Low Carb Chicken Divan Casserole
This is a family favorite. My mom used to make this for family dinners, and it became a staple when I got married and finally learned to cook. The original version uses one can of condensed cream of chicken soup, which is a no-no for people with Celiac disease. It's also not on plan if you're a Trim Healthy Mama, and definitely doesn't work with a low-carb lifestyle.
When I finally came up with my own low-carb, gluten-free cream of chicken soup recipe, I knew what I wanted to make first…low carb chicken divan casserole! This is a simple comfort food. I serve it with salad for the adults (for a Trim Healthy Mama S), and brown rice for the kids. Serving it with brown rice could be a great Trim Healthy Mama S Helper or Crossover, too!
I've been asked about the dish in the photo, and about where I buy the baking blend for the cream of chicken soup, so here's where you can find them:
Here are two similar casserole dishes:
And the Baking Blend I use:
I get fresh, good quality chicken from Zaycon Fresh (they're everywhere!). It's worth stocking up at these prices!
- 3 cooked chicken breasts, cooled and cubed
- 1 package frozen broccoli florets or chopped broccoli (at least 10 oz)
- 3 cups grated cheddar cheese
- 1/3 recipe "Low-Carb Cream of Chicken Soup" from workingathomeschool.com
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- juice of 1 lemon
- salt and pepper
- Pre-heat oven to 350.
- In a 9x13 baking dish, combine cooked chicken, frozen broccoli, and 1 1/2 cups of grated cheese.
- In a separate bowl, stir together cream of chicken soup, mayonnaise, lemon juice, and salt and pepper.
- Pour soup/mayonnaise mixture over baking dish and stir to combine.
- Top with 1 1/2 cups of grated cheese and cover with foil.
- Bake at 350 for thirty minutes, then remove foil and bake for another 20 minutes, or until cheese is bubbly.
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Thank you so much for this recipe! It is a family favorite in our house! We use the Normandy mix of frozen veggies and a regular can of cream of chicken soup and it turns out absolutely amazing everytime and is still low in carbs! And left overs are perfect! A++
My kids LOVE the Normandy veggie mix! We buy it at Costco. I never thought to try it in this recipe, thanks! My daughter has Celiac disease, and cans of gluten-free cream of chicken soup are crazy expensive, which is why I came up with my own recipe. I love your ideas, and I’m so glad you like the overall recipe!
Did you still include the mayo? Thanks!
Yes!
did you use a full can of soup or just 1/3 of it?
It would take a full can, but that likely wouldn’t fit into the THM Guidelines. If you follow THM and use my chicken soup recipe, you’ll want 1/3 of the recipe. If you don’t follow THM 1 can of condensed soup would work. 🙂
Do you mix the cream of chicken soup with a can of water per the instructions on the can?
Hi Melanie! The recipe calls for a homemade cream of chicken soup that doesn’t need to be mixed with water to keep it low-carb – the recipe is linked! I’ve actually never made it with a can of cream of chickens soup because most of them are pretty high in carbs.
Hi, I am planning to make this dish because it looks so delish! I wanted to ask how you cook the chicken and is the lemon juice absolutely required? Thanks.
Hi Sandra! There are a few ways to cook the chicken – I like the way it tastes best when I cube the chicken and sauté it in a pan with coconut oil spray until it’s cooked through, but that is a bit more involved. You could also bake the chicken at 375 for about 30 minutes or until the juices run clear, but the time on that depends on the thickness of the chicken breast. The lemon juice isn’t absolutely required, but it definitely does make a difference in the taste – it just brightens it up.
Hi Jen!
I am not a huge fan of Mayo. Would it be possible to reduce the amount to 1/2 cup, or sub half of it out for something else? Thank you!
Hi Jessica! I honestly haven’t tried it before. I can tell you that you can’t really taste the mayonnaise, it just makes for a creamy sauce. My concern with subbing heavy whipping cream is that it wouldn’t be thick enough. You might try sour cream or greek yogurt? I can’t guarantee your results, though, since I’ve never tried it myself. If you make a substitution, please let me know how it goes!
