How to butterfly chicken breasts

Good Food team

loading...

Butterflying a chicken breast gives it a uniform thickness, which is ideal for quick cooking. You can use this basic three-step technique for other meats, such as lamb or pork.

Butterflying is a really useful technique to create a uniform thickness throughout a piece of meat, so that it will cook more quickly and evenly. Here we’ve used chicken, but for larger cuts, such as lamb or pork, make similar incisions along the joint to open it up into one flat piece. Once you've mastered the technique, try your butterflied breast in our lemon chicken & couscous recipe, pictured above, or chicken tikka burgers.

Three-step guide to butterflying chicken breasts

Step one:

step_1_butterflying_chicken-4288e04

Put your chicken breast on a chopping board and, with your hand flat on top of it, use a sharp knife to slice into one side of the breast, starting at the thicker end and ending at the thin point. Be careful not to cut all the way through to the other side.

Step two:

step_2_butterflying_chicken-2f968cb

Open out the breast so that it resembles a butterfly.

Step three:

step_3_butterflying_chicken-9e89c18

Cover with cling film and pummel with a rolling pin to create an even thickness. You can now marinate or cook straight away.

Butterflied meat is perfect for quick cooking like barbecuing, griddling or pan-frying. We have plenty of meat recipes to get you inspired.

Comments, questions and tips

Choose the type of message you'd like to post

CommentQuestionTip

Get 3 months of Good Food All Access

Get 3 months of Good Food All Access for just £6. Find triple-tested recipes that take the stress out of deciding what to cook, spend less time planning, and more time enjoying the season.

Subscribe now