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Slow Cooker Creole Cornish Hens + VIDEO

Slow cooker Cornish hens get the Creole treatment in this easy one-pot recipe that can also be made in your Instant Pot.

PIN FOR LATER

Updated 2020 with Instant Pot instructions

I love slow cooker Cornish hens because they’re perfect for a party of two. Most nights it’s just my husband and me for dinner. Cornish hens can be individual servings or split in half. In my household, we usually split one Cornish hen between the two of us.

What Are Cornish Hens?

Cornish hens (also known as Rock Cornish game hens) look and taste like chicken. Male or female, they’re slaughtered before 6 weeks of age hence their small size. Most Cornish hens weigh around 2 pounds. The ones you see here were approximately 1 1/2 pounds each. It’s common to find Cornish hens sold in your local grocery store in packs of two. If you’re feeding a party of one, cut the recipe in half.

Cornish hen

Ingredients For This Recipe

This festive Creole Cornish Hens recipe uses ingredients that you should be able to easily find in your local grocery store.

  • Cornish Hens: This recipes uses 2 Cornish hens that should fit in a 6-quart slow cooker or Instant Pot. If you’re using a smaller appliance, you may only be able to cook 1 at a time.
  • Creole Seasoning: I provide a homemade Creole seasoning blend in the recipe box. Feel free to substitute your own Creole seasoning if you have one.
  • Potatoes: You can use your preferred potato whether it be baby potatoes, russet potatoes or even sweet potatoes. Some work better than others. I discuss that below.
  • The Holy Trinity of Creole cooking: This is the Creole version of mirepoix. It consists of bell pepper, celery, and onion.

How To Make Cornish Hens In The Slow Cooker

Sit back and let the slow cooker do the work. Add all the ingredients to the slow cooker and let it cook. I like to take the time to broil the Cornish hens after they’re done slow cooking but ultimately this is an optional step.

homemade Creole seasoning in a white bowl

homemade Creole seasoning

Creole Seasoning

The base of a lot of Creole recipes is a good Creole seasoning. In the recipe box you’ll find my homemade Creole seasoning. It’s great on meat, poultry, seafood, and vegetables. You can mix together the spice blend together first or add each spice to the slow cooker one-by-one. I like to mix them all together. I actually keep a big batch of this in my pantry. Of course you can use a store-bough Creole seasoning as well.

before (slow cooker)

The Holy Trinity

Are you familiar with mirepoix? Mirepoix is a combination of diced onions, carrots, and celery. It’s used as a base for lots of traditional recipes like soups (think chicken soup), stews, and stocks. The holy trinity, also known as the holy trinity of Creole cooking is the Creole version of mirepoix. It consists of bell pepper, celery, and onion. It’s the base for lots of traditional Creole recipes so I used it here in this slow cooker Creole Cornish hens recipe. I used one red, one green bell pepper but you can use two of the same color bell pepper.

after – the potatoes & veggies

What Type Of Potatoes To Use

Waxy potatoes always work best for slow cooking because they hold their shape better than other forms of potatoes. Having said that, like most of my recipes, I encourage you to use the ingredients you have & like. You can use your preferred potato whether it be a waxy potato like red or yellow, russet potato, sweet potato, etc. If you use non-waxy potatoes like russet or sweet potatoes, I suggest you cut them into larger chunks than you usually would. This will help them hold their shape during the cooking process and not turn mushy on you.

Broiling The Skin

When I slow cooker poultry that has its skin on, I almost always remove it from the appliance when it’s done cooking to broil the skin. What can I say, I like crispy skin. If you want your Cornish hens to have a crisp skin, remove them from the slow cooker or Instant Pot. Place them on a baking sheet lined with foil and place them under the broiler for 3-5 minutes or until crisp to your liking. This is an optional step of course. If you’re going to remove the skin, don’t bother with this step.

Tips For This Cornish Hens Recipe

  • With the slow cooker, I didn’t add any liquid. What you see in the pics is all natural juices. I understand that might make some people uncomfortable so go ahead and add up to 1/2 cup of low-sodium broth or water if you want.
  • If you have a preferred Creole seasoning you want to use….use it!
  • You can cook the Cornish hens from frozen if you use the Instant Pot. If you do, adjust the cooking time to 50 minutes.

creole Cornish hens on a white platter

Other Creole recipes you might enjoy: 

Low-Carb Jambalaya

Gumbo

Creole Shrimp Au Gratin

Okra & Tomatoes with Chicken

I used a large 6-quart slow cooker or Instant Pot for this recipe.

