Full GAPS Chicken Stew with Butternut Squash and Kale

Bone-in chicken and cubed butternut squash cook low and covered in a pot of homemade meat stock. Kale gets a separate seven-minute boil before joining the shredded chicken for a short covered rest. You get a full dinner for six to eight people from one large oven-safe pot and one smaller pot for the greens.

This is a good fall meal when you want tender chicken, soft squash, and broth in the same bowl. The onions soften in ghee first, garlic and thyme flavor the stock, and parsley goes in at the end. Two teaspoons of homemade coconut flour are optional if you want a little more body in the liquid.

In our house, one pot of meat stock goes on first thing in the morning. What goes into it depends on the budget, the sales, and what is in the fridge. That daily pot is what made GAPS doable for us. Have the prepared stock measured before starting this stew, so making stock does not become an extra job halfway through dinner.

Ingredients for Six to Eight Portions

• 2 tablespoons homemade ghee, for softening the onions.
• 1 teaspoon natural mineral or sea salt, divided: Half goes with the onions and half finishes the stew.
• 2 yellow onions, minced, so they soften evenly.
• 4 garlic cloves, minced.
• ¼ teaspoon pure dried thyme.
• 2 teaspoons prepared homemade coconut flour, optional.
• 6 cups prepared homemade chicken meat stock, measured after straining.
• 4 bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts.
• 4 cups butternut squash: Peel, remove the seeds, and cut into ½-inch cubes before measuring.
• 1 large head kale, cut or torn into bite-size pieces.
• ¼ cup minced fresh parsley.
• ⅛ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper.

The stock and ghee are separate preparations. If you use the coconut flour, have the finished homemade flour ready too. Keep its two-teaspoon amount; it is an optional small addition rather than a flour-based gravy. You can leave it out and continue with the full measured stock and all the other ingredients.

Use the bone-in, skin-on breasts for this batch. A boneless cut or a different chicken part will not have the same size, bones, skin, and cooking behavior. Keep the squash cubes near the written half-inch size so they soften during the covered cook.

Choose a Pot That Can Go in the Oven

Use a large, heavy pot with a lid that is safe on the stovetop and in a 300°F oven. It needs room for all four breasts, six cups of stock, the squash, and the softened onions without crowding the lid. Check the pot and lid’s heat limits before starting, and have a heat-safe place ready for the hot pot when it comes out.

You also need a medium pot and colander for the kale, a whisk, a wooden spoon, a slotted spoon, two forks, a food thermometer, measuring cups and spoons, a knife, and a cutting board. Keep the board and utensils used for raw chicken separate from the clean tools you will use to shred the cooked meat.

Build the Stew on the Stove

Heat the oven to 300°F. Melt the ghee in the large pot over medium heat. Add the minced onions and half of the measured salt, which is half a teaspoon at 1×. Cook for about five minutes, until the onions soften and become more translucent.

Stir in the garlic for about thirty seconds, just until fragrant. Add the dried thyme and, if using it, the measured homemade coconut flour. Slowly whisk in the chicken meat stock. Use the wooden spoon to loosen any browned bits from the bottom of the pot as the liquid goes in.

Add the chicken breasts and raw squash cubes. Bring the liquid to a simmer before putting the lid on. This starts the covered oven cook with the pot already hot rather than asking the oven to warm a cold pot of stock and chicken.

Cover, Bake, and Cook the Kale Separately

Cover the pot and transfer it to the oven for one hour and fifteen minutes. Keep oven mitts ready for both the handles and lid when you take it out. The pot remains hot after it leaves the oven.

While the stew cooks, bring a medium pot of water to a boil. Add the bite-size kale, boil for seven minutes, then drain in the colander. Plan that step toward the end of the oven cook. The kale joins the stew after the chicken is shredded; it does not spend the full seventy-five minutes in the oven.

Check the thickest part of each chicken breast with the thermometer, keeping the probe away from bone. It should reach 165°F before you shred it. If a piece has not reached that temperature, return the covered pot to the oven and continue cooking before moving on. The squash should be tender enough to pierce easily.

Shred the Chicken and Finish the Pot

Lift the cooked chicken out with the slotted spoon. Use two forks to separate the meat from the bones. Remove the hard bones carefully, then return the shredded meat and soft skin to the stew. You can chop the soft skin into smaller pieces if that makes it easier to distribute through the bowls.

Stir in the drained kale. Cover and let the stew stand for five minutes. Stir in the parsley, the remaining half of the measured salt, and the black pepper. Mix through the whole pot, then taste the finished seasoning.

Serve in wide bowls, dividing the chicken, squash, kale, and stock among six to eight portions. The stock stays part of the meal. Portion sizes vary.

Where This Fits on GAPS

This is a Full GAPS stew after its ingredients have been introduced and tolerated. Use prepared homemade chicken meat stock and homemade coconut flour if you include the optional flour. It contains dairy-derived ghee, so it is not labeled dairy-free.

This covered oven stew has its own onion preparation, seasonings, kale cooking step, and optional flour. It is not an early Intro soup simply because it contains meat stock. Choose a recipe written for your current Intro stage when that is the food preparation you need.

Timing and Leftovers

Allow about one hour and thirty-five minutes for cooking, including the covered oven cook and finishing steps. Have the vegetables cut and the other ingredients ready before heating the ghee. Measure the stock, mince the aromatics, cut the squash, and prepare the kale before those jobs become a last-minute rush. Making the homemade components takes additional time.

Cool leftover stew promptly in smaller, shallow containers rather than leaving the full pot on the counter. Refrigerate the cooled portions covered, or freeze what you are saving for later in suitable freezer containers. Reheat only the portion you need on the stove until hot throughout, stirring so the chicken and vegetables heat evenly.

Questions Before You Start

Can I Leave Out the Coconut Flour?

Yes. Omit its two teaspoons and keep all the other measured ingredients, including the full six cups of stock at 1×. Another thickener is not needed. The squash softens in the broth, but this remains a stew with liquid to spoon from the bowl.

Can I Cook the Kale in the Stew Instead?

Keep the separate seven-minute boil and drain. Adding kale with the raw chicken would give it more than an hour in the oven. Add the drained kale only after the cooked chicken is shredded and returned, then give the pot its five-minute covered rest.

Can I Use Boneless Chicken Breasts?

This batch is written for four bone-in, skin-on breasts. Keep that cut for the stated method and check every piece with the thermometer. A timer alone does not tell you whether differently sized chicken pieces are cooked through.

Does the 2× Button Mean Twelve or Sixteen Bowls?

This recipe serves six to eight. A doubled batch serves twelve to sixteen, and a tripled batch serves eighteen to twenty-four. Portion sizes vary. Use enough pot space and keep the same oven temperature and squash-cube size when scaling.

How Do I Divide the Salt in a Larger Batch?

Use half the new measured total with the onions and half at the end. At 2× the total is two teaspoons, so each half is one teaspoon. At 3× the total is three teaspoons, with one-and-one-half teaspoons in each part. Taste after the final measured seasoning is stirred through, since your stock may already contain salt.

For a smooth squash soup alongside another meal, try the separate roasted butternut squash soup. It has its own measured ingredients and blending method.

Follow the WFLI shop for the planned Soups & Stews Cookbook. For this stew, start by checking the oven-safe pot’s capacity and measuring your prepared meat stock.