This chicken divan recipe is a delicious way to dress up chicken, and it is perfect to serve for a special occasion or dinner party.
A while back I did a little tribute to my mom for Mothers’ Day, and I mentioned that I was going to be making over one of her signature dishes – chicken divan. Today I thought I would update and republish this since we are in the heart of comfort food and casserole season.
Before I share the modifications, let me just say that I will eat my Mama’s version of this recipe any time she is willing to make it for me.
I like to experiment with different ingredients sometimes to make a new twist on an old recipe. And that is exactly what I did here. 😎
Mom’s Original Chicken Divan Recipe
Here is her original chicken divan recipe…the YOLO recipe, if you will. 🙂
I just snapped a photo of her recipe card, as not to confuse Google with two recipe schema in one post. 🤓😜 #FoodBloggerProblems
Recipe Modifications
And now let me tell you how I tweaked my mom’s chicken divan recipe. It’s like my own little version of Not My Mama’s Meals. 🙂
So the first thing I did was divide her recipe in half.
Second, I switched out the canned cream of chicken soup for a homemade cream condensed soup.
Third, I switched out the processed cheese from my mom’s dish with real Fontina cheese. YUM.
Last, I made it a little easier by taking advantage of some food prep by using precooked chicken. I used my instant pot shredded chicken as the base for this recipe. Instead of shredding it, I cut it into bite-sized pieces. You could also use store-bought rotisserie chicken.
It was a WIN, y’all! This was SO good!👏🏻🤗
How to make chicken divan
First, gather your ingredients.
Ingredients
To make this chicken divan recipe, you will need the following ingredients.
- butter
- flour
- chicken stock
- milk
- garlic salt
- pepper
- sour cream (regular or light, but NOT fat free)
- cooking sherry
- fontina cheese
- cooked broccoli florets
- cooked shredded chicken
Making chicken divan
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Meanwhile, fill a small pot with 1 inch of water, and add the broccoli florets.
Bring water to a boil; reduce heat, and put the lid on for four minutes. Remove the broccoli from the heat, and drain; set aside.
In a large skillet, melt the butter over low heat (about 1.5 – 2 minutes). Add flour, and stir to combine; cook for about a minute on low.
Add the milk, chicken broth, garlic salt, pepper and cooking sherry, and whisk to combine. Cook on medium low until thickened, about 2 minutes.
Stir in the cheese and sour cream. Turn off the heat, and continue to stir until the cheese chunks melt.
Spray a 2.5 quart casserole dish with cooking spray. Sprinkle in the shredded chicken and cooked broccoli evenly.
Pour the cheese sauce mixture over the chicken and broccoli, and sprinkle with a bit of paprika (about 1/8 teaspoon) for garnish.
Bake at 375 until bubble and golden, about 24 minutes.
Remove from the oven, and serve over cooked rice.
I hope y’all enjoy the chicken divan recipe! Be sure and let me know if you try it.
Tools used to make this recipe
This post may contain affiliate links, which pay a referral fee to me at no additional cost to you. My full affiliate disclosure can be seen here.
- I used a 2.5 quart oval casserole dish from this CorningWare set.
- I used this small pot with lid to steam the broccoli.
- I used a medium mesh strainer to drain the broccoli.
- Whisk to make the roux.
- You’ll also need to have some pre-cooked chicken, such as my instant pot shredded chicken, store-bought rotisserie chicken, or my basic shredded chicken ahead of time.
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Chicken Divan
Ingredients
- 2 Tablespoons butter
- 2 Tablespoons flour
- 1/3 cup chicken stock
- 1/4 cup milk I used 1%
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
- dash of pepper
- 1/2 cup sour cream (regular or light, but NOT fat free)
- 1.5 Tablespoon cooking sherry
- 3/4 cup fontina cheese torn or chopped into small chunks, 132 grams
- 2 cups cooked broccoli florets
- 16 ounces of my cooked shredded chicken
Instructions
-
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
-
Fill a small pot with 1 inch of water, and add the broccoli florets.
-
Bring water to a boil; reduce heat, and put the lid on for four minutes.
-
Remove the broccoli from the heat, and drain; set aside.
-
In a large skillet, melt the butter over low heat (about 1.5 – 2 minutes)
-
Add flour, and stir to combine; cook for about a minute on low.
-
Add the milk, chicken broth, garlic salt, pepper and cooking sherry, and whisk to combine.
-
Cook on medium low until thickened, about 2 minutes.
-
Stir in the cheese and sour cream.
-
Turn off the heat, and continue to stir until the cheese chunks melt.
-
Spray a 2.5 quart casserole dish with cooking spray.
-
Sprinkle in the shredded chicken and cooked broccoli evenly.
-
Pour the cheese sauce mixture over the chicken and broccoli, and sprinkle with a bit of paprika (about 1/8 teaspoon) for garnish.
-
Bake at 375 until bubble and golden, about 24 minutes.
