Cornish Game Hen Recipe with Orange and Rosemary
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This Cornish game hen recipe is perfect for Easter or any other occasion! The bright flavors of the orange, sherry, and rosemary will have everyone wanting more.
Raise your hand if you eat ham every single Easter. I bet a lot of you are raising your hands. As much as I love ham (especially this five ingredient slow cooker maple dijon ham), I think there comes a time for mixing it up a little.
Why you’ll love this recipe
- Approachable: If you’re intimidated by the thought of preparing a Cornish hen, don’t be! It’s really simple. If you can cook chicken, you can cook Cornish game hen.
- Impressive and flavorful: Blow your family and friends away with this beautiful Cornish game hen recipe. They’ll be impressed, but more importantly, their taste buds will be satisfied with the bright citrus of the orange and the savory pine notes of the rosemary.
How to Make this Cornish Game Hen
This recipe looks super impressive but in reality is quite easy to make. Those are my favorite kind of recipes. As always, scroll down for the complete and printable recipe card.
- First, remove the giblets. If you like giblets, you could make giblet gravy or a homemade stock.
- Give the Cornish hens a little massage with olive oil. That helps them get crispy beautiful brown skin. Season them, inside and out, with salt and pepper. Put them into a roasting pan large enough to accommodate the hens side by side.
- Start with a high temperature to get the Cornish hens going and to caramelize the onions and the oranges. Then, reduce the temperature and add the sherry, chicken broth, and mustard to the pan to keep the hens moist, and to add terrific flavor during the remainder of the cooking time.
- Remember to baste every 10-15 minutes to bathe the hens in the great flavor of the broth and to keep them from drying out.
- Once the hens have finished cooking (I like to use an instant read thermometer), remove them from the pan, put them on a platter, and tent them with foil to keep warm. Reduce the juices in the pan over high heat to make a nice sauce.
- All that’s left to do is to enjoy!
Serving tips
Try serving Cornish hens with brown butter slow cooker mashed potatoes, zucchini rice casserole (also bakes at 350!), sauteed parsnips with white wine and thyme, or green beans with lemon and feta.
Did you make this? Be sure to leave a review below and tag me @rachelcooksblog on Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest!
Ingredients
- 2 Cornish hens (about 2 pounds each)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 1 orange, quartered
- 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
- 1 yellow onion, quartered
- 1/4 cup Sherry or Sherry Cooking Wine
- 1/4 cup reduced sodium chicken broth
- 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450°F.
- If present, remove giblets from Cornish hens.
- Rub outside of Cornish hens with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. Season hens with salt and pepper on all sides. Place 1 orange wedge and 1 sprig of rosemary in cavity of each hen. Arrange in a roasting pan, and arrange remaining orange wedges and quartered onions around hens. Roast at 450°F for 25 minutes.
- Reduce oven temperature to 350°F. In a small bowl or measuring cup, whisk together Sherry Wine, chicken broth, mustard, and remaining 1 tablespoon of oil and pour over hens.
- Continue roasting about 45 minutes longer, or until hens are golden brown and juices run clear and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh registers 180°F. Baste with juices from pan every 10 minutes.
- Transfer hens, oranges, and onions to a platter, pouring liquid from cavities into the roasting pan. Cover Cornish hens loosely with aluminum foil to keep warm. Transfer pan juices to a medium saucepan (you can also do this right in the roasting pan) and place over high heat. Boil until liquids reduce to a sauce, 5-7 minutes.
- To serve, cut hens in half lengthwise and arrange on plates. Spoon sauce over hens and serve.
Notes
- If you’d rather not use sherry, substitute with additional chicken broth.
Nutrition Information
This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.
Hildegard McLemore says
I made this recipe today. They were the best cornish hens I have made in a long time. Your recipe is keeper.
Rachel Gurk says
Wow, what high praise! I’m so glad you liked them, and thank you for taking the time to come back and leave a comment!
l meyers says
served this to the family last night, with the green bean and feta suggestion, as well as a wild/forbidden rice side cooked with rehydrated leeks and chicken concentrate. i cooked down the juices, but also addd some arrowroot to thicken it, at the end.
it was a big hit, everyone especially loved the sauce.
Rachel Gurk says
So happy to hear that it was a hit! The rice sounds amazing, too! Thanks for taking the time to come back and leave a comment!
