There is something about serving a whole little bird to each person that makes an ordinary dinner feel like a celebration, even if it’s just a Tuesday and you are eating at the kitchen table. No carving at the table, no arguing over who gets the leg, just your own hen, golden skin, and stuffing that actually tastes like something.
These hens are easier than a big roast chicken, and they cook faster too. The wild rice stuffing is nutty and herby, not mushy, and the whole thing comes together in about an hour and a half. Here’s how it comes together.
Jump to Recipe
Why You’ll Love It
- Everyone gets their own hen. It looks impressive, but it’s actually simpler than carving a large bird for a crowd.
- The stuffing stays safe and juicy. The rice is cooked about three-quarters before it goes in, and the hens are stuffed loosely, so heat reaches the centre without drying the breast out.
- They cook in about an hour. Much faster than a whole chicken, which makes this a realistic option for a dinner party, not just a holiday.
- The skin gets properly crisp. A hot start, dry skin, and butter under the skin do the work — no complicated basting schedule.
- Leftovers are useful. Any leftover hen and rice make a good lunch the next day, cold or gently warmed.
Recipe Card Summary
- Prep time: 25 minutes
- Cook time: 1 hour
- Rest time: 15 minutes
- Total time: 1 hour 40 minutes
- Servings: 4
- Estimated calories per serving: about 540 kcal
- Estimated macros per serving: 42 g protein, 28 g fat, 32 g carbohydrate
- Calories and macros are estimates only and will vary with the size of your hens and how much butter you use.
Ingredients
For the hens
- 4 Cornish game hens, about 450 to 550 g each, giblets removed
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 lemon, quartered
For the wild rice stuffing
- 1 cup wild rice blend, uncooked
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 small onion, finely chopped
- 2 celery stalks, finely chopped
- 150 g mushrooms, chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 teaspoon dried sage
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
Notes: Look for a wild rice blend, not just plain wild rice, because the blend cooks more evenly and gives a better texture in stuffing. If your hens come with giblets in a bag inside, take that bag out before you do anything else — it’s easy to forget, and you don’t want to roast it by accident.
Equipment Needed
- Large saucepan with a lid
- Large skillet
- Roasting pan with a rack
- Kitchen twine
- Instant-read meat thermometer
- Basting brush or spoon
- Aluminium foil
Step-by-Step Instructions
1. Cook the rice three-quarters of the way: Rinse the wild rice blend, then simmer it in the chicken broth in a covered saucepan for about 25 minutes, until it is tender but still has a bite in the middle. Drain any extra liquid. This is the whole trick of this recipe. If you stuff the hens with raw rice, the rice stays hard while the hens overcook. If you stuff them with fully cooked, soft rice, it turns to mush in the oven. Three-quarters cooked is the sweet spot — it finishes in the bird, absorbs the juices, and still has texture.
2. Make the stuffing: Melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat. Cook the onion and celery for 5 minutes, until softened, then add the mushrooms and cook for another 5 minutes, until they have given up their liquid and started to brown. Stir in the garlic, sage, and thyme, and cook for 1 minute, until fragrant. Fold in the par-cooked rice, nuts if you are using them, and parsley. Season well, then let it cool for 10 minutes. Warm stuffing in a cold bird steams unevenly, and cool stuffing is easier to spoon in neatly.
3. Prep the hens: Heat the oven to 220°C (425°F). Pat the hens completely dry inside and out with paper towels — dry skin is what crisps. Rub the softened butter under the skin of the breast, gently, without tearing it. Rub the outside with olive oil, salt, pepper, and thyme. Put a lemon quarter inside each hen, just for fragrance, not as stuffing.
4. Stuff loosely, then tie: Spoon the cooled stuffing loosely into each hen, about 3/4 cup per bird, and don’t pack it down. This matters more than it looks. Loose stuffing lets hot air circulate, so the centre of the stuffing reaches a safe temperature at about the same time as the breast, instead of lagging behind and forcing you to overcook the meat. Tie the legs together with kitchen twine and tuck the wing tips underneath, so the hens hold their shape and cook evenly.
5. Roast hot, then lower: Place the hens breast-side up on the rack in the roasting pan. Roast at 220°C (425°F) for 20 minutes, until the skin starts to colour. Drop the heat to 190°C (375°F) and roast for another 35 to 45 minutes, basting once or twice with the pan juices if you like. Pro tip: Don’t baste every 10 minutes. Opening the oven constantly drops the temperature and slows the crisping. Once or twice is plenty.
6. Check two temperatures: Slide the thermometer into the thickest part of the thigh, away from the bone, and into the centre of the stuffing. Both should read 74°C (165°F). If the stuffing is lagging behind, give the hens another 10 minutes, tented loosely with foil so the skin doesn’t burn. The thigh temperature alone isn’t enough here — the stuffing is the part people forget to check.
7. Rest before serving: Tent the hens loosely with foil and rest them for 15 minutes. Don’t cut into them straight away, or the juices will run out. Serve each hen whole, with a generous spoonful of extra stuffing from the pan if you made more than fits inside, and the pan juices drizzled over.
Common Mistakes
- Stuffing with raw rice. The hens will be done long before the rice is, and you’ll either serve crunchy rice or dry hens. Par-cook the rice first.
- Packing the stuffing tight. Tight stuffing heats slowly in the centre, so the breast overcooks while you wait for the stuffing to catch up. Spoon it in loosely.
- Not checking the stuffing temperature. Checking only the thigh is a common miss. The stuffing centre needs to reach 74°C too.
- Wet skin going into the oven. If you don’t pat the hens dry, the skin steams instead of crisping, no matter how hot the oven is.
