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These cranberry BBQ sauce Cornish hens are perfectly roasted and served with fingerling potatoes and Brussels sprouts. This is one-skillet deliciousness!
As much as I love Thanksgiving, I don’t always love all the planning that comes along with It. There is always so much food, and generally, there are not enough people to eat all that food.
My husband was sick on Thanksgiving a few years ago, so we opted to stay home and have our own little Thanksgiving.
I ran to the store, bought these little Cornish hens, and started planning! I opted to make a homemade cranberry BBQ sauce because I had a bunch of canned cranberry sauce left, and one can never go wrong with a festive BBQ sauce!
The Cornish hens were roasted in a skillet with creamy fingerling potatoes and perfectly roasted Brussels sprouts. This is the perfect for two Thanksgiving one skillet recipe.
And, because I’m a saucy kind of lady, this homemade cranberry BBQ sauce recipe makes enough so you have a little leftover for dipping!
Ingredients needed:
- Cornish Hens
- Spices
- Fresh herbs
- Olive oil
- Fingerling potatoes
- Brussels sprouts
- Homemade cranberry BBQ sauce
My Pro Tips
Cranberry BBQ sauce Cornish hens Recipe Tips
Use Cornish hens around 1-1/2 pounds. They will cook in time with the potatoes and Brussels sprouts. If you buy larger birds, you’ll need to roast the Cornish hen longer.
Make sure your Cornish hens are the same size so they cook evenly.
Swap out the fresh herbs for your personal favorites. Other great options are sage, tarragon, oregano, and parsley.
Blend your sauce before you cook it on the stove. This ensures a smooth sauce for basting.
You can use round baby potatoes in place of fingerling potatoes.
Try to use similarly sized Brussels sprouts so they cook up evenly.
More Cornish hen recipes
Cranberry BBQ Sauce Cornish Hens
Ingredients
For Cornish hens:
- 2 (1.5 pound) Cornish hens
- 1.5 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
- 1 teaspoon Black pepper, divided
- ½ fresh lemon, quartered
- 6 sprigs fresh thyme
- 5 sprigs fresh rosemary, divided
- 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- ½ pound small fingerling potatoes
- ½ pound Brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved
For cranberry BBQ sauce:
- 1 (12 ounce) can whole berry cranberry sauce
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- ¼ cup ketchup
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- ¼ teaspoon dried mustard
Instructions
For Cornish hens:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and set out a seasoned 12-inch cast iron skillet. You can also do this in a 9×13 casserole dish if you don't have a cast iron pan.
- Prep your Cornish hens by removing giblets and patting the hen dry so the seaosning will stick.
- Season the outside of the Cornish hens with 1 teaspoon kosher salt and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper. Stuff the hens with 2 pieces of lemon, 3 pieces thyme and 2 pieces rosemary. It doesn't have to be perfect just stuff it into the cavity until it fits.
- Place the hens in the skillet.
- In a small bowl add fingerling potatoes and drizzle with 1 tablespoon olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper. Take the remaining sprig of rosemary and mince the leaves. Add to the potatoes and toss to evenly coat.
- Add the potatoes to the pan with the Cornish hens. Make sure to place th eptoatoes around the hens.
- Add to the oven and roast for 30 minutes.
- While the hens are roasting add the Brussels sprouts to the bowl the potatoes were in.
- Drizzle the sprouts with the remaining tablespoon of olive oil, kosher salt, and black pepper. Toss to coat evenly.
- After 30 minutes of roasted, remove the skillet from the oven, and add the Brussels sprouts to the pan surrounding the Cornish hen. Gently stir to incorpate the sprouts with the potatoes.
- Glaze the Cornish hens with cranberry BBQ sauce.
- Add back to the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes or until the Brussels sprouts are fully roasted, the potatoes are soft and the chicken has reached an internal temperature 160 degrees F.
- Remove from the oven and serve with leftover BBQ sauce.
- Note: If you buy larger cornish hens you will have to adjust the cooking time. You will want to roast your hens longer and then add in the brussels at the end so they do not overcook.
For cranberry BBQ sauce:
- Add all ingredients to a blender and puree until smooth.
- Add to a 10-inch skillet and simmer for 10 minutes over medium-high heat. This helps combine the flavors.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Cornish hens are such a great substitute for a big turkey and these look perfect! So crispy, plus one pan meals are always the best!
This is such a great recipe. I showed it to the kids and they were excited that they each got their “own” chickens!
I’ve never made cornish hens before but in a few years we are going to be empty nesters and I may not feel like doing a turkey just for my husband and I. Plus you make them look so delicious!
This sounds like a great substitute for Thanksgiving dinner! And the photos looks delicious!
These cornish hens look phenomenal, Brandy! This is such a perfect alternative to turkey on Thanksgiving!
What a fantastic idea for a dinner for two! I wouldn’t limit this one to Thanksgiving though. With those tasty roasted potatoes and Brussels sprouts, I would love this anytime!
Every time I go past the freezer section at my grocery store I am so tempted to pick up a pack of cornish game hens… they’re so elegant and perfectly sized!! This looks perfect and I love your photography 🙂
So we just had a local restaurant start advertising that they were going to be making Cornish hens and I was so super excited and then I came here and saw this and now I’m double excited because I use to LOVE Cornish hens!! I haven’t made them in forever but yum!! I actually would love to have Cornish hens over a Turkey! That’s actually perfect for people that don’t want to cook a huge turkey!
This looks delicious, it looks like a restaurant dish, very nice, and easy to do!
Thanks.
Such a perfect feast for two. That cranberry bbq sauce would be perfect on so many things! Ribs, chicken wings, pork roast, meatloaf…