Cornish hens are one of my favorite main dishes for fall and winter entertaining. Stuffed with a wild rice, cranberry, and apple stuffing and roasted with an apple cider glaze, these elegant hens are a gorgeous alternative to turkey. Don’t miss the sommelier wine pairings to complete the meal!
Back in the 80’s, Cornish hens were all the rage for special occasions. My mother used to roast them by the panful for our family, their buttery aroma wafting throughout the house as we awaited dinner.
We had roasted chicken often, but this wasn’t just any roasted chicken dinner. The elegant, diminutive hens, perched on our plates in their individual splendor, were the definition of “holiday”.
Of course, the sophistication of it all was pretty much lost on my 5-year-old self. I was just tickled pink to have a tiny chicken on my plate for dinner.
I still love serving Cornish hens during the holidays. If I’m hosting a smaller Thanksgiving gathering, the hens are the perfect alternative to roasting a large turkey. They also make a beautiful presentation for Christmas dinner or New Year’s Day.
I mean, just look at that platter!
What is a Cornish Hen?
Here in the United States, commercial “Cornish Hens” are a hybrid of two chicken breeds: Cornish and Plymouth Rock. They are young and small birds, 4-6 weeks old, weighing no more than two pounds.
You’ll often hear them referred to as “Cornish Game Hens” or “Rock Cornish Game Hens.” Despite being called “game hens”, these chickens are not game birds at all, and can be male or female.
Cornish Hen vs. Poussin
Sometimes, you’ll see Cornish hens marketed as “poussin,” or “spring chickens,” though there are some differences between them. Poussins can be any breed of immature, small chicken, not just the specific breeds above that define Cornish hens.
Poussin chickens are traditionally a bit leaner than Cornish hens, and tend toward the smaller end of the weight chart. Whenever I find poussins at poultry farms, they are right around one- to one and a quarter pounds.
Both Cornish hens and poussins have a delicate flavor and moist, tender texture. They can be used interchangeably in this recipe, though will roast at slightly different rates. At the grocery store, I like to buy natural, air-chilled poultry, and find the hens of this quality the most delectable.
Making Stuffed Cornish Hens
Given the delicate nature of these birds, I prefer to stuff them with a loose rice stuffing instead of a more substantial bread stuffing.
Prepping the stuffing for the hens doesn’t take long, and can be done ahead. All you need to do is sauté onions and celery in butter until softened, and stir in pecans, apples, and herbs until toasty and fragrant. Toss with cooked rice and sweetened dried cranberries, and you’re ready to go.
Each Cornish hen will accommodate about 1/2 cup of loose stuffing, sometimes a spoonful or two more. For proper cooking, you don’t want to pack the stuffing into the bird tightly.
What Type of Rice Should I Use?
For the stuffing base, I use a blend of white, brown, wild, and red rice (called “Royal Blend” at my market). You can also use a standard long grain and wild rice blend.
For the best texture and flavor, I rinse the rice until the water runs clear and simmer it in chicken broth. It’s important to cook the rice until it’s tender, but don’t overcook it. The stuffing should be soft, but not mushy.
Tips for Roasting Glazed Cornish Hens
I typically don’t fully truss a Cornish hen as I would a larger roasted chicken, but I do tuck the wing tips under the bird and tie the legs together with kitchen twine.
Roast the hens on a rack set in a roasting pan or on a rimmed baking sheet. You want the hens to have a little bit of space around them while roasting so the air will circulate and they’ll cook evenly.
Before roasting for 20 minutes in a 425 degree F oven, I brush the hens thoroughly with melted butter and season them with salt and freshly-cracked pepper. The butter will help the browning process at the higher initial roasting temperature and add flavor.
After the first 20 minutes, I reduce the oven temperature to 375 degrees F to finish roasting the hens and start the glazing process. They will spend an additional 40-50 minutes in the oven.
With 30 minutes remaining in the cooking time, glaze the hens every 10 minutes with a simple cider-Dijon-maple reduction. (Easy to make ahead on the stove!). The glaze gives the skin a sweet-tart finish and a gorgeous color.
Serving Cornish Game Hens
For most Cornish hens in the 1.25 to 1.5 pound range, one bird serves one person. Larger hens can be split in half to serve two guests.
If serving a full hen, there’s no need to carve before plating. After resting the hens, snip away the kitchen twine from the legs and transfer to dinner plates or a serving platter.
While there is enough rice in each bird for a single serving, I like to make an extra batch and serve it alongside the hen. Sometimes, guests will want an extra scoop of rice and it makes a pretty presentation.
Place the extra rice stuffing in a buttered pan, cover, and warm at 325 degrees F for 20-30 minutes before serving.
Make this elegant meal even more special with a wine pairing! Certified Sommelier and Italian Wine Ambassador, Hugh Preece, suggests the following:
Traditional Pairing: St. Michael-Eppan Riesling ‘Montiggl’ Sudtirol, Alto Adige
“Clean yellow-green color, on the nose intense stone fruit and white flowers; on the palate, elegant grapefruit, sage, thyme, almond, balanced minerality, good acidity, with a touch of roundness and a persistent finish.
