Paprika Roasted Cornish Hen with Vegetables (carrots and sweet potatoes) – a delicious way to prepare cornish hen. Great recipe for the Fall season, Thanksgiving and Christmas.
If you’re craving a simple comfort dish, try this roasted paprika Cornish hen with root vegetables (carrots, sweet potatoes) and onions. It’s delicious and full of flavor: Cornish hens are usually easy to handle and come out great no matter what. The recipe is simple, which is perfect for weeknight dinners after a busy workday.
Whole Cornish hens look beautiful on serving plates – which makes this recipe a great choice for special occasions, too! I’ve cooked them for Thanksgiving and Christmas before.
The birds in this recipe come out juicy, moist, with the flavorful juice – made with white wine, chicken stock, spices, and hen juices. Pour this juice over a simple side dish, such as rice or quinoa. You can also reduce these juices into a delicious thickened sauce.
Roasted carrots, sweet potatoes, and onions complement paprika roasted Cornish hens perfectly. You can also serve these hens alongside a rice pilaf, quinoa, couscous, or you can cook some mushrooms in the hen juices.
The recipe can be easily halved: you don’t have to buy 4 hens if you can get away with 2, right? I actually prefer to just make 2 hens: my husband and I usually share one, and the second one can be used the next day.
OTHER HOLIDAY MAIN COURSES:
Do you want to try something different for Thanksgiving or Christmas? Check out these 2 recipes:
- Roast Duck – an ultimate Thanksgiving or Christmas or New Year’s Eve main course! This Roast Whole Duck has tender and juicy meat, crispy skin, and it’s glazed with the honey-balsamic glaze to give the duck a beautiful roasted look.
- Roasted Turkey Breast (Boneless) with Garlic Herb Butter – this is a rolled turkey breast recipe and is a great alternative when you don’t feel like cooking the entire turkey.
Holiday side dishes:
- Roasted Butternut Squash Salad with Brussels Sprouts, Pecans, and Cranberries – colorful Thanksgiving salad with lots of veggies and nuts!
- Creamy and Crunchy Salad with Peas, Bacon, and Pecans – easy and beautiful side dish for Thanksgiving!
- Dijon Mustard Brussels Sprouts with Bacon, Apples, and Gorgonzola cheese – Brussels sprouts smothered in heavy cream and mustard with bacon, apples, Gorgonzola cheese and nutmeg. Cooked on stove top.
Paprika Roasted Cornish Hen with Vegetables (carrots and sweet potatoes) - a delicious way to prepare cornish hen. Great recipe for the Fall season, Thanksgiving and Christmas.
- 6 cloves garlic , minced
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons smoked paprika
- 2 teaspoons chili powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1/4 cup chicken stock
- 1 teaspoon salt , or more
- 2 Cornish game hens , rinsed, patted dry
- 3 carrots , peeled and sliced into 1/2-inch-thick slices
- 1 onion , peeled and sliced
- 1 sweet potato , peeled and sliced into thin stripes
- 1/2 cup chicken stock
- 1/2 cup white wine
- salt and pepper to taste
Preheat oven to 425 degree Fahrenheit.
- Rub the insides of Cornish hens with salt and pepper and 3 minced garlic cloves.
- In a bowl, combine 2 tablespoons olive oil, paprika, chili powder, cumin, remaining minced garlic, 1/4 cup chicken stock and stir well to combine. Use 2/3 of this mixture to rub all over the outside of Cornish hens. Sprinkle the desired amount of salt over the outside of the hens. Sprinkle a very small amount of additional paprika over the hens (for color).
- Toss carrots, onions, and sweet potatoes in the remaining 1/3 of the mixture to coat. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
- Transfer vegetables to the large roasting pan. Place hens breast sides up on top of vegetables. Add a little bit of chicken stock on the bottom of the pan to prevent vegetables from burning.
Roast Cornish hens at 425 Fahrenheit for 30-35 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 Fahrenheit. Combine 1/2 cup of chicken stop and 1/2 cup of white wine and pour the mixture over the hens and into the bottom of the roasting pan. Continue roasting at 350 degrees F for 15-20 more minutes, basting hens with pan juices, until hen juices run clear.
- Transfer hens and vegetables to a platter. Make sure to pour juices from the hen cavities into a roasting pan. Cover hens with foil. Transfer the sauce from the roasting pan into a smaller saucepan and boil it down a little bit to thicken, if desired. You can also dissolve a little bit of cornstarch in water and add it to the boiling sauce to thicken it. After hens sit under the foil, pour juices from rested hens back into the sauce you just made. If desired, add more chicken stock to the thickened sauce.
- Serve Cornish hens whole or cut in half.
I think that putting it breast down for the first 30 minutes then breast up for the remaining time worked better for me.
Thank you for your feedback!
What size hens did you use?
I am going to try this tomorrow, I am hoping it turns out well. I am practicing for my husband and I’s first Thanksgiving alone!
Enjoy!
This was a hit for a small family dinner I just add everyone loved it. I will try this again for one of my holiday parties this year
I am so glad you liked this recipe! Thank you for stopping by and leaving such a kind comment!
Temperature and cooking time way off. I suggest lower temps.
Hi! I want to make these for Thanksgiving next week. It just sounds perfect! Thanks for sharing. Two questions – when using the roasting pan, do you recommend using one with a rack or not? And secondly, you mention in the blog that the recipe is for four hens but the recipe itself calls for two – I am making four hens. Should I double what your recipe calls for? Thanks!
You can use the roasting pan either with the rack or without. Both will work.
Yes, you can just double the recipe if you want to use 4 hens. Happy Thanksgiving!
Can you cook this in a crockpot?
I dont have chili powder will this effect the flavor of this recipe?
Maybe add some extra smoked paprika and the flavor should not be affected that much.
I’ve prepared Cornish hens 3 times in my whole life. This was the third and very best recipe! Fresh, never frozen works best (which probably goes without saying for most of you, but I used frozen once and the birds were tough). This was easy-prep but I served it family style on a turkey platter and it looked like I’d gone to lots of trouble! The veggies were done to perfection. I added some baby white potatoes for my husband, who prefers them to sweet. Served it with green beans simmered in broth and a good whole-grain bread from the bakery. What a feast!
Paula, thank you so much for stopping by and sharing such a positive comment! So glad you enjoyed this recipe! I love the idea of serving this with green beans!