- Skipping the rest. Cutting straight in loses the juices you just spent an hour building up. Fifteen minutes makes a real difference.
How to Store & Reheat
Cool leftovers within two hours. Store hens and stuffing separately in airtight containers in the fridge for 3 to 4 days. For the freezer, wrap hens tightly and freeze for up to 2 months; stuffing freezes well on its own for the same time.
To reheat, place hens and stuffing in a baking dish, splash over a little broth, cover tightly with foil, and warm in a 160°C (325°F) oven for 20 to 25 minutes, until hot through. Remove the foil for the last 5 minutes if you want the skin to crisp up again.
Recipe Variations & Substitutions
- Cranberry and orange version: Add 1/2 cup dried cranberries and 1 teaspoon orange zest to the stuffing for a festive, slightly sweet finish.
- Sausage stuffing: Brown 200 g sausage meat with the onion and celery, drain the fat, and fold it into the rice. Reduce the salt a little, since sausage is already salty.
- Nut-free version: Skip the pecans or walnuts entirely, and add extra mushrooms instead for texture.
- Herb butter version: Mix chopped rosemary and garlic into the softened butter before you rub it under the skin.
- Larger hens: If your hens are closer to 700 g each, add 10 to 15 minutes to the roasting time and check both temperatures.
Nutritional / Health Angle
This recipe leans on lean protein from the hens, and the stuffing gets most of its flavour from mushrooms, herbs, and broth rather than a heavy sauce. Wild rice adds fibre and a nutty texture that plain white rice doesn’t give you.
FAQ
Can I stuff the hens the night before?
You can make the stuffing a day ahead and refrigerate it separately, but don’t stuff the hens until you are ready to roast. Stuffing a cold bird ahead of time keeps the centre cold for too long in the oven, and it heats unevenly.
What if I don’t have a roasting rack?
Use a wire cooling rack set inside the roasting pan, or make a bed of thickly sliced onion and celery in the pan and sit the hens on top. Either way, air needs to get underneath, or the bottoms will steam.
How do I know the stuffing is done?
Check the centre of the stuffing with a thermometer — it should read 74°C (165°F), the same as the thigh. If it hasn’t reached that yet, keep roasting, tented with foil, and check again in 10 minutes.
Can I make extra stuffing?
Yes, and I recommend it. Bake the extra stuffing in a small buttered dish alongside the hens for the last 25 minutes, covered for the first 15 minutes, then uncovered to crisp the top. It also means you are not tempted to overstuff the birds.
Are Cornish game hens just small chickens?
They are a specific small breed, usually sold at about 450 to 550 g, which is why one hen per person works so well. They cook faster and their skin crisps more easily than a large chicken, but the method is otherwise very similar.
Can I use plain wild rice instead of a blend?
Yes, but plain wild rice takes longer to par-cook, so check the packet times and taste it at 25 minutes. You want it tender with a bite, not fully soft, before it goes into the hens.
Final Thoughts
What I keep coming back to with these hens is that small stuffing change. Par-cook the rice, stuff loosely, and suddenly the centre is safe and tasty at the same time the breast is juicy, instead of one waiting on the other. The rest is just good habits: dry skin, a hot start, two temperature checks, and a proper rest.
Make them for a dinner where you want it to feel a little special without spending all day in the kitchen. If you try them, I would love to know what you put in your stuffing — classic mushroom and herb, or cranberry, sausage, or something else entirely?
You Might Also Like
For the hens:
- 4 Cornish game hens about 450 to 550 g each, giblets removed
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter softened
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 lemon quartered
For the wild rice stuffing:
- 1 cup wild rice blend uncooked
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 small onion finely chopped
- 2 celery stalks finely chopped
- 150 g mushrooms chopped
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 1 teaspoon dried sage
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts optional
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
Cook the rice three-quarters of the way: Rinse the wild rice blend, then simmer it in the chicken broth, covered, for about 25 minutes, until tender but still with bite. Drain off any extra liquid.
Make the stuffing: Melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat. Cook the onion and celery for 5 minutes, add the mushrooms and cook for 5 minutes until they give up their liquid and start browning, then add the garlic, sage and thyme and cook for 1 minute. Fold in the par-cooked rice, nuts if using, and parsley, season with salt and pepper, and cool for 10 minutes.
Prep the hens: Heat the oven to 220°C (425°F). Pat the hens completely dry inside and out, spread butter under the breast skin, and rub the outside with olive oil, salt, pepper and thyme. Place a lemon quarter inside each hen.
Stuff loosely, then tie: Spoon about 3/4 cup of the cooled stuffing loosely into each hen, do not pack it tight, tie the legs with kitchen twine, and tuck the wing tips under.
Roast hot, then lower: Place the hens breast-side up on the rack in the roasting pan, roast at 220°C (425°F) for 20 minutes, then lower the heat to 190°C (375°F) and roast for 35 to 45 minutes, basting once or twice if you like.
Check two temperatures: Slide the thermometer into the thickest part of the thigh, away from the bone, and into the centre of the stuffing. Both must read 74°C (165°F). If the stuffing lags behind, roast for 10 more minutes, tented loosely with foil.
Rest before serving: Tent the hens loosely with foil and rest them for 15 minutes, then serve each hen whole with extra stuffing and pan juices.
Estimated nutrition per serving: about 540 kcal, 42 g protein, 28 g fat, 32 g carbohydrate. Calories and macros are estimates only and will vary with the size of your hens and how much butter you use.
Cornish Game Hens & Wild Rice Stuffing
Last modified: November 3, 2026
