Poultry Cuts & Parts

Chicken and turkey are the most-cooked meats in America, and knowing the parts, from lean breast to juicy thigh, is the key to cooking each one right.

The Poultry primals

Every poultry breaks down into a handful of primal cuts, each suited to different cooking. Start with the full Poultry primals guide or explore each below.

Whole Chicken

The whole bird, roast it, spatchcock it, or break it down into parts.

Breast

Lean white meat, quick-cooking and versatile (and unbeatable cooked sous vide).

Thigh

Dark, juicy, forgiving meat, the flavor favorite for braising, grilling, and roasting.

Drumstick

Dark meat on the bone: great grilled, roasted, or fried.

Wing

All skin and flavor, the ultimate for crisping, grilling, and sauce.

How to cook poultry

Match the cut to the method: tender cuts love a hot grill, pan-sear, or reverse sear, while tough cuts reward low-and-slow braising or smoking. For exact temperatures, see our sous vide poultry guide, browse every technique in Recipes & Guides and find poultry recipes to cook tonight.

Buying poultry direct

The best poultry comes straight from a farm. Use Find a Farmer to buy direct near you, and check the Meat Price Tracker to see how farm prices compare to the grocery store.

Popular poultry recipes

Poultry FAQ

Is chicken breast or thigh better?

Breast is leaner and milder; thigh is juicier, more forgiving, and more flavorful. Thighs are harder to overcook.

What temperature is safe for chicken?

165°F is the instant-safe temperature, but chicken held at 145\u2013150°F for enough time is also fully pasteurized and far juicier.

The main types of poultry

Poultry covers the domesticated birds we raise for meat and eggs, and while chicken dominates the kitchen, the family is broader than that. Chicken is the everyday workhorse, mild and versatile. Turkey is leaner and larger, the centerpiece bird for holidays but excellent year round. Duck and goose sit at the richer end, with dark, fatty meat and skin that renders into some of the best fat in cooking. Game birds like quail and guinea fowl round out the group with smaller portions and more pronounced flavor. Each bird has its own balance of white and dark meat and its own ideal cooking methods, but the fundamentals of buying well and cooking to the right temperature carry across all of them.

White meat and dark meat

The single most useful thing to understand about poultry is the difference between white and dark meat. White meat, chiefly the breast, comes from muscles the bird uses in short bursts, so it is lean and mild and cooks fast, which also means it dries out quickly if you overcook it. Dark meat, the thighs and drumsticks, comes from the hardworking leg muscles, so it carries more fat and connective tissue, more flavor, and far more forgiveness at the stove. That is why breast is best pulled right at its safe temperature while dark meat actually improves cooked further, as its collagen melts and keeps the meat juicy. Matching your method to the meat, gentle and precise for breast, longer and hotter for legs, is the key to good poultry.

How a bird is broken down

A whole bird divides into a handful of familiar cuts. The breast is the large white-meat muscle along the front, sold bone-in or as boneless skinless fillets. The thigh and drumstick make up the leg, the dark meat, sold together as leg quarters or separately. The wings, split into flats and drumettes, are prized for their skin. The back and carcass, often overlooked, are gold for stock. Buying a whole bird and breaking it down yourself is cheaper than buying parts and leaves you with bones for the pot, while buying parts gives you convenience and the ability to cook white and dark meat separately at their own best temperatures.

Buying, storing, and safety

Look for poultry that is air-chilled where you can find it, since it holds less water and browns better, and seek out pasture-raised birds from farms that give the animals room to move. Keep raw poultry cold, on the bottom shelf so it cannot drip onto other food, and use or freeze it within a couple of days. Cook poultry to a safe internal temperature, 165F for an instant kill or a juicier result at a lower temperature held long enough to pasteurize, and let whole birds rest before carving. Wash your hands and boards after handling raw poultry rather than washing the bird itself, which only splashes bacteria around the sink.

Cooking poultry to the right temperature

Temperature is where most poultry succeeds or fails, so a thermometer earns its place here more than almost anywhere. The classic guidance is to cook poultry to 165F, which kills bacteria instantly, and it is a safe rule for any bird. But safety is really a product of both heat and time, so a chicken breast held at 150F for a few minutes, or a sous vide breast at 145F for an hour, is just as safe and far juicier. Dark meat is a different story: thighs and drumsticks are best taken to 175F or higher, where the connective tissue melts and the meat turns silky rather than dry. Whole birds are a compromise, so cook to the thigh, aiming for about 175F there while the breast finishes around 160F, and always rest the bird before carving so the juices settle.

The nutrition of poultry

Poultry is one of the leanest and most affordable sources of high-quality protein, which is a big part of why it is eaten everywhere. A skinless chicken breast is almost pure lean protein with very little fat, while dark meat carries more fat and a little more iron and zinc. The skin adds flavor and richness along with calories, so leaving it on or off is an easy way to adjust a dish to your needs. Poultry also delivers B vitamins, selenium, and phosphorus. However you cook it, the bird itself is a nutritional workhorse, and the main variables in the final dish are the cut you choose, whether you keep the skin, and how much added fat you cook it in.