Hi Jen. This recipe looks great, and I intend to try it very soon. I recently got a new freezer and I’m trying to put it to good use with some make-ahead meals. Do you think this recipe would freeze well?
I freeze the cream of chicken soup all the time, and I know the recipe as a whole freezes well uncooked. Then I thaw it and put it in the oven for the normal cooking time. I hope that helps!
What do you freeze the casserole in, Dishes or freezer bags? About how long can t keep in freezer?
Either will work! Freezer bags tend to be easiest for me, because some liquid will accumulate and I can drain it off. But I like to keep casseroles in foil pans if I’m going to be asking one of my older kids to put it in the oven for me (just because it saves a step).
I have not kept it in the freezer longer than six months, but at the six month point it was still great. Just watch for liquid as it’s thawing. 🙂
The recipe we used growing up was more involved. I think it was in one of those thinner, specialized Better Homes cookbooks they used to make decades ago. Anyway, it called for a roux of butter, seasoning and flour, which I’m guessing could easily be subbed with THM baking blend, then you add chicken broth (we used the salted chicken water from boiling our chicken, plus some boullion), heavy whipping cream, parmesan cheese and pale dry sherry. We always made twice as much sauce because everyone loved it so much. Thank you for posting this. It brought back an old favorite to mind, and made me realize I could probably easily make my recipe THM-friendly with a couple small adjustments. 🙂
By the way, mention of the expensive cream of chicken made me think of a brand available at Aldi. I know they have a cream of mushroom that is msg-free and healthier all around, but I will have to see if they have cream of chicken, as I tend to use that in chicken pot pie recipes.
How fun, thanks for sharing! Oh my goodness, I LOOOONG for an Aldi! There isn’t one in my state. I have serious Aldi-envy, lol.
1/3 recipe of your cream of chicken is how many cups/oz? Thanks!
About 10 oz, so it’s close to 1 1/4 cups. 🙂
Great Website, Keep up the excellent job. Thank you!.
Just made this but I changed it up! I used homemade cream of mushroom (gluten free). Saute onion 1/2, 1 tbsp minced garlic, and mushroom (depends on how much you want) in 1/2 stick real butter. Add a few tbsp white vinegar (can use wine but we don’t buy wine). Let cook for a min or 2. Add gf chicken broth (again depends on how much you want to make) cook till liquid is reduced by about 1/2. Put garlic powder, onion powder, pepper, and salt. Add heavy whipping cream about the same about of broth as you have now. Save a little cream out add cornstarch to thicken to how you want it to be (again depends on how much your making) then I add lemon juice and Mayo and so on how you did the rest of the recipe. We served it over brown rice and had a salad. Wow!!! Amazing recipe thank you so much!
Great ideas, Christine, thanks for sharing!
Wouldn’t using cornstarch to thicken make it not THM?
IS this an S meal?
Yes it is. 🙂
Delicious, but soooooo much fat. Like more than a meal from McDonald’s if you eat a good portion of this. I wish I had thought to use low fat cheese and mayo… but I bet it wouldn’t be as delicious.
Hi Kris! Yes, it is a low-carb, high-fat recipe. 🙂
Love this dish…used your low carb Cream of Chicken Soup. Follow you and use a lot of your recipes but not your lettering tracking. How many carbs are in this dish? Saw your quick lunch video today. Thank you.
This looks simple! I had been using Gluccie to thicken mine with the cream but I have not tried just making cream of chicken soup. I can’t tolerate the MSG in most cans so I just use cream and the flavor isn’t quite right.
My dad is town visiting and chicken divan is one of my go to recipes since my dad loves it! So I made this tonight using your cream of chicken soup and it was great!!
I actually add 2 tbsp of Madras Curry Powder to my chicken divan and it is totally the bomb!! This dish was great and even better than when I used 2 cans of condensed cream of chicken soup!