How to carve a turkey

Every year, families across the country choose a roast turkey as their centerpiece on Christmas day. Although a traditional dish during the festive season, turkey isn't as popular as chicken or beef for roast dinners, so those cooking the bird are left wondering how long they should cook it for and how much they will need to serve their family and friends. No need to fret – the Good Food team has you covered, starting with this guide on how to prepare and carve a turkey.

Read our guide below on how to prepare and carve a turkey before checking out our other useful turkey information, such as how to baste a turkey, how to brine a turkey and how to defrost a turkey.

How to prepare a turkey

Once you’ve chosen the perfect turkey recipe for Christmas Day, it’s important to keep the bird moist during cooking. An easy way to do this is to insert butter and rashers of bacon underneath the skin – here’s how in three easy steps:

1. Spread the butter under the skin

Carefully push your hand between the turkey breast and the skin to create a pocket. Spread the butter under the skin.

2. Add the bacon

Arrange the bacon in two rectangles of six overlapping rashers, then carefully push these under the skin.

3. Lie the bacon flat

Feed all the bacon under the skin to lie flat and cover the breast, then smooth the skin back over.

Now you’re ready to roast your turkey according to your chosen recipe. Our foolproof turkey guide should help you with timings, and you can print off our Christmas time plan to make scheduling the rest of dinner a breeze.

How to carve a turkey – step-by-step

Releasing the drumstick and thigh

1. Cut through the leg

Cut through the skin that attaches the leg to the body. Ease the thigh outwards and cut through the joint to remove the leg and thigh.

2. Cut through the drumstick and thigh

Cut between the drumstick and thigh until the knife hits the joint; twist the knife through it to separate the two.

3. Slice or serve the drumsticks

You can leave the drumsticks and thighs whole, or carve into slices – the easiest way is to hold a piece up and carve around it.

Now follow one of two methods below for how to carve the breast meat.

Carving turkey breast: method one

Do this at the table for large slices.

1. Make a deep cut across the bottom of each turkey breast

2. Starting at the neck end, cut long thin slices down the length of the bird.

3. Keep going until you reach the breast bone.

If you remove the wishbone when you get to it, you’ll keep carving neat slices.

Carving the breast: method two

Do this in the kitchen for good portion control

1. Make a deep cut across the bottom, then cut all the way down the top of the turkey, o either side of the breast bone.

2. Cutting as close to the bone as possible, carve out the whole breast, pulling it away as you cut.

3. Carve the breast into thick-ish slices.

Looking for more Christmas Day tips? Try these guides:

Our famous roast timer
Christmas dinner recipe collection
How to brine a turkey
Top 10 turkey recipes
Complete classic Christmas menu