With its perfectly crispy, golden brown skin and moist, flavorful meat, this Roasted Cornish Game Hen recipe is sure to win you a standing ovation from your dinner guests!
Get ready to learn how to prepare roasted Cornish hen that is super moist and flavorful with perfectly browned and crispy skin!
I’ve always enjoyed Cornish game hen. Â Growing up they were our traditional New Year’s Eve dinner for many years. Â Not only were they delicious, they also catered perfectly to those egocentric developmental stages of childhood and teens where the importance of possession dominates: Â Being in miniature form, I could have an entire chicken all to myself! Â And it’s still neat to be served a mini chicken you can call your own.
One of the reasons I like Cornish hen is that it makes for such an elegant presentation.  It’s one thing when you bring in the large roasted chicken for your dinner guests to admire and it’s then carved and divided among the plates, each guest with their own little pile of chicken meat – and of course the dark meat lovers have to fight over who gets the two drumsticks and wings.  But it looks much more impressive when you can serve your dinner guests their very own beautifully golden-browned hens.  And those dark meat lovers get both sets of drumsticks and wings to themselves!  Thinking of inviting your boss over to dinner to prep him for that raise request?  These Cornish game hens are the perfect thing to feed his ego.
Do people even still do that or have I been watching too many 60’s movies??
There are a few tips and tricks to achieving roasted Cornish game hen that is perfectly browned and crispy on the outside while super moist and flavorful on the inside. Â Whether you’re preparing a special meal for your family, enjoying a romantic dinner for two, celebrating a special occasion or holiday, or simply feeding your egocentric needs, this recipe will show you what you need to do to get the perfect results.
Roasted Cornish Game Hen Recipe
Let’s get started!
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
I used fresh rosemary and thyme for these hens, but you can use any herb of your choice. Â Peel four whole cloves of garlic and cut a lemon in quarters. Â Pat the hens dry with paper towels. Â This is important for getting nicely browned, crispy skin.
Use your index finger to carefully loosen the skin on top of the hens, then slip a thin slice of butter under the skin on top of each breast.
Next slip a few fresh herb leaves under the skin.
In each cavity, stuff a quarter of the lemon, a clove of garlic, and a sprig of fresh rosemary and thyme (or herbs of choice).
Rub each hen all over with some extra virgin olive oil, then sprinkle with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Truss the hens by tying the legs and wings. Â For a step-by-step visual, you can Google “how to truss a chicken” and multiple videos will come up.
Place the hens on the rack of a roasting pan lined with aluminum foil. Â Place the hens as far apart from each other as possible to enable the skins to get browned and crispy (I added a fifth hen this time for our dinner guests). Â Place the hens in the preheated oven and roast for 25 minutes.
In the meantime, combine the chicken broth and white wine in a small bowl. Â After the hens have roasted for 25 minutes. pour the liquid over the hens, reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F, and continue roasting for another 35 minutes, basting every 8-10 minutes with the juices on the bottom of the pan. Â This is important to keep the meat juicy and flavorful.
The hens are done when an instant-read thermometer placed in the thickest part of the thigh registers 165 degrees F. Â Using a meat thermometer is very helpful for getting the best results. Â You want the chicken to be done but cooking it too long will dry out the meat.
If you want the skins browner, turn off the oven to broil and roast for a couple more minutes, watching closely so the skin doesn’t burn.  Carefully remove the hens, pour the juices from the cavities into the roasting pan.  Transfer the hens to a warmed platter, remove the trussing string, and tent with aluminum foil to keep warm.  Pour the liquid from the roasting pan into a small saucepan and boil for 5 minutes until it is a thin sauce-like consistency.  Serve the hens whole per guest or cut them in half lengthwise, placing  them cavity side down on each plate, drizzle with the sauce and garnish with a sprig of fresh herb and a slice of lemon.  Serve immediately.
ENJOY!
For a very different and incredibly delicious roast chicken recipe, be sure to try our Peruvian roasted chicken, Pollo a la Brasa!
Roasted Cornish Game Hen
Ingredients
- 4 Cornish game hens ,patted dry with paper towels
- 8 thin slices of butter
- 4 sprigs each of fresh rosemary and thyme or herbs of choice plus some extra leaves of each
- 4 large cloves garlic ,peeled
- 1 lemon ,scrubbed well and cut into quarters
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 cup dry white wine
- 1/2 cup chicken broth
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
- Pat the hens dry with a paper towel. Use your index finger to loosen the skin on the top of the hen and slip a thin slice of butter under the skin on top of each breast. Add a few rosemary and thyme leaves (or herb of choice). Repeat for each hen. Put a quarter of a lemon in the cavity of each hen along with a clove of garlic and a sprig of fresh rosemary and thyme (or herb of choice). Truss the hens by tying the wings and legs.
- Rub each hen all over with some extra virgin olive oil, then sprinkle with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Place then hens on the rack of a roasting pan lined with aluminum foil, spacing them out so they are as far apart from each other as possible. This will enable their skins to get browned and crispy.
