Roasted Cornish Hens With Rosemary and Garlic Recipe (2024)

Delicious! To get even more flavor into the drippings, I used 2 onions instead of 1. Inserted 1/2 lemon into each hen, plus extra rosemary. Added quartered cremini mushrooms to roasting pan at Step 5, and they were very tasty.I forgot to heat first on stovetop, but results were great anyway. Served with brown rice, but I may roast potatoes and unpeeled garlic cloves in the pan next time.

I squeezed a half lemon into the cavity for additional flavor. My guests loved the taste of the bird. Easy recipe to make!

This was our main course yesterday for Thanksgiving since there were only the three of us but I would have been pleased to serve this to company. The flavor was amazing and it was far less work than roasting a turkey.Instead of roasting the birds whole, we chose to spatchco*ck them, to ensure more even cooking, but didn't change the cooking times. They came out perfectly browned and delicious. Next time, I think we'll split them down the keelbone as well to make serving easier.

Simple but full of flavor! I used two garlic cloves per hen, and put 1/5 of a lemon in each hen as well. Any remaining lemon I put in the roasting dish (I used a smaller one so juices could accumulate...I'm not into basting). Also slid some butter under breast skin. Putting the hens on their sides ensures the breast meat stays juicy. And they get a nice golden brown. I didn't die for lack of fond - just poured the juices into a pan on the stove with the broth, wine, flour and a dash of cream.

Everyone loved this recipe! I’d never made hens before. It was easier than I thought. I followed the recipe to the letter. The only thing I did differently was broil the hens at the end to give them golden color and crispy skin. Will definitely make them again!

Simple but full of flavor! I used two garlic cloves per hen, and put 1/5 of a lemon in each hen as well. Any remaining lemon I put in the roasting dish (I used a smaller one so juices could accumulate...I'm not into basting). Also slid some butter under breast skin. Putting the hens on their sides ensures the breast meat stays juicy. And they get a nice golden brown. I didn't die for lack of fond - just poured the juices into a pan on the stove with the broth, wine, flour and a dash of cream.

Perhaps I need more detail as a relatively new cook: I’m wondering what people used to baste the hens. My roasting pan was fairly dry until the hens were on their backs. As a matter of fact, I had trouble with skin sticking to the baking pan on side one and side two. I finally mixed a bit of olive oil and melted butter to baste them. How did others get this to work?

Delicious! To get even more flavor into the drippings, I used 2 onions instead of 1. Inserted 1/2 lemon into each hen, plus extra rosemary. Added quartered cremini mushrooms to roasting pan at Step 5, and they were very tasty.I forgot to heat first on stovetop, but results were great anyway. Served with brown rice, but I may roast potatoes and unpeeled garlic cloves in the pan next time.

Made this with poussins. One a piece. Absolutely delicious. Served with a freekeh pilaf. Make sure to have bread to soak up the gravy and don't obsess over which side chickens should be on. You want all sides to be browned and to reach 165 degrees. Poussins were so succulent and delicious. Bring to room temperature before cooking.

This was our main course yesterday for Thanksgiving since there were only the three of us but I would have been pleased to serve this to company. The flavor was amazing and it was far less work than roasting a turkey.Instead of roasting the birds whole, we chose to spatchco*ck them, to ensure more even cooking, but didn't change the cooking times. They came out perfectly browned and delicious. Next time, I think we'll split them down the keelbone as well to make serving easier.

450 temperature was high.

Is there a lot of fat? Can you use for something?

This is a great recipe that is both easy to cook and yields juicy and delicious hens. I cut the recipe in half to roast two hens and the results were outstanding.

I squeezed a half lemon into the cavity for additional flavor. My guests loved the taste of the bird. Easy recipe to make!