Our Favorite Cornish Hen Recipes

While a roast chicken is no stranger to the dinner table, Cornish hens might not be in your usual repertoire — but there’s really no reason to overlook these birds. Yes, there is something that feels extra special about everyone having their own Cornish hen, but they can be cooked quickly, which means they are doable on a weeknight. Just add a healthy side dish and you’ve got a winning weeknight dinner. Plus, cornish hens are really just chickens. The Department of Agriculture classifies a Cornish game hen (or a Rock Cornish game hen) as an immature chicken that weighs 2 pounds or less and is younger than 5 weeks old. If you haven’t made them yourself yet, Sunny’s 5-star recipe is a great place to start. Her advice is to ask your butcher to butterfly the hens, cutting the backbone out so they will lie flat; this will allow them to get nice and crispy on the outside when you sear them in sage butter before baking. And the best part of all? They’ll be ready in under an hour.

Looking for Sunny’s “cheat sheet”? It’s probably in your cupboard — it’s a sheet pan! This entire meal comes together on a sheet pan, which means you’ll have hardly any cleanup to worry about.

Ina’s lemony marinade, infused with garlic and rosemary, gives Cornish hens a lot of flavor and saves you from having to do a lot of work.

The secret to making golden-brown Cornish hens with the crispiest skin is an aluminum foil-wrapped brick. It helps flatten the birds so every piece of skin can saute to perfection.

Use fresh clementine juice and cranberry sauce to form the base of this irresistible glaze. Reglazing the Cornish hens after they have been roasting for 20 minutes will ensure amazing flavor.

Honey-glazed Cornish hens, buttery couscous and veggies in only 40 minutes? Talk about a winning weeknight dinner!

This homemade jerk sauce, which comes together quite easily in your food processor, is so good you’ll want it on Cornish hens and a whole lot more.

Pepitas and parsley form the base of this irresistible pesto. Rub it under the Cornish hens’ skin to pack the ultimate flavor punch.

This adobo-style method ensures juicy Cornish hens that are easy enough to make on a weeknight but equally impressive for a dinner party.

Butter, brown sugar and maple syrup alone would make Cornish hens pretty delicious, but Kardea takes it up a level with a little cayenne pepper, some sweet paprika and pumpkin pie spice in this recipe.

Brush melted butter, flavored with rosemary, coriander and garlic, all over the Cornish hens before roasting. Once they have finished cooking, set the oven to broil and brush the hens with an orange-cranberry sauce for a glazed-to-perfection main.

For a restaurant-quality meal you can whip up in only 40 minutes, look no further than these glazed Cornish hens. Just one grapefruit brings fresh flavor to this homemade teriyaki sauce and the bok choy salad.

These pomegranate-and-orange-glazed hens make a festive main course. Wild rice and herbs create a hearty stuffing spiced with cumin and ginger. Any extra rice can be layered between grape leaves and baked to serve alongside.