This chicken salad combines precooked chicken, crisp bacon, Medjool dates, scallion, celery, red grapes, homemade mayonnaise, and crunchy prepared macadamia nuts. The formula makes four to six servings and needs about ten minutes of assembly once the chicken, bacon, mayonnaise, and nuts are ready.
It stays separate from the savory caper chicken salad. This version keeps the sweet-and-savory fruit, bacon, and macadamia formula with its exact measured quantities.
A composed salad like this is a good one to reach for on a busy day. Once the chicken, bacon, and mayonnaise are ready, the rest of the work is just chopping, stirring, and waiting for it to chill.
Serves: 4 to 6 Assembly time: About 10 minutes, after components are prepared
Ingredients
- 2 cups medium-diced precooked chicken
- 6 ounces additive-free uncured bacon, sugar-free, nitrate-free, nitrite-free, and unsmoked, roughly chopped, cooked until crisp, and drained
- 1/2 cup Medjool dates, pitted and finely diced, with no syrup or other additives
- 1/4 cup thinly sliced scallion, white and green parts
- 1/3 cup celery, finely diced on the diagonal
- 1 cup seedless red grapes, halved
- 1 cup completed homemade GAPS mayonnaise
- 1 teaspoon mineral salt
- 1/2 cup prepared crunchy macadamia nuts, roughly chopped
Dates and grapes bring natural sweetness to this salad without any added sugar, while scallion and celery add crunch and a little bite to balance the richness of the bacon and mayonnaise. The mineral salt is measured to season the whole bowl, not just the chicken.
Method
- Put the diced chicken, cooked and drained bacon, dates, scallion, celery, and grapes in a medium glass mixing bowl. Stir to distribute the ingredients.
- Add the completed mayonnaise and mineral salt. Toss until the salad is evenly coated.
- Refrigerate the salad until chilled.
- Add the chopped macadamia nuts after the salad is cold and just before serving so they retain their crunch.
Start with precooked chicken and crisp bacon. Prepare those components first, cool them, and measure the exact amounts before assembling the salad.
The salad is ready for the refrigerator once the chicken, bacon, dates, and grapes are evenly coated in mayonnaise, with no dry pockets left in the bowl. Chill the salad before folding in the measured 1/2 cup macadamias so the nuts keep their crunch.
Advance Preparation
Measure 1/2 cup of the finished nuts for this salad.
Use the Exact Bacon Form
Measure six ounces of cooked properly prepared additive-free uncured bacon that is sugar-free, nitrate-free, nitrite-free, and unsmoked, or an exact home-cured version that meets the same requirements.
Do not add honey, sugar, chemical curing agents, celery-powder curing agents, smoke flavor, or liquid smoke. Cook the measured bacon until crisp, drain it, cool it, and then add it to the bowl with the chicken and produce.
Use Completed Mayonnaise
The salad requires one full cup of finished homemade mayonnaise. Make the mayonnaise separately, refrigerate it according to its recipe, and measure one cup after it has emulsified.
Use a completed batch of homemade GAPS mayonnaise; measure a cup after it emulsifies. The mayonnaise is one completed ingredient here, so its base formula is not repeated or changed inside the salad.
Why This Fits Full GAPS
The current Full GAPS list includes chicken, dates, grapes, celery, scallions, eggs, qualifying fats, and macadamia nuts. The nuts use the current preparation rule for soaking, sprouting, or fermenting nuts and seeds before eating them.
The bacon form follows the WFLI owner ruling for properly prepared additive-free uncured bacon. The dates must be plain fruit without syrup, added sugar, oil, or preservatives. The mayonnaise must be homemade from qualifying ingredients rather than a commercial soybean- or canola-oil product.
This is a Full GAPS salad. The complete formula includes whole nuts, raw fruit, scallion, celery, bacon, and mayonnaise, so it is not assigned to an early Introduction Diet stage.
Related Recipes
This recipe’s identity comes from dates, grapes, bacon, and macadamia nuts. For the separate savory version made with celery, parsley, and capers, use the Full GAPS chicken salad with capers.
Each version keeps its own measured formula. Do not transfer the capers or parsley into this fruit-and-macadamia salad, and do not move the dates, grapes, bacon, or nuts into the caper version.
Storage and Serving
Refrigerate the dressed salad in a covered container. Keep the measured 1/2 cup prepared macadamias separate and fold them in just before serving so they stay crunchy. Store the rest of the prepared nut batch separately.
Serve the salad chilled after folding in the measured macadamias.
FAQ
Can I Add the Macadamias Before Chilling?
Add them after the salad is chilled and just before serving so they stay crunchy. Keep them separate until that step.
Can I Use Another Nut?
This formula uses one-half cup crunchy macadamia nuts. A different nut would be a separate variation with its own preparation and flavor.
What Kind of Bacon Belongs in This Version?
Use additive-free uncured bacon that is sugar-free, nitrate-free, nitrite-free, and unsmoked, or a home-cured preparation that meets the same requirements.
How Much Mayonnaise Goes Into the Salad?
Measure one cup of completed homemade GAPS mayonnaise. Do not add the entire mayonnaise-making formula directly to the salad.
Can I Prepare the Salad Ahead?
Refrigerate the dressed salad until chilled. Keep the measured 1/2 cup prepared macadamias separate and add them just before serving.
Recommended Equipment
- A medium glass mixing bowl
- A sharp knife for dicing the chicken, celery, and dates
- A skillet for cooking the bacon
- A covered container for refrigerating the salad
Next Steps
The Lunch Cookbook is coming soon, with more composed Full GAPS lunches like this one. While it is being prepared, try the separate savory chicken salad with capers for another version of this same idea.
Full GAPS Chicken Salad with Dates and Macadamia Nuts
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Put the diced chicken, cooked and drained bacon, dates, scallion, celery, and grapes in a medium glass mixing bowl. Stir to distribute the ingredients.
- Add the completed mayonnaise and mineral salt. Toss until the salad is evenly coated.
- Refrigerate the salad until chilled.
- Add the chopped macadamia nuts after the salad is cold and just before serving so they retain their crunch.
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