If you’ve never made cornish hens before and you are looking for something smaller than a roast chicken, you should definitely start with this easy and basic recipe. It’s nothing fancy and even comes together in about an hour, serving two people or maybe a small dinner party. It pairs great with a side of veggies and mashed potatoes. No super-seasoning blends are required here, just some salt and pepper, and I use a poultry seasoning from Trader Joe’s.

Check out how to make the perfect Cornish hen below, it’s so much easier than you’d expect.

Gather the ingredients

The amount listed is for two hens, so if you are just roasting one, divide the ingredient amount in half. 

Celery sticks: Even if you don’t like celery, you should use it here, you won’t taste the strong celery taste, but will give the hen extra flavor.

Bell Pepper: Red

Onion: Yellow (not sweet) 

Oil: Olive oil is great for roasting, but you can also use oil that you like. 

Garlic: Brings out a nice aroma and flavor. 

Lemon: Just the juice from the lemon.

Basil: Use fresh basil, it compliments poultry well. 

Salt and pepper: For flavor and taste. 

Poultry seasoning: I use the one from Trader Joe’s that you can find here. 

Preheat the oven to 350F and prepare a roasting pan with a rack.

Dice the celery and bell pepper. 

In a small bowl, combine basil, lemon juice, salt, black pepper, garlic, and a teaspoon of the poultry seasoning. Mix it well.

Drizzle extra virgin olive oil on the hen and spread it all around, then stuff the hens with chopped vegetables.

Rub the seasoning mix all over the hens, then place them on top of the rack.

Place in the oven and let the hen cook for about 1 hour 15 minutes. (cooking times may vary from the different oven, but it will be close to an hour for the hens since poultry cooks fairly quickly.)

I like to turn the oven settings to “broil” for the last 5 minutes of cooking to get the crispy skin and nice color.

Other Roasted Meat Recipes You May want to Try: 

Baked Chicken Wings From Scratch at Home

Montreal Baked Chicken

Oven-Baked Chicken

Equipment I Used

Print Recipe

Roasted Cornish Hens

Course: dinner, Main Course

Keyword: baked chicken, basil, bell pepper, celery, cornish hens, dinner, garlic, green onion, lemon, main course, olive oil, pepper, salt, seasoning salt

Calories: 1874kcal

Ingredients

• 2 celery sticks diced
• 1 red bell pepper diced
• ½ yellow onion diced
• extra virgin olive oil
• 1 clove garlic minced
• juice from 1 lemon
• 1 smal handful fresh basil chopped
• ½ tsp salt
• ½ tsp pepper
• 1 tsp poultry seasoning I use 21 seasoning salt from Trader Joe’s
• 2 cornish hens

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350F. Prepare an oven sheet with rack.
• Dice 2 celery sticks, 1 red bell pepper, and 1/2 onion.
  
• In a bowl mix chopped fresh basil, juice of 1 lemon, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper, minced garlic clove, and 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning. (link at bottom for the trader joe’s seasoning.) Mix it well together.
  
• Drizzle extra virgin olive oil on the hen and spread it all around.
• Stuff hens with chopped vegetables.
  
• Rub the seasoning mix all over the hens.
  
• Place in the oven for 1 hour 15 minutes.
• I broiled the last 5 minutes for the color.
  

Nutrition

Calories: 1874kcal | Carbohydrates: 16g | Protein: 157g | Fat: 127g | Saturated Fat: 35g | Cholesterol: 909mg | Sodium: 1726mg | Potassium: 2455mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 8g | Vitamin A: 4803IU | Vitamin C: 161mg | Calcium: 132mg | Iron: 8mg