Cooking small cornish hens in the air fryer is a perfect way to get crispy roasted skin without taking the time to roast in the oven.
Jump to RecipeA few weeks ago, we had to get cornish hens for a client recipe and ended up with extras. I wasn’t sure what to do with them besides her recipe, so we started experimenting. I’m someone who loves a lot of flavor on the meat, especially a good blackened chicken breast.
We wanted to roast the cornish hens, but I wasn’t sure the best way to do it. After all, I’ve never roasted a turkey before, only cooked turkey in the Instant Pot! It gets roasted in there, but we wanted to try something different for the cornish hens. Justin is the one who suggested trying to roast in the air fryer. We’ve used it a LOT lately since one of my clients is all air fryer meals, so gotten pretty comfortable with it.
For the seasonings, I went with my two favorites (garlic powder and onion powder) then added anything else that smelled good to me at the time. By combining the seasonings and then rubbing on the cornish hens, the flavor was evenly spread out. The basic rule of thumb for an air fryer that I’ve learned: lower the temperature a bit from what you would use with the oven, and increase the time by a few minutes.
Air Fryer Cornish Hens Step by Step
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp onion powder
- 1 tbsp garlic powder
- 1 tbsp rosemary, dried
- 1 tsp thyme, dried
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 cornish hens, 1 lb each
Preparation
Preheat the air fryer to 380F. To preheat the air fryer, I turn it on to this temperature for 10 minutes while I get everything else prepped. Then adjust the time when you put your food in the air fryer.
In a small bowl, combine all of the seasonings.
Brush the olive oil on both sides of the cornish hens.
Rub the seasoning mixture on both sides of each cornish hen.
Place the cornish hens, breast side down, on a greased air fryer basket and cook for 30 minutes. Flip the cornish hens and cook another 15 minutes, until they are cooked through. Let them sit for 10 minutes before serving warm.
Air Fyer Cornish Hens Leftovers
Store leftover air fryer cornish hens in an airtight container in the refrigerator. I like to go ahead and pull the meat from the bones so it’s easier to eat later and takes up less space. Just as with chicken, I typically like to eat the leftovers cold either in a salad or on its own. If you want to reheat it, you can heat it in the air fryer again or in the oven. Only heat until it’s warm as this will dry out the meat. As much as I don’t like to use the microwave, it’s best for reheating this since it won’t get dried out in there.
Recipe
Originally Published On: March 14, 2022
Air Fryer Roasted Cornish Hens
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp onion powder
- 1 tbsp garlic powder
- 1 tbsp rosemary (dried)
- 1 tsp thyme (dried)
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 cornish hens (1 lb each)
Recommended Equipment
Instructions
- Preheat the air fryer to 380F
- In a small bowl, combine all of the seasonings
- Brush the olive oil on both sides of the cornish hens
- Rub the seasoning mixture on both sides of each cornish hen
- Place the cornish hens, breast side down, on a greased air fryer basket and cook for 30 minutes
- Flip the cornish hens and cook another 15 minutes, until they are cooked through
- Let them sit for 10 minutes before serving warm
All nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered estimates. Actual nutrition content will vary based on brands used, measuring methods, portion sizes, and more.
Air Fryer Cornish Hens FAQs
A cornish hen is a specific breed of chicken. The ones sold in grocery stores are actually a hybrid of two different breeds. They are bred to be small.
Src: https://animals.mom.com/difference-between-chicken-cornish-hen-5812.html
A cornish hen can be purchased in the meat freezer at most large grocery stores. They are packaged similarly to a turkey.
Yes, you can use whatever seasonings you prefer. These are just our favorites and the ones we wanted for this particular meal.
so yummy airfryer recipe.Thanks for sharing with us.
That looks yummmy! I really need to get an air fryer now 🙂
It is a great recipe! I got my air fryer two months ago and I can`t explain how happy I`m. I gonna try your recipe this weekend.
Ohh this is heaven! I love the idea of making something like this too. I would love to try this out too! Thanks for the recipe too! I will print it out first.
Wow, you did this so well. Looking at the picture makes me hungry. Thank you for sharing!
These look amazing. I’ve been looking for a fun new recipe to try.
I have been on the fence about getting an air fryer, but this recipe is inspiring me to buy one today!
Wow….look at that chicken, all yummy and ready?! I am so tempted to even steal your recipe!
Wow! This looks delicious and quite easy to prepare. Thank you for sharing the recipe. Would love to try this on Saturday.
This sounds like a cute dish to make, and I love that you can make it right in the air fryer. It would be fun to serve these for a special occasion.
I’ve not heard of this type of chicken before but will certainly look out for them on my next shop. I’ve never tried air frying a whole chicken before…looks delicious!
I’m very tempted to get an airfryer after reading this, sounds so easy and delicious
I’m getting hungry just looking at this! I love cornish hens, especially when they get that really crispy skin. Thi sis the best.
Oh my! I just had the almost same recipe. Using air fryer really made my life so easy!
It’s great you can make these in an air fryer. This sounds like a great recipe and nice and easy too.
I am planning to buy an air fryer. I will include this recipe when I cook from the air fryer. Thanks for sharing.
I have seen so many great air fryer recipes. I will certainly be giving this one a try, it looks delicious!
I didn’t realize that about the microwave (and would have never thought it). Excellent tip for reheating.