You may be wondering why would you even want to debone a chicken thigh. Actually, it is not as uncommon as you may think. In Israel deboned chicken thighs are called pargiot and are often found at meals. Usually they are grilled whole or cut and used for shish kebab, but they can also be stuffed or made any other way. In fact, if you’ve ever been to an Israeli restaurant that has “baby chicken” on the menu this is it. Personally, my favorite way to eat it is grilled or cut up to make pargiot shawarma.
Ok lets get started shall we?
Remove the skin and turn the thigh onto it’s back. You may notice a thin layer of meat or large layers of fat. If so, remove it so you have better access to the bone. Now slide your knife under the backbone that is attached to the thigh, as seen in the photo above, and cut it away. I find cutting at an angle and holding the thigh firm, or even giving it a pull, makes this easier. Set this bone aside for homemade chicken stock.
If you look you will notice a line of fat running down the thigh. This is where the bone is located. Slice down the line to expose the bone.
Now that the bone is exposed, remove it by cutting along the sides of the bone and underneath it. For this step you can either use a pairing knife or poultry sheers. Personally, I prefer using sheers. Once removed set this bone aside for chicken stock as well.
You will notice that one side of the meat is fuller than the other. Carefully cut it in half as shown in the photo above to both thin out the piece and make it longer.
How to Debone a Chicken Thigh Warning:
It doesn’t matter how many times you do this, don’t do it while distracted. Normally I can chat or even dance to music while cutting up and deboning chicken, but today I turned to speak to someone and almost cut myself badly.