Daring Pairing: Tenuta San Giorgio Sangiovese ‘Ciampoleto’ Rosso di Montalcino DOC, Tuscany
“Nice bright, ruby red baby Brunello, on the nose, fruity with ripe berries as well as autumnal flowers. Smooth, supple and fresh on the palate with thyme, cherry, raspberry, sun dried tomato, clove, leather, clay, strawberry finish, delicate tannins that give it a very nice structure. Moderate in body and very accessible.”
Cornish Hens with Apple-Cranberry Rice Stuffing
Ingredients
Stuffing
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1/4 cup chopped onion
- 1/4 cup chopped celery
- 1/3 cup coarsely chopped pecans
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage
- 2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
- 1-1/2 cups cooked rice (long grain and wild, or "Royal/Wild Blend")*
- 1/2 cup peeled, diced Fuji apples (1/4-inch dice, about 1/2 large apple)
- 1/2 cup sweetened dried cranberries
- 3 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
- kosher salt and freshly-ground black pepper
- splash apple cider
Glaze
- 1 cup apple cider
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- pinch ground cinnamon
Hens
- 4 cornish hens (1.25 to 1.5 pounds each)
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter , melted
- kosher salt and freshly-ground black pepper
Instructions
Make the Stuffing
- Melt butter in a skillet until foaming subsides. Add onions and celery and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add pecans, sage, thyme, and 1/4 teaspoon each kosher salt and pepper. Cook for about 3 more minutes, until pecans are fragrant.
- Deglaze the pan with a small splash of apple cider, and scrape any brown bits from the bottom.
- Remove from heat and stir in cooked rice, apples, cranberries, and parsley. Season to taste with additional salt and pepper. Set aside.
Make the Glaze
- Combine apple cider and maple syrup in a pot. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to maintain a steady bubble. Simmer until mixture is syrupy and reduced to about 1/3 to 1/2 cup, about 15 minutes.
- Whisk in Dijon mustard and cinnamon until smooth. Set aside.
Stuff and Roast the Hens
- Remove hens from the refrigerator about 30 minutes prior to roasting. Remove giblets, rinse hens, and pat dry with a paper towel.
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F with the rack in the lower third of the oven. Place a roasting rack inside of a foil-lined roasting pan or a rimmed baking sheet. Spray roasting rack with cooking spray.
- Lightly season the cavities of the hens with salt and pepper. Loosely spoon about 1/2 cup of stuffing into each cavity. Tie the legs closed with kitchen twine and tuck the wings under the birds. Arrange the hens in the pan with enough space between them for air to circulate.
- Brush the tops and sides of each hen with melted butter and season with salt and pepper. Roast for 20 minutes and reduce oven temperature to 375 degrees F.
- Continue roasting for an additional 40-50 minutes. During the last 30 minutes, lightly brush the hens with the glaze every 10 minutes. If the hens start to brown too quickly, shield them with a piece of foil.
- When finished, the hens should register 180 degrees F in the thickest part of the thigh, and the juices should run clear. Let hens rest for 10 minutes before serving.
Notes
Nutrition Estimate
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
About our recipes
Please note that our recipes have been developed using the US Customary measurement system and have not been tested for high altitude/elevation cooking and baking.
Wonderful recipe, with great details and tips. One thing- when I went to clean up the pan, I scraped up some lovely drippings. Would it gild the lily to add some liquid and make a sauce? or maybe add some of the glaze to the pan while it’s still cooking and baste with that?
Wow, what a hit! I made this for a birthday/wedding anniversary dinner party. I made 6 hens (a bit of a challenge). They turned out perfect. The rice stuffing was incredible. Everyone loved the hens. I wanted everything homemade. Menu was Caesar salad with homemade dressing, glazed baby carrots, made cloverleaf yeast dinner rolls, the hens and made pineapple upside down cake for dessert. Thank you for this recipe!
Delicious! I adjusted the times a bit to cook longer, but it turned out perfectly! I relied on how they looked, and flipped them over on their backs thelast 15 mins and turned the oven up to 400. I made these Cornish hens for Thanksgiving this year. Next time, I’ll make some cranberry sauce and more of the stuffing, but no complaints about the recipe. The stuffing has a nutty fruity taste from the cranberries and pecans, and the hens are roasted crispy on the outside, moist inside, with a sweet taste from the maple syrup mix. I wish I could post a picture.
Made this for our scaled-back Thanksgiving and it was such a hit. I was worried it would be too sweet, but it was absolute perfection. Delicious. Thank you!!
I used a whole duck for this recipe and it was mmm mmm good!????
Hi Lisa,
You have me craving duck! :) I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe.
Be well,
Amanda
Do you make the rice with its seasoning packet or keep it plain?
Making this for Christmas and am doing a test run of the stuffing now.
Thanks!
Hi Joanna,
I emailed you back, it might’ve gone to your spam. :) Leave out seasoning packet, add a pinch of salt to the water, and if the package calls for any butter or oil, add that in to avoid sticking. You’ll season the rice further when you make the stuffing.
