It is so much fun sharing with you a bit of my Cajun heritage and those classic recipes from just south of LA 14. Here's my first video on how to debone and stuff a chicken or a poulet (pronounced poo-let), which is what we call them back home in south Louisiana. This delicious specialty meat item is a treat and easy to prepare. Here's how:
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Steps to debone and stuff a chicken:
- Rinse and dry the chicken.
- Break the tips of the leg bones off with the back of the blade of a large knife by giving it a strong whack.
- Cut the tips off of both wings. Discard the tips.
- With a small sharp knife, remove the wishbone by cutting through the meat on both sides at the top of the breast along the wishbone, then pull it out with your fingers and discard.
- Lay the chicken with the backside up, take a sharp, long fillet knife, and cut along the backbone from top to bottom.
- On one side of the cut start carving the skin and meat away from the chicken carcass toward the breastbone, starting from the neck to the chicken's bottom. At about three-fourths of the way down the back, cut out the oyster from the bone and continue to the bottom of the chicken.
- Return to the top of the chicken and cut away the wing bone at its joint from the carcass with your knife.
- Continue slicing away the breast meat from the bone along the side of the rib cage down toward the chicken's rear.
- Cut away the thigh bone at the joint from the carcass.
- Continue cutting away the meat from the carcass down toward the breast bone.
- Do the same on the other side of the chicken, cutting and removing the whole carcass from the chicken meat. You can make stock or broth using the carcass and bones.
- Next, using a small sharp knife, cut meat around the thigh joint and start scraping down the thigh bone to the leg joint.
- Cut meat away from around the leg joint, scrape meat from the leg bone, and pull the leg bone out. Remember the leg tip was broken away from the leg bone in step 2, making this removal easy.
- Do the same with the other thigh and leg bones. Discard them.
- Now you are ready to season the boneless chicken (I use Slap Ya Mama). Stuff with whatever you desire and either tie it up or sew up its backside through the skin with cooking twine to keep the stuffing in place before freezing or baking. I have found letting it marinate in the refrigerator for several hours before freezing or cooking helps to tenderize the meat.
- If frozen, defrost before baking at 375 degrees for 1 hour. Let it sit for a few minutes, then slice it and serve. Delicious and so juicy!
For more recipes to go with this stuffed chicken all year round, check out 20 Cajun Thanksgiving Recipes For Your Holiday Menu. From appetizers to desserts, they may steer you away from your traditional Thanksgiving meal, but they won't disappoint!
Top Tip
These chickens can be stuffed with anything such as rice dressing, crawfish etouffee, broccoli and rice, roasted vegetables, cornbread dressing (I used Zydeco Chop Chop instead of freshly chopped vegetables in my dressing), and the choices go on.
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Pairing
Recipe
Deboned Stuffed Chicken, An Easy Tutorial
Here's an easy tutorial and instructions on how to debone a chicken and stuff it with rice dressing, crawfish etouffee, boudin, broccoli and rice, roasted vegetables, or cornbread dressing.
- Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
- Yield: 1 whole stuffed chicken 1x
Ingredients
- 1 whole 4 to 5-pound fryer
- Cajun seasoning blend
- stuffing of your choice (like cornbread stuffing, rice dressing, boudin, crawfish etouffee, broccoli and rice casserole, or roasted vegetables)
- cooking twine
Instructions
Rinse and dry the chicken.
- Break the tips of the leg bones off with the back of the blade of a large knife by giving it a firm whack without breaking the skin.
- Cut the tips off of both wings and discard.
- Remove the wishbone by cutting through the meat on both sides at the top of the breast along the wishbone, then pulling it out with your fingers and discarding it.
- Lay the chicken with the backside up, breastside down, take a sharp, long fillet knife, and cut along the backbone from top to bottom, making one long slit.
- On one side of the cut, start carving the skin and meat away from the chicken carcass toward the breastbone, starting from the neck to the chicken's bottom.
- Cut out the oyster from the bone about three-fourths down and continue slicing the meat from the carcass toward the bottom of the chicken.
- Return to the top of the chicken and cut away, separating the wing bone at its joint from the carcass with your knife.
- Continue slicing the breast meat away from the bone along the side of the rib cage toward the chicken's rear.
- Cutaway and separate the thigh bone at the joint from the carcass.
- Continue cutting away the meat from the carcass down toward the breast bone; doing the same on the other side of the chicken, cutting and removing the whole carcass from the chicken meat.
- Next, cut meat around the thigh joint using a small sharp knife and scrap down the thigh bone to the leg joint.
- Cut meat from around both leg joints, scrape meat from the leg bone, pull the leg bone out, and discard the bones. (Remember, the leg tip was broken away from the leg bone in step 2, making this removal easy.)
- Season the boneless chicken with a Cajun seasoning blend on both sides.
- Stuff with whatever you desire and tie it up or sew up its backside through the skin with cooking twine to keep the stuffing in place before freezing or baking.
- Defrost if frozen before baking at 375 degrees for 1 hour. Let it sit for a few minutes, then slice and serve.
Notes
- You can make stock or broth using the carcass and bones.
- Letting the chicken marinate in the refrigerator for several hours before freezing or cooking helps to tenderize the meat.
- These chickens can be stuffed with rice dressing, crawfish etouffee, broccoli and rice, roasted vegetables, and cornbread dressing, and the choices continue.
- I used Zydeco Chop Chop instead of freshly chopped vegetables in my dressing,
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Category: Main Dish
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: Cajun
Keywords: deboned and stuffed chicken, deboned chicken, stuffed chicken
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