How To Peel Chicken Feet, and Prepare Them To Cook

When used correctly, chicken feet can increase the complexities of flavor in your stocks, soups, and broth. When you add chicken feet to a meal, you also upgrade the nutritional value of your meals.

Chicken feet provide a ton of collagen and gelatin, both of which have protective properties. They’re also high in essential vitamins and minerals, like calcium.

cleaned chicken feet

Here in the United States, we don’t use chicken feet in our cooking that often. In fact, most of the feet from our factory farm-grown chicken go right to China.

Chicken feet don’t actually have any meat in them – mostly cartilage and bone. Actually, something I learned when peeling my first set of chicken feet is that the different between chicken stock and broth is that broth, which is thicker than stock, is made with the feet, while stock is made without.

If you’re interested in really head-to-tail processing your birds, you’ve got to start using the feet. It will allow you to use all parts of the animal so nothing goes to waste.

Plus, peeling and cleaning chicken feet ultimately doesn’t take that long. You can have more than a dozen ready to go in just 30 minutes. They also freeze well. In most cases, you can store chicken feet in the freezer for up to six months. Just make sure they’re wrapped up properly to prevent freezer burn.

Do Chicken Feet Actually Need to Be Peeled?

There is a bit of debate over whether chicken feet actually need to be peeled. And if you could get away without having to do it, I’d say avoid it – it’s not fun, quick, or easy.

However, I really recommend peeling the feet because chicken feet are not clean. No matter how well you clean and peel the feet, there are so many cracks and crevices in the skin that it would be next to impossible to get everything out. You really don’t want chicken poop in your broth, do you?

If you’re not going to peel them (my grandmother didn’t, but again, I don’t recommend it) you will want to make sure you thoroughly clean them. The best way to do this is to rinse away all visible dirt and debris under running water. Then, soak the chicken feet in a solution of water and vinegar for about ten minutes. Agitate the feet to get rid of any particles that may have loosened up.

Rinse the feet, then soak again for a few more minutes. Give them a final rinse and you may be able to throw the chicken feet in your stockpot just like that.

However, I think I’ll stick to peeling mine, thank you!

How to Clean, Process, and Peel Chicken Feet

Peeling chicken feet is not difficult, but there is a process involved.

Clean the Feet Well

The first step in preparing chicken feet is to clean them well.

fresh chicken feet
fresh chicken feet

As you’d imagine, the feet are the dirtiest part of the bird. You don’t even want to know what’s on them.

Cleaning well is crucial.

chicken feet under running water
chicken feet under running water

I like to hold the feet under hot running water to wash most of the gunk off. Then I use a scrub brush to get them as clean as possible. I don’t use soap or bleach, or anything like that. Just lots of hot water and scrubbing.

washed chicken feet
washed chicken feet

I’m not going to lie. This picture totally creeps me out. The texture of the feet is even weirder than they look. Try not to think about it too much as you work with them.

Another thing that’s important to note is that you should always work in small batches. In this circumstance, I was forced to work in small batches – I only had one chicken!

But if you have lots of chicken feet to process and peel, you’re going to want to clean and chill small batches at once. The reason why is it’s going to be much harder to peel a foot that’s been sitting in ice for along time.

Try not to boil more than four or five feet per batch.

scalding chicken feet
scalding chicken feet

Simmer Them

Once the feet are super clean, toss them into a pot of simmering water on the stove for between 10-20 seconds. Don’t boil them. A hot simmer just on the verge of a boil is perfect. Use a lid to help keep everything contained.

You don’t want to cook the feet too long, because they’ll become more difficult to peel as the skin and scales begin to adhere to the flesh underneath. Essentially you’re just loosening the skin from the tendons.

The first time I peeled chicken feet I assumed (wrongly) that the longer I boiled, the easier the feet would be to peel. That wasn’t the case. It made it much harder.

boiling chicken feet
boiling chicken feet

Move Them

Use tongs to transfer them to a bowl of ice cold water.

peeling chicken feet
peeling chicken feet

Peel the Feet

Let them sit in the ice water for a few seconds before taking them out one by one to peel.

The skin should peel right off. If it isn’t peeling easily, pop it back into the simmering water for another 10 seconds. That should do the trick. Peel as much as you can by hand.

cleaning chicken feet with scrub brush
cleaning chicken feet with scrub brush

Next I like to use a stiff brush to finish scrubbing off what remains of the skin. The feet will be nice and white.

Are you sufficiently creeped out yet?

Me too.

We’re almost done. I promise.

chopped chicken foot toenail
chopped chicken foot toenail

Removing Toenails

Most people prefer to chop off the tips to remove the nails before cooking. They probably don’t taste very good.

