Chicken Divan was one of those meals that I’d often make for dinner before I stopped eating meat. It’s traditionally made with broccoli and a béchamel sauce that includes butter, cream, sherry, and added cheese. But this plant-based (no cheese) Cheezy Veggie Divan is much healthier and loved by all who have tried it.
It’s origination, and the name came from the Divan Parisienne Restaurant in the New York Chatham Hotel. It was served as the signature dish in the early twentieth century.
Then, at some point, I’m not sure when, maybe in the 60’s, it morphed into a dish that used Cambell’s Cream of Chicken Soup and mayonnaise. Not the healthiest version!
The great thing about this dish is that it contains white beans, which add protein. And we know how good beans are for us, right? Watch this video from nutritionfacts.org, “Why We Should Eat More Beans.”
Be sure to try these veggie-packed dinner dishes:
- Creamy Noodle-less Zucchini, Tomato Lasagna
- Crustless Broccoli Sun-Dried Tomato Quiche
- Easy Chana Masala With Chickpeas & Yams
- Eggplant Szechuan-Style with Peppers & Mushrooms
- Moroccan Stew with Kale
This dish uses the same delicious veggies—broccoli, carrots, and cauliflower. I almost always have those on hand, but you can add any kind you like. Even potatoes would be good.
This dish is great for leftovers. I served it with quinoa. The lovely cheesy color comes from roasted red peppers.
Enjoy this easy dish with just a few steps
This recipe is quite simple to accomplish. Start by steaming your veggies until crisp-tender. While they’re steaming and the oven is preheating you can start your cheese sauce.
Make your cheese sauce by adding the beans, roasted red peppers, nutritional yeast, lemon juice, tahini, mustard, and spices to the blender. Blend until smooth. To reach the right consistency, add a little bit of vegetable broth (tablespoon at a time).
Add your steamed veggies to the prepared baking pan, then pour the “cheese” mixture on top. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes or so. This is perfect served with a side of quinoa or brown rice!
I’d love to hear your feedback in the comments below for this Cheezy Veggie Divan recipe! If you have a photo, post it on my Facebook page, tag me using the hashtag #plantbasedcooking
This recipe is Certified Plantricious because it meets the following guidelines.
The Trusted Seal for
Plant-Based Nutrition
- Must be whole food plant-based, contains no animal products
- May be minimally processed
- No added oil
- No added sugars
- No artificial additives or preservatives
- Sodium (mg) to Calories ratio, 1 ≤ 1
- Total Fiber to Calories, 2g ≥ 100 calories
Cheezy Veggie Divan
Equipment
- Measuring Cups and Spoons
Ingredients
- 1 head broccoli cut into bite-sized pieces
- 1/2 head cauliflower cut into bite-sized pieces
- 4 carrots peeled, sliced into 3/4 pieces
- 1 large onion cubed
Cheesy Sauce
- 1 (15-oz.) can white cannellini beans drained and rinsed (or 2 cups prepared from scratch)
- 1/2 cup jarred roasted red peppers packed in water, drained (or homemade)
- 1/3 cup nutritional yeast
- 4 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 2 tbsp tahini
- 1 tsp yellow mustard
- 1/2 tsp salt (optional)
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1 1/2 cups homemade vegetable broth or low-sodium brand, divided
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray the bottom of a 9 x 12″ baking pan with non-stick spray and set aside.
- Steam broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, and onion in a large pot over boiling water or in a steamer basket until crisp-tender. Place into your prepared baking pan.
- Prepare the cheese sauce by placing the beans, roasted red peppers, nutritional yeast, lemon juice, tahini, mustard, spices, and 1/2 cup vegetable broth in a blender.
- Blend until very smooth adding a little vegetable broth to thin and make it easier to remove.
- Scrap the cheese sauce from the blender into a large pan over medium heat. Reuse your steaming pan if that works. Add the veggie broth.
- Mix carefully with a whisk until the sauce is smooth and liquid is incorporated together with the cheese sauce. Let heat through.
- Pour the sauce over the veggies and move them around a little to make sure the sauce covers them. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes or until heated through.
- Serve with your choice of grain.
What can I substitute for the tahini in your divan recipe?
I would say that you could just leave the tahini out of the recipe. It’s not a very strong flavor with all of the other ingredients and I don’t think it would affect it much.
Just tried this out and it was great. I switched out the onion powder for chili powder because it’s what I had available and I added extra broccoli instead of Cauliflower. It tastes good and was really simple to make.
So glad you enjoyed it and are thinking creatively when it comes to spices!
Where can i get nutritional yeast? I live in sydney, Australia and have never heard of it.
Hi, I just read that it can be called Savoury Yeast in Australia so that may help. You should be able to purchase it in most health food stores. If you can’t find it in a store like Go Vita or Mrs. Flannery’s, you could purchase it online. There may be other online resources, but here’s one: http://www.veganonline.com.au/groceries/pantry/lotus-savoury-yeast-flakes-200g
Sooooo, I just made this. And I’m taking it to a pot luck. I like the flavor…Lets see what the meat eaters think… 🙂 Thanks for the idea.
You’re welcome. They can be a tough lot. Hope it goes well. ????
Just made this and absolutely delicious!!!!! Saving this recipe for sure. After trying it, it would be easy to add things to do and make into different meals. THANKS!
Hey Danielle, thanks for the feedback and I’m so glad you enjoyed the divan. I’d love to hear how to make it into different meals.
Hi, can you freeze this please?
Hi Alison, I don’t see why you couldn’t. The only thing I’d worry about is freezer burn. I haven’t heard of freezer paper, but there was a suggestion I found, “Too much air in the container will cause freezer burn, so if there’s a lot of empty space at the top of the container, fill it with crumpled freezer paper. Cover the pan or dish first with plastic wrap, and then overlay that with heavyweight aluminum foil.”
This is delicious!!!!! The whole family loved it and had no idea it was plant based. Definitely making again and again
Thanks so much for letting me know! And, I’m so happy all of the family loved it! Here’s to eating plant-based!
OMG…made this substituting medium tofu for beans as I only had blackbeans …the sauce is sooo delicious and I didn’t reheat it before adding over veggies…left out the capsicum…didn’t have any BUT this tasted so close to French onion dip!!! I am going to try this sauce without the extra water and see what happens 🙂 Beautifully baked too..served with creamy mashed potatoes…YUM
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! And I like that you’re willing to experiment when all of the ingredients aren’t available. I love the idea of serving this with creamy mashed potatoes, too. I’m going to have to try your version soon as you’re making me hungry.
Really want to try this recipe. Only have purple cauliflower? What are your thoughts?
Thank you
Hey Linda, I say, why not. Although it may stand out a little from the rest of the veg, it’ll still be delicious. Now I’m thinking, I’d like to eat more purple cauliflower. It has more of the antioxidant anthocyanin which gives it it’s color, and that’s a good thing. 🙂
This was edible, but the flavors just weren’t there. Highly disappointing.
Hey Natasha, I understand that the recipe was disappointing for you. I’m not sure what diet you’re used to, but this can happen if you’re just getting started eating a whole food, plant-based diet…especially if you’re used to eating cheese. Most of the recipes on this site conform to low salt, processed oil, and sugar and therefore could be less appealing at the start until tastebuds get used to this way of eating. That said, I hope you would try upping some of the spices and experimenting for your own taste. As you can see from the positive comments, people have enjoyed the recipe.