Print
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creole Cornish hens on a white platter

Slow Cooker or Instant Pot Cornish Hens

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

5 from 2 reviews

  • Total Time: 5 hours 15 mins
  • Yield: 4 servings 1x

Ingredients

Units Scale
  • 2 Cornish hens (approximately 34 pounds total)
  • 2 tablespoons Creole seasoning (see below for homemade blend)
  • 1 1/2 pounds potatoes or sweet potatoes, chopped
  • 2 bell peppers, chopped
  • 1 large onion, chopped
  • 2 celery stalks, sliced
  • 1 cup low-sodium chicken broth (Instant Pot only)
  • 1 tablespoon + 2 teaspoons oil
  • Salt & pepper to taste

CREOLE SPICE BLEND

  • 1 1/2 teaspoon paprika
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt (or more)
  • 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon oregano
  • 1/2 teaspoon thyme
  • 1/2 teaspoon cayenne
  • 1/2 teaspoon pepper

Instructions

Prepare the Cornish hens:

  1. Rinse & pat dry Cornish hens. Remove giblets & trim any excess fat.
  2. Drizzle the Cornish hens all over with the 2 teaspoons of oil. In a small bowl mix together the Creole seasoning. Season the Cornish hens evenly & all over the Creole seasoning.

Slow Cooker

  1.  Add potatoes, bell pepper, celery, and onion to the slow cooker.  Season with salt & pepper. Add the prepared Cornish hens on top of the food.
  2. Cook HIGH 3-4 hours or LOW 6-8.

Instant Pot

  1. Turn on the pressure cooker and select sauté. Add the Cornish hens and cook 3-5 minutes on each side, until evenly browned. You may need to do this one hen at a time. Remove the hens and set aside.
  2. Add the bell peppers, onions, and celery to the pot. Cook 2-5 minutes or until vegetables are soft.
  3. Turn off the Instant Pot. Pour in the broth and deglaze the bottom of the pressure cooker by scraping all the bits off with a wooden spoon.
  4. Add the prepared Cornish hens. Place the potatoes around the hens.
  5. Close lid and seal valve. Set high pressure for 20 minutes. When cook time is done, let the pressure release naturally.

Notes

Instant Pot: If you’re using frozen Cornish hens, cook for 50 minutes.

  • Author: Shannon Epstein
  • Prep Time: 15 mins
  • Cook Time: 5 hours

Nutrition

  • Serving Size:
  • Calories: 215
  • Sugar: 7.3 g
  • Sodium: 649.7 mg
  • Fat: 4.6 g
  • Saturated Fat: 0.7 g
  • Carbohydrates: 37.4 g
  • Fiber: 7.4 g
  • Protein: 7.4 g
  • Cholesterol: 12.9 mg

This post contains affiliate links, which means I receive money if you make a purchase using one of the links. For more about my disclosure policy see here: https://fitslowcookerqueen.com/about/disclosure-policy/

[adthrive-in-post-video-player video-id=”QsN409oY” upload-date=”2021-09-03T02:12:15.000Z” name=”Slow Cooker Creole Cornish Hens” description=”Cornish hens get the Creole treatment in this easy one-pot recipe that can be made in your slow cooker or Instant Pot.” player-type=”default” override-embed=”default”]

Slow Cooker Creole Cornish Hens + VIDEOSlow Cooker Creole Cornish Hens + VIDEOSlow Cooker Creole Cornish Hens + VIDEO
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Keith Dennie

Monday 12th of June 2023

If I want to split the hens should I do it before I cook or after?

Shannon Epstein

Tuesday 13th of June 2023

Honestly, it doesn't matter. Splitting before might help the hens fit the slow cooker better however cooking them whole will help them hold their shape better than the cooking process. My Cornish hens are usually so tender that they usually fall apart on me when I take them out of the slow cooker. Using tongs and a large spoon at the same time will help to get them out.

Lulu

Saturday 3rd of April 2021

Hello and thank you for the recipe! We love it! I have used the recipe several times with great results. I made this last Christmas and because my husband raved about it so much I’m making it again for Easter lunch. It’s just the two of us since we’re still in the middle of Covid-19, but this makes such a beautiful meal, I will send a photo to the kids to show them we had a very nice holiday meal under the circumstances. Thank you for sharing such a great recipe that works so perfectly. BTW, The first time I made this I had some lemons I needed to use, so I quartered a lemon and placed 2 quarters inside the hen. The lemon made the dish so fragrant and even more delicious. Of course, your recipe was perfect as is, but we thought the lemon was a nice addition you may want to try. Thanks again for sharing such a lovely recipe that enjoy cooking. Happy Easter! ?

Michele Krug

Friday 12th of February 2021

Not good! I followed Instant recipe for frozen Cornish Hens. The hens juice was red after adding recommended additional minutes. Put hens in oven at 425 after 23 minutes on manual and placed veggies in covered pan on stovetop. Poor directions

Linda W ODonnell

Tuesday 22nd of December 2020

I can not see specific directions for the cornish hen with sweet potatoes. Not sure how long to cook in crock pot.

Lorenzo

Saturday 11th of July 2020

I love Cornish hens! Thank you for the recipe!

Andrea

Sunday 20th of September 2020

How did you brown the hens