Chicken Cabbage Avocado Salad For Full GAPS

This chicken cabbage avocado salad has crisp green and red cabbage, shredded lettuce, tender cooked chicken and soft pieces of ripe avocado. A lemon ginger peanut dressing brings the bowl together. Add it at serving so the vegetables keep their crunch and the avocado stays in pieces.

Have the chicken cooked and cooled before you begin. The dressing is a separate recipe, so you can make that component first and then assemble four salad bowls.

Chicken in meat stock with cilantro and lemon is my go-to when I am exhausted. Cooked chicken is useful beyond that warm bowl, too. For this salad, the chicken is ready before the chopping starts, leaving the cabbage, lettuce and avocado as the main preparation.

Yield: Four servings
Starting ingredient: One pound of cooked, boneless, skinless chicken
Before assembly: Prepare the dressing and cool the chicken
Method: Chop, toss gently and dress at serving

Ingredients

• 1 pound cooked boneless, skinless chicken breast or thigh meat, diced
• 2 cups shredded green cabbage
• 2 cups shredded red cabbage
• 2 cups shredded lettuce
• 2 ripe avocados, peeled, pitted and cut into bite-size pieces
• Green tops from 3 green onions, chopped
• 1 batch lemon ginger peanut dressing, prepared separately

Measure the cooked chicken as the ready ingredient for this assembly recipe. Remove the skin and bones, then dice the meat into pieces that are easy to pick up with the shredded vegetables. Breast or thigh meat can be used. Have the chicken cooked and cooled before you start the salad preparation.

Measure the cabbage after shredding. Each color contributes two cups, with two more cups of lettuce. Cutting the cabbage finely helps it spread through the bowl instead of leaving one serving with a large, hard piece while another gets mostly lettuce.

Use ripe avocados that yield to gentle pressure. The flesh should lift from the skin and hold together when cut. Very soft avocado will coat the vegetables more heavily and lose its pieces as you toss. Add the cut avocado close to serving and handle it gently.

The green-onion amount is the green tops from three onions. Chop them into small pieces and scatter them through the finished salad. The green tops give small fresh onion bites without adding a whole chopped onion to the mixture.

Make the full linked dressing batch for this four-serving salad. It contains the measured peanut butter, raw oils, lemon, vinegar, honey, ginger, garlic and seasonings. Whisk it together before pouring so the peanut butter is evenly blended with the liquids.

Recommended Equipment

• A large glass, ceramic or stainless-steel salad bowl
• A sharp knife and cutting board
• Measuring cups and a kitchen scale
• A spoon for the avocado
• Two large serving spoons or salad servers
• Four serving bowls

Choose a mixing bowl with room to lift ingredients from the bottom. Six cups of shredded vegetables, a pound of cooked chicken and two avocados need more space than a small serving bowl. A roomy bowl lets you turn the mixture gently instead of pressing the avocado against the sides.

Have the finished dressing in a small covered jar or bowl beside the salad when you are ready to serve. Keeping the two preparations separate also makes it easier to dress only the amount you want now.

How To Make Chicken Cabbage Avocado Salad

1. Prepare the linked lemon ginger peanut dressing. Have the cooked chicken cooled and ready to dice.
2. Shred the green cabbage, red cabbage and lettuce. Measure two cups of each. Chop the green tops from the three green onions.
3. Dice the measured cooked chicken. Peel and pit the avocados, then cut their flesh into bite-size pieces.
4. Put the chicken, cabbages and lettuce in a large bowl and toss to distribute them. Add the avocado and chopped green-onion tops, folding gently so the avocado stays in pieces.
5. Divide between four bowls and drizzle with the prepared dressing at serving. Offer more dressing alongside as needed.

The cabbage should look like thin shreds, not thick wedges. Keep the lettuce in manageable pieces, too, so a forkful can pick up chicken, greens and avocado together. There is no cooking or wilting step for these vegetables.

