• About
    • About Us
    • About Clarks Condensed
      • Home
    • Contact Us
    • What We Believe
    • Our Favorite Products
    • Shop Pampered Chef
  • Work With Us
    • Work With Us
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms and Conditions

↑

  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Disclosure/Disclaimer
  • Food
  • All Things Family
  • DIY

  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Clarks Condensed

Parenting, Pregnancy, DIY, Food, and More!

  • Family Life
    • Family Fun
    • Holiday and Occasions
      • Birthday
      • Valentine’s Day
      • Christmas
      • Fall
        • Halloween
      • Gift Ideas
      • New Year’s Eve
      • Summer
      • Independence Day
      • St. Patrick’s Day
      • Thanksgiving
      • Wedding
    • Parenting
    • Pregnancy
    • Breastfeeding
    • Travel
      • Utah
      • Colorado
      • Cruise
      • Florida
      • Disney World
      • Disneyland
  • Daily Living
    • Recipes and Cooking
      • Appetizer
      • Baked Goods
      • Bread
      • Breakfast
      • Copycat Recipes
      • Dessert
      • Instant Pot
      • Main Dish
      • Outdoor Cooking
      • Slow Cooker
      • Soups and Salads
    • DIY and Crafts
      • Cricut
      • Renovation
      • Crafts
      • Sewing
      • Tutorials
      • Photography
    • Healthy Living
      • Exercise
    • Gardening
    • Organization and Cleaning
  • Frugal Living
    • Thrifty Living
    • Dollar Tree
    • Shopping and Couponing
    • Product and Service Reviews
  • Free/$1 SVG Files
Home Β» The BEST Cornish Hen Recipe: The Only Recipe You Will EVER Need

The BEST Cornish Hen Recipe: The Only Recipe You Will EVER Need

Updated on November 2, 2020 | Published on October 1, 2019

Share
Tweet
Pin
Share

Posts on Clarks Condensed contain affiliate links, which I earn a small commission from. These are provided for your convenience, and the price isn't increased at all.

Get Printable Recipe
Cornish game hens are an excellent option for a fancy dinner, Thanksgiving, or just for fun. Here is the only baked cornish game hen recipe you need! Cornish game hen / easy cornish game hens / Cornish game hen brine via @clarkscondensed

This is the BEST Cornish Hen recipe around! We love Cornish game hens, and they make for a delicious recipe. There are many ways to make them, however, this has the best tips for how to make Cornish game hens.

Cornish Hens Recipe

Cornished Hen Recipe

Hi, there Clarks Condensed readers! My name is Charlee and I blog over at Humble in a Heartbeat. I am so excited to be on Katie’s blog today to share a simple and out-of-this-world Cornish game hen recipe with you. Never made Cornish hens before? No problem. This recipe is great for beginners.

When I was dating my husband, he invited me over to his apartment one evening to have dinner with him. I was thinking we would have some kind of steak or maybe pork. But no. He served Cornish game hens with oven fries. They only weigh 1 1/2 pounds or so.

Let me tell you, it was a dinner to remember! I had never in my life heard of Cornish game hens before and it was kind of fun to have an entire bird to myself.

Since our first Christmas dinner as a married couple, the Cornish game hen has become a regular feature. But really you can eat them anytime you want.

I personally love roasting Cornish hens because when you cook two 24 ounces in your oven it literally takes half the time in the oven as a 6-pound chicken.

Cornish game hens would be perfect to cook if you are having Thanksgiving away from family. Two Cornish game hens can feed two adults and one or two young children. It’s also great to cook these little birds if you don’t want leftovers.

Thanksgiving, Christmas, or any weeknight is a fine occasion for making Cornish game hens. Ok, so they are more expensive per pound than your average whole chicken. BUT, remember that when you don’t really want leftovers and you only want to heat up your oven for a small amount of time, they are the perfect solution.

Do you want to know what makes these babies so delicious? It’s my special brine recipe. I had heard about brining turkeys for years before I ever tried brining myself. I tried it on chicken several months ago, and now I’ve tried it on my little Cornish hens. Extraordinary results, I tell ya.

Once you brine even once, you will not go back to making any kind of bird without doing this simple process. Brining just makes every chicken, turkey, and Cornish hen so much tastier and moist.

What is a Cornish Game Hen?

Despite what some people say, a Cornish Hen is not just a baby chicken. It is actually a breed of chicken. They have actually been bred specifically for the commercial use – they don’t lay legs very well, but the make for a tasty dinner!

With that said, traditional cornish game hens are young, females that are butchered when they are just a few weeks old.

When Should You Make Cornish Game Hens?

Well, you can really make them anytime you want! We have enjoyed them year round. However, they are particularly fun during the holiday season.

