Italian Cream Cheese Chicken

Chicken Divane is one of my family's very favorite dishes. However, Chicken Divane contains soups and mayonaise that I am trying to avoid. So I was excited to find this recipe on Donielle's blog that seemed like a worthy substitute. The girls and I really loved it, but Mark just thought it was ok. But I used more broccoli and noodles than the recipe called for because I was trying to stretch my expensive organic chicken. So it didn't really have enough of the yummy sauce that makes it so good. So I am going to make it again soon and double the sauce and see if my husband likes it more :)

2 Tbsp butter

2 Tbsp flour or cornstarch

3 cups chicken broth

8 oz cream cheese

1 Tbsp Italian Dressing Mix

1/2 Tbsp dried minced onion

1/2 Tbsp dried minced garlic

1-2 cooked and cubed chicken breasts

1 box of rotini pasta (we use brown rice)

1/2 head of steamed broccoli or about 1/2 bag of frozen broccoli

Cook pasta until al dente or slightly firm. (if you’re freezing this undercook it) Melt the butter over medium heat and whisk in the flour or cornstarch (cornstarch for you gluten free folks) to make a rue. Once mixed together well, add the broth in slowly while whisking. Once at a gentle boil, whisk occasioanlly and simmer for 5 minutes until thickened. Add in cream cheese and all the seasonings. Mix well and taste. If you like more seasoning, add it now. Let simmer for a few minutes while you grease a 9×13 pan and dump the pasta, chicken, and broccoli into it. Pour cream cheese mixture over everything and bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes. Take out, stir, and enjoy!

Variations we like:

• Use 4 cups of cooked rice instead of the pasta
• For an extra creamy version you can use milk in place of all but 1 cup of broth
• You can also use 2 cups of cream of chicken soup for the broth as well