Creamy Chicken Divan is not only simple to make, but also amazingly delicious. It’s filled with tender chicken, perfectly cooked broccoli and a cheesy sauce. For a double dose of cheesy goodness, this Creamy Chicken Divan is topped with ooey gooey cheddar cheese. If it’s not gobbled at dinner, the chicken divan makes awesome leftovers.
What is Chicken Divan Anyway?
Chicken Divan is a casserole of chicken and broccoli in a cheesy béchamel sauce. It was the signature dish in the early 20th century in the Divan Parisien restaurant in the Chatham Hotel in New York City. By some accounts, this classic American casserole was given its name to mirror elegance of the Divan Parisien restaurant.
Numerous variations of Chicken Divan have evolved through the years. Some variations use different cheeses. Others use canned soup in place of the home-made béchamel sauce. Still others will use frozen broccoli in place of fresh broccoli, or shredded rotisserie chicken instead of cooking the chicken. Like a crunchy topping? Some variations will add Panko breadcrumbs, crushed Ritz crackers or crushed cornflakes.
Ingredients for Creamy Chicken Divan
My variations for this beyond delicious Creamy Chicken Divan include using canned cream of mushroom soup, sour cream, milk and Velveeta cheese for the sauce. It’s quick and tasty. I know that some people have an aversion to using canned soup and/or Velveeta.
However, I’ve tried numerous times using a basic béchamel sauce. While it’s good, I really prefer the cream of mushroom soup. I’ve also tried using Cheddar cheese in the sauce. For my taste, the Cheddar cheese dominated the somewhat delicate flavor of the sauce.
Bottom line use the ingredients that you are most comfortable with. For a more traditional Chicken Divan, however, check out my Make-Ahead Chicken Divan.
Moving on, I prefer to cook my own chicken as opposed to using already cooked chicken.
Because I like my broccoli to be crisp tender, I favor using fresh broccoli. Finally, I like to top my Chicken Divan with shredded Cheddar cheese and Panko breadcrumbs.
Prepping the Chicken and Broccoli
I started by adding the chicken to a large skillet with melted butter over medium heat. I sprinkled on some salt and pepper and cooked the chicken until it was no longer pink. This took about 5 minutes.
While the chicken was cooking, I blanched the broccoli in salted boiling water for about 2 minutes (Photo 1). After 2 minutes, I drained the broccoli and plunged it into ice water to stop the cooking (Photo 2). Once the broccoli had cooled, I drained it well in a colander.
Putting the Creamy Chicken Divan Together
To minimize clean up, I used the same saucepan as I used for blanching the broccoli to make the cheese sauce.
I added the cream of mushroom soup, onion powder, garlic powder and dry mustard to the saucepan (Photo 3). I heated the mixture over medium heat, whisking occasionally until the Velveeta was melted (Photo 4). This took several minutes.
Then I removed the saucepan from the heat and whisked in the milk and sour cream (Photo 5).
Finally, I added the cooked chicken and broccoli to the sauce and stirred to combine everything (Photo 6).
I poured the Chicken Divan mixture into a 2 ½-quart casserole dish that I had sprayed with non-stick spray. Then, I topped the casserole with shredded Cheddar cheese and Panko breadcrumbs. Finally, I dotted the top with some unsalted butter.
Because I made the Chicken Divan earlier in the day, I covered the casserole dish with aluminum foil and placed it in the refrigerator.
As dinner was approaching, I placed the Creamy Chicken Divan into a preheated 400°F oven for 20 to 25 minutes, until it was hot and bubbly. Had I baked the casserole immediately after making it, I would have reduced the time to 18 to 20 minutes.
I served the Creamy Chicken Divan over some white rice and added a freshly baked loaf of Crusty French Bread. Yum!
Other One-Dish Wonders That Produce Amazing Leftovers
If you’re interested in recipes for other one-dish wonders that produce amazing leftovers, check out these:
- Easy Cheesy Mexican Rice with Chicken: Easy Cheesy Mexican Rice with Chicken is an amazing one-pot meal with an incredible blend of flavors and textures. It makes a lot, so be prepared for yummy leftovers!
- Easy Chicken Rice and Broccoli Casserole: Easy Chicken Rice and Broccoli Casserole is a one pot wonder that’s sure to become a family favorite. With the combination of chicken, rice, broccoli, and of course cheese, you know it’s going to be delicious. It can be made ahead of time and produces awesome leftovers.
- Creamy Chicken Broccoli Pasta: Creamy Chicken Broccoli Pasta is an amazing one-pot wonder that’s super easy to make and takes less than 30 minutes to put together. It makes a lot which is great given the the leftovers are just as yummy!
- Make-Ahead Shepherd’s Pie: Shepherd’s Pie is a traditional staple of British and Irish cooking. It’s easy to make, and incredibly tasty. Shepherd’s Pie can be made ahead and frozen for an anytime meal.
- One Pot Cream Tuscan Chicken: One Pot Creamy Tuscan Chicken is the ultimate in simplicity and taste. Thinly sliced chicken breasts are pan-fried and finished in a creamy Italian style sauce that’s bursting with goodness and flavor. Served over pasta, One Pot Creamy Tuscan Chicken is perfect for an elegant dinner party, but easy enough to serve any night of the week.
- Cheesy Southwestern Chicken Pasta: Cheesy Southwestern Chicken Pasta – the name for this amazing one-dish wonder says it all! Imagine the marriage of succulent chicken in a creamy southwestern sauce with tender pasta topped with ooey gooey cheese. It doesn’t get much better than this.
- Easy Creamy Chicken Marsala Pasta: Easy Creamy Chicken Marsala Pasta is an awesome twist on the classic Chicken Marsala. It’s easy enough for week-night meals, but elegant enough to serve at a dinner party. Tender pieces of chicken are cooked to perfection with caramelized onions and mushrooms tossed with pasta in a creamy dreamy Marsala sauce. Who could ask for more?
- Chicken Bacon Ranch Casserole: Chicken Bacon Ranch Casserole is a one-pot wonder combining your favorite ingredients into an amazing dish. This casserole is super easy to put together and can be made ahead of time. Leftovers, if any are just as yummy.
Chula’s Expert Tips
- You can use frozen broccoli florets in place of fresh broccoli in this recipe. However, be sure that you are purchasing broccoli florets and not broccoli pieces. My experience is that the broccoli pieces are primarily the tough stalks instead of the tender florets.
- I generally use light sour cream in recipes as opposed to the full fat sour cream.
- If you make this ahead of time and refrigerate it, increase the cooking time to 20 to 25 minutes.
- This makes delicious leftovers. Heat in the microwave for several minutes until heated through.
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Recipe
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Creamy Chicken Divan
Ingredients
- 1 pound skinless boneless chicken breasts cut into ¼-inch slices
- 1 Tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1 ½ teaspoons Kosher salt, divided
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 12 ounces fresh broccoli florets (See Tip 1)
- 10.5 ounce can condensed Cream of Mushroom soup
- 1 cup (4 ounces) Velveeta cheese, cubed
- ½ cup (4 ounces) milk
- ⅔ cup (5.33 ounces) sour cream (See Tip 2)
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ¼ teaspoon dry mustard
Topping
- 1 cup (4 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese
- 3 Tablespoons Panko breadcrumbs
- 1 Tablespoon unsalted butter
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400° F. Spray a 2 ½ quart casserole dish with non-stick spray. Set aside.
- Heat 1 tablespoon butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add chicken; sprinkle with ½ teaspoon of salt and ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper. Cook until chicken is no longer pink, about 5 minutes. Set aside.
- Blanch broccoli in a large saucepan with boiling water and 1 teaspoon of Kosher salt for 2 minutes. Drain; plunge into ice water to stop cooking. Drain well; set aside.
- In the same pan used to blanche the broccoli, add cream of mushroom soup and Velveeta cheese. Whisk over medium heat until cheese is melted, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from heat. Add milk, sour cream, ½ teaspoon garlic powder, ½ teaspoon onion powder and ¼ teaspoon dry mustard. Whisk to combine.
- Add chicken and broccoli; stir to combine. Transfer to prepared casserole dish. Top with 1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese and Panko breadcrumbs. Dot with remaining 1 tablespoon of butter. May be prepared in advance up to this point and refrigerated.
- Bake in preheated 400°F oven for 18-20 minutes, or until the breadcrumbs are lightly browned and the mixture is bubbly and hot. (See Tip 3)
- Serve over rice, noodles, or mashed potatoes, as desired.
- Yield: 6 servings. (See Tip 4)
Tips/Notes
- You can use frozen broccoli florets in place of the fresh. However, be sure that you are purchasing broccoli florets and not broccoli pieces. My experience is that the broccoli pieces are primarily the tough stalks instead of the tender florets.
- I used light sour cream as opposed to the full fat sour cream.
- If you make this ahead of time and refrigerate it, increase the cooking time to 20 to 25 minutes.
- This makes delicious leftovers. Heat in the microwave for several minutes until heated through.
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