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Slow Cooker Cornish Hens

Slow cooker Cornish hens are the perfect one-pot meal for feeding a small crowd. Cornish hens, potatoes, and your favorite green vegetables cook together in the same Crock-Pot. Instructions to make this easy poultry recipe in the Instant Pot are also included.

overhead shot of cooked Cornish hens, potatoes, and green beans on a white platter

I love slow cooker Cornish hens because they’re great for a household 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.

collage of ingredients for slow cooker Cornish hens

Ingredients For Cornish Hens

  • Cornish Hens
  • Green Vegetable (asparagus, broccoli, green beans, zucchini) 
  • Russet Potatoes
  • Seasonings: salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder
overhead shot of uncooked Cornish hens in a black slow cooker

before

How To Make Cornish Hens In The Slow Cooker

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 1 tablespoon of oil.
  3. Season both hens evenly & all over with the Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder.

Slow Cooker

  1.  Add potatoes to the slow cooker. Add the prepared Cornish hens on top of the potatoes.
  2. Cook HIGH 3-4 hours or LOW 6-8.
  3. Remove the Cornish hens & potatoes. The last 30 minutes of cooking time, add the green vegetables on top of the Cornish hens. 

Instant Pot

  1. Pour 1 cup of water or broth into the pressure cooker. Add the trivet to the pot.
  2. Add the Cornish hens on top of the trivet.
  3. Close lid and seal valve. Set high pressure for 20 minutes. When cook time is done, quick release the pressure. Remove the Cornish hens. Add the green vegetables and potatoes.  Cook high pressure for 3 minutes. When cook time is complete, quick release the pressure.
overhead shot of cooked Cornish hens in a black slow cooker

after

What Are Cornish Hens?

Cornish hens (also known as Rock Cornish game hens) look and taste like chicken. 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.

 

add green vegetables

What Types Of Vegetables To Use

You can technically use your preferred vegetables with this recipe. I like to use a a green vegetable like green beans or asparagus. Other suggestions are carrots, zucchini, onions, turnips, parsnips, etc.

close up shot of a cooked Cornish hens, on a white platter

Adding Potatoes

If you have a large 5 or 6-quart slow cooker or Instant Pot, you can add a 1 1/2 pounds of potatoes to this Cornish Hens recipe. Like most of my recipes, I encourage you to use the ingredients you have & like. Meaning, you can use your preferred potato whether it be a russet potatoes like you see here in the pics, red potatoes, or even sweet potatoes. If you use non-waxy potatoes like russet, I suggest you cut them into larger chunks or leave them whole. This will help them hold their shape during the cooking process and not turn mushy on you.

close up shot of cooked potatoes on a white platter close up shot of cooked green beans on a white platter

Broiling The Skin

When I slow cook skin-on poultry, I almost always place it under the broil to crisp 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.

close up shot of cooked Cornish hens, on a white platter

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. It certainly won’t hurt.
  • You can cook the Cornish hens from frozen if you use the Instant Pot. If you do, add an additional 4-5 minutes of cooking time.
  • I used a large 6-quart slow cooker or Instant Pot for this recipe.

One-Pot Recipes 

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overhead shot of cooked Cornish hens, potatoes, and green beans on a white platter

Slow Cooker Cornish Hens

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5 from 1 review

Slow cooker Cornish hens is the perfect one-pot meal for feeding a small crowd. Cornish hens, potatoes, and your favorite green vegetables cook together in the same Crock-Pot. Instructions to make this easy poultry recipe in the Instant Pot are also included.

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

Ingredients

Units Scale
  • 2 Cornish hens (approximately 34 pounds total)
  • 1 1/2 pounds potatoes
  • 1 pound green beans, trimmed
  • 1 tablespoon oil
  • 1 cup water or broth (for Instant Pot only)

Seasoning

  • 2 tablespoons Italian seasoning
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons salt (or more)
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon onion powder

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 1 tablespoon of oil.
  3. Season both hens evenly & all over with the Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder.

Slow Cooker

  1.  Add potatoes to the slow cooker. Add the prepared Cornish hens on top of the potatoes.
  2. Cook HIGH 3-4 hours or LOW 6-8.
  3. Remove the Cornish hens & potatoes. The last 30 minutes of cooking time, add the green vegetables on top of the Cornish hens.

Instant Pot

  1. Pour 1 cup of water or broth into the pressure cooker. Add the trivet to the pot.
  2. Add the Cornish hens on top of the trivet.
  3. Close lid and seal valve. Set high pressure for 20 minutes. When cooking time is complete, quick release the pressure.  Remove the Cornish hens. Add the green vegetables and potatoes.  Cook high pressure for 3 minutes. When cook time is complete, quick release the pressure.
  • Author: Shannon Epstein
  • Prep Time: 4 mins
  • Cook Time: 4 hours

 

overhead, close up shot of cooked Cornish hens, potatoes, and green beans on a white platter

Slow cooker Cornish hens is the perfect one-pot meal for feeding a small crowd. Cornish hens, potatoes, and your favorite green vegetables cook together in the same Crock-Pot. Instructions to make this easy poultry recipe in the Instant Pot are also included.

This post contains affiliate links. That means if you click on one of the product links, I might receive compensation. For more about my disclosure policy see here: https://fitslowcookerqueen.com/about/disclosure-policy/.

 

Recipe rating 5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

Lorenzo

Tuesday 30th of November 2021

In my household, I eat the whole hen! Yum!