Chicken Divan

There have to be a thousand recipes for Chicken Divan. I’ve been using a quick Chicken Divan recipe from a cookbook put out by the Lexington Preschool PTA (now called LexFUN) as a fundraiser. But somehow it never came out quite as I thought it should, so tonight I decided to mess with it a bit, and I like this one better. It’s still very quick, about 45 minutes start to finish if you have everything ready.

Chicken Divan

1 lb boneless chicken breasts
2 heads of broccoli, cut into florets
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 cups shredded cheese
1 can cream of mushroom soup
2/3 cup sour cream
2/3 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup milk (approx)
3/4 cup breadcrumbs (preferably panko)
2Tbsp butter
salt & pepper

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. While the oven is heating, steam or parboil the broccoli florets – DON’T OVERCOOK! The broccoli should definitely still be crisp or it’ll be too mushy after it’s baked. Sauté the check breasts until browned on both sides, then cut them into slices. [I guess you could short cut this part by buying pre-cooked chicken strips]. While cutting up the chicken sauté the onion until just translucent. Mix the onion with the chicken.

For the sauce mix the mushroom soup, mayonnaise, sour cream, and cheese. Add enough milk to get a thick creamy texture. Melt the butter in a small bowl, then add the breadcrumbs and mix until the breadcrumbs are all buttery.

Grease a 9×13 pan. Put the broccoli in the bottom. Layer the chicken and onions over the broccoli. Pour the sauce over the chicken. Top with the buttered breadcrumbs. Pop the whole thing into the oven for 30 minutes. Serve with egg noodles or rice.

I was actually thinking that adding some chopped red pepper along with the onion would add a nice contrasting color – maybe I’ll try that next time.