The toenail has a covering that can pop right off. If you don’t want to take the time to remove the nails, just cut the whole end of the toe off.

You might find that the scales on the very top of the foot stick on and don’t peel very well. If you freeze your chicken feet ahead of time, you’ll have an easier time with this.

How to Use Chicken Feet

Now the chicken feet are ready to be cooked however you see fit.

chicken feet stock
chicken feet stock

Whenever I have chicken feet I like to use them to make a rich bone stock. I just toss them into the pot with all of the other bone and veggie scraps I’m cooking.

Some people make stock or bone broth out of chicken feet alone. You can read how I use kitchen waste to make From Scratch Chicken Stock for a nutritious soup base.

My understanding is that a chicken foot will make a more nutritious, gelatinous broth than if you just use carcasses for your chicken soup.

You can store the feet in the fridge for a few days until you’re ready to use them, or put them in a freezer bag for longer storage.

Once your feet are peeled, they can be boiled down into a broth, too. Chicken broth (or stock) can be used in soups as well as in dishes that call for chicken stock, like risotto. You can freeze excess broth or even process it in a pressure canner.

You can use your chicken feet to make all kinds of other recipes, including stews, stir fries (they’re delicious tossed with some vegetables like celery and onion, along with soy sauce and spices like ginger). Chicken feet are popular ingredients in many types of Asian cuisine due to their dense nutrient profile and versatility!

Peeling Frozen Chicken Feet

You can also peel chicken feet that were previously frozen. To do this, you’re going to have to start near the joint. You’ll have some scales flapping off already.

They’ll peel off in large pieces, for the most part. If you’re having trouble getting the skin to peel, you can use a pair of shears to make an incision. Then, your work will be a lot easier.

Remember, if you choose to freeze your chicken feet, it’s a good idea to clean them first. This will get rid of any bacteria that may be present.

Where to Buy Chicken Feet

If you don’t have your own chickens yet but still want to benefit from all the nutritious goodies found in chicken feet, don’t worry – you can buy them at most butcher shops and processing facilities. Just keep in mind that many processors ship their feet overseas because they sell better in other countries.

However, you can check around to local farmers that grow meat birds along with farmers markets, ethnic grocery stores, and butcher shops.

Whether you raise your own chickens or not, chicken feet are great to use in broth – they’ll add so much complexity and nutritional goodness to your cooking.

So what do you say? Are you ready to start cooking with chicken feet?

peeling chicken feet pinterest image

13 thoughts on “How To Peel Chicken Feet, and Prepare Them To Cook”

  1. I would have to think they are like the tips on the chicken wing. I never throw them out. I just cook them with the rest of the wings and eat them. Not much on them but they are really good. Takes forever to eat ten because I leave nothing other than the bones! I’ve never cooked chicken feet but I will try once. Maybe Sous vide.

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  2. I wish I had read this before I blanched mine. I cooked them too long. Well, I’ll do better next time. Thank you for this post!

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  3. I guess it’s ’cause I’m out-of-states, but where I’m from it’s a much bigger feat to be the home teacherer of four then to skin a few feets. Now if you will excuse me, I got a couple of dozen of feets to scrub, before I can join the five-year-old slaughterer in bed.

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  4. Great instructions, clear and concise – thank you. I’m about to prepare my first ever chickens’ feet. Little bit freaked out, if I’m honest :o)
    Wish me luck x

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  5. I live in South Africa where chicken feet are sold in the supermarket, so it’s not as strange for us to eat them. The slang term for chicken feet bought cooked is “run aways”

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  6. Hi Kendra,

    I’ve heard that Opossums also have a propensity for killing chickens. Opossums attract and feed off of deer ticks too so they do an amazing job in their natural attempt to limit the tick population.

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  7. Yep! I’m with you on the creep factor! Lol!
    We intend to do meat chickens next year (no place to do them this year) and I would not want to waste good broth ingredients!
    Your tutorial makes it look doable, if not easy–
    I totally hear you on the stinky/ smelly de- feathering process!
    That is the one thing that I cannot forget about my grandparent’s chicken culling days…that & a chicken running around with its head cut off…for like a half an hour–CREEPY CHICKEN DINOSAUR BRAINS!
    I’ll be using a killing cone when the time comes!
    I wonder if you can pressure can these up for later use? ….jars of chicken feet…even more creepy! Lol!

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  8. My Mom who was born in 1935 and raised on a farm in upstate New York said that one of the best treats they had as children was fried chicken feet that her Grandmother would make. Pretty much everything they had to eat came from the farm and not much could be wasted. 🙂

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