Easy Chicken Divan With Curry

You will love this Easy Chicken Divan With Curry recipe. It is so creamy and delicious. The chicken, broccoli, and cheddar cheese combine to give this Fall dish some mighty flavor. The soup is so comforting and the curry powder adds a spicy finishing touch!

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This Chicken Divan With Curry is such an easy recipe and checks all the boxes of what a perfect Fall recipe should be!

It’s thick, creamy, hearty, warm, comforting and packed with intense flavor.

There’s cheddar cheese and curry powder involved – what could be better?

And even a secret ingredient that takes this Chicken Divan to a whole new level.

I share my ‘secret ingredient’ in the recipe card below.

What Is Chicken Divan?

Chicken Divan is, essentially, a chicken and broccoli casserole with cheese.

On the surface this is a simple enough recipe.

But the small additions, along with the wet ingredients I recommend really make this dish so much more than a simple casserole!

If you’ve read any of my other recipes, you’ll know that I always encourage you to put your own spin on my simple, seasonal recipes.

Don’t have a recommended ingredient? Who cares!

Short on time? Cook it at a higher temperature for less time!

But for this easy chicken divan with curry recipe, I encourage you to stick somewhat close to my recipe – if you can.

Not because this is the only way to make Chicken Divan – far from it!

I just want you to experience how awesome this dish tastes when made in this exact way.

Then, of course, if there is something you want to add or omit the next time you cook this recipe, by all means do so.

Naturally if you have certain dietary restrictions or any type of food allergies to any of my recommended ingredients, certainly leave those out!

Breaking Down This Easy Chicken Divan With Curry Recipe

This Chicken Divan recipe consists of several distinct elements: Main Ingredients (Chicken and Broccoli), Sauce, and Topping.

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Chicken

It is perfectly acceptable to use pre-cooked chicken, such as shredded rotisserie chicken pieces or leftover chicken.

In fact, I used shredded rotisserie chicken pieces in this very recipe.

I am a big advocate of using pre-cooked food in my recipes – whether it be leftovers or something pre-made that I purchased at the grocery store.

This isn’t the first time having a rotisserie chicken handy saved me some cooking time.

In fact, I also used shredded rotisserie chicken pieces in my Avgolemono Soup with Orzo recipe!

I am all about saving time when cooking and sometimes using what you have or can buy can save you time that you can use to do other things.

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Broccoli

I prefer using fresh broccoli florets (tops) like these steamed for about 2 minutes in about a 1/2 inch of water.

You can use frozen broccoli if that’s what you have, but thaw it for about an hour before cooking.

Sauce

The sauce for this easy chicken divan with curry comes from combining the ‘wet’ ingredients I discuss below.

But, essentially, the foundation of the sauce is made from a thick soup.

Cream of Mushroom or Cream of Chicken works fine.

If you use condensed soup, just thin it out a bit with some milk or water prior to cooking.

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Topping

This is where I like to get creative with my easy chicken divan with curry recipe.

Cheese, especially cheddar is a popular ingredient I’ve seen other food bloggers use in this dish.

Since I also love cheddar, using cheddar was a no-brainer!

Sometimes a topping made from breadcrumbs, panko, or even my secret ingredient I talk about below can be used to add a nice, crispy upper layer to this dish.

Adding texture to the food you cook, such as a crispy topping, can help make your recipes really stand out!

The Sum Of The Parts Is Greater Than The Whole

I think the heading of this section is the definition of synergy – I think, anyway??

Regardless, this recipe is a perfect example of synergy.

It’s a dish where the individual ingredients (parts) come together to create a final version (whole) that tastes like so much more than the simple ingredients that were used to make it!

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Easy Chicken Divan With Curry – The Ingredients

As in many of my prior recipes, there aren’t a ton of ingredients – some of which you probably already have at home.

• Rotisserie Chicken (Cooked)
• Fresh Broccoli
• Cheddar Cheese (Wedge) – hard to see but it’s between the Curry Powder and Cream of Chicken Soup!
• Cream of Chicken Soup
• Daisy Sour Cream
• Curry Powder
• Butter
• Goldfish Cheddar Cheese Fish Crackers – My Secret Ingredient!

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It’s really hard not to eat all the Goldfish crackers while making this recipe – way, way harder than making the actual recipe!

Recipe Equipment Needed

This easy chicken divan recipe doesn’t require a lot of recipe equipment, either.

