Finding GAPS recipes is easy. Finding one that fits your current stage, sounds good for dinner tonight, and uses what’s already in your kitchen takes more thought. That is the question this guide addresses.
The recipes below are published here on Well Fed & Lived In. I have separated the Intro starting points from the Full GAPS choices, so you can find a useful recipe without having to guess whether its ingredients and method fit your stage.
GAPS cooking opens up a lot as you move through the stages. Early Intro stays narrow on purpose: soft cooked foods, meat stock, and whatever you’ve already introduced. Even there, a different texture or a different way of serving the same ingredients can make a meal feel new. By Full GAPS, there is room for salads, roasted meat, and GAPS baking, while the diet’s exclusions stay in place.[1][2][3]
Why the Stage Matters More Than the Meal Plan
Our family started GAPS in July 2024 and spent about three months on Intro. The first six weeks were difficult. One mistake was staying on a stage too long because I did not know when to move forward, and we missed nutrients that later stages provide. I wrote more about how our first Intro went. That experience is why I use the stage instructions alongside a meal plan, rather than treating a longer stay as automatically better.
GAPS changes both the ingredients and the method, one stage at a time. Simmered meat and roasted meat are two different steps. A cooked apple and a raw apple are two different steps too.[1][2] A recipe can list ingredients you already tolerate and still call for a method that belongs to a later stage. That’s easy to miss if you only skim the ingredient list.
For early Intro, stick to soft cooked foods, the vegetables you’ve cleared, meat stock, and whatever you’ve already introduced. Later stages bring more texture and more cooking methods. Full GAPS opens things up further, including salads and more baking, while keeping the same exclusions. My guide to the GAPS basics walks through that whole protocol if you want the bigger picture.
One more thing worth checking: look at the whole plate, not just the recipe title. A sauce, a garnish, a flour coating, or a suggested side can quietly move a meal outside your current stage. A suitable main dish can always sit beside a simpler side. You don’t need to recreate every item in someone’s photo.
Intro GAPS Recipes for the Early Stages
Meat Stock for Stage 1 and Beyond
Best for: a Stage 1 foundation that stays useful through later Intro and Full GAPS.
My GAPS chicken meat stock recipe uses a whole chicken with its meat, bones, skin and connective tissues. The full recipe gives the measured ingredients and chicken-specific timing. You get both stock and cooked meat, which makes it a practical starting point for soup and meals with soft vegetables.[1]
Decide where the meat and stock are going before you put them away. Some chicken can go into the next soup, while another portion can become a meal with already-introduced vegetables. That is more useful than planning around the size of the pot alone.
GAPS keeps meat stock distinct from long-cooked bone broth. Dr. Natasha’s 2020 book delays bone broth for at least a year, and for some people for several years. A carton labeled broth does not establish the ingredients or method. My meat stock and bone broth guide explains the difference.[1][4]
Homemade Ghee for Stage 2
Best for: preparing the ghee introduced in Stage 2, according to your dairy introduction route.
The oven ghee recipe explains how to clarify butter and separate the finished ghee from the milk solids. Ghee is introduced at Stage 2 in the book. Its starting amount depends on whether dairy has already been introduced, so use the Stage 2 guide alongside the recipe.[1]
This is a useful ingredient to prepare separately from dinner. It gives you an introduced cooking fat for later egg dishes and the Stage 3 pancakes. It does not make butter, yogurt and ghee interchangeable in a dairy introduction.[1]
Squash Pancakes at Stage 3
Best for: understanding the particular pancake preparation introduced at Stage 3.
The book’s Stage 3 pancake combines nut butter, eggs and fresh squash that has been peeled, deseeded and blended. It is gently fried in ghee or rendered animal fat over low heat. My Stage 3 guide explains that preparation and the other foods introduced alongside it.[1]
A Full GAPS pancake made with cooked squash, banana, added dairy or other ingredients is a different recipe. The Full GAPS pancake links below are labeled for that reason. Use the actual ingredients and method to choose your breakfast, rather than the word pancake alone.[1]
Bread and Roasted Meat at Stage 4
Best for: choosing the new cooking methods in Stage 4 without skipping the preparation details.
Stage 4 adds roasted or grilled meat, avoiding burned or overly browned parts. It does not yet add fried or barbecued meat. The bread instruction uses fermented nut or seed flour, eggs and a suitable fat, with fresh prepared squash as an optional addition. A loaf made from ordinary nut butter is not automatically that same preparation.[1]
Use my Stage 4 guide for those details. For the next steps, the Stage 5 guide covers cooked apple and initial raw vegetables, and the Stage 6 guide covers gradual raw fruit and further baking. The six-stage overview keeps the whole progression together.[1]
Full GAPS Recipes for More Variety
The book keeps meat, fish, stock, eggs, introduced dairy and vegetables at the center of Full GAPS. Fruit and baking are limited rather than replacing the main meals. The recipes below offer variety within that wider menu; they are not a list of foods to introduce all at once.[3]
Sirloin Tip Roast Beef
Best for: a Full GAPS main with cooked meat left for another meal.
My sirloin tip roast beef is seared before it finishes in a low oven. The recipe includes the measured formula, center-temperature check and resting method. Serve it with vegetables and other foods already introduced on your Full GAPS menu.
This particular recipe is labeled Full GAPS. Roasting in the title does not move its preliminary searing step into Stage 4. If you want meat for that Intro stage, use its actual cooking instructions instead.[1]
Grilled Walleye With Lemon and Ghee
Best for: a Full GAPS fish meal with lemon and herbs.
