Turkey Egg Roll in a Bowl for Full GAPS

This turkey egg roll in a bowl is ground turkey and shredded cabbage cooked with garlic, ginger and coconut aminos, then finished with green onions and creamy chili lime dressing. The turkey stays in small, browned crumbles, and the cabbage softens into strips you can scoop with a fork. There is no wrapper to fill or fold.

Make the creamy chili lime dressing before starting the pan. You need a quarter cup of the finished dressing for the whole four-serving batch. Keep it cold while the turkey and cabbage cook, then divide it among the bowls at serving time.

Most of my weekday cooking happens in the morning, around homeschooling and before I leave for second shift. Dishes left in the sink overnight are one of those little things that make the next morning harder. A main meal cooked in one pan appeals to me, but I still want the preparation explained honestly: the dressing is a separate job to have ready first.

This recipe makes four servings. With six children, I check that number before deciding how much to cook. If you double it, double the dressing and seasonings too, and use a pan with enough room for the larger amount of cabbage. A generous pan matters more here than trying to fit everything into a small skillet.

What Goes Into The Bowl

Two pounds of ground turkey: Break it into small pieces as it cooks. You want crumbles distributed through the cabbage, rather than a few large pieces of meat surrounded by vegetables. Cook it through before adding the cabbage.

Two tablespoons of coconut oil: Use pure, non-hydrogenated coconut oil. It melts in the pan before the garlic and ginger go in. This is the cooking fat for the measured turkey version.

Half a teaspoon of ground ginger and three crushed garlic cloves: Choose pure ground ginger without other ingredients. Let these release their aroma in the melted oil for about a minute. Keep an eye on the garlic; fragrant is the goal, rather than dark or scorched.

One pound of fresh green cabbage: Shred it into thin strips and weigh the amount you need. Cabbage heads vary in size, so weighing is clearer than assuming every half head gives the same quantity. Thin strips soften more evenly than thick wedges.

Three tablespoons of coconut aminos: This is the soy-sauce alternative used in the Full GAPS version. Check the ingredient list for soy, wheat, added cane sugar, starch or other non-allowed additions. Keep the measured amount at three tablespoons.

One optional teaspoon of fish sauce: A traditionally fermented fish sauce made from fish and salt adds a savory, salty flavor. The Red Boat 40°N label lists anchovy and sea salt. It is optional, and it contains fish.

Five green onions: Use the white and light-green parts, thinly sliced. These go on at serving time. The fresh onion gives a sharper finish than the softened cabbage underneath it.

A quarter cup of finished chili lime dressing: Measure the completed five-lime dressing from its own recipe. Do not substitute a quarter cup of plain mayonnaise with an unmeasured squeeze of lime. The dressing is added after cooking, so its avocado oil stays unheated.

Where It Fits In GAPS

This is a Full GAPS meal after the ingredients have been introduced. Dr. Natasha’s Gut and Physiology Syndrome includes turkey, cabbage, garlic, onions and ginger in the food framework, and allows pure non-hydrogenated coconut oil for cooking. Her official FAQ also addresses coconut aminos, which is why it is used here instead of soy sauce.

The browned meat, cabbage sauté, seasonings, raw green-onion garnish and mayonnaise-based dressing make this a different preparation from an early Intro soup. Keep this version for the point when those foods and their forms fit your introductions.

There are no dairy ingredients in this version. The dressing contains egg from its homemade mayonnaise base, and the optional fish sauce adds fish. Despite the name “egg roll in a bowl,” there is no separate egg cooked into the turkey mixture.

You can serve a cup of homemade chicken meat stock alongside the bowl as part of your Full GAPS meal. It is served separately, rather than poured into this sauté and changing it into soup.

How To Make Turkey Egg Roll In A Bowl

1. Have The Dressing And Vegetables Ready

Prepare the chili lime dressing and measure a quarter cup. Keep it covered in the refrigerator while you cook. Shred and weigh the cabbage, crush the garlic and have the ginger and coconut aminos measured.

Use a large, wide pan with room to turn the cabbage through the turkey. The cabbage looks bulky before it wilts. If the pan is already crowded with meat, use a wider or larger vessel before adding the vegetables.

2. Warm The Garlic And Ginger

Melt the coconut oil over medium-high heat. Add the crushed garlic and ground ginger, and sauté for about one minute, until the garlic releases its aroma.

The oil should coat the aromatics, and you should smell garlic and ginger as they warm. If the garlic is darkening quickly, lower the heat. The turkey goes in next, so there is no reason to let the garlic burn while waiting for a timer.

