Full GAPS Grain-Free Arepas with Chicken Fajitas

These grain-free arepas are thick almond-and-coconut cakes, fried until golden and served open-faced with chicken fajitas, avocado, cilantro, and lime. The edges brown in the skillet while the middle stays tender. Have the chicken filling and finished flours ready before you mix the dough.

This is a Full GAPS meal once the nuts, coconut, eggs, dairy, and ingredients in the filling have been introduced and tolerated. The cakes contain almonds and eggs, and both butter and ghee are dairy-derived. This is not an Introduction Diet recipe.

Start With Dry Flour and Cooked Filling

Measure 2 cups of finished, finely ground almond flour made from fermented almonds that were fully dried before grinding. The flour should be loose and dry. A fresh, moist fermented almond mixture brings extra water into the dough and is not a cup-for-cup replacement here. Soaking almonds alone also does not complete this preparation.

The coconut flour is natural, additive-free desiccated or shredded coconut ground to a fine meal. Measure 3 tablespoons after grinding. This keeps the coconut itself in the flour; it is a different ingredient from the dried pulp left after straining coconut milk. Commercial coconut flour is not the GAPS choice for this recipe.

If you prepare the flours yourself, use a machine whose manual permits dry grinding. My Ninja BN801 is not a dry-grinding mill. This recipe begins with the finished flours, so you do not need to run a blender or processor while making the cakes.

For the topping, measure 1½ cups of finished slow cooker chicken fajita filling, including the shredded chicken and its cooked peppers and onions. That filling is a separate recipe. Its overnight marinade and long cooking time need to be completed before the arepas are ready to serve.

With homeschooling and a second-shift work schedule, separating advance preparation from the meal itself matters in our house. For this dish, label the finished flour and set aside the measured chicken filling first. Then the last stage is mixing, shaping, and frying rather than starting several preparations at once.

Keep the Dough Fat and Frying Fat Separate

• For the cakes: 2 cups finished dry fermented almond flour, 3 tablespoons direct-ground homemade coconut flour, 1 teaspoon sea salt, 2 large beaten eggs, and 4 tablespoons unsalted butter or ghee.
• For the skillet: a separate 4 tablespoons homemade ghee. Keep this out of the dough bowl.
• For serving: the measured 1½ cups cooked chicken fajita filling, 1 sliced avocado, ¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro, and 1 lime cut into quarters.

The two fat measures do different jobs. The first goes into the dough; the second heats in the skillet. Choosing ghee in the dough does not replace or absorb the separate frying measure. If using butter, choose plain unsalted butter already introduced through your applicable GAPS dairy sequence.

Mix and Shape the Cakes

Combine the two measured flours, salt, beaten eggs, and dough butter or ghee in a large bowl. Mix thoroughly, scraping the bottom so no dry pockets remain. You want a thick dough that can be pressed into disks, rather than a batter you pour into the pan.

Take roughly ¼-cup spoonfuls and press them into disks, keeping their thickness even. The shaping guide is about 4 inches across and ½ inch thick. The portion and dimensions are approximate; do not add water or more flour just to force an exact diameter or exactly ten pieces. Keep the cakes a similar size so they cook at a similar pace.

Press loose edges together as you shape each disk. These cakes have no grain flour or gluten to stretch and hold them together, so support them from underneath when moving them. A broad spatula is useful for lifting them into the pan and turning them later.

Fry Until Golden on Both Sides

Heat the separate measured ghee in a large skillet over medium heat until hot. Lower in a few disks, leaving room to slide the spatula under each one. Cook in batches rather than crowding the skillet.

Fry for about 2 to 3 minutes per side, until both surfaces are golden brown. Let the first side form its browned surface before turning; repeated nudging can break a tender cake. Slide the spatula fully underneath, then turn gently.

Watch the food as well as the clock. If the outside darkens too quickly, lower the heat so the center has time to cook. A finished cake should have a set center rather than wet eggy dough. Thickness, skillet size, and the number of batches affect the full frying time.

Transfer the cooked cakes to a serving plate and continue with the remaining dough. Keep the prepared chicken filling hot for assembly. If it was refrigerated, reheat it thoroughly in a pan before topping the cakes; do not count on a hot arepa to warm cold chicken.

Top and Serve

Divide the measured chicken and vegetables across the warm cakes, then add the avocado and cilantro. Serve the lime quarters at the table for squeezing. With about ten cakes, the measured filling gives a modest topping on each, rather than ten large chicken dinners.

The batch makes about ten arepas, with the exact count depending on how you portion them. The card counts pieces, not people. If you want more, use its 2× or 3× control and make additional cakes of the same size and thickness. Keep working in uncrowded batches rather than making oversized disks.

For another vegetable side, the Mexican cauliflower rice is prepared separately. Its ingredients are not included in this recipe. Serve these arepas as an occasional nut-flour meal rather than treating them as an everyday replacement for all other GAPS foods.

Preparing Ahead and Storing Leftovers

Prepare the flours and chicken filling ahead, then fry and assemble the cakes when you are ready to eat. Store plain cakes, cooked filling, and fresh toppings separately so the cakes are not sitting under the moist chicken and avocado.

Refrigerate leftovers promptly in shallow covered containers. Follow the chicken filling recipe’s storage instructions and count from when that chicken was originally cooked, not from when it was added to an arepa. Reheat the chicken and vegetables thoroughly before serving, and warm plain cakes separately in a skillet. Add the fresh toppings afterward.

Questions Before You Start

Can I Use Moist Fermented Almond Flour?

Not at the same two-cup measure. This dough calls for fine, dry flour from fully dried fermented almonds. A moist preparation changes the water in the dough, and adding extra coconut flour to compensate would change this recipe.

Is Coconut-Milk Pulp Flour the Same Ingredient?

No. Here the coconut is ground directly from natural desiccated or shredded coconut. Pulp flour has first been soaked or blended for milk and strained. Use the direct-ground ingredient measured after grinding.

Why Are the Cakes Breaking When I Turn Them?

Check that the dough was mixed evenly, the disks have an even thickness, and the first side has browned before turning. Support the full cake with a broad spatula. Avoid repeated flipping or trying to lift a soft cake from one edge.

Can I Make This Egg-Free or Nut-Free?

The eggs and almond flour are part of this dough. There is no measured egg-free or nut-free replacement in this recipe. Choose a separately developed recipe that fits those needs rather than replacing these ingredients by eye.

How Long Does the Whole Meal Take?

The card allows ten minutes for preparing the cakes once the components are ready. Frying takes about two to three minutes per side for each batch. Flour preparation, the chicken’s overnight marinade, its slow cooking, and reheating any chilled filling are separate. The number of skillet batches determines when the full batch of cakes is finished.

Equipment to Have Ready

Use a large mixing bowl, measuring cups and spoons, a fork or whisk for the eggs, a sturdy mixing spoon, a large skillet, a broad spatula, and a serving plate. Have a knife and board for the avocado, cilantro, and lime. No special arepa press is needed.

The planned Breads, Crackers & Wraps Cookbook will bring together recipes made with properly prepared ingredients and complete methods. Check the WFLI shop for current resources and release information. For these arepas, start by checking that the almond flour is dry and the chicken filling is already cooked.