Garlic & Rosemary Cornish Game Hens

“I made this on Saturday night for family that came over. They really loved the big garlic taste and the kids also liked the the idea of having their own little chickens. I took your advice and made rice (I used used Rice a Roni the one with garlic). Thank you for listing this, the hens are not expensive so this was a good recipe to make.”

“Come on, folks!With 57+ grams of fat, why don’t we just inject ourselves with butter and get it over with?Does anyone out there ever think about healthy food?”

“This is a great recipe. Very little effort results in an impressive looking meal, with great flavor. Had I made mashed potatoes, I would’ve had some of the best gravy ever. Instead, I chopped some red potatoes and roasted them alongside the birds. Don’t make the same mistake I did of overcrowding the pan. I got undercooked potatoes even after an extra 45 minutes in the oven. After that long wait, the hens were extra delicious, though.”

“Heavenly delicious. After collect juices from baking pan to make the sauce, I put the hens back into the oven to keep warm and keep the skin crisp. Served mine with steamed carrot and rice pilaf. Thank you for a successful Valentine dinner.”

“Wonderful!The combination of garlic, rosemary and wine made my kitchen (and the hen)smell great. Easy to prepare and I even used rosemary right out of my garden.I served it in courses with seafood gumbo, buttered asperagus, greens salad and a bottle of wine.My husband loved it!Thanks for saving Monday night dinner!A definite treat!–Rosi”

“Excellent recipe!! I made this with 2 cornish hens..and followed it exactly!! I even used 23 cloves of garlic. LOL.. The flavor was awesome!!!I took the juice from the pan, garlic cloves, and drained the inside of each hen into a sauce pan… smashed up the garlic a bit and simmered for about 12 to 15 min until it was reduced..This made an excellent gravy for the mashed potatoes i served on the side..This is going into my Keeper file!! Thanks for a great recipe!!”

“I like this recipe so much that it was my choice for cooking the first dinner in a new range we had installed yesterday. The only thing different is that I truss the legs of the hen, and I make the same amount of sauce for only two hens. The lemon, garlic and rosemary infuse the hen meat with flavor.”

“Fabulous, fabulous recipe! I sprinkled a little bit of thyme on the bird along with the salt and pepper and put thin sliced potatoes underneath the hens. Both the potatoes and the hens turned out incredibly scrumptious and extremely moist. I made Pan Roasted Asparagus (by CountryLady) and it was perfect. Thank you for an excellent recipe!”

“We made these cornish hens last night.OMG!!They are SO delish.We put garlic, celery, carrots, onions and potatoes in the roasting pan with the hens.Thanks to the seasoned drippings, they were, hands down, the best I have ever tasted!Thank you for this keeper.”

“I used this recipe with Bone-In Chicken Breasts.Delicious.The skin was perfect and had the right amount of garlic and rosemary taste.My whole family really enjoyed this recipe.”

“DH made these last evening.I had never had cornish hens before, wasn’t sure what to expect.They were very good.I kept the garlic from the roasting pan and will enjoy later on crusty bread.Thanks for a delicious and easy dinner idea!”

“This is a wonderful recipe.I don’t care for rosemary so I just used dried oregano and basil instead.It was wonderful.My hens are 3 1/2 or 4 pounds, so I had to cook them longer, but what a treat.All my un-veggie family loved it.It will be a regular at our house.”

“THIS RECIPE IS OUTSTANDING!!!! It deserves more than 5 stars! I used 4 Medium size Quail and omitted the wine for chicken broth only, I used my own broth from boiled chicken wings. It was soooooo delicious, especially after boiling all the leftover juices and pouring over the quail. This dish is TO DIE FOR and soo yummy and flavorful! They were served with oven roasted garlic & rosemary potatoes. I’m so glad you posted this recipe, Its the first time I’ve tried Quail and it was among the best dinners I’ve ever had. Thanks for posting such a special recipe the whole family enjoyed it immensely. Update: Made this recipe recently and again, nothing short of amazing! I’m trying the same recipe for small chickens, I’ll add more of the lemon, garlic and rosemary straight into the cavity. Will also increase the amount of sauce cuz i just LOVE the stuff!! I’m sad that its lost half a star rating. I used this recipe on Quail, I’m not sure what Cornish Hens are or how much fat they contain. But Quail hardly has any fat on it and you can probably use small roasting chickens and have the breast with some salad and roasted vegetables to make it a healthier option. In my opinion, anybody can take it upon themselves to make a meal healthy by opting for things such as Olive oil (about 2 Tbl-Sp/day helps to reduce cholesterol and unclog arteries), leaner meat, adding salads and veggies, substituting wine for water or broth and best of all, you don’t have to sacrifice on flavor. You will still end up with a quality meal fit for Queens. Dayum Rise, what else do you have hidden in your kitchen drawer??? lol”

“What a nice way to cook game hens! It is similar to my roast chicken recipe, other than the use of wine. The hens took a few minutes longer than the time suggested, but then they were still quite cold from thawing. The garlic was very nicely roasted with an excellent flavor that really complemented the mild breast meat. The reduction made a great sauce for the pilaf, too. We all enjoyed this very much–thanks so much for posting, Risë!”

“These turned out really well for our Christmas dinner. I forgot to buy a substitute for white wine and ended up using some sparkling cider we had bought which didn’t seem to impact it too much. I used dried rosemary leaves and sprinkled them in the chicken. All in all, this was a very moist and simple chicken.”

“Delicious!Made this Christmas Eve dinner for DH and myself.The hens were very flavorful and moist.I cooked as written except when I removed the pan juices to reduce down, I flipped the hens onto their breasts and roasted at 400 degrees for an additional 6-7 minutes to brown the bottoms too.Served with mashed potatoes and green salad on the side. Poured the reduced pan juices over both the hen and the potatoes. Made for a very special dinner with lovely presentation.”

“This is the kind of recipe that makes me LOVE THIS WEBSITE!!!This recipe rocks!My whole kitchen smelled so amazing and the simplicity of this dish is part of what I love about it.I make cornish hens often because we think they are much tastier than roasted chicken…so this will be a regular at our house.Not just for Christmas dinner, guys!Give these a try…soooooo easy and yet so awesome.Thanks for sharing this divine recipe, Rise.”

“WOW!!! this is my first time making cornish game hens, and I have NEVER received such rave reviews for any dish I have ever made! ( and I have made many great dishes! lol) My husband must have commented more than 10 times throughout the course of our meal!! I made this for Christmas Eve dinner and he even said I get to open a present early after a dinner like that!!! I HIGHLY recommend this it was DELICIOUS!!! I will be making this all the time now that I have tried it… we especially loved the somewhat carmellized sauce it creates with all the juices afterwards! I will even try this with regular roast chickens… 5 stars!!!”

“The cooking time for this recipe was perfect and produced very moist game hens. However, I could not taste the garlic or the lemon on the meat, which was disappointing. The sauce was quite good, however.”

“This turned out pretty good for us – I can’t say the flavors really rocked my socks off, though. But that may just be because I like bolder foods and my heathen palette isn’t used to subtle flavors. Anyhow, the husband said it was delicious and he’s pretty picky, so that’s a plus! :)”