Should You Brine Your Cornish Game Hen?

Yes, I would definitely recommend brining your game hen.

 

How to Cook Cornish Hens

Ingredients

  • 1/4 cup + 2 T. Kosher salt
  • 1/3 cup sugar or honey
  • 3-5 garlic cloves
  • 1/2 T. black peppercorns, crushed
  • 1 tsp. ground mustard
  • 1 tsp. onion powder
  • 2 1/2 quarts of warm water
  • 2 Cornish games hens (mine were 24 oz. each)

Instructions

Cornish Hen Brine

At least 12 hours or more before you intend to cook your Cornish hens, start the brine.

Cornish Hen Brine

Get out a large food-grade container. You can use a large pot if you have one large enough. Try to avoid metal if at all possible, because from what I've read it can do strange things to your birds!

Add the salt, sugar, garlic, peppercorns, ground mustard, and onion powder to your pot. (Do not worry if you don't have garlic, peppercorns, ground mustard, or onion powder because these can be omitted. I would discourage this, but sometimes you just don't have an ingredient.) Pour the warm water over it all and stir it so the salt and sugar dissolves. Put the pot into your fridge until the water has cooled down.

Cornish Game Hen Brine

Take the pot out of the fridge and get your Cornish hens ready. Remove the giblets and submerge the hens into the brine. Put the pot back in the fridge for about 6 hours. Remove the pot from the fridge, flip the birds over, and put the pot back into the fridge for another 6 hours.

How to Cook

Remove the pot from the fridge, take the Cornish hens out of the brine, and pat them down with paper towels. Place them on a roasting rack in a roasting pan. You do not have to add anything else, because they taste wonderful as they are, but I tried them with some olive oil, more salt, and a little pepper, and it does make a difference. Either way is sooo good!

uncooked cornish game hen

Tuck the wings under the birds, and if you have some cooking twine, use it to tie the legs together. It will help the birds roast more evenly and makes for better presentation. I rarely do this since I don't have cooking twine lying around my house. 🙂

Preheat your oven to 425 F. Once the oven comes to temperature, put the birds into the oven for 25 minutes. Turn down the temperature to 400 F and roast for another 20 minutes. Finally, bring the temperature down to 375 F and roast for another 25-30 minutes. If you have a meat thermometer, make sure that the internal temperature of the birds is at least 165 F before removing from the oven. If you don't have one, make sure that the hens are completely cooked (no longer pink) before eating.

two cornish game hens on a platter

Take the hens out of the oven and let them rest for 10 minutes while the juices distribute evenly.

Bon appétit!

You are going to really enjoy the ease of making these Cornish games hens this holiday season. When you can do the prep a day ahead, it makes the cooking part a breeze. Enjoy!

Continue to Content
The BEST Cornish Hens Recipe: The Only Recipe You Will EVER Need

The BEST Cornish Hens Recipe: The Only Recipe You Will EVER Need

Yield: 2 Cornish Game Hens
Prep Time: 12 hours
Active Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Total Time: 13 hours 15 minutes

Cornish Game Hens are a DELICIOUS recipe that you will come back to time and time again

Ingredients

  • 1/4 cup + 2 T. Kosher salt
  • 1/3 cup sugar or honey
  • 3-5 garlic cloves
  • 1/2 T. black peppercorns, crushed
  • 1 tsp. ground mustard
  • 1 tsp. onion powder
  • 2 1/2 quarts of warm water
  • 2 Cornish games hens (mine were 24 oz. each)

Instructions

  1. At least 12 hours or more before you intend to cook your Cornish hens, start the brine.
  2. Get out a large food-grade container. You can use a large pot if you have one large enough. Try to avoid metal if at all possible, because from what I've read it can do strange things to your birds!
  3. Add the salt, sugar, garlic, peppercorns, ground mustard, and onion powder to your pot. (Do not worry if you don't have garlic, peppercorns, ground mustard, or onion powder because these can be omitted. I would discourage this, but sometimes you just don't have an ingredient.) Pour the warm water over it all and stir it so the salt and sugar dissolves. Put the pot into your fridge until the water has cooled down.
  4. Take the pot out of the fridge and get your Cornish hens ready. Remove the giblets and submerge the hens into the brine. Put the pot back in the fridge for about 6 hours. Remove the pot from the fridge, flip the birds over, and put the pot back into the fridge for another 6 hours.
  5. Remove the pot from the fridge, take the Cornish hens out of the brine, and pat them down with paper towels. Place them on a roasting rack in a roasting pan. You do not have to add anything else, because they taste wonderful as they are, but I tried them with some olive oil, more salt, and a little pepper, and it does make a difference. Either way is sooo good!
  6. Tuck the wings under the birds, and if you have some cooking twine, use it to tie the legs together. It will help the birds roast more evenly and makes for better presentation. I rarely do this since I don't have cooking twine lying around my house. πŸ™‚
  7. Preheat your oven to 425 F. Once the oven comes to temperature, put the birds into the oven for 25 minutes. Turn down the temperature to 400 F and roast for another 20 minutes. Finally, bring the temperature down to 375 F and roast for another 25-30 minutes. If you have a meat thermometer, make sure that the internal temperature of the birds is at least 165 F before removing from the oven. If you don't have one, make sure that the hens are completely cooked (no longer pink) before eating.
  8. Take hens out and let them rest.
© Katie Clark
Category: Food

