A Cheaper Alternative To Ham And Turkey That Still Feels Special, According To Sunny Anderson

Ham and turkey are the go-to centerpieces for most big family gatherings, but if you want an alternative that's just as special without costing an arm-and-a-leg, Sunny Anderson has you covered. As one of the hosts of "The Kitchen" and a longtime Food Network star, Anderson has been teaching people how to make the best home-cooked comfort food for almost two decades. As she knows, cooking a great meal at home doesn't have to mean spending a fortune on premium ingredients, and when talking to Business Insider about saving money in the kitchen, she dropped one of her favorite substitutions for big dinners: Cornish game hens.

According to Anderson, what's great about game hens is "they're plentiful, which means they're less expensive and they take a lot less time to roast in the oven and give you more space in the oven." If you've seen Cornish game hens at the grocery store and always wondered what they are, don't be too intimidated. Cornish game hens are just small chickens, and only got that name from a breed of poultry that is no longer used. They are harvested when they are under five weeks old, which is why they're so small, and they must be under two pounds. But they don't taste exactly like chicken. Similar to veal, harvesting young chicken means Cornish game hens are uniquely rich and tender, even a little sweet. And best of all, they are extremely easy to turn into a succulent main course.

Game hens are small, so they also cook quickly compared to large roasts. In an oven set to 425 degrees Fahrenheit, roasted Cornish game hens will be done in under an hour. That's the perfect amount of hands-off time to prepare sides, but nowhere near the hours of babysitting you need with a full turkey.

Weighing in at under two pounds, bones included, each game hen can be prepared as an individual serving, which means no carving and plating to do either. And herein lies the other big part of their appeal. The small size means a much higher surface area of skin to meat, so every bite should get all the flavors of your rub, the skin, and some lovely exterior browning. No more party guests fighting over the best edge cuts and leaving huge slices of flavorless white breast meat untouched.

Because they're just chickens, you can use the same additions as your favorite whole roast chicken recipes. But again, because they are so flavorful, you don't need to go overboard; a simple lemon and herb mixture is a great place to start. Serve them with any classic holiday side like mashed potatoes, but they look particularly adorable perched on top of some rice pilaf, and the juices will drip down to flavor the rice more as you eat. Forget alternatives, listen to Sunny Anderson and realize Cornish game hens are dinner party stars.