Chicken Parmesan Salad With Basil Pesto For Full GAPS

This chicken Parmesan salad puts warm almond-crusted cutlets over peppery arugula, cherry tomatoes and cubes of aged cheddar. Basil pesto, raw olive oil and lemon make the dressing, with grated Parmesan over the finished plates. You get the golden chicken and cheese in a meal built around greens rather than pasta.

As a working, homeschooling mom of six, I find it helpful to look at which parts of dinner can be ready before the last few minutes. Our family started GAPS in July 2024, and meal preparation still has to fit around school and second shift. Here, the chicken and pesto each have their own recipe. Once those are ready, this page is about bringing the salad together while the cutlets are warm.

The measured salad makes four plates. It uses four cutlets made from two chicken breasts, a quarter cup of finished pesto, and one cup of cubed aged natural cheddar. The cheddar replaces the fresh mozzarella often used in a salad like this. Fresh mozzarella is not the Full GAPS cheese for this version.

Ingredients

• 4 finished almond-crusted chicken cutlets, prepared from 2 breasts
• 5 cups baby arugula or mixed salad greens
• 12 ounces cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1 cup cubed aged natural cheddar
• ¼ cup finished basil pesto
• 1 tablespoon raw cold-pressed extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
• ¼ cup grated raw Parmesan
• Natural salt and black pepper, to taste

The chicken measure means four completed cutlets. Follow the separate recipe for its chicken, eggs, dry prepared-almond flour, salt and ghee, then return here with the cooked pieces. Use those chicken directions before you start mixing this salad dressing.

Measure a quarter cup of completed pesto, too. The full pesto batch makes more than this dressing needs. Put the rest away before you start tossing the greens, rather than pouring an entire jar into the bowl because it is already open.

Arugula gives the salad a peppery bite. The same five-cup measure of mixed greens is another option. Wash and dry the leaves before measuring and dressing them. Water clinging to them thins the dressing and can collect at the bottom of the bowl.

Halve the tomatoes so their juices and cut surfaces meet the dressing. Twelve ounces is the tomato measure, not twelve individual tomatoes. Their sizes vary, so a small kitchen scale is useful if you are measuring from a larger container.

Choose an aged natural cheddar without added starches or other unsuitable ingredients. Cut it into small cubes that can be distributed among the four plates. The Parmesan is a separate quarter-cup finishing ingredient, and the pesto can contain its own optional Parmesan. Check that full component recipe when planning the dairy in this meal.

The extra tablespoon of olive oil and teaspoon of lemon belong to the dressing. They are measured in addition to the oil and lemon already combined in the pesto. That small mixture helps carry the thicker sauce through the greens instead of leaving separate clumps on a few leaves.

Recommended Equipment

Use a large glass or ceramic mixing bowl with room to lift and turn the leaves. A small bowl and whisk are useful for the dressing. Have a knife and cutting board ready for the tomatoes, cheese and cooked chicken, with clean utensils for the finished food.

The chicken’s skillet, tongs and thermometer belong to its separate preparation. The pesto has its own processor directions; I use the food-processor bowl on my Ninja BN801 for that component. Neither appliance is needed to toss the finished salad.

Set out four plates before dressing the greens. It is easier to divide the food promptly when the plates are ready than to leave a dressed bowl waiting while you clear a space and look for another dish.

How To Make Chicken Parmesan Salad

1. Have the four cooked almond-crusted chicken cutlets ready on their rack. Prepare the pesto separately and measure a quarter cup of the finished sauce.
2. Wash and dry the greens. Halve the cherry tomatoes, cube the aged cheddar and grate the separate Parmesan finishing portion.
3. Whisk the measured pesto with the tablespoon of raw olive oil and teaspoon of fresh lemon juice. Taste before adding salt and pepper because the cheeses and pesto already contribute seasoning.
4. Put the greens, halved tomatoes and cubed cheddar into the large bowl. Add the dressing and lift and turn gently until it is distributed through the salad.
5. Divide the salad among four plates. Distribute the quarter cup of grated Parmesan over them.
6. Slice the cooked chicken into roughly half-inch strips. Put one cutlet’s slices over each plate and serve promptly while the chicken is warm.

Start with the components rather than the greens. If the pesto still needs processing or the chicken has another skillet batch to go, leave the salad undressed. Once the leaves meet the dressing, they begin to soften, so tossing is one of the last jobs.

