way so that all the pieces are the same thickness.

Now go ahead and cut all these pieces into even thicknesses strips.

The key is to keep the same thickness, this is going to allow the chicken strips to be cooked evenly so that you can keep the juices in.

Strips are really popular if you’re looking to deep fry your chicken or bake them into strips that you’re going to feed your children.

Butterflying a chicken breast

Take a sharp knife and slice into the chicken breast across the entire chicken breast. You want to start in the thinnest part on the long side of the chicken breast.

As you work into the chicken breast with your knife stop before you get the entire way through. Now open the chicken breast and you can see that now you have an even thickness throughout.

This can really be a popular way to cut up a chicken breast so that it can cook evenly. This is my preferred way if I’m going to saute a chicken breast.

The benefit is that you get a lot of surface area of the chicken to the pan and this will bring flavor with the browning of the chicken.

If you have enjoyed learning how to cut chicken breast I also have a post on how to cut a chicken wing and a great post on how to debone a chicken thigh.

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