So you have to debone chicken thighs. In this post, we’ll show you how to do it with step-by-step instructions (with photos) and a video!
Use Cases for Deboning Chicken Thighs
The biggest use case for this is when we want chicken thighs that are boneless, but still have the skin on, like in our Roasted Chicken with Sticky Rice recipe. Chicken thighs are usually sold bone-in/skin-on, or boneless/skinless. There’s no boneless, skin-on version at the grocery store!
You may also find yourself in a situation where a recipe calls for boneless thighs, but you only have bone-in thighs on hand in your fridge or freezer.
Another reason you might want to debone chicken thighs is that the bone-in versions are often significantly cheaper at the grocery store. If you buy whole thighs, you can de-bone them yourself, save the bones to make stock (try my mom’s Pork & Chicken stock—it’s the best), and save some money!
How to Debone Chicken Thighs
- Ok, there is only one bone to remove from each thigh. Start with the chicken thigh on the cutting board skin-side down. Find the bone that runs along the length of the thigh. Run a sharp boning knife, paring knife, or chef’s knife along the length of it to reveal the bone underneath the meat.
2. Use your fingers to move the meat away from the bone. Angle your knife towards the bone, and slice down both sides of it to expose the bone even further. You can also scrape the knife along the bone to remove the meat cleanly and avoid leaving any meat on it.
3. Next, point your knife so it’s perpendicular to the bone. Holding the bone up, make an incision underneath it to separate it from the meat below. Slice both ways so the middle shaft of bone (between the two ends) is separated from the meat. Then, slice around and below one end of the bone to release it completely from the meat.
4. Now that the bone is only attached at one end, pull the bone up vertically. Make a few final cuts to remove the other end from the meat.
Done! Don’t throw those bones away. Put them in the freezer, and use them the next time you make chicken stock, or our Pork and Chicken Stock.
Watch Video!
How to Debone Chicken Thighs
Ingredients
- 1 pound bone-in chicken thighs
Instructions
- Start with the chicken thigh on the cutting board skin-side down. Find the bone that runs along the length of the thigh. Run a sharp boning knife, paring knife, or chef's knife along the length of it to reveal the bone underneath the meat.
- Use your fingers to move the meat away from the bone. Angle your knife towards the bone, and slice down both sides of it to expose the bone even further. You can also scrape the knife along the bone to remove the meat cleanly and avoid leaving any meat on it.
- Next, point your knife so it's perpendicular to the bone. Holding the bone up, make an incision underneath it to separate it from the meat below. Slice both ways so the middle shaft of bone (between the two ends) is separated from the meat. Then, slice around and below one end of the bone to release it completely from the meat.
- Now that the bone is only attached at one end, pull the bone up vertically. Make a few final cuts to remove the other end from the meat.
Very well explained and presented!
Thanks Harvey! Glad this was helpful. :)
For the people who like this, Jacques Pepin has a video on deboning a whole chicken. This includes all cuts and uses the same technique https://youtu.be/nfY0lrdXar8
Thanks Shing, Jacque Pepin is a legend and that video shows amazing technique. Thanks for sharing it!