• Casserole Dish – I like Pyrex or this Corningware Casserole Dish like mine
• 2 Small Bowls – one will be used to mix the ingredients for the topping and one will be used to mix the ingredients for the sauce
• Cheese Slicer – a sharp knife works just as well
• Large Serving Spoon
• Measuring Cup (in image below)

I recommend two bowls because I find it easy to use one bowl for the sauce and one bowl for the topping.

A measuring cup comes in handy for measuring the ingredients!

Making The Chicken Divan Sauce

I like making the sauce ahead of time.

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The sauce is comprised of the ‘wet’ ingredients:

• Cream of Chicken (or Mushroom) Soup
• Sour Cream
• Condensed milk or water to thin out the soup – but only if you happen to be using condensed soup.

Since I am usually cooking for two, I used one cup of Cream of Chicken Soup, two large tablespoons of sour cream, and a small bit of water.

In the photo above, I dropped in some shaved cheddar pieces, but I usually just add the shaved cheddar to the top of the chicken divan before baking.

Not sure what I was thinking but I just went with it!

I then stirred these ingredients thoroughly right in my Pyrex Measuring Cup so that the sour cream, cream of chicken soup, and cheese pieces were mixed together well.

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Finally, I transferred this mixture to one of my two small bowls.

Making The Chicken Divan Topping

I also recommend making the topping in advance.

The topping is made from:

• Goldfish Cheddar Cheese Fish Crackers (which you know by now is my secret ingredient)
• Butter
• Curry powder

I simply crushed 3-4 handfuls of cheddar cheese Goldfish crackers, mixed in one tablespoon of butter, and sprinkled 4-7 shakes of curry powder on top.

Then I mixed these topping ingredients together in my second bowl.

My Two Bowl Solution For Making Easy Chicken Divan With Curry

If you follow my suggestion and use two bowls in this recipe, the result is that you will have the Chicken Divan Sauce in one bowl and the Chicken Divan Topping in a separate bowl – all ready to go.

The last step is simply ‘building’ the casserole by transferring all of the ingredients into a casserole dish and baking in the oven!

Shredding The Rotisserie Chicken

I also like to shred pieces from my rotisserie chicken and place them on a plate ahead of time.

I find that preparing all the ingredients ahead of time really helps when it come time to actually cook.

Tips & Substitutions

Chicken

As I mentioned above, I used a pre-cooked rotisserie chicken and just pulled/shredded some pieces off to work as the protein in this Easy Chicken Divan.

You can certainly use leftover chicken breasts (if you have them) and slice them up to put in this casserole.

Leftover Thanksgiving Turkey would also work.

You could even probably use the seared chicken breasts from my Texas Roadhouse Herb Crusted Chicken Recipe!

Soup

I used Cream of Chicken soup as the base for my Chicken Divan sauce, but Cream of Mushroom soup works just as well.

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If you use condensed soup add a splash of water or condensed milk to thin it out a bit.

Topping

For my topping, I crushed up Goldfish crackers, but breadcrumbs or panko breadcrumbs work well, too.

In fact, I recently read an Easy Chicken Divan Recipe from a food blogger (but can’t remember where) who suggested using pulverized Doritos as the topping!

I think a Doritos topping would taste incredible in this dish and I am going to try this topping the next time I make this dish.

Please let me know if you have any questions by posting a comment down below!

Happy Cooking!

How Did Chicken Divan Get Its Name?

Chicken Divan was created at the Divan Parisian Restaurant – a popular French Restaurant inside the New York Chateau Hotel in the 1950s!

So, this dish was named after the restaurant in the hotel where it was invented.

As an original French Cuisine recipe, Chicken Divan was originally served with a creamy, mornay sauce (a roux made from butter, milk and cheese) that is thickened with flour.

This recipe has been modified over the years as it gained popularity in this country.

The original mornay sauce, which took a bit of time to prepare, was adapted to use a creamy soup instead of the mornay sauce.

How To Store This Easy Chicken Divan With Curry

You can store this Easy Chicken Divan with Curry right in your Corningware casserole dish like the one I used in the refrigerator for up to two days – assuming your casserole dish has an air-tight lid.

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If I don’t have a casserole dish with an air-tight lid , I simply use these air-tight plastic food storage containers and it can last 2-3 days in the refrigerator.

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What Do You Think Of This Easy Chicken Divan With Curry Recipe?

I would love to hear your thoughts, comments and criticisms – nothing is off-limits!

Did you make this? If so, did you follow my recipe?

Please share your thoughts in the COMMENTS SECTION below!