This recipe for Orange Glazed Cornish Hens is an impressive dish with a beautiful presentation that is actually pretty easy to make. A Cornish hen roasts in a similar fashion to a roasted chicken. But it’s brushed with an amazing orange glaze along the way.
If you are interested in another glazed Cornish hen recipe, be sure to try my Roasted Apricot Ginger Glazed Game Hens too.
What is a Cornish Hen?
A Cornish game hen is essentially a petite chicken. It’s a young hybrid breed (usually a mix of Cornish and White Plymouth Rock chickens) that is butchered at 4 to 6 weeks old, making it smaller and more tender than a regular chicken. It usually weighs 1 to 2 pounds, and it’s often served whole as an elegant, single-serving meal.
You do not have to be a gourmet chef to prepare orange glazed Cornish hens for dinner. Just follow the directions, and everything will turn out great. They’re an elegant entree to serve at a dinner party or for a special holiday. And your guests will think you spent a long time in the kitchen (but you won’t!)
Ingredients Needed:
- Onion: I like to use sweet onion for this recipe. It will have the best flavor.
- Garlic: The recipe calls for using one clove of garlic, but feel free to be more generous.
- Chicken Broth: It’s okay to use regular chicken broth for this recipe (instead of low-sodium).
- Oranges: You’ll need a few fresh oranges for the recipe. Some will be zested, some will be juiced and some will be sliced.
- Honey: This will add additional sweetness to the glaze, along with the orange.
- Cornstarch: This is used for thickening the glaze.
- Cornish Game Hens: You’ll need 3 whole Cornish game hens. If you cannot locate them in your market, ask the butcher. They probably have them in a place that is not very obvious.
How to make Orange Glazed Cornish Hens:
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Get out a shallow roasting pan (anything with a rim).
- First you’ll make the orange glaze. Saute onion and garlic until the onion is tender. In a little bowl, stir together the chicken broth, orange zest, orange juice, honey and cornstarch. Stir that mixture into the onions. Heat, and stir until the glaze has thickened. Remove from heat.
- The Cornish hens that you bought for the recipe will be whole. Remove the giblets from inside the hens. Rinse the hens and pat them dry with paper towels. Use kitchen shears to cut the hens in half lengthwise. Place each half cut-side-down on top of an orange slice in the roasting pan. Brush some of the orange glaze on each Cornish hen half.
- Roast the hens for 30 minutes, then baste with more of the glaze. Roast for 15 to 30 more minutes, until the hens are cooked through and no longer pink.
- Heat the remaining glaze. Transfer the hens to a serving platter, and brush with more glaze.
Recipe Tips
- Cornish hens can be found in most markets.
- A good bread knife will also work for cutting the hens in half if you don’t have any kitchen shears.
- Feel free to salt and pepper your Cornish hens.
- When you place your Cornish hen half on the baking sheet, make sure you place it with the wings on top and the drumsticks on the bottom. This is so that, while cooking, the juices can dribble from the dark meat to the white meat and keep the meat moist.
- Garnish individual servings of the orange glazed Cornish hens with orange slices, orange zest and fresh parsley.
What to serve with Cornish Hens:
- baked potato
- green beans
- wild rice or rice pilaf
- citrus salad
Why You’ll Love This Recipe:
- The sauce is delicious. It really makes this recipe special.
- This is a great recipe to make for a Sunday night dinner.
- Leftovers are fantastic.
More Cornish game hen recipes you might enjoy:
Orange Glazed Cornish Game Hens
Ingredients
- 1 small onion, finely chopped
- 1 medium garlic clove, minced
- ½ cup chicken broth
- 1 teaspoon orange zest
- ½ cup freshly squeezed orange juice
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 4 teaspoons cornstarch
- Three 1 to 2 pound Cornish game hens, split lengthwise
- 1 medium orange, cut into 6 wedges
- orange slices, for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375℉.
- Spray a small saucepan with nonstick spray coating. For sauce, cook onion and garlic in the saucepan until onion is tender.
- In a small bowl, stir together chicken broth, orange zest, orange juice, honey and cornstarch. Stir into onion mixture in saucepan. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir for 2 minutes more, then remove from the heat.
- Rinse hen halves and pat dry. In a shallow roasting pan place each hen half atop one orange wedge. Baste with some of the sauce.
- Roast hens for 45 minutes to 1 hour or until tender and no longer pink. Baste hen halves with sauce after 30 minutes.
- Transfer hen halves to a serving platter. If necessary, reheat remaining sauce and serve with hen halves. If desired, garnish with orange slices.
Notes
- Use kitchen shears to cut hens in half. A good bread knife will also cut through the hens (but may dull the blade).
- If you are preparing this recipe as gluten-free, just be sure to use a brand of chicken broth that is known to be GF.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
