Chicken Divan (Paleo, AIP)
This chicken divan is a paleo version of a comfort food classic! It’s dairy-free, gluten-free, and AIP compliant.
What is Chicken Divan?
Chicken divan is a classic comfort food casserole! It’s made with cubed chicken, broccoli, a creamy sauce, and a crunchy and cheesy topping. It’s the perfect comforting dish to serve to a family!
Though it may be delicious, it’s not necessarily the most allergen-friendly dish. This version is made to dairy-free, gluten-free, but still as decadent!
How to make this paleo chicken divan
- Using a large deep pot, place the broccoli in a large pot with enough water to cover. Bring to a low boil and simmer for 5 minutes or until lightly fork tender. Strain and set aside in a large 9×13″ casserole dish.
- Season the chicken with salt and pepper and coat with arrowroot starch. Using a large pan, heat the avocado oil over medium heat. Cook the chicken in the pan for 4-5 minutes or until the internal temperature reads 165 F. Set the chicken aside.
- Clean out the same pot used for the broccoli and heat the avocado oil over medium heat. Saute the garlic until fragrant.
- Pour in the chicken broth (reserve 1/4 cup on the side), apple cider vinegar, coconut cream, and salt. Stir and bring to a low simmer.
- Using a small bowl, whisk together the 1/4 cup of broth and the arrowroot starch. Pour into the broth mixture and stir well. Allow to simmer and thicken for 2-3 minutes. Set aside and allow to cool slightly.
- Preheat the oven to 400 F. Add the chicken to the casserole dish with the broccoli and stir to evenly disperse.
- Pour the sauce over the chicken and broccoli and top with the finely crushed plantain chips and nutritional yeast.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 15-18 minutes or until the top is crispy.
- Top with fresh parsley and serve with cauliflower rice if desired!
The Ingredients for the Chicken Divan
Chicken breast
You can likely also use chicken thigh, but breast is what is traditionally used.
Broccoli
The broccoli adds greens to this dish for some extra flavor and nutrients.
Chicken broth and coconut cream
Chicken divan is usually made with canned cream soup, but these ingredients help to make your own at home.
Plantain chips
Crushing plantain chips as a topping makes such a delicious crunchy topping for this casserole! I used a food processor to finely crush the plantains, but you can also use manual methods like adding the plantain chips to a bag and crushing with a rolling pin.
Nutritional yeast
The nutritional yeast adds the cheesy flavor that you’d usually get with chicken divan!
Optional- cauliflower rice for serving
This dish can stand on its own or you can serve it over cauliflower rice.
You’ll also love…
PrintChicken Divan
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 5 servings 1x
Description
This chicken divan is a paleo version of a comfort food classic! It’s dairy-free, gluten-free, and AIP compliant.
Ingredients
- 5 cups broccoli florets
- 1 lb chicken breast, cubed
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper (omit for AIP)
- 1 tbsp arrowroot starch
- 2 tbsp avocado oil
For the sauce
- 2 tbsp avocado oil
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 1/4 cup chicken broth
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1/3 cup coconut cream
- 1/3 tsp sea salt
- 1 tbsp + 2 tsp arrowroot starch
For topping
- 1 1/2 cup plantain chips (finely crushed, manually or with a food processor)
- 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1 tbsp parsley, chopped
Instructions
- Using a large deep pot, place the broccoli in a large pot with enough water to cover. Bring to a low boil and simmer for 5 minutes or until lightly fork tender. Strain and set aside in a large 9×13″ casserole dish.
- Season the chicken with salt and pepper and coat with arrowroot starch. Using a large pan, heat the avocado oil over medium heat. Cook the chicken in the pan for 4-5 minutes or until the internal temperature reads 165 F. Set the chicken aside.
- Clean out the same pot used for the broccoli and heat the avocado oil over medium heat. Saute the garlic until fragrant.
- Pour in the chicken broth (reserve 1/4 cup on the side), apple cider vinegar, coconut cream, and salt. Stir and bring to a low simmer.
- Using a small bowl, whisk together the 1/4 cup of broth and the arrowroot starch. Pour into the broth mixture and stir well. Allow to simmer and thicken for 2-3 minutes. Set aside and allow to cool slightly.
- Preheat the oven to 400 F. Add the chicken to the casserole dish with the broccoli and stir to evenly disperse.
- Pour the sauce over the chicken and broccoli and top with the finely crushed plantain chips and nutritional yeast.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 15-18 minutes or until the top is crispy.
- Top with fresh parsley and serve with cauliflower rice if desired
Notes
All nutritional information are estimations and will vary. Nutritional information does not include optional ingredients.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 40 minutes
- Category: casserole
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 serving
- Calories: 683
- Fat: 40.7g
- Carbohydrates: 53.6g
- Fiber: 4.5g
- Protein: 26.8g
AIP
Low Carb
Paleo
Whole30
This turned out better than I thought. I was a little worried because the sauce was tart before baking, but after combining with chicken/broccoli it was delicious. I added some nutritional yeast to the sauce because we like the cheese taste. The sauce was thin, but that’s an easy to adjust for next time. Easy AIP recipe, thanks!!
Is the “one serving” size in the nutritional information actually for the whole casserole?
Per serving 🙂
Is the coconut cream the thick stuff that comes in a jar or bar type of consistency? Or is the cream found at the top of canned coconut cream?
Yup!! 🙂
This was incredible and even my kids loved it! They had 3 helpings and they’re very picky eaters! Thank you! Keep ‘em coming!
★★★★★
This was the most amazing recipe I have had in a long time! It was so easy, relatively quick, and delicious. My toddler loved it too, and he’s the hardest person to please! My big kids liked it too. We will be making this frequently – it’s been added to our family meal rotation. Thank you so much!
Forgot to give it the stars – 5 stars all the way! I’d give it 10 if I could!
★★★★★
Thank you so, so much Denise!! 🙂
I don’t have coconut cream, but have a mason jar with left over coconut milk. Will the coconut milk work in place of the cream?
You will definitely want to only use the thicker cream from the coconut milk for this.
Great recipe! My mom’s chicken divan was a childhood favorite. This isn’t quite the same without curry powder, but I love it for its simplicity! I made it even easier by using compliant cooked chicken breast from Trader Joe’s. And I used asparagus because it was on hand and I added sliced mushrooms to make it a little heartier. Since I didn’t coat the chicken with arrowroot, I just added a little extra to the sauce. And I used full-fat coconut milk and it all came out thick and delicious.
★★★★★
I don’t have plantain chips. What could I use instead?
You can also use a grain free cracker!
Made this tonight and it was really good! I was my first time using some of the ingredients (nutritional yeast, plantain chips) but it all went together nicely. My husband and 11 year old daughter loved it. I did use half broccoli and half cauliflower and added nutritional yeast to the sauce. I also did not pre cook the broccoli and cauliflower, I baked it for an extra 10mins in the oven and they turned out perfect. This is definitely going into our dinner rotation. Thank you for such a great recipe!
Thank you so much!!
I subbed the broccoli for squash and zucchini since I had a lot of that and it turned out GREAT! This will be a new favorite on the family rotation! Even the kids approved (ages 6,4,2)
★★★★★
Thank you!!