“Moist and tender cornish hens seasoned with a savory spice mixture and roasted with vegetables to perfection!”
Watch me make these easy roasted cornish hens from start to finish!
Cornish hens are so doggone cute!! Every time I make them I’m all like “awwwww look…. so precious”. Sometimes I even do the whole baby talk thing “awww wook at those wittle wegs!!” Ha! Ay don’t act like you didn’t know I was a tad off.
If you’ve never made cornish hens before then you should definitely start with this easy, basic recipe. It’s nothing fancy-schmancy really. No super seasoning blends. Just a delicious, quick recipe that creates one juicy, tender cornish hens (without brining) that pairs up great with so many side dishes.
Feel free to add in more seasonings and spices if you’re going for something really spicey…or smokey…or salty…or whatevs!
What I love about this roasted cornish hen recipe is that it cooks over a bed of fresh veggies so this could totally be a complete meal.
There is something about serving cornish hens that looks so elegant. Everybody gets their own little juicy hen to devour. It’s a GREAT alternative to doing a whole turkey for Thanksgiving, especially if you’re having a small gathering.
I usually serve it with wild rice, candied yams, and cabbage. Oh yeah and a basket of yeast rolls and sweet ice tea!!! Yes, Lordt!!!!” I wish I had that meal right now!
Easy Roasted Cornish Hens
Ingredients
- 8 carrot peeled and evenly chopped
- 8 celery stalk roughly chopped
- 1 yellow onion sliced
- 5 springs rosemary can use more
- 3 cloves minced garlic optional
- 4 cornish hens thawed, rinsed and patted COMPLETELY dry inside out.
- olive oil
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 1 tablespoon black pepper
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
- 2-3 tablespoons parsley
- 3-4 tablespoons butter sliced
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450 F.
- Spread out chopped vegetables and rosemary in the bottom of 9 x 13 inch baking dish.
- Rub olive oil lightly over the cornish hens. Set aside.
- In a bowl, mix together spices and sprinkle generously over the hens, being sure to season the inside cavity as well. (double the spice mixture (or at least the salt) & let marinate for 3 hours if you're going for maximum flavor, but that's optional)
- Place the hens on top of the bed of vegetables.
- Run your fingers under the skin to loosen it.
- Place a slice of butter under the skin of each hen.
- Tie the legs together with kitchen string or foil paper.
- (I like to sprinkle on more parsley at this point but that's optional)
- Bake for 50-60 minutes, depending on size of hens.
- Let hens rest for 15 minutes before eating.
Video
Stumbled across your recipe while looking for a seasoning to use on my Cornish hens. And Boy oh Boy, my hens were so juicy and favorable. My husband and I were licking our fingers and craving more. I used my air-fryer which made the skin crispy and inside juicy. I’m looking forward to using this same recipe again in the future. It’s a HIT!!!
Side Note: You should definitely try cooking in a air-fryer if you have one.
I just recently purchased an air fryer, please send instructions
safreeman55@yahoo.com
Wow!! This was my first attempt at making cornish hens and this recipe looked easy enough to follow. IT WAS A HIT at Christmas – so flavorful and juicy!!!! My family and I agree this was the best meal I ever made! NOTE: I added a little bit of extra virgin olive oil to the veggies and rosemary along with some kosher salt. (I’ve always heard you should salt every element of the dish.) I also doubled all the spices because I knew I’d stuff some between the skin and meat along with the butter. I also made sure the girls were at ROOM TEMPERATURE before I put them in the oven – a pro tip from Samin Nosrat. I think that made all the difference because they cooked evenly. I’m definitely keeping this recipe!!!!
Just finished cleaning up after a very tasty Christmas dinner with my daughter and get boyfriend.
She requested a Cornish Hen and I took it from there.
Thanks for the recipe. It was fabulous.
Geoffrey in Calgary Alberta Canada
yes, first time to use this recipe. It was superb. Thank you for sharing, made our Christmas 2019 meal perfect.
December 17, 2019.
The prep time of 15 minutes is wildly underestimated! I’m a pretty good cook snd it took me 45 minutes!! Otherwise a good recipe
You’re not that good if it took you 45 minutes to prep.
Thank you SO much for posting this recipe! I’ve made it a few times so far & everyone absolutely LOVES it! I’m so grateful for this! Thank you!!
Your video was cracking me up!! I can’t wait to use this recipe for my Thanksgiving hens!
We tried this recipe tonight and found it not only easy to prepare, but delicious! The hens were beautifully browned, juicy and perfectly seasoned. I wondered if the vegetables would be edible on the bottom of the pan, but to my surprise they were tender and well seasoned by the drippings. As a matter of fact, you could use sliced potatoes if desired. This is definitely a keeper!