These Cranberry Stuffed Cornish Hens are deliciously stuffed with orange-scented cranberries and raisin bread.
This is the perfect holiday dinner! Everyone will get their own personal Cornish game hen to enjoy. It makes for a gorgeous presentation when you add some fresh parsley and more fresh cranberries to the platter.
Ingredients needed:
- fresh cranberries
- granulated white sugar
- orange zest and orange juice
- salt
- ground cinnamon
- raisin bread
- butter
- Cornish game hens
- vegetable or canola oil
How to make Cranberry Stuffed Cornish Hens:
The complete, printable recipe is at the end of this post.
Display on a platter, making it festive with some greens and fresh cranberries! I’d serve these delicious cranberry stuffed Cornish hens with green beans for a complete holiday dinner. It might even be nice to make a batch of fresh cranberry sauce to go with it too. Enjoy!
How to toast fresh bread cubes:
To toast bread cubes, preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Place the cubes of bread on a baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes, or until the cubes are crisp and toasted.
About the nutritional information:
For the nutritional information, you will notice that the numbers on the calories and fat are quite high. This is taking into account that you will eat ALL of the meat and skin of a single hen. You likely won’t do that. It also includes all of the basting ingredients, whereas much of that drips off the hen while roasting. In other words, in actuality the numbers are not that alarming (but it’s difficult to pinpoint exact numbers using a nutrition calculator).
Favorite Holiday Dinner Recipes:
Cranberry Stuffed Cornish Hens
Ingredients
HENS AND STUFFING:
- ⅔ cup chopped fresh cranberries
- 2 tablespoons granulated white sugar
- 1 teaspoon finely shredded orange zest
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 3½ cups toasted raisin bread cubes (see Tips below)
- 3 tablespoons butter, melted
- 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed orange juice
- Four 1¼ pound Cornish game hens
- salt
- canola or vegetable oil
BASTING SAUCE:
- ¼ cup freshly squeezed orange juice
- 2 tablespoons butter, melted
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F.
- In a large bowl, combine the cranberries, sugar, orange zest, salt and cinnamon. Add the bread cubes, sprinkle with melted butter and orange juice. Toss lightly to mix.
- Season the cavities of the hens with salt. Lightly stuff the birds with the cranberry mixture. Pull the neck skin to the back of each bird and fasten securely with a small skewer. Tie the legs to the tail, twisting the wing tips under the back.
- Place the Cornish hens, breast side up, on a rack in a shallow roasting pan. Brush the hens with cooking oil, cover loosely with foil. Roast the hens for about 30 minutes.
- Combine the basting ingredients. Uncover the birds and baste with the orange juice mixture. Roast, uncovered, until done (a drumstick will twist easily when done), about 1 hour longer. Baste once or twice with the orange juice mixture while cooking.
Notes
- To toast bread cubes, preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Place cubes of bread on a baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes, or until cubes are crisp and toasted.
- For the nutritional information, you will notice that it's quite high. This is taking into account that you will eat all of the meat and skin of a single hen. You likely won't do that. It also includes all of the basting ingredients, whereas much of that drips off the hen while roasting.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