The dressing should look evenly mixed before it reaches the large bowl. Whisk through the bottom and sides to collect the pesto. It will still have small herb and nut flecks; those are part of the sauce rather than a reason to add more oil.

Lift the leaves from the bottom of the bowl and fold them through the dressing. A little sauce on each leaf is more useful than a pool underneath untouched greens. Stop once the tomatoes and cheese are spread through and the leaves have a light coating.

Divide the salad before adding the chicken so the crust does not get repeatedly tossed through the dressing. Slice the cutlets on a clean board with a sharp knife. Keep the strips together as you transfer them so each plate receives its portion.

The salad has no separate cooking step. The chicken is cooked in its own recipe, and the pesto is made cold. Allow that preparation time when planning dinner; the salad’s assembly directions do not mean the whole meal starts with raw chicken and ends a few minutes later.

Where It Fits On Full GAPS

This is a Full GAPS meal after the ingredients in the salad, chicken and pesto have been introduced. It combines raw greens, tomatoes, prepared almonds, pine nuts, eggs, ghee and natural hard cheese. Check the whole plate rather than deciding from the word salad alone.

Cheddar and Parmesan belong after natural cheese fits your dairy introduction. This version uses the measured cup of aged cheddar in place of fresh mozzarella. GAPS lists mozzarella among the foods to avoid, so swapping it in because it looks similar on the plate would change that ingredient choice.

Leaving cheese out of the pesto does not make the finished salad dairy-free. The salad still has cheddar and its Parmesan finish, and the chicken cooks in ghee. It is also not egg-free or nut-free because those ingredients remain in the chicken and sauce.

It is not an early Intro dish, and it does not fit No-Plant GAPS. Raw salad leaves are different from the vegetables gently cooked in earlier-stage meals. Blending the dressing does not change the stage of the chicken coating or the raw vegetables.

If you are ready for the chicken but not the full salad, serve that separate preparation with vegetables that fit your current meals. That gives you a useful choice without pretending that removing one topping turns this whole salad into an earlier Intro recipe. The GAPS food list and stage guide can help with the wider meal.

Storage And Serving

Serve soon after adding the warm chicken. The contrast between its golden coating and the cool greens is best when both components have just come together. Keep extra dressing off the cutlets until serving if you want the crust to remain as dry as possible.

For making parts ahead, keep the undressed greens, tomatoes, cheese, pesto and cooked chicken in separate covered containers in the refrigerator. Put away the components promptly rather than leaving them on the counter while you finish another task.

The pesto has a three-day refrigerator limit, as described in its separate recipe. Properly handled cooked chicken keeps refrigerated for three to four days. When combining ingredients prepared on different days, follow the earliest remaining limit. Assembling the salad does not give either component a fresh storage period.

A dressed leftover salad will soften, especially beneath the chicken. Refrigerate it promptly if you are saving a portion. For a later lunch, keeping an undressed portion separate is more practical than trying to restore crisp leaves after they have sat in dressing.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Each Plate Get A Whole Chicken Breast?

No. Two breasts are split into four cutlets in the chicken recipe. Each of the four salad plates receives one cutlet, sliced after cooking. Four whole breasts would be twice the starting meat for this batch.

How Much Pesto Goes Into The Dressing?

A quarter cup of finished pesto goes with one tablespoon of raw olive oil and one teaspoon of lemon juice. Measure those portions before tossing. The remaining pesto belongs in its own covered container for another use.

Can I Use A Different Leaf?

Yes, mixed salad greens can replace arugula at the same five-cup measure. Choose greens you have introduced and dry them well. Keep the other measured salad ingredients the same so the dressing still has the same amount of food to coat.

Why Is There Cheddar As Well As Parmesan?

The cubed cheddar replaces the cup of fresh mozzarella in this style of salad. The separate grated Parmesan finishes the four plates. The cubes give you bites of cheddar among the greens, while the grated finish spreads Parmesan over the plates.

Can I Double It?

Use the card’s 2× control for eight finished cutlets and the doubled salad measures. Make enough chicken and pesto from their own recipes, then measure the completed components here. Use a larger bowl or toss in two batches so the leaves can move.

More Full GAPS Dinners

Save the separate almond-crusted chicken and basil pesto recipes for making the components ahead. My planned Dinner Cookbook brings family meal ideas together for the days when choosing dinner is another job on the list. Follow the WFLI cookbook catalog for its release.

Chicken Parmesan Salad Recipe