My family gave me the strangest look when I told them I had just eaten pancakes… made from chicken. “Wait,” my sister said, “You mean a chicken burger?” Nope! I mean an honest-to-goodness pancake. It may be the strangest thing I have ever eaten.
Using pureed, cooked chicken in a grain-free pancake lends a stiffer, thicker and heartier texture to the usual SCD/GAPS pancake. I love to use it like sandwich bread, nestling egg salad or fresh tomato slices between two cooled pancakes. Both sweet and savory toppings complement these pancakes–I love smothering them with 100% pure apple butter.
Additionally, this makes a great meal option for those in the beginning of SCD/GAPS. The pureed chicken is easier to digest than chicken pieces, and the avocado sauce provides healthy fats to aid nutrient absorption. This recipe is inspired by Julie Matthews’ concept.
You can use any starchy veggie puree instead of the carrots–I often use pumpkin or squash puree. In Breaking the Vicious Cycle, Elaine Gottshall stamps a big “Illegal” label on canned pumpkin because undisclosed starches and/or sugars are added during processing. After a personal e-mail conversation with their customer service, I found that Trader Joe’s canned pumpkin contains only pumpkin. I also e-mailed Farmer’s Market Foods. According to the marketing associate who wrote me back, their canned pumpkin and canned butternut squash contain only pumpkin or squash.
- 2 oz (by weight) cooked chicken
- ⅓ cup carrot, butternut squash, or pumpkin puree (if you have chunks of roasted butternut squash, just press it into a ½ cup measuring cup)
- Pinch of salt
- 2 eggs
- Coconut oil, ghee, or olive oil
- ½ avocado
- 3 Tbs. yogurt of choice (homemade for SCD)
- Salt, to taste
- For the pancakes, puree all ingredients in a food processor. The batter should be thick but light. Heat about a tablespoon of oil in a skillet over medium high heat. Once hot, drop the batter by heaping spoonfuls onto the hot skillet. After you drop the batter onto the skillet, use the back of the spoon to spread it out, creating a thick pancake.
- Cook until the pancake looses its sheen in the thinner parts and starts to look opaque. Flip, and cook until the other side is golden brown.
- For the avocado sauce, puree all ingredients in a blender or food processor. Spoon over the warm pancakes and enjoy! Makes almost ½ cup of sauce and about 6 pancakes.
Hello There Lauren,
Pssst…I passed you an award: The Sunshine Award. Thank you for your amazing blog. Please don’t feel too much pressure with these awards, they’re just a fun and way for bloggers to recognize other bloggers and spread some love. And so with admiration and appreciation, today I’m passing it to you.
Warmly,
-Amber from The Tasty Alterative
Award Post: http://www.thetastyalternative.com/2012/07/spreading-love-part-i-sunshine-award.html
P.S. Gorgeous recipe! So smart. 🙂
Amber, thank you so much! I look forward to participating in this award. I feel like this is my official inauguration into the world of blogging!
Yum! These pancakes and sauce sound so unusual and delicious! I host a weekly recipe swap for whole foods and would love for you to come and share recipes such as this one. Have a good one, Lauren 🙂
They are unusual, for sure! I’d love to visit your recipe swap and share recipes! I’ve just subscribed to your site and I look forward to the upcoming Whole Foods Wednesday.
These look really good….such a good idea for a “sandwich” too!! I’m going to try these out this week! Thanks for the recipe!
Oh…one more thing….is the coconut milk that is called for in the Avocado sauce the canned kind? Thanks!
Yes, but any non-sweetened milk substitute works. I just wrote a reader about SCD/GAPS legal coconut milk, so I’ll include that info here in case it’s useful: I buy Trader Joe’s Light canned coconut milk (they don’t carry full-fat canned coconut milk). It contains only coconut–no gums or fillers (plus, it’s only a doller per can). I have contacted the company to double check that they don’t put anything else in it. And, according to Mark’s Daily Apple, they do not contain BPA. Just be sure to call the store ahead of time and ask if they have the canned coconut milk in stock because they sell out quickly. If you don’t have access to a Trader Joes, you can order Natural Value Lite Coconut milk from Amazon. It is pricey, but contains no fillers or gums. Natural Value is currently switching all of its cans to BPA free.
I didn’t see any coconut milk in the avocado sauce?
Hi Lauren! I just made these today and ate them with slices of tomatoes and avocados and ohmydearlord is was heavenly! Talk about a nourishing meal!! I was thinking while I ate that it is SO good to be able to truly and thoroughly thank God for meals like these…ones that i KNOW are nourishing and taking care of my body as they should. I don’t (thank the Lord) have any ‘official’ GI disorders, but a mild-moderate self-diagnosed intolerance to gluten. (and let’s face it, I think pretty much everyone does, they just don’t know it!) I eat pretty much Primally now and feel SO good. I didn’t realize just how awful my health was until this summer when I ditched the grains and quit lying to myself about how what I was eating has such an impact on my body…I thought it didn’t or at least it shouldn’t. This realization has allowed me to spiritually be much more open with the Lord, and has shown me the incredible connection our body, mind, and soul all have. Now, the only wheat that I do consume is the Lord Himself in Holy Communion, and that fact has special significance in my life too! I am so happy Lauren, that the Lord is giving you the means to be healed and showing you the proper way for us to care for our bodies. Peace and blessings!
Thank you for your comment, Juliet, and I am so glad you enjoyed this! I feel so blessed that God is walking me through my healing journey. He provides me with the strength, joy, and creativity to enjoy this process. We are so wonderfully designed and it is just amazing to see the connection He created–like you noted–between our body, mind and soul. Blessings to you, too!
Hi ladies! I just wanted to say how encouraged I felt seeing these comments. I have been on a healing journey for the past year, due to extreme digestive issues and what I now know is leaky gut. I love seeing other believers on a similar journey! The Lord is so faithful in all of it, even on the hard days.
I am so happy I found these! My family is going to be starting GAPS/SCD and 3 of my little ones wont eat chicken but I know I can disguise it in pancakes!!!
This. Is. Brilliant. I’ve been feeding my 10 month old butternut squash GAPS pancakes for almost 2 months, and he LOVES them. (to the point of not eating anything else on his tray sometimes) We have chicken out the “wazoo” right now, and so these are on the next batch cooking list. Yay! More protein for my little one and no almonds, for a change. Here’s hoping my husband likes them, too. 🙂
Elizabeth
I forgot to ask: is the carrot cooked or raw when you start? I’m assuming cooked, or maybe it could go either way?
Hi there! I am following the SCD diet but unfortunately cannot tolerate eggs. Is there a substitute for the eggs in this recipe like gelatin or something else? I love the idea of these pancakes! Thank you
I’m so glad I tried these and didn’t let the name throw me off. maybe it’s the addition of the carrot puree but this just reminds me of salmon patties. or like a vegetable fritter or something. nothing like a pancake in my mind. I may add some crunch to the outside and serve as an appetizer.