17 Retro Chicken Dinners That Haven't Aged a Bit

Call us old-fashioned, but it's a knee-jerk reaction when the temperatures drop in fall; we instantly think of all the comforting dishes that we grew up with (and even that our parents and grandparents grew up with). And chicken equals the ultimate easy comfort, so get an old chicken recipe out and it's comfort kismet. These chicken recipes may be blasts from the past but they're also evergreen; we're always happy to see them again. If you find yourself in the same boat, let's take a trip down poultry lane and get some truly memorable dinners happening.

The "divan" in chicken divan does not refer to a sofa — though one's mind easily goes to a chicken breast lounging on one — but to the Divan Parisien restaurant in New York City. The restaurant was said to have created the dish in the 1950s, but once Campbell's included a recipe for it on the back of a can of cream of chicken soup, it was off to the races. The name implies a casserole that includes chicken, cheese and broccoli, and the cheese sauce even makes broccoli taste indulgent.

The name is French for "blue ribbon," but cordon bleu is said to have its origin in the Swiss alps, instead. We love how it transforms a lean, blank-canvas cut, the chicken breast, into the ultimate rich roulade, stuffed with ham and Swiss cheese, rolled, breaded and fried. Each becomes its own little package, so every diner can have the pleasure of cutting into it and watching that cheese ooze out deliciously.

Chicken pot pie needs no introduction, mostly because it's never gone out of style. But it became the poster child of the comfort food trend of 1990s restaurants. There are lots of versions of pot pie, including easy ones where you top the pie with a freezer pastry crust; but Ina makes a case for going from scratch. In individual portions, it is decadent, heartwarming and with that homemade crust, just phenomenal.

Hail to the king! That's chicken à la king, chicken in the creamiest sauce with shallots and mushrooms and served with pasta, biscuits, or, are you ready for it — toast points. There's no definitive explanation for where the dish gets its name, but that makes it all the easier, if someone asks when you make this tasty meal, to respond, "it me."

It was the coronation of Queen Elizabeth that inspired this dish, a chicken salad that truly reflected England at the time. The inclusion of curry powder and apricots chutney call to mind the Indian influence on the county's taste, and sliced almonds give it a delightful crunch. Though it's come to be a beloved sandwich filling, particulary due to the influence of British chain Pret a Manger, it was the height of luxury at the time, truly a lunch item fit for a queen.

This classic comfort food, also huge in the South, refers not to dumplings in the stuffed-dough sense, but in the sense of a doughy biscuit that's been poached. And since they're poached in the juices of the chicken stew beneath, they soak up all that incredible chicken flavor. It doesn't get more soulful than a bowl of this.

Trish Yearwood goes truly old-school with this casserole that calls for an actual can of soup as an ingredient. Because sometimes, you want to eat it exactly as mom made it. This one would go incredibly with buttered saltine crackers; hey, don't knock it until you've tried it.

Similar in spirit to the cordon bleu, this roulade hides something even more decadent inside: butter! It's named for the Ukranian city, but it is a French creation, a product of a time when the best restaurants in the Soviet Union employed French chefs. The dish has found its way back to Kiev, mostly due to tourists requesting it.

Though perhaps not as famous as its cousin, the tuna noodle casserole, this one says, what's not to like? It's as if chicken noodle soup were transformed into a gooey, warm dish that eats with a fork, with a blanket of Gouda that has only ever made anything tastier. Toss a salad alongside, and dinner is served.

Putting just about anything warm and creamy on top of a slice of toasted white bread is a retro phenomenon perhaps deserving of its own category.* But the filling of chicken pot pie goes remarkably well atop this warm, crunchy shingle.

*One particular dish served on toast was so notorious in mess halls during World War II that it gained an unseemly nickname ... go ahead and google it.

There are many versions of chicken tetrazzini, including spaghetti, always chicken and mushroom, often with richness added via cheese or cream. But at least with tetrazzini, we have a tantalizing origin story. The casserole was named for Italian opera singer Luisa Tetrazzini in the 1920s, and was said to be a receptacle for all things luxurious and irresistible. Here, Valerie Bertinelli swaps in a sturdier pasta for a version that can be assembled ahead and baked when the fat lady sings.

Though it's garden-variety chicken soup that gets all the press (Mom's penicillin, for the soul, etc.), this creamy version takes that comfort and goes one step farther. If you've only ever had the version out of the can, treat yourself to a from-scratch rendition, post-haste. And do not leave out the sherry; it makes it.

Midwesterners are very proud of their native wild rice, a product of Native Americans that grows there, of course it made its way into casseroles (or more aptly, hot dishes). We find that its chew and bitter notes, when mixed with chicken and mushrooms, send us quite wild, indeed. Wild rice casseroles of the mid-century often contain a bit of crunch, like water chestnuts; this one uses slivered almonds.

This very delectable chicken salad takes its name from New York City's Waldorf Hotel, where the chef was said to have invented it in the late 1890s. It's so simple and so beloved, that this combination immediately became synonymous with the Waldorf. Crucial inclusions: celery, grapes, apples, raisins and walnuts.

Cultures the world around take comfort from some form of chicken plus rice. This dish kind of has the soul of your usual chicken and noodle casserole, but the rice gives it a textural twist and changes the proportions of all the very zesty ingredients. The rice around the edges can get a little crunchy, again, like many of the best world rice dishes.

This dish is technically younger than a lot of the dishes on this list — a product of the 1980s — but guess what, kids? That's retro now. It was invented by New York City caterers and writers of the smash hit cookbook The Silver Palate, and was named for the Spanish city not because it came from there, but due to the evocative Mediterranean sound that the dish was inspired by.