Isabella says
Thanks for sharing this recipe – I’m going to make it for the holidays. Just one comment though…. I had to close at least 5-6 ads before I was able to view the page. It’s SO annoying to have to wrestle through all these ads! Enough to want to make me never return to this webpage. Sorry.
Rachel Gurk says
Hi Isabella,
Thanks for visiting! I hope you love the cornish hens. I understand your frustration and would love to know if you’re browsing on a phone, tablet, or computer. The ads should not get in the way of viewing the content, but please let me know if they do. I hope you also understand that running a website like this and keeping it free for visitors costs me thousands of dollars each month, not to mention the time I put in developing recipes, photographing them, and writing the posts. The ads help me to offset those costs so I can continue doing this.
Thanks again for your feedback! -Rach
emil says
Very puzzled by this response. What could possibly cost thousands of dollars each month in addition to (“not to mention”) the time put in, etc? Anyone could do it for less than $100/month. And, yes, it took FOREVER for the page to load on a highspeed broadband connection here as well (top of the line laptop too), so not a site I would continue to visit either. After 30+ years in IT, I have to say someone is bilking you if it’s costing you that kind of dough. A shame, really…. your content has potential. Find someone to help you vs whoever is ripping you off!
Rachel Gurk says
Hi Emil,
I pay less than $100 for my hosting service, but I also pay for things such as site maintenance, security, site design, a videographer, a social media assistant, SO MANY GROCERIES, camera equipment, photo editing software, props to make my photos look appealing for all of you, etc. etc. I appreciate you saying my content has potential, but part of the reason for that is because I invest time and money into it.
I am also very focused on keeping the site loading fast, so to hear that it’s loading slowly is quite a surprise, I’ve never heard anyone say that.
Thank you for your feedback and concern.
Hannah says
Made it tonight with the addition of sweet potatoes and carrots nestled around the hens. It was a really nice and relatively easy Sunday dinner!
Rachel Gurk says
Oh I’m so happy to hear that! Thanks for taking the time to come back and leave a comment!
Jessie says
This is a lovely recipe! I stuffed the hens with several quartered Cutie clementine tangerines and several quartered cloves of fresh garlic. I also placed several quartered clementines around the hens with the onions. The result was not only beautiful, but the dish was heavenly to the taste buds. Thank you for sharing this recipe!
Rachel Gurk says
I’m so happy to hear that! Thank you for taking the time to come back and leave a comment – it means a lot to me!
Ken H says
Made this for Thanksgiving as a change.
Excellent recipe. The last 10 minutes are critical to monitor each bird, almost made the mistake of checking only one of four.
The sauce rendered as explained and was delicious.
Thank you a very successful meal.
Rachel Gurk says
I’m so glad you liked this and honored that you tried it on Thanksgiving! Thank you for taking the time to come back and leave a comment!
Deidre LenoirCannon says
Great!
Rachel Gurk says
Thank you!
Jen says
I made this recipe for Easter dinner yesterday, and it was amazing! I added a little paprika and garlic powder to the chicken seasoning, but otherwise stuck to the recipe. My husband and our guest LOVED it.
Rachel Gurk says
I’m thrilled to hear that! Thank you for taking the time to come back and leave a comment! I’m glad I was able to make your Easter a little more delicious!
Jim says
Excellent.. change nothing
Rachel Gurk says
Thanks Jim! Glad you enjoyed this recipe! Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment!
Cathy Trochelman says
Cornish game hen is the ONE nice dinner my hubby has ever made for me…..I will need to slip him this recipe! ;)
Rachel Gurk says
Haha I like the way you think!
Cookin Canuck says
I love this alternative to ham on Easter! Though, truth be told, I’d eat this at any time of the year, particularly with some sherry in there.
Rachel Gurk says
So true, me too!
Erin @ Dinners, Dishes, and Desserts says
We eat ham every Easter, just bought mine today! But I love these little cornish game hens for entertaining! And that sherry has to give them such great flavor!
Lori @ RecipeGirl says
This is such a gorgeous dinner! I need to make this for my family soon!
Patty K says
Love the colors in this dish! These Cornish hens look perfect for any special occasion, and maybe even a shortcut for Thanksgiving ;)
denise says
looks delicious