These juicy cornish hens in the air fryer will be the star on any table. It will be super juicy and tender on the inside and it will have crispy skin on the outside. It is full of flavor and you will need only 30 minutes of cooking time. They look amazing on any holiday table, especially if you plan a romantic date night at home.
Cornish hens are often preferable to chicken because they are easier to make and they take less time to cook because they are smaller in size. Also, the cornish hens are a great option if you are cooking a dinner for two, and you don’t want to have any leftovers after that.
But if you will have some leftovers, you can easily use them to prepare a chicken salad or some sandwiches.
As they are small, the cornish hens are usually cooked whole since butchering them will take a lot of time. It will be quicker just to eat them as is.
Usually, when I’m making them for holidays, I’m planning to serve a whole cornish hen per couple. To be sure that you will have enough food on the table, you may consider serving two cornish hens for three people. But as you will have also a side dish beside them, I think that you will be ok and with one hen for every two guests.
💎 What You Will Find in This Post?
- How to get juicy meat and how to distribute evenly the juice.
- On what part you should cook the cornish hen first?
- Should you rotate the cornish hen in the air fryer? If yes, how often?
- How to make sure that the marinade sticks to the meat?
- and a lot more…
👩🍳 How to Make Cornish Hen in Air Fryer?
- Clean and cut all the excesses of the cornish hen.
- Dry well the cornish hen with a paper towel.
- Season the cornish hen with salt, pepper, and BBQ white sauce.
- Cook the cornish hen for 30 minutes at 375°F / 190°C.
- Let the meat rest for 10 minutes before serving.
🥰 Why You Will Love This Recipe?
- The recipe is perfect for those who love chicken meat but don’t want to cook a whole chicken.
- It has a classic and familiar taste but a more special look. It is perfect to serve at holidays like Christmas Eve dinner, or if you have a romantic date night at home.
- It cooks quickly because the cornish hen is smaller in size.
- If you cook for two persons then the cornish hen will be a better fit for you because you will not have any leftovers after that.
- It looks fancy, but it’s very easy to make and you will need only a few simple ingredients.
- You can give a try to this recipe, and if you will like it, you can repeat the recipe with a whole chicken cooked in the oven.
📖 What are Cornish Hens?
Cornish hens, also known as Rock Hens are another variety of broiler chicken. So it is basically a smaller chicken. They weigh about 2 pounds, in comparison with the regular chicken that weighs around 4 or more pounds.
But why you should pick the cornish hen if it is the same chicken? It’s a game saver when you are limited on time and need to prepare a quick dinner. As it is smaller in size, it will cook quicker. Also, it looks fancier on the table. If you are cooking for a holiday, you may consider serving a few cornish hens.
🥘 Ingredients and Substitutes
- Cornish Hen. I chose this meat because it has a taste known to all but a more interesting look, it is a good idea for a more special event.
- BBQ White Sauce. For the marinade, I wanted to use a sauce that accentuates the taste of the meat but does not completely cover it. I highly recommend making the homemade BBQ white sauce. It is super easy to make. Or you can go to the local grocery store and buy a jar with this sauce. But of course, you could use any other sauce you prefer to marinate the meat, such as the classic bbq sauce, teriyaki sauce, buffalo sauce, or even a simple mix of pepper, salt, and aromatic herbs.
- Rosemary. I like to put aromatic herbs inside the chicken when I cook it, so the aroma is evenly distributed in the meat. I had rosemary on hand, but use other aromatic herbs that you like. A few great options will be to use sage, oregano, or thyme.
- Seasonings. Because I used the Alabama white BBQ sauce, in addition, I only used salt and pepper, but of course, you have the green light to use whatever spices you think would be good here. A few ideas to consider are garlic, paprika, mustard, or your favorite mix of aromatic herbs.
🍽️ Serving Suggestions
Chicken meat goes well with any garnish, be it vegetables, cereals, or just a simple fresh green salad. Here are a few of my favorite recipes:
- Air Fryer Eggplant Bites
- Air Fryer Cauliflower Steak With Panko and Cheese
- Easy Sweet Potato Chunks Roasted in Air Fryer
- Frozen Green Beans in Air Fryer
- Delicious Asparagus in Air Fryer (From Frozen)
👩🍳 Step-by-step Directions
Clean the chicken well. I cut the thinnest part of the ribs because it dries during cooking, and I don’t like its appearance. If you like you can keep it.
Quick Note: It’s important to clean the gland located on the tail, or if you want to save some time, just cut the tail completely.
Pro Tip: Dry the chicken well after you washed it. Make sure that it is dried both on the outside and inside. If the meat will be dry, the marinade will stick better and the chicken will be more flavorful. If you will not dry enough the meat, the water from the cornish hen will wash the sauce during marinating.
