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A Cornish Game Hen Recipe should not make you uneasy!! Leave the Cornish Hens intimidation behind. Wow your guests with
CRANBERRY ORANGE GLAZED CORNISH GAME HENS
So simple and effortless, you’ll wonder why you thought it was complicated.
Cornish Game Hen Recipe with Cranberry Orange Glaze
Last year I posted my recipe for Bacon, Rosemary and Pear Cornish Hens and you went nuts. I had so many of you tell me that you’d never attempted a Cornish game hen recipe before because they intimidated you. Some of you let me know you conquered your fear and then just as quickly wondered what in the world you were afraid of. How does something so small cause so much angst? This holiday season I’m determined to make you put your qualms aside and discover how uncomplicated these guys are. The best part is how you’ll knock your guest’s socks off with very little effort!
This post was originally written by me on behalf of Tyson Foods, Inc. All opinions are entirely my own. This shop was compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser.
My Cornish game hen recipe features a glaze of cranberries and oranges. It is based off my cranberry sauce that is my #1 recipe from my site. Which means, y’all already love it. The glaze can be made the night before to cut down on prep time. The bonus is having the side dish of cranberry sauce already made and ready to serve!
The night before or the morning after, prepare the cranberry sauce. If you want it as a side dish as well, double the recipe. You can simply double the ingredients. It does add about 5 more minutes on the cooking time.
The glaze is simple to make. Combine the cranberry sauce with the other ingredients in either a small blender or small food processor. Puree until it’s a nice liquid.
I like to thaw my hens 24-48 hrs before so I know they will be ready to go. You can find more advice on thawing and cooking HERE.
The glaze is enough for 3 small hens, so double if you have more guests.
I roasted my cornish hens in a roasting pan, and simply transferred to a baking dish to add to the presentation. I chopped up 2 oranges, and used fresh cranberries and rosemary to decorate it. It looks so marvelous, your guests will think you spent the entire day in the kitchen!
No special skills are required at all. This is really one of the most noncomplex recipes ever. If you can turn an oven on, and use a basting brush, your in business!
You can also plate everyones Cornish hen individually onto a separate plate using the rosemary and oranges on a smaller scale. You can see it looks just as stunning this way as well.
So what do you think? Feeling adventurous but realistic about cooking this holiday season? Cornish Hens couldn’t be more stunning and uncomplicated.
📋Recipe
Cranberry Orange Glazed Cornish Hens
Ingredients
Cranberry Orange Glaze:
- 1 cup Cranberry Sauce See my recipe here for easy homemade Cranberry Sauce!
- ½ cup maple syrup
- ¼ cup Orange juice
- ½ teaspoon Pepper
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon thyme
- ¼ teaspoon ginger
For the Hens:
- Tyson® Cornish Hens the glaze is enough for 3-4, double if more needed
- 1 stick of butter
- Oranges cranberries and Rosemary For Garnish
Instructions
Making the Glaze:
- In a blender or a food processor, pulse together the cranberry sauce, maple syrup, orange juice and seasoning until a liquid glaze consistency is reached.
Cooking the Hens:
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees
- Pat dry your hens and place on a baking pan or roasting pan. Liberally rub hens with softened butter. Salt and Pepper. Bake in the oven for 25 minutes.
- Once the hens have baked for 25 minutes, remove from oven. **** Lower the temperature of the oven to 350 degrees*****
- Brush the hens liberally with the glaze mixture. Return to the oven and bake 8 minutes more.
- Remove hens again, and flip upside down if desired. glaze again. Cook for 8 more minutes.
- Remove hens again, and if you flipped before, flip again. Glaze again and return for 8 more minutes.
- Glaze the hens one more time and cook for 4 additional minutes or until a thermometer reads that they have cooked thoroughly.
Nutrition
See how simple that was? This dish is perfect because you can cook other side dishes while the hens are cooking. Making the cranberry sauce and glaze the night before is a big time saver.
Please let me know how your Cornish game hen recipe adventure goes! I hope I’ve inspired you today!
Francesca says
Absolutely loved the cranberry sauce!!! Delicious! Didn't care as much for the glaze itself, a little too strong with maple and the thyme for our tastes, even using less than called for. Will probably use the original cranberry sauce as the glaze in the future, but wouldn't have thought to do either until I found this recipe! Thanks! Definitely will continue following your page!
Sarah says
Thank you for the instructions! I have always see those little game hens in the meat case and wondered how to prepare them.
Jennifer Farley says
This is such a perfect recipe for the holidays. My family is loving it!