Other Ways to Cook a Cornish Game Hen

  • Easy Instant Pot Cornish Game Hen Recipe
  • Easy Cornish Hens in a Slow Cooker
  • Smoked Cornish Game Hen

What Should You Serve with a Cornish Game Hen?

A Cornish Game Hen can be a great substitute for a turkey for Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner - so anything that you'd serve at Thanksgiving would be a great side dish.

Personally, I think it is delicious with mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans, and a delicious roll.

I would definitely at least make gravy - you could easily do this with the drippings. Be sure to check out our amazing gravy recipe over on our side dish recipe.

This would pair perfectly with some of our other popular recipes:

  • The Best Quick Dinner Rolls
  • Applebee's Spinach Artichoke Dip
  • Classic Homemade Mac and Cheese
  • Sweet Potato Casserole

Can you Cook a Cornish Game Hen frozen?

I would not suggest cooking a game hen frozen unless you are using the Instant Pot. There is debate on whether or not you should cook frozen meat in the slow cooker or on the stove top, but I would probably say no.

I would recommend fully defrosting the frozen cornish hen and then cooking. For faster defrosting, you can defrost in a bowl of water in the sink.

How Many Cornish Game Hens per Person?

I would suggest one cornish game hen per adult and teenager, and one for 2-3 children (depending on their age and appetite).

Written in 2015; Updated in 2020

Smoking a turkey this year? Check out this awesome post on how to smoke a turkey (the best way!)

Cornish Game Hen Recipe / Easy Cornish Game Hen /
cornish game hen
Share
Tweet
Pin
Share

about

WELCOME TO CLARKS CONDENSED

Clarks Condensed provides uplifting and motivating information to share the joys of home and family living through parenting and pregnancy advice, easy DIY tutorials, recipes, and more – all with a frugal twist. Read more...

Related topics:
Food Main Dish Thanksgiving

October 1, 2019Katie

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Megan says

    January 6, 2021 at 4:29 pm

    I made these Christmas day and I have been dreaming about them ever since! They were AMAZING! My family’s only complaint was their weren’t any left overs LOL. I bought some young whole chickens hoping to recreate this with more left over. Do you have a recipe that transfers to a little bit bigger bird?

    Reply
    • Katie says

      January 8, 2021 at 5:10 pm

      I’m so glad you loved it! I haven’t made these with a bigger bird, but I will try and experiment!

      Reply
  2. Wanda says

    December 23, 2020 at 6:09 am

    My comments should have been posted on Thanksgiving Day but we were too fat and happy to type! In this crazy pandemic year, Thanksgiving was just my husband and me so I jumped on a sale for Cornish hens and then stumbled upon this recipe. Wow! I’m so glad I did. And so is my Mr.! we loved it so much that we are having it again for Christmas with our friend.

    I couldn’t find any birds any bigger than 20 ounces so the cooking time at 375 degrees only took about twenty minutes.

    Thank you so much for sharing!

    Reply
    • Katie says

      December 26, 2020 at 10:00 am

      So glad you enjoyed it!!

      Reply
  3. Jennifer says

    November 26, 2020 at 5:36 am

    I’m curious; you mention not to use a metal pot to brine the hens but it looks like you used an aluminum pot for yours. Did it react with the brine? I would love to use what I have of possible.
    Looking forward to trying it, testing it on the inlaws for the holidays. Thanks for your help!

    Reply
    • Katie says

      November 26, 2020 at 9:29 am

      No issues with the aluminum pot!

      Reply
    • Jennifer says

      December 17, 2020 at 4:01 pm

      I brine my birds in those large 2-gallon zip lock bags…this way you can place the bag/birds/brine in whatever pot you want.

      Reply
  4. Michelle says

    November 25, 2020 at 4:27 pm

    Year #2 using this recipe for our small Thanksgiving of five. Thank you so much for this and I look forward to continue using this in our still budding traditions! β™‘

    Reply
    • Katie says

      November 26, 2020 at 9:29 am

      Oh this makes me so happy!!

      Reply
  5. MW says

    November 25, 2020 at 3:01 pm

    Is it possible to brine the night before?