-
Remove from the oven, and serve over cooked rice.
Recipe Video
Recipe Notes
Nutrition information is approximate and was calculated using a recipe nutrition label generator. (Rice is not included in nutrition information.)
Note: Chicken Divan originally appeared on A Pinch of Healthy October 8, 2017. It has been updates with new photos. Here is what it used to look like.
Michelle Liebau says
We ate this one tonight – it was delicious and got the tick from my family. Like a lot of other commenters I had to add extra stock as the sauce was too thick. I would also use less cheese next time.
Marjorie @APinchOfHealthy says
Yay! Yes, always use your own judgement/ preference and add stock to thin out.
Kelly says
We love chicken divan in our house! Its one of my mom’s specialties as well, she learned the recipe back in the 70’s. Im not embarrassed to admit we eat it once a week!
Marjorie @APinchOfHealthy says
You are so right Kelly. It is such a classic!
Crème de menthe says
Great base recipe! I don’t know if it’s truly less fatty than traditional divan, but I really liked this.
I did, however, tweak it. I added onion, carrot slices and broccoli/cauliflower frozen mix. I also added half of a can of chicken stock, as I thought the sauce came out way too thick. Served over rice, but this would’ve been great with protein pasta too!
Thank you for the recipe 🙂
Marjorie @APinchOfHealthy says
So glad you enjoyed it! You are right, the goal was not to reduce any fat, but just to be slightly more real food friendly. Still a decadent dish, though. Your additions sound yummy! Thanks for taking the time to leave feedback!💖
Kim says
Could I make this using fresh boneless skinless chicken thighs, mushrooms as well as broccoli and onions? I would saute the mushrooms and onions first. Could the broccoli be fresh, raw? Would baking time cook it tender enough? Want to make this, this afternoon. No stock but sour cream, cream cheese and Reisling available….help? Thank you!
Marjorie @APinchOfHealthy says
Hey Kim! I would always recommend cooking the chicken and broccoli first. Thighs are fine. Adding the cooked mushrooms and onions would be fine too. You will need chicken stock, although vegetable stock may work alright too. Not sure about the Reisling, though. 😬
Jenny Rum says
My modification: used whipping cream instead of sour cream.. I season the shredded chicken, and used pepper jack cheese instead of the other cheese.. it was awesome! Thanks.
Marjorie@APinchOfHealthy says
Yay! Glad it turned out good for you!🤗
Julie Mikos houlihan says
Loved this recipe! Great for what to do with leftover chicken (healthier than making enchiladas with the leftovers!). I didn’t have sour cream so just added more broth after thickening and it worked just fine. Next time I’ll try with the sour cream. I also used homemade beef bone broth which was really good too! Oh and I also added shaved parmesan to the top. YUM!
Marjorie@APinchOfHealthy says
Glad you enjoyed it!
Renea Glancey says
It was lovely. Very rich though. Would be very nice to serve guests as an entree.
Marjorie@APinchOfHealthy says
Glad you enjoyed it! Yes, it was always our go-to dinner for company growing up. 👍🏻
Renea Glancey says
Hi tonight im tryingthe chicken Divan for dinner! Let u know
Marjorie@APinchOfHealthy says
I hope you enjoy it Renea! It is one of our favorites💖
Matilda says
I stumbled across this recipe and successfully made it! A few notes from someone who doesn’t cook very much, possibly to help others who don’t cook very much.
When you mix the butter and flour, it makes a paste. I wasn’t expecting that and it freaked me out a little.
The sauce seemed incredibly thick to me, so I added some extra chicken stock. I also only added half the sour cream, only because I don’t really like sour cream and it kind of grossed me out to add it, ha ha.
I used cubed chicken and shredded cheddar cheese. I also topped with extra shredded cheese and bread crumbs.
In the end, my broccoli was very very very soft (I nuked for 3 minutes). I think next time I’d nuke it for about 1 minute and let it cook the rest of the way in the oven. I like it a little crisper.
It turned out wonderfully! Thanks so much for this awesome recipe.
Marjorie@APinchOfHealthy says
I am so glad that you enjoyed it Matilda! Thank you for that feedback. 🙂
metalology121 says
I’m not a fan of sour cream either. I substitute plain Greek yogurt for almost anything that would need sour cream for.
Marjorie@APinchOfHealthy says
You can try it. We didn’t like the taste quite as well with Greek yogurt (vs. sour cream), and it seemed to separate out a little more. But you might like it if you use Greek yogurt frequently and are used to the taste/ texture.
Melissa says
I think that sometimes you need to be able to enjoy something that isn’t necessarily healthy 100%. Especially if its a special occasion or just a good old fashioned family recipe. I’d love to see these recipes as well on here! As you stated YOLO!
Marjorie@APinchOfHealthy says
Right?! My thoughts exactly. Thanks for that feedback Melissa. 🙂