2-Step Chicken Broccoli Divan

As you an see from this recipe card, this is an OLD recipe!  I really can't remember when I found it in a magazine, cut it out and pasted it to a card.  I am thinking it has to be at least 25 years ago.  It is a favorite at our house and I forgot about it and did not make it for awhile.  While cutting the white meat off of a Costco chicken I remembered this dish.  Yesterday was cold and blustery here in PA....the perfect day for a warm casserole. The recipe card might be a bit hard to read, so here are the ingredients - 

1 lb of fresh broccoli cut into spears ( or one package of frozen broccoli)

1 and 1/2 cups of cubed cut chicken or turkey

1 can of Cream of Broccoli soup

1/3 cup of milk

1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1 T. butter, melted

2 T. dry bread crumbs

I never used frozen broccoli in the recipe.  I like the crunch of the fresh broccoli...and I cut it into small spears, rinse and drain.

The recipe calls for a shallow pie plate - I like to use an 8 inch baking pan because I like to use more milk to make it saucier, and I love the way nothing sticks to this Temptations dish - which has a plastic cover to fit so I can easily store the leftovers.

I spray the pan with olive oil spray...

add the cut up chicken on top...

then prepare the sauce.  I do not use the Cream of Broccoli soup...I like the taste of Cream of Celery, and I always use the Healthy Request or low salt version...

And, because I am using the "healthy" soup, I add Half and Half instead of mile.  I don't really measure, just add enough to make a creamy sauce.

Pour the mixture over the entire dish...

and top with cheese.

I like the reduced fat mild cheddar from Aldi.

I use whole wheat Panko bread crumbs...it gives the dish such a nice crunch!

Spread the crumbs evenly over the dish, and then....

I don't use melted butter.  I find that Squeeze Parkay works for us - 

Drizzle the butter ( or Parkay) over the entire dish and bake.  In a conventional oven you bake for 15 minutes at 450 degrees.  You can also microwave , covered with wax paper, on HIGH for 6 minutes or so.  You can see from the directions that you are supposed to rotate the dish halfway through heating.  This leads me to believe that this recipe was printed when microwaves were fairly new.  We got our first microwave in 1983 ( I think) and it did not have a turntable.  I think most all units have turntables today.  I used to make this dish in the microwave, but I like the crunchy way the bread crumbs get very brown in the regular oven.

It smells so wonderful when baking !

We like to enjoy it over a small amount of brown rice, with a side of applesauce.  This is GREAT with leftover turkey and a side of cranberry sauce, too.   If you have Thanksgiving turkey leftover this works great!

We enjoyed this meal and then I used the plastic lid to cover and refrigerate the leftovers.  My husband is already asking "when can we have that again???"   I reheat the dish in the microwave.

My Temptations bakeware are wonderful...nothing sticks, they heat evenly, come with ceramic lids, plastic covers, and a trivet for the 13 x9 pan.  I purchased my set on sale at the QVC outlet in Lancaster.  You can find Temptations on QVC or Amazon.  Seriously...I have stored away my other pans and am going to donate them to a charity because these Temptations work so well.  They clean up perfectly in the dishwasher, too!

Hope you enjoy this recipe - please let me know if you make it, or make something similar.  Thanks so much for stopping by Our New Vista today and if you leave a comment below I would love it!

Have a great week!