Cool the chicken before adding it to the lettuce. Warm meat can soften the greens and leave moisture in the bowl. This is a cold salad made with a cooked ingredient, so the chicken preparation happens beforehand.

Toss the sturdier ingredients first. Lift from the bottom so the chicken spreads among the cabbage instead of collecting below it. Fold in the avocado afterward with a lighter movement. Some creamy edges are fine, but the whole bowl does not need to become an avocado mash.

The dressing should give the salad a light coating, with fresh ginger and garlic already distributed through it. Drizzle around each serving rather than dropping a thick spoonful into one spot. Stir or whisk the dressing again first if its oils have separated.

Where This Fits On GAPS

This is a Full GAPS salad after raw cabbage, lettuce, avocado and the dressing ingredients have been introduced. Its raw vegetables and prepared peanut butter make it different from an early Intro meat-stock meal. Use it when those food forms already fit your diet.

This WFLI version uses avocado in the salad and lemon in the dressing. Dr. Natasha’s 2020 book names avocado and lemon as exceptions in its discussion of fruit with meat, and separately places raw fruit between meals. Avocado supplies soft pieces among the crunchy vegetables while the dressing supplies the citrus flavor.

Keep oranges or other sweet raw fruit for a separate fruit snack rather than adding them to this chicken bowl. This adaptation follows that GAPS meal guidance without adding a new cooking step or turning the vegetables into a different dish.

The linked dressing uses homemade peanut butter prepared with cultured whey. That makes dairy part of this version’s preparation. For a dairy-free option, use the dressing’s dairy-free peanut-butter option. The salad has no eggs in its measured ingredients, but it contains peanuts and sesame through the dressing.

This vegetable-and-peanut dressing version does not fit No-Plant GAPS. For a different nut or seed flavor, the dressing allows prepared almond butter or sunflower-seed butter in the same amount. Choose one already introduced in your diet and prepared before mixing the dressing.

Serving And Storage

Serve in four roomy bowls, with the cabbage and chicken distributed evenly before adding the last pieces of avocado. The recipe gives four servings, not a particular finished weight for each bowl. Offer the dressing at the table so the meal can be finished as it is served.

If you are preparing ahead, keep the cooked chicken, shredded vegetables and dressing covered in the refrigerator. Cut the avocado close to serving and assemble the portion you plan to eat. That is more useful for texture than dressing the entire bowl long before the meal.

Keep any assembled leftovers covered and refrigerated. The lettuce will soften after contact with the dressing, and avocado can lose some of its clean cut edges. Stir the separate dressing before using it again.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I Use Chicken Breast Instead Of Thighs?

Yes. Use one pound of cooked boneless, skinless meat for this version. Dice it into bite-size pieces and let it cool before adding it to the raw vegetables.

Do I Measure The Cabbage Before Or After Shredding?

After shredding. Use two cups of green cabbage and two cups of red cabbage, plus two cups of shredded lettuce. Those are prepared vegetable measures, not fractions of an uncut head.

Can I Make The Dressing In The Salad Bowl?

Make it separately first. Whisking the dressing needs a different movement from folding avocado through the salad. Use the finished batch once the chicken and vegetables are ready.

How Do I Stop The Avocado From Turning Into Paste?

Use ripe fruit that still holds its shape when cut. Mix the chicken and shredded vegetables first, then fold the avocado in gently. Do not keep stirring after the pieces are distributed.

Can I Double The Salad?

Yes. Double every ingredient, including the prepared dressing batch, and divide between eight bowls. Use a larger mixing bowl or assemble in portions so the avocado is not crushed while you toss.

More Chicken Meal Ideas

The separate Asian chicken chopped salad uses cucumber, asparagus, carrots and a different almond-butter dressing. For a warm meal with ginger and chicken meat stock, try pumpkin ginger soup. Each has its own ingredients and preparation.

The planned Weekly Kitchen Rhythm Planner will help organize jobs such as preparing a dressing before assembling a meal. Watch the WFLI shop for its release if you want a clearer place for those small preparations in your week.