It isn’t hard to enjoy a deliciously decadent dinner when you have these Halal Apricot Stuffed and Glazed Cornish Hens ready to serve. Elevate your next dinner and impress your hungry guests with homemade wild rice stuffing and tangy golden glaze, and if that isn’t enough, the creamy citrus sauce for the broccoli on the side is the perfect way to complete the whole meal.

We’ll start with the stuffing, because on top of complimenting the flavor of the hens, it’s also perfect for serving on the side as a nice mix of wild rice, mushrooms, onions, apricots, and a few seasonings. A wild rice stuffing is a great combo for Cornish hens, the hearty flavors pair so well with the juicy birds, and there’s a ton of different ways to make a tasty stuffing, like our apple cranberry Cornish hen recipe you can find here.

For larger birds like whole turkeys or whole chickens even, food safety suggests not cooking the stuffing inside as the outside of the poultry might be safe, but the internal stuffing may not get hot enough to be safe.

Lucky for you, these hens are small enough that a trip to the oven for a few hours will get everything hot enough to be safe and the stuffing inside, while delicious on its own, gets infused with that juicy hen flavor and is made even better. We love a recipe where the components all synergize and make each part that much more flavorful and delicious.

Just before the hens are done in the oven, whip up the glaze by combining apricot preserves and vinegar in a pan over medium heat and whisk it up until it’s a smooth jelly, then paint it over the top of the hens. These come out so deliciously golden brown the first time, it can be tempting to take a bite but trust me, the glaze is what ties the whole thing together and comes out even more amazingly golden when it’s finished. It’s like eating an art piece, but tastier.

Let’s see, the hens are juicy, tender, and delicious, the glaze is the perfect sweet compliment, and the stuffing is the perfect hearty base that ties it all together, but you may think it’s still missing a veggie for the perfect complete meal, and you’d be right. We also serve this with some Sno-Pac organic broccoli, and that gets its own tasty sauce to go with it, so it doesn’t feel left out.

We wanted to try a creamy lemon sauce for ours and it was so delicious with the broccoli you’ll want it every time. It’s just a few ingredients mixed together in a pan until smooth and you’re all set to enjoy it over the broccoli when it’s heated up. You’ve been working hard on this recipe, and you deserve the final few pieces to be even simpler, and they come together to round out the meal.

That’s all there is to it. It sounds like a lot of steps, but it really is only a few simple steps towards getting you a deliciously decadent meal that you might not otherwise try. It only takes a few pans, and the hens spend most of their time slowly roasting in the oven, so don’t let anyone tell you recipes like this have to be complex and time consuming. But don’t take my word for it, try it for yourself! It’s the perfect recipe to serve to impress guests for a special occasion, or if you just want an excuse to make something different for yourself or for hungry family members. Give it a try, let us know what you think, or try some of our other great stuffed hen or chicken recipes, and we hope you stop by again for more delicious Halal recipes.