When I need a chicken recipe that can easily feed a hungry group, I pull out my tried and true chicken divan recipe. This dish always gets rave reviews at potlucks or parties, after long days of moving or tackling projects.
It’s rich and tasty and packs the belly-filling punch you’d expect from a winner chicken dinner. And — and — it preps in fifteen minutes. Yep. 1-5.
This is always a quick, hearty crowd-pleaser — I defy you to find other chicken casserole recipes that cover so many delectable bases! Break out your prettiest casserole dish: it’s baking time!
Whether you need to fill hungry stomachs after a big game or you want to wow at a potluck, this chicken divan is your best bet. Creamy sauce, rich chicken, and that perfect crunch of broccoli and breadcrumbs all come together creating a perfect casserole.
There are lots of easy chicken recipes on my site, chicken and rice casserole, chicken broccoli rice casserole, and no peek chicken are just a few! I hope you’ll give them a try next.
Let’s make this!!
What I Love About Chicken Divan Recipe
- A fifteen-minute prep time
- Easy-to-find ingredients
- A perfect of balance of savory and creamy
- WHITE WINE!
Chicken Divan Ingredients
- Chicken: This recipe calls for pre-cooked chicken, so keep those leftovers! I love using leftover rotisserie chicken or grilled chicken. If you don’t have leftover chicken handy, you can simply sauté some beforehand.
- White wine: I love cooking with wine it adds wonderful flavor to the dish! If you’re not keen on using wine, you can always replace it with chicken broth.
- Cheese, please! This recipe calls for cheddar cheese — but don’t feel limited to that! Feel free to swap out the cheddar for parmesan or Gruyere!
- Other add-ins: Two other historical additions to this recipe are mushrooms and water chestnuts. If you’ve never had water chestnuts in a dish, you are missing out — they add a truly unique crunch that will make your casserole pop while bringing many additional nutrients!
Tips
- Internal temperature: Since the meat is already cooked, you don’t really need to reach a particular temperature for food safety reasons. Aim for 165 degrees for thorough warming.
Step By Step How To Make Chicken Divan
- Drain thawed broccoli.
- Mix the cheese, sour cream, mayo, milk, soup, and spices in a mixing bowl.
- Stir.
- Add the broccoli.
- Add the chicken.
- Gently toss the broccoli and chicken into the sauce.
- Pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish.
- Sprinkle the mixed topping ingredients over the casserole.
- Bake and serve.
***See the full instructions below.
Storing + Freezing + Make-Ahead
- How Long Can You Keep This In The Fridge? Once cooked, you can store your chicken for up to four days.
- Can You Freeze This? Alas, this is one casserole you probably shouldn’t freeze. Mayonnaise-heavy casseroles like in this recipe technically can be frozen, but as you thaw your casserole to reuse it, the mayonnaise tends to break, which means the eggs, oil, and vinegar in the mayonnaise will separate and leave you with a weird, gloopy sauce. The taste will still be fine, but the texture may not be pleasant. Freeze at your own discretion!
- Make-Ahead Tips: This easy recipe can be made up to four days in advance. Store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator, then reheat in the oven!
Serving Recommendations
I like to serve it with bread on the side. I like this with my virtually no-knead, soft, fluffy, and amazingly crusty no-knead bread recipe, sweet and cake-like Bisquick cornbread or traditional Southern cornbread, beer bread, Bisquick biscuit recipe, or seriously crazy delish, easy butter swim biscuits.
A side of brown sugar glazed carrots or a fresh green salad is also lovely. Try dressing the salad with a practically perfect, homemade balsamic vinaigrette recipe!
Craving More Delicious Recipes?
I hope you’ll join our cooking family! Subscribe to Gonna Want Seconds and receive all our latest recipes delivered straight to your inbox! Absolutely free to you and we never share your email address.
Tried This Recipe?
Leave a review, I love hearing your feedback! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
More Chicken Casserole Recipes
Has this Chicken Divan recipe made you realize that your life is sorely lacking in casserole recipes? Don’t worry — I’ve got you covered!