The grilled walleye recipe combines fish with lemon, ghee, herbs and paprika. Check those ingredients as well as the grilling method against your current foods. Its four to six portions are small portions from eight ounces of fish, so read the yield before planning dinner for a larger household.
Choose a side and enough food for the people eating. A recipe’s portion count helps you scale the cooking; it does not tell you how much every person needs.
Flourless Banana Egg Pancakes
Best for: a Full GAPS breakfast once banana and eggs are introduced.
These banana egg pancakes use ripe banana and eggs with coconut oil for cooking. They give you a different breakfast from the fresh-squash pancake in Intro Stage 3. The banana is part of the recipe, so this is a Full GAPS choice rather than an early Intro substitute.
If you are starting directly on Full GAPS, Dr. Natasha advises leaving fruit and baking out for the first few weeks, then introducing them gradually as symptoms allow. Full GAPS has an introduction process too.[3]
Winter Squash Peanut Butter Pancakes
Best for: using cooked squash in a Full GAPS breakfast.
My winter squash peanut butter pancakes use baked squash, prepared peanut butter, coconut milk and eggs. The separately beaten whites are folded into the mixture. This is a cooked-squash recipe with additional ingredients, not the book’s fresh-squash Intro pancake.
The full batch makes about thirty small pancakes. Check the recipe’s yield and method before deciding how much squash to cook. You can plan a plain squash side from the same cooking session without treating the two finished dishes as the same formula.
Nut Butter Pancakes or Waffles
Best for: a Full GAPS breakfast with the recipe’s complete dairy or coconut-cream variation.
The nut butter pancakes or waffles include eggs, nut butter, homemade vanilla and raw honey. The recipe gives a homemade 24-hour yogurt branch and a homemade additive-free coconut-cream branch. Follow the complete version you choose so the amounts and preparation stay together.
Replacing yogurt with coconut cream changes that batter ingredient, but the pancake method still uses dairy-derived homemade ghee. It also keeps the eggs and nuts. Read the complete pancake or waffle method and choose toppings that fit the same Full GAPS menu.
Coconut Milk Yogurt With Gelatin
Best for: a Full GAPS cultured coconut preparation when all its ingredients fit your needs.
My coconut milk yogurt with gelatin uses homemade coconut milk, gelatin, honey and a live cashew-yogurt starter. The Luvele method includes a full fermentation and chilling period, so this is something to begin before the meal when you want it.
The starter contains cashews and the gelatin is animal-derived. This particular coconut recipe is not nut-free or vegan. Those details are easy to miss if you choose only by the words coconut yogurt.
Turning a Few GAPS Meal Ideas Into a Week
You don’t need ten new recipes in one week to eat well on GAPS. Pick one foundation, one main, and one side, and let them cover more than one meal.
- A batch of stock supplies liquid for a mash and chicken for a later dinner.
- Cooked squash can cover the Full GAPS winter-squash pancakes and a separate vegetable side. The Intro Stage 3 pancake uses fresh prepared squash instead.
- Leftover roast beef becomes tomorrow’s lunch without extra cooking.
A few versatile recipes let you get more meals out of the cooking you are already doing. Add another when you want more variety.
A short note after each meal, which version you made, how many portions it gave you, whether you’d make it again, ends up more useful over time than a folder full of recipes you never tried.
GAPS Recipes: Frequently Asked Questions
What Is the Difference Between Meat Stock and Bone Broth on GAPS?
Meat stock comes from meat and connective tissue simmered a few hours. Bone broth comes from a longer cook, often mostly bare bones. GAPS uses meat stock during Intro and for at least the first year, while bone broth is a later food. Check the raw materials and extraction method rather than relying on the word broth.[1][4]
Can I Eat Full GAPS Recipes While I Am Still on Intro?
Only when its complete ingredients and method also fit your current Intro stage. Gentle frying of the specified pancakes and eggs begins at Stage 3, while Stage 4’s meat instruction is roasted or grilled meat, not fried meat. A Full GAPS recipe may include later foods or a different preparation, so check the whole recipe rather than its label.[1][2][3]
How Many GAPS Recipes Do I Need to Get Started?
Fewer than it might seem. One stock, one main, and one side can be a starting set to plan around. You still need enough portions and variety for the people eating. Keep the recipes you want to try nearby, and add one when it makes the week easier.
Can You Make GAPS Recipes Dairy-Free?
Many recipes can have a dairy-free version. When cultured dairy provides the creaminess or tang, follow a complete dairy-free variation that accounts for those qualities and fits your GAPS stage. Meat stock, roasted meat, and many vegetable sides already give you a useful dairy-free starting set.
Your Next Step
Start with the chicken meat stock recipe if you need that foundation. Otherwise, choose one recipe that fits the foods you have already introduced and read its full method before shopping. Keep the Intro and Full GAPS food list beside it. My Intro Diet Cookbook: Stages 1–6 and Full GAPS Cookbook bring more of those meal choices together; both are listed in the WFLI Shop.
References
- Campbell-McBride, N. Gut and Physiology Syndrome (2020), “GAPS Introduction Diet” and “Meat Stock and Soups.”
- Campbell-McBride, N. Gut and Physiology Syndrome (2020), “Implementing the GAPS Introduction Diet,” Stages 1–6, including fresh-squash pancakes and fermented flour for bread.
- Campbell-McBride, N. Gut and Physiology Syndrome (2020), “The Full GAPS Diet,” introductory food choices, fruit and baking, allowed-food lists and gradual introductions.
- Campbell-McBride, N. Gut and Physiology Syndrome (2020), “GAPS Diet” and “What We Shall Eat and Why, With Some Recipes,” including meat-stock and bone-broth guidance.
