Cornish Game Hens with Garlic and Rosemary Recipe

We loved the hens! I halved the recipe and roasted just 2. I used a roaster pan without the lid and found the time specified in the recipe was just right. Like others suggested, I added chicken broth to the garlic in the pan so the garlic wouldn't burn and that worked well. I also doubled the gravy as others suggested and that was a good idea. Great recipe - it's a keeper!

I cooked four hens for the four of us—but we only ate two of them the first night. I plated a half hen for each person, which was plenty with the sides I made. I used pieces of preserved lemon in the hens, and the flavor came through even better than in a full size chicken. I didn’t have any rosemary sprigs, so I just left them out. I sliced up an onion and scattered the pieces in the foil-lined roasting pan, then placed the hens on top. I distributed a bunch of heirloom carrots around the hens with the garlic (I didn’t quite have 24 cloves). To make the sauce, I used about twice the wine and chicken broth and threw in some leftover duck drippings. I like sauce. I served the hens with the carrots and boiled Yukon gold potatoes that I finished by frying in duck fat. Oh, and I had some enoki mushrooms--gave them a quick fry and garnished with those. The leftover hens were great the next day.

Wow, best cornish game hen recipe I have ever! I added some butter and herbs under the skin and added some broth in the bottom of the pan. After 25 min, lowered temp and flipped them breast side down when adding the wine/broth and continued basting through remaining cooking time (which was perfect). Don't waste that precious lemon inside the cavity that has now been infused with broth, garlic, rosemary and butter. Serve with the hens and let your guests use as much or as little as they like. Use the roasted garlic on crusty bread. Just WOW!

12/27/18 This was delicious and so very easy. I added garlic cloves inside the hens and used oranges as I have an over abundance of oranges right now. I put the hens on a low rack so they would not sit in the bottom of the pan and get soggy. As one reviewer suggested, I poured about a cup of chicken broth in the bottom of the pan before baking. The garlic smelled strong but was mild in taste. I did double the sauce and it was needed, especially for leftovers. I will try it again with lemon as I'm sure that's delicious, too.

I mostly followed the directions. At the oven temp. drop and basting stage, I removed the lemons and squeezed them out on top of the hens, and put slices of apples in the cavities for the second half of cooking. Great recipe, I’ll be using this for future poultry cooking reference for sure!

The sauce described using this recipe turns out pretty good, but the recipe itself contains a few massive flaws. First of all, the amount of sauce it tells you to make for 4 hens is grossly insufficient and there is no way you could possibly baste the hens with such a small amount of liquid. I made a double recipe for the sauce and still BARELY had enough for only 3 hens. 2nd the cook time is MUCH longer than stated here. For typical sized hens you will probably need an additional 15-25 minutes depending on the size.

I did not follow the recipe exactly. I didn't use the vinegar. I made a butter and herb mixture that included adobo, minced garlic, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, dried thyme, dried basil and dried rosemary. I put that under the skin of the hens and on the outside of them. They came out great. Few other minor adjustments I made but all in all this recipe helped me make a great meal. Thanks!

To me, Cornish Game Hens tastes alot better than regular chicken. Along coating with olive oil, I use Famous Daves chicken rub and lemon pepper. I stuff the cavity with rosemary and lemon wedges. Garlic cloves and lemon wedges around the hens. Red wine (instead of white), chicken stock and olive oil for basting. Tent the hens and boil the basting (garlic cloves, lemon wedges). Great for dipping!

We made these little birds for Thanksgiving this year and they were succulent!! This may become our tradition. Adapted this recipe after brining the little birds overnight using another recipe. Instead of lemon, I used Clementine oranges. I also added bay leaf to the mix when stuffing the birds. Cut oranges in half and placed them directly below the birds in our shallow roasting pan so they didn't dry out. The juices fell onto the oranges and recycled themselves!

This recipe was really good and we really enjoyed it a lot. Delicious! I made this recipe as written with a few small changes. I added thin slices of lemon and garlic underneath the skin before roasting. To the rotating pan I added multicolored small potatoes, carrots, parsnips, and mushrooms. I added a little bit more wine and chicken stock to the drippings to make a bit more gravy. It needed some corn starch to thicken properly.

This was very good. I chopped up the garlic and rosemary added olive oil and spread over and under the hens skin. Did not use the lemon or wine this time around.

Very easy, very tasty! A definite keeper! My husband can't have garlic, so I used lemon pepper and for the au jus, I added a tsp of squeeze/liquid ginger to add flavor. Delicious!

Made it and my roommates are jealous.

I had to make some alterations using what i had - orange and lemon halves and fresh sage had to replace garlic and rosemary and it worked out great

Loved it. The only things I changed was I added onions to the roasting and I didn't have any rosemary, I had sage. So, it was more like Hens w/garlic & Sage, but it was still excellent.

Made it, shared it, everyone impressed.

Quick, simple, and unbelievably good.

Everyone at work wanted the recipe.

I really enjoyed this recipe. It was just me and my mother for thanksgiving this year and I made these instead of a turkey. Flavor was Great!

This was the best recipe I have ever tried for Cornish Hens