I made the rice stuffing for the Cornish hen recipe in a practice run. The family loved it. It was very easy to assemble (I would suggest the mise-en-place approach). The taste was insanely great. Thanks. I’ll report back on the hens and whole presentation after T-day. Happy Thanksgiving 2019 to all!!!
My family loved it, especially the glaze I made this for Christmas Eve dinner and they could not get enough. It was also super easy to make.
Hi Amanda,
Since seeing this recipe, I have decided that this will be my Christmas dinner this year. I’m sure there will be loads of oohs and aahs…. I was wondering if I could make the stuffing ahead of time and freeze it until I need it. have you ever frozen the stuffing and what were the results. I’m wondering if the apples and cranberries would be soggy it I freeze it.
looking forward to your answer and to making this platter this year.
Hi Denise,
Honestly, I haven’t frozen this particular recipe before, so I can’t advise with absolute certainty. While cooked rice typically freezes well, I would have concerns about the texture of the apples. I have made the stuffing up to two days in advance and kept it covered, in the refrigerator, with good results.
Hope you enjoy the hens as much as we have! Merry Christmas!
Thanks for the advice Amanda! I commented on someone’s more recent comment wondering about cooking the rice in advance but thought to look a little deeper in the comments and glad I did!
Just made this….basting as I type and realize I forgot the ???? in the stuffing mix. This is a practice run for a future dinner party. One bird per person seems like a lot – although prettier to serve that way.
Hi Kristi,
Since there’s a small meat to bone ratio on Cornish hens, one hen per person is the typical serving for birds in the 1.25-1.5 pound range. As I talk about in the blog post, you can split them in half if your hens are at the larger end of the spectrum, closer to 2 pounds. If splitting, I’d serve the halved hen leg-side up over a scoop of the stuffing for a nice presentation. Enjoy your dinner party!
This is perfect. We we’re just talking about what to do for Christmas dinner with our small family. How fun, saving this. Thanks so much and I really love your photography!
I have never made a cornish hen before. I took my time to make sure mine looked as pretty or as close to yours as possible and I was able to do it with the instructions provided. I didn’t have a large platter so ran out to get one to display just like yours. My guests were wowed and absolutely enjoyed!
Haha! My mom was obsessed with serving cornish hens in the 80’s. I’d forgotten all about that little tidbit from childhood. Your platter is so beautiful! Like, I’d seriously oooh and aaaah if it were placed in front of me. I do like both the stuffing and cider glaze on your hens. So festive!!
Amanda, these hens look so succulent – the glistening, burnished skin is cooked to perfection. I haven’t made game hens in a long time, and we’ve got a small family, so thank you for putting this back on my radar screen. I love the rice stuffing too — it seems much more sophisticated than the traditional bread stuffing and the apple, cranberry & pecan additions are so seasonal. My mother is currently in turkey preparations, but I think I can squeeze your recipe in next weekend for a little Thanksgiving replay. I have a feeling yours will be better!
Cider, dijon, maple glaze? Sold! Seriously though, thanks for the info on the cornish hens. I’ve never made them, but you break it all down making me want to try. That rice stuffing looks good too….I could eat that all on it’s own!
These are so beautiful! I’ve only cooked cornish hens once, but they do look so pretty on the serving platter. I need to try them again! I don’t have a roasting pan large enough to cook a turkey, so this is such a perfect option for me. And that glaze– I LOVE!! I need to find those wines and make it a meal :D
How gorgeous are these?! I’ve never even really thought about making cornish hens before, but that beautiful presentation is making me want to throw a dinner party immediately. I can’t decide if I’d like the poultry or the stuffing more?! Pinning and will definitely be making soon!
I once scared my partner’s brother with my ability to eat a whole cornish hen by myself in one sitting so this recipe is calling my name! I love cornish hen and I’ve never tried it with and apple-cranberry stuffing before, just regular rice! I’m going to try and request this as a holiday dinner alternative for December.
These are beautiful Amanda! Their color is so perfect and even though my big turkey is already bought, this makes me want to go by some Cornish Hens! I’ll have to save this for a dinner party because they’re just that impressive looking. I want to go with the daring pairing “autumnal flowers” sounds like the best pairing for this!
You’re not kidding about cornish hens in the 80s. Though I don’t remember my mum making them, I’ll often hear her bring it up to my Dad. “Remember when we’d always get those cornish hens? We should do that again sometime.” I wonder why the fad fizzled out, because these look and sound amazing and fad-worthy.
This is such a great alternative to a big turkey for a smaller, more intimate thanksgiving dinner. I love the inclusion of apples and cranberries, and I’m also really digging that rice stuffing. Sweet, savory, and oh-so-festive!
Wow Amanda, this recipe deserves “pro” status on every level! You haven’t missed a single detail in this process, which is very important for someone like me, who isn’t experienced with cooking cornish hen. I love it that you stuff them with the loose rice instead of a bread stuffing to up the nutritional value. Way to go, girl! Gorgeous pics too…thanks for sharing!