Ninja Foodi Cornish Hen Recipe

Best Ninja Foodi cornish hen recipe to get meat tender and the chicken skin crispy and delicious. Use pressure cooker and air fryer functions.

Cornish Hen in Ninja Foodi

Have you only tried Ninja air fryer recipes? Maybe you have only attempted pressure cooker recipes? Well this combines both functions at the same time! That is right. Not only does it eliminate cleaning vs. if you used both of them separately, but it gets dinner done faster too.

You could just air fry it the whole time like we did when making air fryer cornish hens and our Ninja Foodi whole chicken. I like half and half if you have this pot though. Much smaller means you need far less time and every extra minute can make the meat dry out. Pressure cooking helps maintain the moisture I feel.

Instant Pot Cornish Game Hens

Yes you could cook this in your other pressure cooker brands, but it won’t look like the top photo when done. If you did use another brand there would be a few options to get there, not nearly as convenient as this. You could throw them under the boiler when done = another thing to wash.

You can turn your Instant Pot into an air fryer with a new lid they came out with. I do have this and tested it out but compared to my Cosori and this machine it isn’t even close to working as well. Only have that option? Give it a whirl you’ll just need to rotate it a bit more since the heat seems to concentrate in one area with those.

What exactly is a Cornish hen?

They are a cross between the Cornish and White Plymouth Rock chicken breeds. They are packed up as very immature birds and no more than 2 pounds each. These were 1 pound and perfect for 1 adult or 2 kids to share. They taste just like a “regular chicken” though if you’ve never had one, you’d never know the difference.

How Long to cook Cornish Hens

The timing below accounts for two at one pound a piece. If yours is double then you will only be able to fit one but I would imagine the timing would remain the same. As always you’ll want to check the internal meat temperature before consuming. For these they should reach 165 degrees F in the thickest part to be safe.

There are a few things to remember when setting the time to pressure cook:

1. If you ARE going to air crisp at the end only set for 17 minutes at high pressure.
   1. since you will continue to crisp the skin at the end at 400 degrees you don’t want it to dry out
2. For birds NOT using the air fryer at the end you’ll want 20 minutes total to get it to the ideal temp. inside.
   1. if you could care less about eating the skin I would go for this timing, gets it as moist as possible.
3. ALWAYS allow for a little time to naturally release steam at the end AND allow meat to rest when done before slicing. Both of these tips will get your meat as moist as possible.

You can see below how well this size fit. Perfect for the four of us with rice with carrots and potatoes on the side.

Instant Pot Cornish Hen

Let’s talk about prep shall we. First off most of these do not come with the neck and “things” inside the cavity. Just in case, check inside and remove any of that. Some like to use them to make gravy, that is a no go for us when we make our onion gravy.

Now we will move on to rinsing chicken, I do. If you are on team never rinse poultry then by all means you can skip this step, and just calm down about it. I make antibacterial wipes to use and wipe down my countertops when I am done prepping so you don’t need to worry about me. 😉 We can have different opinions and still get along y’all.

Either way after removing these babies from their wrapping and discarding the juices inside you’ll want to dry the skin. This is necessary the most if you want it really crispy at the end. Easiest way to do this is just get a wad of paper towels, lay them down, fold over, gently press and absorb all of that.

Now it will be ready for some olive oil and your favorite seasonings.

Use what you normally would if cooking a whole chicken. I have suggestions below but I am sure you have your own favorite combinations. If you want bolder flavors use the coating from our chicken wings dry rub recipe. Now you’ll need a bit of broth to “steam them” below. Water or chicken broth work great for that.

How to cook 2 cornish hens in Instant Pot

Here’s a peek at how easy these are to make:

• Rinse and lay on a few paper towels. Gently press down on all sides to remove moisture from skin.
• Pour broth or water into your pot. Put steamer basket inside. Spray inside with non stick cooking spray. Lay hens breast side up.
• Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle on all seasonings.
• Close and seal pressure cooker lid and set to high pressure cook for 20 minutes to fully cook if you are NOT going to air crisp at the end.
  • If you ARE going to air crisp set to 17 minutes of cook time instead. Allow for a 5 minute natural pressure release at the end for either method.
• Release rest of steam and lift lid, set aside. Spray top with olive oil or avocado spray and close lid that is attached to air crisp.
• Press air crisp, 400 degrees F, cook for an additional 10 minutes to get crispy skin. Check, add additional minutes if you want the skin browner. Check thickest part with meat thermometer to ensure it is 165 degrees F.

This is what ours looked like when they were done.

Cornish Hens in Instant Pot Air fryer

I would say total time to get these done is 25 minutes but then if you are crisping you’d need at least 30 minutes to get it barely golden brown. I think 10 minutes to crisp at the end was ideal, that is why you lower the cook time a bit if you are using both methods. Don’t want to dry out the meat.

You can vary this up a lot just with different things on the outside. Keep it simple with salt and pepper if you want, you can use already bottled lemon pepper seasoning blend, Mrs. Dash I had on hand and is a salt free alternative. The list goes on and on, personal preference really.