    Reply
    • Katie says

      November 26, 2020 at 9:30 am

      Absolutely!

      Reply
  6. Elmer M says

    July 12, 2020 at 6:31 pm

    I’m glad I came across this recipe. I did it axactly according to the recipe, however I didn’t cook my Hens in the oven. I cooked them on my Traeger pellet grille and I did 3 not 2 Cornish Hens. They were the best! I will always cook my Hens this way with this brine and next time I might even try the oven! Thanks!

    Reply
  7. Alison says

    April 8, 2020 at 5:43 pm

    Absolutely phenomenal! I ran out of time so they only brined for 6 hours but are so juicy and no need to baste when cooking! So delicious! Thank you for a fabulous recipe! My first time making Cornish game hen and they turned out so good!

    Reply
    • Katie says

      April 9, 2020 at 10:43 am

      So glad you enjoyed it!

      Reply
  8. Megan says

    November 25, 2019 at 12:24 pm

    I have used this recipe for my cornish hens and it was so good that I’d like to use it on a 4-5lb chicken. Do you think I would need to make any changes to the brining recipe OR cooking temps/times? Thank you!

    Reply
    • Katie says

      November 26, 2019 at 10:23 am

      I think you should be okay to do the same brining. For a chicken, you may need a little bit more cooking time. Start early and check regularly with a meat thermometer πŸ™‚

      Reply
    • Joey says

      January 29, 2020 at 6:25 pm

      I do not have peppercorns or ground mustard what can I use to sub these??

      Reply
      • Katie says

        January 29, 2020 at 7:53 pm

        You could just use regular pepper. If you have regular mustard, you can replace each teaspoon of ground mustard with one tablespoon of prepared mustard πŸ™‚

        Reply
  9. Marsha Hegdahl says

    January 27, 2019 at 9:12 am

    I made these for our group of 12 yesterday. Everyone loved having their own baby chicken. The chickens were moist and so flavorful. Thanks for recipe!!

    Reply
    • Katie says

      January 27, 2019 at 6:52 pm

      I’m so glad everyone enjoyed them!

      Reply
    • Neveen Farawi says

      February 12, 2019 at 12:08 am

      How long did you cook them for? I’m having a large dinner party and don’t know how to adjust the recipe. Please help!

      Reply
    • Nancy says

      December 23, 2019 at 12:41 pm

      Did you add more ingredients or just used the same juice for all chickens

      Reply
      • Katie says

        December 24, 2019 at 8:58 am

        Used the same!

        Reply
  10. Greg says

    January 1, 2019 at 12:42 pm

    Most recipes tell you to rinse the birds after brining. I’m curious why this is not mentioned here. Wouldn’t they be too salty?

    Reply
    • Katie says

      January 1, 2019 at 1:07 pm

      I haven’t experienced this, but you are certainly welcome to do so!

      Reply
      • Kisela McDaniel says

        January 29, 2020 at 7:49 pm

        Tried this today but only used 2 TBS of sugar. Didn’t have to set to 375 for another 25-30 as my hens (2 at 22oz ea.) were done after cooking at 400. I did rub with oil S&P. Turned out so delish!! I don’t think I took a breath while eating. I’ll never cook my hens without brining again. Not sure why I never thought to do this as I brine my chicken breast and pork chops.

        Reply
        • Katie says

          January 29, 2020 at 7:54 pm

          So glad it turned out well for you! Thanks for your review.

          Reply
    • Jennifer says

      December 17, 2020 at 3:56 pm

      Alton Brown has a very informative video on how brining works. No need to rinse.
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKr1rByVVCI

      Reply
  11. Capt. Stamina says

    December 2, 2018 at 6:17 pm

    The only change we made was to add a teaspoon each of rosemary and fennel to the brine. Left it in the brine for almost a day before cooking. Came out very juicy. Thank you for the recipe.

    Reply
    • Katie says

      December 3, 2018 at 3:44 pm

      So glad you enjoyed it, and thank you for sharing your modifications!

      Reply
« Older Comments

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Welcome toClarks Condensed

Clarks Condensed provides uplifting and motivating information to share the joys of home and family living through parenting and pregnancy advice, easy DIY tutorials, recipes, and more – all with a frugal twist.

Meet The Clarks

The Latest

How to Easily Recover Dining Room Chairs – Tutorial

5 Baby Products Every New Parent Needs

The Ultimate EasyPress Guide & FAQs

The Ultimate Guide to Cricut EasyPress Settings

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy

Footer

  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Disclosure/Disclaimer
  • Food
  • All Things Family
  • DIY

Copyright Β©2021, Clarks Condensed. All Rights Reserved. Privacy policy. / Design by Pixel Me Designs
13697Shares