The Best Recipe for Turkey Divan + The History of this All-American Dish
After decades of sliding into disfavor (thanks to the likes of condensed soup and processed cheese), it's time to give Turkey Divan back its good name! Made with a great cheese and a true Mornay sauce, my Turkey Divan Recipe reclaims the dish’s status as one of the world’s best recipes for leftover turkey.
The Best Turkey Divan Recipe. Made without canned soup.
Let’s get one thing straight: This is a turkey divan recipe without canned soup -- and yes, it's the one you're looking for. Below, I give a little history of the recipe, but if you just want the recipe itself, scroll to the recipe further down.
The late, great Younker’s Department Store in downtown Des Moines, Iowa. I worked at the tearoom on top, where I first discovered Turkey Divan.
But Is It French? (Yes! It’s French Enough!)
I first came across Turkey Divan when I was working in one of the long-gone restaurants of Younker’s Department Store in Amerique profonde. Made by layering steamed broccoli with sliced cooked turkey breast, with a rich cheese sauce amidst and atop the layers, it was one of those wonderful classics that were the mainstays of department store tearooms and old-school hotel dining rooms.
Yet while it may be an mid-century American classic, it’s thoroughly French in inspiration. The recipe was the specialty of the Divan Parisien, a French restaurant in a New York Hotel (the long-gone Hotel Chatham, near Grand Central Station).
Wait--is it Divine or Divan? Is it turkey or is it chicken?
It's Divan. And the original recipe was for chicken, but someone along the line discovered that it worked beautifully with turkey, too.
What does Divan mean, anyway?
According to my Oxford French-English Dictionary, divan means divan. Yes, as in a davenport or a couch. But the restaurant was called, Divan Parisian, so it was a Parisian davenport, mind you. I can only guess that the restaurant's name, “Divan Parisien,” was supposed to bring to mind an elegant place to sit yourself down. And, looking at a vintage postcard, it looks like the place was all about divan-style seating.
Wouldn’t you love to sit yourself down here and have some Turkey Divan, at its historical source? I sure would.
And yet, Turkey Divan is not elegant in a complicated, rococo way. In fact, the term "polished simplicity" comes to mind whenever I taste a great version. (I always say no one does polished simplicity quite like the French--and this dish is definitely French-inspired).
Turkey Divan begins with one of the most simple-elegant things in the culinary world: a white sauce (a béchamel). When was the last time you stopped and really tasted a white sauce? I did, once again, when I was testing this recipe, and I was thrilled by the magic that happens when a warm paste made of melted butter and flour turns milk something so rich and wonderful.
For this recipe, you add a great cheese (and nearly any great cheese that melts well will do); the white sauce becomes a cheese sauce. Or, in French cooking terms, a béchamel becomes a Mornay.
Seriously? It's as good as all that? Whenever I've tasted Turkey Divan, it's been kind of … well, ordinary.
So, here's what happened: Over the years, our mothers and grandmothers started substituting cream of mushroom or chicken soup instead of making a white sauce. Condensed soup is to béchamel what Velveeta is to a Vermont Cheddar.
From my mother's 1960s cookbook. Process cheese (aka Velveeta)? Condensed soup? Let's not judge....but we can do better! (PS: Let the record show that the book also offered a classic, scratch-made version of Turkey Divan.)
Still, I'm not judging here: If I'd grown up cutting heads off chickens, sweeping Dust Bowl dirt from my floorboards three times a day, and scratching every bit of food I could from the grit of a sustinence farm in the anything-but-Martha-Stewart 30s and 40s, by the 1950s, I would have looked at condensed soup as a beacon of salvation from the drudgery of all that work. I would have been first in line for an electric can opener.
But now that we have the time and (if we're blessed) the resources to get back to scratch cooking, it's time to get back to making the Mornay sauce. And making Turkey Divan in the legendary way.
Okay, okay! You’ve convinced me! How do I make it?
First, gather up the ingredients. Choose a good cheese you love that melts well. I love a good Vermont cheddar for this, though you can’t go wrong with Comté or Gruyère.
Now, roll up your sleeve and get cooking. I promise it won’t take long, if you have leftover cooked turkey or chicken on hand. If not, just poach some boneless chicken breasts and you’re set.
Ingredients for an easy Turkey Divan recipe.
Easy Turkey Divan, made the way it should be. No process cheese. No canned soup. But it’s still a simple recipe, especially if you already have cooked turkey or chicken on hand.
The Best Turkey Divan Recipe: A Classic Made the Way It Should Be
Prep time: 25 mins
Cook time: 5 mins
Total time: 30 mins
Serves: 4 servings
This dish is classically served on toast points, though I prefer it with steamed rice. You could also serve it with whipped potatoes, or even leftover stuffing.
Ingredients:
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons flour
1 1/2 cups 2% or whole milk
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Salt to taste
1 cup (8 ounces) shredded Gruyère, Comté, Vermont Cheddar, or another great semi-firm cheese you love that melts well
1 1-pound head broccoli, cut into 1-inch florets, cooked and drained* or 1 8-ounce bunch broccolini, cooked and drained.*
1 pound cooked chicken or turkey breast, sliced about 1/2-inch thick.
1/4 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese or other great grating cheese of your choice. Or, you can simply add more of the cheese (grated) you used in the sauce.
Steamed rice or 4 slices bread, toasted, each slice cut diagonally into 4 triangles (aka “toast points”)
Instructions:
Melt butter. Whisk in flour and cook, whisking, until mixture bubbles. Remove from heat; gradually blend in milk and cream. Add cayenne and salt. Cook, stirring constantly, until mixture is thickened and begins to boil. Add the 1 cup shredded Gruyère and cook, stirring, until cheese is melted. Keep warm.
Warm the broccoli or broccolini and the turkey in the microwave until hot. Divide broccoli or broccolini among a shallow, broiler-safe, 2-quart baking dish (mine was 11 x 8 1/2 by 1 3/4 inches), spreading out into 1 layer. Pour about 1 cup sauce over the broccoli. Layer turkey atop the broccoli; cover with the remaining sauce. Sprinkle with Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.
Broil about 4 to 6 inches from heat for 2 to 3 minutes or until cheese is browned, watching constantly. Serve with rice or spoon casserole atop toast points to serve. Serves 4.
*To cook broccoli florets: Cook, covered, in about 1 inch of boiling salted water for about 6 to 8 minutes or until just crisp-tender. To cook broccolini: Trim ends and separate into stalks. Cook, covered, in about 1 inch boiling salted water for about 4 minutes or until just crisp-tender.
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