broccoli chicken divan

This creamy chicken divan casserole is filled with tender broccoli and shredded chicken in a creamy cheese sauce. Then it's topped with melty cheese and crispy Ritz crackers for a little extra flavor and crunch. The best part is you can make it all in one pan!

Chicken Divan

broccoli

butter, divided

yellow onion, diced

garlic,

Italian seasoning

garlic powder

onion powder

flour

chicken stock

heavy cream

Dijon mustard

chicken

Parmesan cheese

Ritz crackers

Kosher salt

cracked pepper

white rice

Bring a small pot of water to a boil. Add a couple heaping teaspoons of Kosher salt and the broccoli. Cook for 3 minutes, drain, and set aside.

Melt 3 tablespoons butter in a large saute pan over medium heat.

Add diced onion along with a couple pinches of salt and pepper. Cook, stirring frequently for 4 minutes.

Add minced garlic, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, onion powder, and a couple pinches of salt and pepper. Cook, stirring frequently, for about 1 minute.

Sprinkle flour over the veggies and cook, stirring, for 1 minute.

Slowly whisk in a few large splashes of chicken stock until it cleans the bottom of the pan, scraping all those yummy bits off the bottom. Whisk in the remaining chicken stock and heavy cream until it&#8217;s smooth and creamy. Whisk in Dijon mustard. 

Cook over medium heat until it comes to a gentle simmer. Gently simmer over medium to medium-low heat for about 4 minutes until it thickens.

Remove from the heat and let sit for about a mintue. Slowly whisk in half the shredded sharp cheddar cheese and the shredded Parmesan cheese. 

Stir in blanched broccoli and shredded rotisserie chicken. 

Top casserole with remaining shredded cheddar cheese and cover tightly with foil or a lid. 

Bake for 20 minutes or until warmed through. 

Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter and pour it over the crushed Ritz crackers in a bowl. Mix until the butter coats the crushed crackers.

Sprinkle buttery Ritz crackers over the melted cheese and turn the oven to broil. Broil for 1-2 minutes or until the Ritz crackers are just slightly dark golden brown.

If you loved this recipe, please be sure to leave a 5-star rating and review below!

This recipe is outstanding! The depth of flavors really makes the dish stand out. I would question the 10 min prep time 😃 but I probably am a bit slow but well worth the effort.

Best Recipe I've found for this. The only thing I did differently is I poached the mushrooms, broccoli and chicken thighs in chicken stock and used the poaching liquid for the Mornay sauce. Is there such a thing as too much flavor?

This chicken divan is made with a simple white sauce and mayonnaise, but without canned soup. Optionally add in some mushrooms and onions and top with cheese and buttered crumbs, for a classic, comfort food casserole.

Chicken Divan (without the soup!)

boneless skinless chicken breasts

mushrooms (sliced (optional))

onion (diced)

cooking oil

Tablespoons butter

Tablespoons all purpose flour

chicken broth

heavy whipping cream (35% b.f.)

mayonnaise (or sour cream)

lemon juice

nutmeg

Salt and pepper (to taste)

cheddar cheese (shredded,

bread crumbs (or panko

butter

Have a 9x13-inch oven-safe casserole dish or baking dish ready.

Preheat the oven to 375F. (not fan assisted)

Cut broccoli into bite-sized pieces. Add to a microwave-safe bowl and lightly season with salt. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and microwave about 60-90 seconds, or until tender crisp. Leave covered and set aside. (Alternately, you can steam the broccoli until tender-crisp).

Cook the Broccoli:

In a large, deep skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms and lightly season with salt. Cook, stirring, until golden. Add the onion and cook until the onion is softened, a few minutes more. Remove to the baking dish.

Cook the Mushrooms and Onion:

If starting with uncooked chicken, add to the same skillet and cook over medium heat until cooked through, 4-5 minutes. Add to the casserole dish with the mushrooms and onion.

Cook the Chicken:

Wipe the skillet clean. Add the butter and melt over medium heat. Add the flour and cook, stirring, about 1 minute. Gradually add the chicken broth and whisk until smooth. Cook, stirring, until the mixture thickens, about 1-2 minutes. Remove from heat. Add the cream, mayonnaise, lemon juice and nutmeg. Stir to combine. Taste sauce and add salt and pepper, to taste.

Make the sauce:

Add the broccoli to the baking dish with the chicken, mushrooms and onions. Pour the sauce over top and use a fork to gently stir together. Top with shredded cheese.

**Can be made to this point, covered and refrigerated for up to 8 hours before baking.

Assemble the casserole:

Combine the crumbs and melted butter in a small bowl. Stir together until moistened. Sprinkle over casserole.

Bake casserole, uncovered, for 30 minutes or until golden and bubbly. *Add a couple of extra minutes if baking straight from the refrigerator.

Refrigerate left-overs for up to 3 days or freeze up to 2 months.

Make the crumb topping:

This was really good!  My old recipe used canned soup and that was fine thirty years ago...but now, yuck!  This made a creamy, delicious dish and was very easy to follow.  I added rice to the recipe as well.  Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!