- Place the hens in the preheated oven and roast for 25 minutes.
- While the hens are roasting, combine the chicken broth and wine in a bowl.
- After the hens have been roasting for 25 minutes, reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F. Pour the broth/wine mixture over the hens and continue to roast for 30 minutes, basting the hens with the juices at the bottom of the pan every 10 minutes or less. The hens are done when an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh registers 165 degrees F and the juices run clear. If you prefer darker skins, turn up the temperature to broil for a couple more minutes, watching closely to prevent burning.
- Carefully remove the hens and pour the juices from their cavities into the roasting pan. Transfer the hens to a warmed platter, remove the trussing string, and tent with aluminum foil to keep warm. Pour the juices from the roasting pan into a saucepan and boil for about 5 minutes until the liquid is a thin sauce-like consistency. Serve the hens whole per guest or cut in half lengthwise and place cavity-down on each serving plate. Drizzle the sauce over the hens and garnish with fresh herb sprigs and a slice of lemon. Serve immediately.
Nutrition
First published on The Daring Gourmet March 24, 2014
Jefferator says
I added tangerine and cherries to the stuffing and also added challottes to the wine and broth (add more both – and butter – to make a better sauce btw – it will reduce and it will make it a little more robust) especially in these cold temps here in CA……..its freezing – like 68 today!!!!! (lol)
It really just depends on the wee birds at the end of the day.
Have fun/ experiment…….
Jessica Luther says
Your food is wonderful. You probably learned it in a restaurant. It looks really good.
Thank you for sharing that secret. I will try to make one for my family. I will send you feedback after it’s done. yeah.
Karie Ann says
I just made this twice for the holidays for family and then friends. Our oven was pretty packed with 8 of these beautiful hens and Hasselback butternut squash. So, we had to leave it in for 1 hour and 40 minutes on 450F (conventional oven) as the top rack was covered by the butternut squash and casserole with the two hens. The bottom rack had the turkey pan with 6 hens. During the cooking process, we had to switched the racks after 30 minutes because the 6 at the bottom in turkey pan were not cooking well. We covered them for 30 minutes with aluminum foil and then took it off after we switched the racks, leaving it off for the rest of the time helped them to become more crispy. They came out awesome!! It was a huge hit with both parties we had. Everyone raved about how it was so cool to have their very own hen and no need to share! We will definitely be making this again. It was a success twice this year!! Thanks so much for this recipe.
Note: I didn’t add in the lemon or rosemary but I packed them with butter, fresh thyme and Garlic gloves.
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Thanks so much for the feedback, Karie Ann, I’m so glad they were a hit! Your oven was jam-packed indeed – well done juggling everything at once! Happy New Year!
Francine says
Can I substitute something else for the wine?
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Hi Francine, you can simply omit it.
Karen says
Is the lemon overpowering citrus flavor? Not a huge citrus fan.
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
That’s hard to say, Karen, since it’s a very subjective thing. I love lemon so it doesn’t stand out to me at all. Even with my lemon bias I would still say that no, it’s not overpowering. But if you’re really turned off by even the faintest lemon flavor you can simply omit it.
Ron says
I’m going to try your recipe tonight. Is it okay if I skip the part about trussing? I don’t have the string for that. Thanks, Ron
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Hi Ron, yes you can skip the trussing, no problem at all.
Frankie says
Forgot to rate it!
Judy says
Can I use something besides garlic we don’t like it. Thanks, Judy
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Hi Judy, simply omit it and it will still taste fantastic!
roger says
sigh! details,details,details.
” basting the hens with the juices at the bottom of the pan every 10 minutes or less. ”
and exactly how do I access these juices through the baking rack ?
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Hi Roger, basters are skinny metal tubes that you can stick through the baking rack and they have a rubber bulb at the end that you squeeze to suck up the liquid and then squirt it onto the hens.
Ivonne Cohen says
My husband love it , they look amazing and taste very good. Thanks for sherring this recipe.
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
I’m so glad, Ivonne, thank you!
Heather says
I am making 1 hen to share with my hubby.
It’s in the oven now, and I’m really looking forward to tasting it. I’m serving it with rice and cauliflower (raw for hubby, roasted for me) 😉
Williams says
I love to cook, learn and update new recipes for my daily menu, which makes me always interested in my work. Today’s my lucky day, Roasted Garlic, Herb and Lemon Cornish Game Hens is great, just follow the instructions and everything is easy, I like that. Thanks for your sharing
Vivian says
Hi Kimberly can I cooked these covered and then uncovered later on thanks do you have any instructions for covered
Frankie says
This was absolutely amazing. I just shared it on FB. First time I’ve ever commented on a recipe. Thx!
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
Fantastic, Frankie, thank you so much!
Anthony Allen says
Very easy to make, delicious you can really taste the lemon, it makes excellent sauce as well. I cooked some asparagus in it and that was excellent. I will definitely make this again and may even adapt it for a turkey.
Anthony Allen says
So great. The high heat cooking really makes a difference. Never fails to impress.