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Roasted Cornish Hens (Wild Rice Stuffing)

4.84 from 36 votes
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 40 minutes
Brine Time 2 hours
Total Time 4 hours
Yield 4 -8 servings
Category Main Dish
Cuisine American
Author Lauren Grant

Description

These Stuffed Cornish Game Hens are filled with a flavorful wild rice stuffing and slathered in a triple-herb butter that's sure to impress! Serving these cornish hens will make you look like a professional chef with each guest getting their own individual hen. I share all of my tried-and-true recipe tips with you so you can make perfectly golden brown roasted cornish hens for your next dinner party or holiday gathering.

Ingredients

Cornish Hens

  • ¾ cup Morton kosher salt, or ½ cup table salt
  • 4 Cornish game hens, each about 1 ½ pounds if possible, trimmed of extra fat, giblets removed
  • 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage
  • 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
  • 2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary
  • Cracked black pepper
  • 3 tablespoons whole-wheat flour (white or regular) or all-purpose flour
  • ¼ cup dry white wine
  • 2 ½ cups low-sodium chicken broth

Wild Rice Stuffing

  • ¾ cups wild rice blend*
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • ½ cup chopped shallots
  • ¼ cup minced carrot
  • ¼ cup minced celery
  • 1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage
  • ¼ cup dried tart cherries
  • 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
  • 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

Instructions

Cornish Hens

  • For the hens, dissolve salt in 3 quarts cold water in a large pot or bucket. Add hens, cover and refrigerate 2–3 hours. Remove hens, rinse thoroughly, and pat dry; prick skin all over breast and legs with point of a paring knife.
  • Mash together 5 tablespoons butter, 1 tablespoon sage, thyme, rosemary, ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper in a small bowl; set aside.

Wild Rice Stuffing

  • Meanwhile, for the stuffing, bring water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Stir in rice, bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low, cover and simmer until rice is cooked and fluffy, about 40 minutes. 
  • Heat 2 tablespoons butter in a medium sauté pan over medium-high. Add shallots, carrot, and celery; season with ¼ teaspoon salt and a pinch pepper; cook until vegetables are softened and starting to brown, 6–8 minutes. Stir in sage and cook 1 minute.
  • Add cooked rice, cherries, parsley and vinegar, reduce heat to low and cook until warmed through. Remove from heat and set aside (or refrigerate) until ready to stuff hens.

Cornish Hens

  • For the hens, adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 400ºF (204ºC). Place a wire rack inside a large rimmed baking sheet (at least 19-by-13–inch). Reheat stuffing in a sauté pan until steaming. 
  • Spoon ½ cup hot stuffing into cavity of each hen; tie each hens legs together with 6-inch piece of kitchen twine. Leaving as much space as possible between each hen, arrange them breast side down and wings facing out, on prepared rack-lined baking sheet. Roast until backs are golden brown, about 25 minutes. 
  • Remove sheet from oven, spread 1 teaspoon herb butter over back of each hen. Turn hens breast side up and wings facing out, and spread 2 teaspoons herb butter over breast and leg area of each hen. Return pan to oven, add 1 cup water to sheet pan, and roast until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the stuffed cavity registers about 150ºF (65ºC), about 20–30 minutes. 
  • Remove pan from oven again and spread 1 teaspoon herb butter over breast and leg area of each hen. Return sheet to oven, add another ½ cup water to sheet and increase oven temperature to 450ºF (232ºC).
  • Roast until hens are spotty brown and cavity registers 160ºF (71ºC), 15–20 minutes more, depending on hen size. (You can also check thickest parts of breast, which should register 165ºF, and thickest part of thigh, which should register 170ºF). Remove hens from oven, spread remaining butter over each hen and rest 10 minutes.

Gravy

  • Meanwhile, pour drippings into a liquid measuring cup. Skim 3 tablespoons fat off top and add to a small saucepan over medium heat. Skim and discard remaining fat from drippings.
  • Add flour to saucepan with fat and cook 2 minutes, whisking constantly. Slowly add remaining drippings, wine, and broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and cook until thickened, 5–8 minutes. Strain gravy through a fine mesh strainer into a serving dish or gravy boat.
  • Serve cornish hens with gravy. 

Video

Notes

Wild Rice Blend: this is a dry rice blend made of a mix of red, black, brown and wild rice.
Buying: To ensure even cooking, buy cornish hens that are similar in weight. Find cornish hens in the freezer section of your grocery store. 
Trimming: like with any poultry, trim any loose skin. 
Brining: brine and season the hens well. The rule of thumb for brining cornish hens: 3 quarts water + ¾ cup kosher salt and 2–3 hours brine time. 
Don't have Morton kosher salt? This kosher salt guide will help you make the substitution with what you have.
Food safety: for food safety reasons, it’s important that the stuffing is hot when spooned into the hens.
Cut down on cook time: make the wild rice stuffing while the hens brine! This way it’s done and ready to go when the hens are. Just be sure to reheat the wild rice stuffing before stuffing the hens.
Cook by temperature: for moist, juicy meat, cook the hens to temperature instead of relying solely on cook time. Use an instant-read thermometer (affiliate, this is my fav kitchen tool) for accurate temperature readings.
To get nicely brown skin: be sure to pat the hens dry before roasting to ensure the skin browns. 
Serve with jus instead of gravy: pour hen “jus” from baking sheet into small saucepan, spoon off excess fat, add wine, and simmer over medium-high heat until flavors blend, 2–3 minutes. Drizzle about ¼  cup sauce over each hen and serve, passing remaining sauce separately.
Leftover roasted Cornish hens will last up to 4 days in the refrigerator or 3 months in the freezer.
To reheat cornish hens, we recommend placing them in a skillet over medium-low heat with a splash of broth and/or butter. Partially cover with a lid and cook until just warmed through. Alternatively, you can microwave leftover cornish hens. Place them on a plate and heat in the microwave for 1 minute. Test the temperature, then continue to reheat in 30-second increments until warmed through.
 

Nutrition

Serving: 1/2 henCalories: 447kcalCarbohydrates: 9gProtein: 28gFat: 32gSaturated Fat: 6gSodium: 488mgFiber: 0.5gSugar: 1g
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