My mom use to make this with soup...I get it. It was easy to make. I love this recipe and I use GF flour. Sharp white cheddar and Fontaine cheese. Yum.

Absolutely a delicious recipe. I used small chicken tenders,fresh broccoli,etc , the original bake time just isn’t enough. Next time 325@1 hour for creamy tender chicken.

Our homemade Chicken Divan is a classic chicken and broccoli casserole with rice and a creamy from-scratch sauce.

Chicken Divan with Rice

chicken breasts

rice

broccoli florets* (, steamed)

milk

cornstarch

chicken bouillon paste

salt

black pepper

parsley flakes

mayonnaise ((or plain Greek yogurt))

curry powder (,

Cook rice according to package instructions. Set aside.

Make Sauce: In a small saucepan whisk together milk and cornstarch. Add butter, bouillon, salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder and parsley. Cook over medium heat until it starts to thicken. Remove from heat and stir in mayonnaise, lemon juice and curry powder.

Cook Chicken: Season the chicken on both sides with salt and pepper and cook in a hot skillet until no longer pink, flipping once. (I like to butterfly the breasts if they are extra thick). Allow the chicken to rest for 5 minutes before chopping into bite-size pieces.

Assemble Casserole: Spoon the cooked rice into a 9x13&#39;&#39; pan or similar size casserole dish. Add cooked chicken and steamed broccoli on top of the rice.

Spoon Sauce over the top of the chicken and rice. 

Bake at 350 F for 30 minutes

My family loves this dish. A couple of family members are vegetarian so we tried a couple of adaptations. First I substituted chickpeas for the chicken, but it was only okay and not worth a second try. Then I tried roasted cauliflower, which is a bit odd in conjunction with broccoli, but the contrast was good and the roasted cauliflower added enough texture difference to make it as good as the chicken version. Well, maybe not quite, but an excellent substitute.

My family enjoyed this recipe. I followed the ingredient list as written, but added butter when cooking the chicken for more flavor. I did make a small change in constructing the casserole: I put the broccoli down first as the bottom layer, mixed the rice and chicken together in the frying pan I cooked the chicken in (to brown the rice a little) and put on top the broccoli as the middle layer, then lastly topped with the sauce. I frequently do this with broccoli in casseroles because I like the broccoli to stay in larger intact pieces. Thanks for the recipe!

Loved this recipe. Made it in advance and kept the ingredients separate. Put it together and it turned out delicious. I used basmati because that was the rice I had on hand. Thought it might need more sauce (i love sauce) but it tasted great as written. Still might make a little more sauce next time.

I made this recipe, but I used the 2 cans of soup with 1 cup of fat free greek yogurt. However, I know I did something wrong as the sauce was too thick and did not bubble. I do not know what I did wrong. I know now I should have added maybe milk to my mixture. Please advise as I would like to make this dish again the correct way.

This took me a long time to make but it was worth it. My family loved it and it serves about 15 people. It first I thought the sauce was too salty but it was fine once I spread it over the casserole.

Tip when you're making the sauce, make sure to stir constantly, and it'd be a good idea to get someone to help you while you make the chicken. Other this was a great dish!!

This meal is truly DELICIOUS!I have prepared it for family that has been making their own versions of Chicken Divan and they actually prefer this recipe to their 30 year+ recipes!
(I substitute turkey for chicken for our dietary needs).

Thank you so much for this fabulous recipe!

It's the lady who didn't have curry powder! 
I went and bought curry powder, used the homemade cream of chicken soup recipe linked, and WOW! 
This dish is delicious! I can't WAIT for leftovers, it was a phenomenal, easy, comforting dish

Ok, I didn't have any curry powder so I opted for a snooch of poultry spice in the sauce instead, and didn't have the right size pan, but this recipe was delicious and my kids ate A LOT and fought over who got the leftovers too!

Hi, I was wondering if you ever tried freezing this dish? I love this recipe and would love to make it for a friend as a freezer casserole. Thanks.

This has become my go to quick and easy dinner, because it is delicious and I always have all the ingredients. Thank you for another yummy recipe.  

(Also I've made this with just the sauce and chicken bake, and left the rice out of the baking, when I forgot to hit start on the rice cooker 🤦‍♀️..but timing worked out perfect. Rice finished in the cooker and bake came out of the oven at the same time and then just scooped the sauce on top of the rice and it was delicious! )

https://content.jwplatform.com/videos/OtOTTUul.mp4

This delicious Chicken Divan casserole is made with rice, broccoli, chicken and a creamy curry sauce.  It’s a healthier version of the traditional chicken divan casserole, and your family will LOVE it!

Top 3 broccoli chicken divan recipes from across the web

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Chicken Divan

Chicken Divan (without the soup!)

Chicken Divan with Rice

Top 3 broccoli chicken divan recipes from across the web

The most viewed broccoli chicken divan recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engineic_arrow_forward_48px

Top Tags

Chicken Divan

Chicken Divan (without the soup!)

Chicken Divan with Rice

The most viewed broccoli chicken divan recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine