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How to Carve a Turkey

How to Carve a Turkey

Devashish
Perfect turkey carving transforms your holiday masterpiece into beautiful, presentation-ready slices everyone will admire. This essential 15-minute guide breaks down the art of carving into simple, manageable steps.
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 15 minutes
Servings 15
Calories 242 kcal

Equipment

  • Sharp knife

Ingredients
  

  • 1 Roasted turkey

Instructions
 

  • Remove the legs:Start with one leg and use your knife to slice through the skin and meat toward the leg joint while at the same time gently pulling the leg back and separate it from the rest of the turkey. As you gently pull it, listen for the joint to 'pop', meaning that the thigh bone popped through. Then gently cut away any additional skin and meat around the joint and remove the leg from the body. Set aside the thigh and drumstick and repeat this process with the remaining leg.
  • Remove the wishbone:Remove the wishbone next so that it's extra easy to cut away the breast meat. Plus, then you can make a wish! Locate the front neck cavity of the bird and cut away the skin from the opening of the neck so that you have a window into the neck cavity. The wishbone runs along the neck cavity in an upside down 'v'. Use your hands to feel for the bone then gently cut along the wishbone and pull it down and out of the bird.
  • Remove the breast meat:First locate the keelbone AKA breast bone that runs all the way down the center of the carcass, separating the two turkey breasts. Take your knife and cut down center on one side of the keelbone. Slice downward, following the curve of the breast bone and cutting and separating the breast meat from the bone until the entire breast is free. Set breast meat aside and repeat this process with the other turkey breast.
  • Remove the wings:Gently pull the wings away from the body and use your knife to cut around the skin and meat and cut through the joint. Remove the wing, set it aside, and remove the other joint.
  • Carve the turkey meat:Slice against the grain! The most important part of carving the meat is to cut it the correct way. Cutting against the grain means cutting the meat opposite of the direction that the natural muscle fibers run.

Notes

Try to preserve the skin. Cut as carefully through the skin as you can (with a sharp knife) so that each slice of turkey has its skin still attached.
Keep the turkey warm: Cover it with aluminum while carving to keep it warm.
Save the turkey carcus: Use rest of circus to make homemade chicken broth or freeze it and make broth another day!

Nutrition

Calories: 242kcalProtein: 37gFat: 10gSaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 124mgSodium: 192mgPotassium: 385mgSugar: 1gVitamin A: 96IUCalcium: 19mgIron: 1mg
Keyword holiday meal preparation, poultry carving instructions, Thanksgiving cooking tips, turkey carving techniques, turkey slicing guide
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