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Carving a turkey is really easy to do if you know where to start! I’ve got a few simple steps to help you can carve your turkey cleanly and confidently, making the most of every piece of meat for your Thanksgiving table.
How to Carve a Turkey Like a Pro!
After spending all that time roasting a beautiful Thanksgiving turkey it deserves to be carved the right way to serve it beautifully! (We eat with our eyes first, after all!). Carving a turkey is so simple when you know where to cut, and it makes all the difference in getting those juicy, beautiful slices on the platter. I’m sharing my easy step-by-step tips so you can carve your turkey with confidence and get every last bit of that delicious meat! I use this carving technique for our Spatchcock Turkey, Smoked Turkey, and Classic Turkey!
Pro Tip: Use a sharp knife, paper towels to protect your hand, and steady the turkey as you cut. Slice against the grain for the most tender pieces.
Don’t miss all of my Thanksgiving recipes, like Homemade Dinner Rolls, Stuffing, Sweet Potato Casserole, Turkey Gravy, and Cranberry Sauce!
How to Carve a Turkey:
Remove Legs and Wishbone: Pull one leg back to expose the joint until the thigh bone pops out. Slice through the skin and connection—don’t cut through the bone—to free the leg. Set aside and repeat on the other side. At the front neck cavity, cut away the skin to expose the opening. Feel for the upside-down “V” of the wishbone, gently cut along it, and pull it down and out. (Removing it now makes carving the breasts much easier!).
Remove Breast Meat: Find the keelbone, or breastbone, running down the center between the breasts. Cut down one side, following the curve of the bone until the whole breast comes free. Set it aside and repeat on the other side.
Remove Wings and Carve: Gently pull each wing away from the body, cut around the skin and meat, and cut through the joint to remove it. Slice opposite the direction of the muscle fibers, against the grain, for tender meat. Use a sharp knife and cut carefully to keep the skin attached to each slice. Place the leg skin side down and separate the drumstick from the thigh through the natural seam of the joint. Cover the turkey with aluminum foil while carving to keep it warm. Save the carcass for homemade broth, or freeze it to make broth another day.
How to Carve a Turkey
Ingredients
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. You don't want to cut right through the joint! 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 (where the head would be) 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. If you look at each piece of your carved turkey meat, you'll see its all "running" or pointing the same direction. Be sure to cut it opposite of this which will help ensure that the meat is tender and not chewy.
- 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.
- Separate the drumstick from the thigh by placing it skin side down on your cutting board and cutting right through the natural seam of the joint.
- 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!
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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I originally shared this recipe October 2020. Updated November 2021, November 2024 and November 2026.
I wish I had seen this BEFORE Thanksgiving yesterday. Usually someone else does it, but I ended up trying it. Yummy turkey massacre. I will be prepared for the next one though. Thank you!!
Thank you for these helpful tips! Can you share where you purchased the wooden frame that holds the serving platter you used in the video? I saw the Amazon link you posted however I like how the platter and the wooden frame that held it up helped the presentation of the food. 🙂 Thanks!
The platter came with the wooden frame, and its from Crate and Barrel. 🙂
Thank you for the very clear instructions both for cooking and carving the turkey. Please please encourage your readers to use the carcass for making the best soup or broth. The suggestion of discarding it flies in the face of “tastes better from scratch”.
Thank you for your feedback, and I’m glad you found the cooking and carving instructions clear! Just to clarify, we absolutely agree with you about using every part of the turkey. As noted in our post, “Save the turkey carcass. Use the remaining turkey carcass to make homemade broth or freeze the carcass and make broth another day!” We’re all about making the most of our ingredients and fully support the ‘from scratch’ approach.
So..I want to make my Turkey gravy with the drippings that means I can’t make the gravy until bird has rested 30 min so that makes the gravy kind of a rushed job right before we eat. Which brings me to my main question… how long can the Turkey be out of the oven and be eaten while it’s still warm or is it supposed to be eaten at room temp. Thanks so much🦃
As soon as the turkey comes out of the oven you could (very carefully) move it onto a different dish to rest, so that you can get the drippings from the pan and start the gravy. That’s what we do 🙂
I wish i knew about the correct carving of a turkey 40 years ago. Definitely made a great turkey even more tender and juicier👍
But I bet the same technique would work on any decent size fowl…
Great video. Thanks! I follow you often and you have wonderful recipes as well as videos. I consider myself quite good in the kitchen, but, one can always learn something new!
I was hoping the video would be a turkey carving video but when I played it, it was how to make a graham cracker pie crust! Not sure if that’s an error?
Hmm. I just checked and it looks like the right video to me! Here’s a link if you want to try again: https://tastesbetterfromscratch.com/how-to-carve-a-turkey/#adthrive-contextual-container
Thank you for the simple instructions. This is not intimidating to me. I am 80 years old and this is the first turkey I will attempt since my wife, who has done the cooking in the past 42 years, has Alzheimers and can’t remember how it is done. We really thank you. Have a happy Thanksgiving!
“Happy 2 Be, Together Forever!”
Hope you are having a wonderful Christmas. It’s so sweet you’ve taken over the cooking for your wife. Hope she’s doing well. Love your love story.
Thanks Lauren! One of the hardest thing to do! Looking forward to trying the new carving technique out at thanksgiving.