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Home » Recipes » Recipes

Dutch Oven Cornish Hens with Potatoes and Pumpkin

Published: Dec 2, 2015 · Modified: Dec 31, 2022 by Lara Clevenger, Registered Dietitian This post may contain affiliate links - read my disclaimer for full details... 4 Comments

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This Dutch Oven Cornish hen recipe with potatoes and pumpkin is super easy to make! It's a delicious recipe if you want to go the non-traditional route this holiday season.

Cornish Hens with pumpkin, purple potatoes and chorizo
Table of Contents
  • Dutch Oven Cornish Hens with Potatoes and Pumpkin
  • Ingredients for this Dutch Oven Cornish Hens Recipe:
  • How to make Cornish Hens in a Dutch Oven
  • Dutch Oven Cornish Hens with Potatoes and Pumpkin

Dutch Oven Cornish Hens with Potatoes and Pumpkin

Do you ever get tired of turkey at the holidays? I'm not really huge into ham, so that means I normally have turkey at Thanksgiving, Christmas and sometimes New Years too if I found a really good deal on turkey.

Having turkey 3 times within 2 months can get old quick, so that's why I decided to test run these Cornish Hens in the dutch oven with pumpkin, purple potatoes and chorizo. I wanted to see if I could spice things up the next holiday season.

My good friend Erica had a bunch of leftover pumpkin which she was giving away to a good home and I quickly snagged up as much as she was willing to give me!

The rest of the pumpkin was cubed and I used it in this Cornish hens with pumpkin, purple potatoes and chorizo recipe. This was my first time cooking Cornish Hens and they turned out surprisingly well!

It was also my first time baking with cubed pumpkin, cooking with chorizo and eating purple potatoes. A whole lot of firsts were had in the making of this recipe.

Cornish hens with pumpkin, purple potatoes and chorizo

I found my Cornish Hens in the Frozen Meat and Poultry section. I defrosted mine under running water for an hour and then placed it in the refrigerator over night.

I would normally skip the running water and just defrost it the whole time in the fridge but with daylight savings time the days are shorter and I would not have any good lighting when I got home to take pictures so I had to cook this at 6 in the morning.

Another first, I recently bought this beautiful dutch oven and this was my fist time cooking with it 🙂

Cornish hens with pumpkin, purple potatoes and chorizo

Ingredients for this Dutch Oven Cornish Hens Recipe:

  • 1 Twin Pack Tyson Cornish Hens (thawed)
  • chorizo (cooked and removed from casing)
  • purple potatoes cubed (~1 inch)
  • cubed pumpkin (~1 inch)
  • fresh rosemary, diced
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • olive oil
Cornish hens with pumpkin, purple potatoes and chorizo

How to make Cornish Hens in a Dutch Oven

  1. First, preheat the oven to 350F
  2. Next, in a medium skillet, cook the chorizo on stove top over medium high heat. Drain off excess fat.
  3. Wash and cube potatoes and pumpkin.
  4. Dice fresh rosemary
  5. In the dutch oven combine cooked cubed pumpkin, potatoes, cooked chorizo, and rosemary
  6. Place thawed Cornish Hens on top and brush with olive oil
  7. Season with salt and pepper to taste
  8. Cook covered for 1 hour
  9. Remove lid and cook uncovered for 15 minutes. Check internal temperature. Once at 165F remove from oven.
  10. Let sit for 5 minutes before serving.
how to cook cornish hens in a dutch oven
Cornish Hens with pumpkin, purple potatoes and chorizo.

Dutch Oven Cornish Hens with Potatoes and Pumpkin

Lara Clevenger, Registered Dietitian
This Dutch Oven Cornish hen recipe with potatoes, pumpkin and chorizo is super easy to make! It's a delicious recipe if you want to go the non-traditional route this holiday season.
5 from 1 vote
Print Recipe
Prep Time 20 minutes mins
Cook Time 1 hour hr 15 minutes mins
Total Time 1 hour hr 35 minutes mins
Course Main Course
Cuisine American
Servings 4
Calories 847 kcal

Equipment

  • Dutch Oven

Ingredients
  

  • 16 oz package of chorizo cooked and removed from casing
  • 28 oz package of purple potatoes cubed ~1 inch
  • 4 cups cubed pumpkin ~1 inch
  • 2 sprigs rosemary diced
  • 2 Cornish Hens thawed
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil

Instructions
 

  • First, preheat the oven to 350F
  • Next, in a medium skillet, cook the chorizo on stove top over medium high heat. Drain off excess fat.
  • Wash and cube potatoes and pumpkin.
  • Dice fresh rosemary
  • In the dutch oven combine cooked cubed pumpkin, potatoes, cooked chorizo, and rosemary
  • Place thawed Cornish Hens on top and brush with olive oil
  • Season with salt and pepper to taste
  • Cook covered for 1 hour
  • Remove lid and cook uncovered for 15 minutes. Check internal temperature. Once at 165F remove from oven.
  • Let sit for 5 minutes before serving.

Nutrition

Calories: 847kcalCarbohydrates: 42gProtein: 54gFat: 50gSaturated Fat: 18gPolyunsaturated Fat: 7gMonounsaturated Fat: 16gCholesterol: 307mgSodium: 1819mgPotassium: 1761mgFiber: 5gSugar: 5gVitamin A: 10695IUVitamin C: 71mgCalcium: 96mgIron: 6mg
Keyword cornish hen dinner, cornish hens in dutch oven, dutch oven cornish hen and potatoes
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
Cornish hens with pumpkin, purple potatoes and chorizo

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Reader Interactions

Comments

    5 from 1 vote (1 rating without comment)

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    Recipe Rating




  1. Kara

    December 02, 2015 at 2:30 am

    What a beautiful recipe, those purple potatoes look delicious! Tyson Cornish Hens are a great alternative to ham & turkey. #client

    Reply
  2. GiGi Eats

    December 02, 2015 at 9:49 am

    OMG I friggin' love this! Probably because a serving is a WHOLE HEN! LOL!

    Reply
  3. Web Hosting

    December 22, 2016 at 2:06 pm

    I love the daintiness of Tyson® Cornish Hens and how they look on a plate fancy. Not only are they delicious and all natural with no artificial ingredients or preservatives, but they are also really easy to make and grill. Teriyaki is by far our favorite glaze, but a honey mustard sauce is also delicious to serve over the hen.

    Reply
  4. Elynn

    April 19, 2018 at 7:54 pm

    I had never tried Cornish hens this way until I found This recipe. The purple potatoes were perfect for this dish.

    Reply

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Hi, I’m Lara, a Registered Dietitian and Personal Trainer with a passion for food and travel.

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