3. Brown The Ground Turkey

Add the turkey and break it apart with a spatula or spoon. Cook until browned and cooked through, reducing the heat to medium if needed. Keep breaking up thicker pieces as you turn the meat.

Look for small crumbles with browned surfaces rather than a single solid piece of turkey. Check the meat reaches 165°F, or 74°C, with a food thermometer. Browning tells you about the surface; the thermometer checks the cooked temperature.

As the turkey cooks, thinly slice the white and light-green parts of the green onions and set them aside. Keep that vegetable preparation separate from the raw-meat cutting area.

4. Add And Wilt The Cabbage

Once the turkey is cooked, add the shredded cabbage, coconut aminos and optional measured fish sauce. Turn the cabbage through the turkey and seasonings. If it fills the pan at first, add it in manageable handfuls, keeping the full measured pound for the batch.

Cook uncovered until the cabbage is wilted. Its strips should bend and soften instead of standing stiffly above the meat. Keep turning from the bottom so the lower cabbage and turkey do not stick while the top is still raw.

This is a sauté, so there is no stock or water to add to the pan. The coconut aminos and moisture from the cabbage coat the mixture. Cook until the cabbage reaches the softened texture you want, rather than stopping only because the clock has reached twenty minutes.

5. Finish The Bowls

Take the pan off the heat and divide the turkey and cabbage into four servings. Add the sliced green onions and divide the measured quarter cup of dressing among the bowls. Use about one tablespoon of dressing per serving.

Keep the dressing out of the cooking pan. You are adding it to the ready-to-serve food, where its lime flavor and creamy texture contrast with the warm turkey and cabbage. There is no extra hot sauce or sesame garnish to measure for this version.

Preparation, Leftovers And Reheating

The recipe’s planning estimate is five minutes of preparation and twenty minutes of cooking, twenty-five minutes altogether, with the dressing ready and the cabbage prepared. Shredding a whole cabbage or browning the meat in batches can take longer.

You can make the dressing first and keep it refrigerated while you prepare the hot meal. Wash the green onions and have a bowl ready for the sliced garnish. Keeping the cold toppings separate also makes it easier to serve different amounts at the table.

Refrigerate leftover turkey and cabbage promptly in shallow covered containers. Keep the dressing and raw green onions separate. Use cooked leftovers within three to four days, or freeze the cooked turkey-cabbage portion for longer storage.

Reheat the cooked portion on the stove to 165°F, or 74°C, then add the cold toppings at serving time. Follow the dressing’s own storage period, which begins with the fresh homemade mayonnaise base. Adding the sauce to a meal does not give it a new storage clock.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I Use Another Ground Meat?

You can also use ground pork, chicken, beef or a combination, keeping the total meat at two pounds. Cook the meat through before adding the cabbage. Ground pork and beef reach 160°F, or 71°C; ground chicken and turkey reach 165°F, or 74°C.

Can I Use Fresh Ginger?

For a four-serving batch, use one tablespoon of freshly grated ginger instead of half a teaspoon of ground ginger. Add it in the same aromatic step with the garlic. Fresh and dried ginger are different measurements here.

Is The Fish Sauce Required?

No. The measured teaspoon is optional. Keep the three tablespoons of coconut aminos whether or not you use fish sauce. If you include it, use the fish-and-salt fermented sauce described above and remember that it adds a fish ingredient.

Does Each Bowl Get A Quarter Cup Of Dressing?

The quarter cup is for the whole four-serving batch. Finish the dressing recipe first, measure that portion, then divide it among the bowls. When doubling the recipe to eight servings, the total dressing becomes half a cup.

What If I Want Lettuce Wraps Instead?

Try the separate Asian turkey lettuce wraps with almond sauce. That recipe has its own sauce and preparation. Choose it when raw lettuce fits your introductions and you want the meal served in leaves.

Recommended Equipment

Use a large, wide skillet or heavy cooking pan, a spatula or spoon for breaking up the turkey, a knife and cutting board, a kitchen scale for the cabbage, measuring spoons and cups, and a food thermometer.

My Le Creuset Artichaut cookware is what I use in the kitchen. The 6.75-quart oval Dutch oven is a roomy option for this volume, used uncovered for the sauté. Give the meat room to brown and turn the cabbage through the pan as it wilts. Put a heat-safe trivet under the hot vessel if you move it onto the counter.

More Full GAPS Meals For Your Week

Keep the chili lime dressing recipe handy when you plan this bowl, and use the separate turkey lettuce wraps when you want a different sauce and serving style. A cup of homemade chicken meat stock can sit alongside either meal.

My upcoming Two-Week Full GAPS Meal Plan is for putting the week’s meals into a workable plan. Visit the WFLI shop for the collection as it becomes available.