- Chicken Lasagna
- Chicken Spaghetti Casserole
- Chicken Tetrazzini
- Million Dollar Chicken Casserole
- Chicken Noodle Casserole
- Mexican Chicken Casserole
- Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole
- Poppy Seed Chicken
- TikTok Chicken Cobbler
- Chicken and Potato Casserole
Chicken Divan
Ingredients
- 2 (10-ounce) packages frozen broccoli, chopped, thawed
- 6 cups cooked chicken, shredded
- 2 (10 ¾ -ounce) cans cream of mushroom soup
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1 cup sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon curry powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 cup white wine
- 1/2 cup milk
Topping:
- 2 cups soft bread crumbs
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350ºF (177ºC). Spray a 9x13 baking dish with nonstick cooking spray; set aside.
- Drain thawed broccoli (20 ounces) in a colander then spread out on a double layer of paper towels to remove all excess moisture.
- In a large mixing bowl, stir together the soup (2 cans), mayonnaise (1 cup), sour cream (1 cup), Cheddar (1 cup), lemon juice (1 tablespoon), curry powder (1 teaspoon), salt (1/4 teaspoon), pepper (1/2 teaspoon), to taste, wine (1/2 cup), and milk (1/2 cup) until combined.
- Add the broccoli and chicken (6 cups) to the sauce and gently toss until evenly coated.
- Pour mixture into prepared baking dish. Pat the top to even out with a rubber spatula.
- In a small bowl mix together the topping ingredients. Sprinkle evenly over the casserole.
- Bake the casserole in the preheated oven for 40-45 minutes or until the casserole is heated through the center.
Fans Also Made:
Notes
- Internal temperature: Since the meat is already cooked, you don’t really need to reach a particular temperature for food safety reasons. Aim for 165 degrees for thorough warming.
Nutrition
I love this recipe, I use asparagus instead of broccoli. I also brown the bread crumbs with parmesan cheese in butter top the creamy mixture, and add more cheese on top. This is a delicious recipe that you can change up lots of ways. I believe it’s also better the next day in fridge ?
I’m so happy you enjoyed this, Sheila! We love it!! Your changes sound delicious!!
Thank you so much for the suggestion of asparagus. The gentleman who will be sharing dinner with me hate broccoli. I can’t wait to make it for him. Thanks again.
What can be substituted for the white wine?
Hi Kenna. Sherry would be nice or, if you’re looking for a non-alcohol substitution, you can use chicken broth. 🙂
Looks fabulous. Can leftovers be frozen?
Hi Rhonda. This isn’t a good candidate for freezing!
Sounds yummy! Couple of questions: should the chicken be cubed or shredded (pic shows cubed but recipe says shredded) and can I use fresh broccoli that’s been steamed? If so how many cups? Thanks!
Hi Tina. This casserole is really not good for freezing!
Thanks, I did read that. But I was wondering whether to use cubed or shredded chicken, and if it’s ok to use fresh broccoli that’s maybe been steamed a little instead of frozen broccoli. 🙂
Hi, Tina. You can use whichever you like. If you prefer fresh broccoli, then use it. It’ll probably take about 20-30 minutes to get it cooked al dente, depending on the method you use.
Which of the ingredients were the “topping ingredients”? I guessed bread crumbs, butter and Italian seasoning.
The casserole was the best Chicken Divan I’ve ever made. Thanks for sharing.
BJC
You’re so welcome Brenda! I’m so happy you enjoyed it. Yes, those are the topping ingredients <3
The perfect dinner
OMG, my mouth is watering!!! Can’t wait to try this one!
Thank you, Lindsey!
Could I prep this ahead of time and just have in the pan to be cooked the day of? Trying to find ways to make my week easier!
Hi, Tana! You can cook this ahead of time, then put it in the fridge and reheat. Hope this helps. Enjoy! 🙂