CHICKEN DIVAN FROM SCRATCH

Chicken Divan from Scratch image

This is my daughter's favorite comfort food. We started out making this recipe with a canned cream soup and transitioned over the years to a from-scratch cream sauce. The result is a to-die-for broccoli-chicken casserole, which is soooo good as leftovers! Serve with rice.

Provided by Diana71

Categories Meat and Poultry Recipes Chicken Chicken Breast Recipes

Time 1h15m

Yield 8

Number Of Ingredients 12

Ingredients

1 (12 ounce) bag broccoli florets
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 ½ pounds chicken breasts, cubed
1 tablespoon steak seasoning (such as McCormick®)
6 tablespoons salted butter, divided
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup chicken broth
½ cup heavy cream
3 tablespoons cooking sherry
1 cube chicken bouillon
1 cup shredded Colby Jack cheese, divided
4 slices bread, cubed

Steps:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9x13-inch casserole dish.
Place a steamer insert into a saucepan and fill with water to just below the bottom of the steamer. Bring water to a boil. Add broccoli, cover, and steam until tender, 3 to 5 minutes. Drain and pour into the prepared dish.
Warm oil in a large frying pan. Add chicken; sprinkle with steak seasoning. Saute until browned on all sides, about 5 minutes. Pour over broccoli in the casserole dish.
Melt 3 tablespoons butter in a small saucepan. Stir in flour to make a thick paste, then pour in chicken broth. Continue stirring to dissolve the paste. Pour in heavy cream and sherry. Crumble in bouillon cube. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes, stirring to ensure no lumps form.
Add 1/2 cup Colby Jack cheese to the cream sauce; stir until completely melted. Pour cream sauce over the chicken and broccoli in the casserole dish.
Melt remaining 3 tablespoons butter and pour over bread cubes. Toss until all bread cubes are coated with butter. Arrange bread cubes evenly on top of the casserole. Sprinkle remaining 1/2 cup cheese on top. Cover casserole tightly with foil.
Bake in the preheated oven for 25 minutes. Uncover and bake until cheese and bread are browned, about 10 minutes more.

Nutrition Facts : Calories 371 calories, Carbohydrate 13.9 g, Cholesterol 108.9 mg, Fat 24.1 g, Fiber 1.5 g, Protein 24.6 g, SaturatedFat 13.7 g, Sodium 1006.3 mg, Sugar 1.5 g