Easy Cornish Hens with Stuffing (2023)

Easy Cornish Hens with Stuffing features roasted, juicy Cornish game hens filled with perfectly seasoned cornbread stuffing full of dried cranberries and roasted pecans.

This old-fashioned holiday classic makes a beautiful presentation and is as perfect for an elegant Christmas dinner as it is for a casual family Sunday supper.

Super easy to prepare and delicious, this Cornish hens recipe, like my recipe for Cast Iron Roast Chicken, checks all of the boxes: simple, inexpensive, and flavorful! In other words, it’s a “winner, winner chicken dinner.”

Thanks to purchased cornbread muffins, the make-ahead stuffing recipe only takes minutes to whip up. Then all you have to do is stuff the hens, and it’s on to the oven to bake for about an hour while you kick back and put your feet up. It couldn’t be easier, and no one needs to be the wiser!

In my opinion, pint-size Cornish game hens are underused and underappreciated. Although like most things, they are more expensive than they were, they are still a bargain at about $5 per person. I don’t think you will find another main dish of this caliber any less expensive or more dazzling in appearance.

Ingredient notes:

(Please see the recipe card below for specific quantities. Not pictured, shallots, olive oil, poultry seasoning, chicken broth, butter, and salt and pepper.)

• Cornish hens – are typically under two pounds and can be found at most grocery stores either fresh or in the freezer section.
• Olive oil – coats the hens and ensures that their skin cooks up crispy and golden brown.
• Kosher salt and ground black pepper – enhance the flavor of the hens.
• Cornbread muffins – purchased from the grocery store or bakery, are a great timesaver. They form the stuffing base with a unique combination of sweet and savory flavors.
• Butter – adds moisture to the stuffing and is used to saute the shallots and celery.
• Shallots and celery – add flavor and a bit of crunch to the stuffing. Sweet onions can be substituted for the shallots.
• Dried cranberries and roasted pecans – add a pop of color and more delicious flavor.
• Chicken broth – helps to moisten the dressing and allows it to hold its shape.
• Fresh thyme, fresh rosemary, and poultry seasoning – add delicious flavor. You can substitute dried thyme and rosemary if you don’t have fresh, but reduce the amount to a half teaspoon each because it is more robust.

How to make Cornish Hens with Stuffing:

1. Gather your ingredients and preheat the oven to 400 °F.
2. Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat to make the stuffing. Add the shallots and celery and cook for about five minutes until the veggies are translucent and soft. Add the cranberries and pecans and cook for another two minutes or until the cranberries have plumped up a bit.

3. Crumble the corn muffins over the cranberry mixture in the skillet. Add the thyme, rosemary, and poultry seasoning. Combine. Add the chicken broth and combine. Taste and add a little salt and pepper if it’s needed. Remove from the heat and set aside.

4. To prepare the cornish hens, pat them dry with a paper towel. Then, generously season each bird’s cavity with salt and stuff each one loosely with about a third of a cup of the cornbread stuffing.
5. Tie the drumsticks together with cotton kitchen string or butcher’s twine. Place the chickens in a shallow baking dish sprayed with non-stick cooking spray and tuck the wing tips under the birds.
6. Brush olive oil over each of the birds and season with the remaining salt and pepper.

7. Bake uncovered for about one hour, or until the hens are golden brown and an instant-read meat thermometer registers 160 °F when inserted in the thickest part of the breast, not touching any bones.
8. Remove from the oven and let the hens rest for at least ten minutes. Due to carryover cooking, the internal temperature will rise another five degrees to 165 ° F.
9. Remove the kitchen string and place the birds on a platter to serve. Optionally, garnish with a few fresh sprigs of rosemary and cranberries before serving.

What are Cornish hens?

Cornish hens, which are also called Cornish game hens, Rock Cornish game hens, Cornish rock chicken, or simply game hens, are a tiny breed of young chicken. They are a cross between a Cornish and White Plymouth Rock chicken, and they usually average about a pound and a half.

These tiny chickens are a very versatile ingredient and can be used and adapted to most recipes that call for bone-in chicken.

Cooking Cornish hens is easy, and while I prefer to roast them whole in the oven, they can also be spatchcocked and cooked on the grill or cooked in an air fryer, crockpot, instant pot, or even deep fried in oil in a Dutch oven.

Recipe variations:

• If you are looking for ways to vary this recipe or use ingredients you already have, you might consider substituting rice, wild rice stuffing, or stovetop stuffing for cornbread stuffing.
• You can also use leftover Traditional Southern Cornbread Dressing or Cornbread Dressing with Sausage or roast them whole without stuffing.
• The flavor can be changed by glazing the hens with either apricot jam, jelly, or even orange marmalade before cooking them. Another idea is to apply a rub to the outside of the chicken before cooking, such as the rub used in my Grilled Chicken or Broiled Chili Rubbed Chicken Thighs.

Recipe FAQs:

Sharon’s tips:

• If you want your skin to stay crispy, don’t tent the chicken while it rests. If you do tent it, the condensation can make the skin soggy.
• When planning your meal, you can plan on one hen per adult.
• When roasting the chickens, if the tips of the drumsticks start to brown too quickly, cover the ends with a little aluminum foil.
• Your hens will brown more evenly if you use a rimmed baking sheet or shallow baking pan instead of a deeper one.
• If you need to roast your pecans, the easiest way is to microwave them. Simply spread out the chopped pecans on a microwave-safe plate, and microwave them in one-minute intervals until they are done.

More special occasion entrees:

If you like this company-worthy main dish recipe, you might also like these recipes:

These easy recipes are also popular favorites:

• Beef Tenderloin with Onion Blue Cheese Sauce
• Chili Rubbed Ribeye with Maple Bourbon Butter
• Braciole Pork with a Twist
• Pecan Crusted Fish Fillets
• Lemon Butter Chicken with Sage

If you need more recipe suggestions, check out all of my main dish recipes.

★★★★★If you make this recipe, please leave a comment and give it a star rating. I would love to know how you liked it!

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📋 Recipe:

**This recipe was originally published on December 9, 2017.