Grease the cornish hen well with salt and pepper sauce on all sides, including on the interior. Massage the meat a little to make sure that we covered everything with our marinade.
Let the meat marinate for 30 – 120 minutes at room temperature. If you have more time put the marinated meat in the fridge and let it marinate overnight.
Then, take it out of the fridge, 2 hours before you need to cook it, and leave the cornish hen at room temperature all this time before you will cook it in the air fryer.
Quick Note: Use gloves when you will marinade the cornish hen. It is much easier and more enjoyable because you will have your hands clean.
Sprinkle the air fryer basket with oil or cooking spray to make sure that the skin will not stick and break when we will rotate the cornish hen during cooking. After that, put the cornish hen in the air fryer basket.
Cook the cornish hen at 375°F / 190°C for about 30 minutes.
Quick Note: The cooking time is approximate only because it may differ from the piece of meat you will use and also from your air fryer model. To be sure that it’s cooked enough and it’s safe to eat, I highly recommend using a meat thermometer to check the inner temperature of the meat. It should reach 165°F / 74 °C.
Using a pair of tongs carefully rotate the chicken from side to side during cooking. About every 10 minutes, the juices inside will be evenly distributed and you will not have dry parts of the meat at the end.
Pro Tip: Start cooking the chicken with chest down. By doing that, you will keep all the juice inside of the chicken.
Let the cornish hen cool down and let the meat rest a bit for about 10 minutes. Then you can serve it with your favorite garnish.
Pro Tip: As a general rule, you should let the meat rest for about half of its cooking time.
Today, I served it near some diced potatoes and frozen asparagus. Both are cooked in the air fryer.
🏆 Expert Tips. What to Pay Attention To?
- Wash the cornish hen well and clean it of the parts that you don’t like how it looks and the fluff that it may have.
- Cut the gland that is located on the tail, otherwise, it will have an unpleasant smell.
- Season the cornish hen well both outside and inside as well.
- Rotate the cornish hen several times during cooking. In that way, the juices from the meat will be evenly distributed during cooking.
- Let the cornish hen rest after cooking for about 10 minutes. One of the most often mistakes that many of us are making is to cut the meat right away. When you let it rest for at least half of the baking time, you give the possibility to meat to absorb all juices that it made during the cooking.
- Want to go the extra mile? Consider adding a mix of softened butter and minced garlic under the breast skin.
♻️ Make Ahead, Storage and Heating:
It depends on the size of your air fryer, how big is your cornish hen if you marinated the meat or not. As a general rule, you should air fry the cornish hen until its inner temperature will reach 165°F / 74 °C. In my case, for a whole cornish hen, it took 30 minutes to cook at 375°F / 190°C.
I suggest you marinate the chicken ahead and cook it the next day when you will need to serve it. That way, you will get the best taste and flavors from your meat and spices.
If you have any leftovers, you can keep the cooked cornish hen in the fridge for a maximum of 2 days in an air-tight container.
You could freeze the chicken immediately after marinating, so you will have a semi-finished product in the freezer for the evenings when you don’t have time to cook. Or if you have some leftovers, you can also put them in the freezer in a tightly closed container and defrost them when you need them to serve.
To reheat the cornish hen stored in the fridge, simply put it in the microwave for 1-2 minutes, or you can heat it in an air fryer at 400°F / 200°C for about 5 min.
If you have kept the chicken in the freezer, it is not necessary to defrost it beforehand, it is enough to put a few extra minutes either in the microwave oven or in the air fryer.
📋 Recipe Card:
Air Fryer Cornish Hen
Ingredients
- 1 Cornish Hen
- 2 tablespoon BBQ White Sauce
- 1 brunch Rosemary Fresh
- ¼ teaspoon Salt
- ¼ teaspoon Black Pepper
Instructions
- Wash, clean and cut all the excesses of the cornish hen.1 Cornish Hen
- With a paper towel, dry well the chicken on the outside and inside.
- Season the chicken with salt, pepper, and bbq white sauce on all sides, including the inside.2 tablespoon BBQ White Sauce, ¼ teaspoon Salt, ¼ teaspoon Black Pepper
- Massage the meat well and put the rosemary branch inside.1 brunch Rosemary
- Cook the chicken at 375°F / 190°C for about 30 minutes.
- Let the meat rest for about 10 minutes and serve.
Notes
- After washing the meat, make sure that you dried the meat well. Remove all water drops.
- Start cooking the meat with the chest down.
- Rotate the cornish hen every 10 minutes to distribute evenly the juice on the entire surface of the cornish hen.
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