GAPS Recipes for Kids: 50+ Delicious Ideas the Whole Family Will Love (2024)

If your child suffers from inflammatory bowel disease, leaky gut syndrome, autism, ADHD, anxiety, or depression, chances are you’ve heard about the GAPS diet. Inspired by The Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD) and develop by Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride, GAPS stands for Gut and Psychology Syndromeand is intended to remove gut-damaging foods that are difficult to digest and replace them with nutrient-dense foods in order to allow the intestinal lining to heal and seal.

The GAPS diet isnot intended to be a quick fix, and is a much more regimented protocol used to treat leaky gut, gut flora imbalances, and nutrient deficiencies, and if you do a quick search on Google, you’ll read some pretty powerful stories about the gut-brain connection and how the GAPS diet has helped children overcome symptoms of autism, ADD, allergies, and more.

If you’re interested in pursuing the GAPS diet for yourself or your children, there are heaps of delicious GAPS recipes for kids online, but before we share our favorites, let’s dig a little deeper, shall we?

What is the GAPS diet?

The GAPS diet is based on the gut-brain connection, and is designed to heal and seal the gut lining, balance the immune system, and restore healthy bacteria within the gastrointestinal tract by focusing on diet, supplementation, and detoxification. There are several different stages of the diet, with new foods being introduced as you progress from one phase to the next. The diet eliminates dairy and sugar, allows minimal fruits and grains, and includes broths and probiotic foods to help the body heal.

Who can benefit from the GAPS diet?

The GAPS diet was designed to help those with food allergies and intolerances, behavioral and emotional challenges like autism, ADHD, anxiety, and depression, as well as other autoimmune disorders, but some would argue it can be beneficial to everyone when followed correctly.

Does the GAPS diet work?

The reviews are mixed. While some report their child was cured of all autism symptoms as a result of the GAPS diet, others question the validity of the diet, and while there shouldn’t be anyharm trying some of the GAPS recipes for kids listed below, it’s important to do your own research before deciding if a full-fledged GAPS diet is right you and your family. Educate yourself on the benefits as well as the potential risks, talk to your family doctor, and enlist the help of a naturopath to ensure you fully understand the ins and outs of the GAPS diet before deciding how to proceed.

What are the best GAPS recipes for kids?

OMG, where do we start?! GAPS for kids can be challenging, especially if your little one is already a picky eater, but thanks to all of the parents who have already done the hard work for us, we’ve found over 50 GAPS recipes for kids that promise to be as delicious as they are healthy.

GAPS Recipes for Kids: Proteins

Superfood Meatballs | The Family that Heals Together
Paleo Three Cup Chicken | How WeFlourish
Pesto Sausage Cakes | Just Take a Bite
GAPS Salmon Cakes | Taste is Trump
Chicken Breasts with Figs and Squash| Real Healthy Recipes
Roast Pork with Onion Apple Gravy| Phoenix Helix
Lemon Basil Shredded Beef| The Paleo Partridge
Balsamic Braised Beef Shanks| The Primordial Table
Simple Tender Pot Roast with Holy Grail Gravy| Phoenix Helix
GAPS Tuna Salad | How We Flourish
GAPS Meat and “Potatoes” | How We Flourish
Chicken with Plums Carrots and Apples| A Squirrel in the Kitchen
Kalua Pig| Nom Nom Paleo
Hawaiian Pork Roast| Beyond the Bite
Beef Brisket| Elana’s Pantry
Cinnamon Chuck Roast and Onions| Whole Life Eating
Italian Pork Roast |The Clothes Make the Girl
Pulled Pork and Roasted Vegetables| Gutsy By Nature
Honey Garlic Chicken| Sweet Potatoes and Social Change

GAPS Recipes for Kids: Breads/Pasta

GAPS Friendly Pizza Crust | The Soft Landing
Garlic Coconut Flour Bagels | Low Carb Yum
Coconut Tortillas | Wholesome Yum
GAPSSpaghetti and Meatballs | How We Flourish

GAPS Recipes for Kids: Side Dishes

GAPS Recipes for Kids: Desserts

FAQs

Does GAPS diet really work? ›

There is no evidence to suggest that all components of the GAPS diet can help treat the conditions it claims to. Following this diet could, however, improve a person's gut health. It encourages people to eat fewer processed foods and more fruits, vegetables, and natural fats.

What food can you eat on the GAPS diet? ›

Best foods to consume on Full GAPS are eggs, meats, stock, fish, shellfish, fresh vegetables and fruit, nuts seeds, garlic, and olive oil. Meats should be fresh or frozen from high quality sources. Avoid smoked, canned, and processed meats.

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What is GAPS diet for kids? ›

So very roughly- you can eat meat, fish, vegetables, fruit, with emphasis on high quality fats. You are avoiding- anything artificial/processed, most starches, grains and legumes (with a couple exceptions). Dairy is split- fermented is fine, fresh is avoided.

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Can you eat fruit on the GAPS diet? ›

In stage 3, add fermented vegetables, scrambled eggs, avocado, and duck and goose fat. In Stage 4, you are allowed to add to your GAPS Diet food list with meat, vegetable juices, olive oil, and GAPS bread. Stage 5 adds in raw vegetables, fruit juices, and apple puree. In Stage 6, you can add your raw fruit.

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Can you eat potatoes on GAPS diet? ›

Starchy Vegetables

Vegetables that are not allowed on the diet include potatoes, sweet potatoes, parsnips, and yams. Beans and legumes are also not allowed on the GAPS diet.

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What can you not eat on the GAPS diet? ›

Foods You Cannot Eat on the GAPS Diet

Grains.
Sugar.
Potatoes.
Parsnips.
Soy.
Commercial yogurt.
Cottage cheese.
Rice.

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Sep 14, 2023

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Is cheese OK on the GAPS diet? ›

Initially no dairy products are to be consumed. You will be instructed how and when to introduce the foods on this list. Raw cheese from organic grass-fed cows is always preferred. All dairy should be hormone-free.

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Can you eat cheese on GAPS diet? ›

Other cheeses that are allowed on Full GAPS: Asiago, Blue, Brick, Brie, Camembert, Cheddar, Colby, Edam, Gorgonzola, Gouda, Havarti, Limburger, Monterey Jack, Muenster, Parmesan, Port du Salut, Roquefort, Stilton, Swiss, Romano, un-creamed cottage cheese (dry curd).

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Can you eat bacon on GAPS diet? ›

Selecting the right bacon is important: GAPS does not recommend smoked meats as they normally contain nitrites or other substitutes that are even worse than nitrites with alleged cancer causing agents so store bought bacon is out (including some nitrate free commercial brands).

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Can you drink milk on GAPS diet? ›

Commercially available milk should never be consumed even when coming off the GAPS diet. Many patients do well with raw milk once the Dairy Introduction Diet has been successfully completed. When introducing dairy, it is recommended to first perform a sensitivity test.

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Where do I start the GAPS diet? ›

Stage 1: Consume homemade bone broth, juices from probiotic foods and ginger, and drink mint or chamomile tea with honey between meals. People who are not dairy intolerant may eat unpasteurized, homemade yogurt or kefir. Stage 2: Add in raw organic egg yolks, ghee and stews made with vegetables and meat or fish.

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How do I start a gap diet? ›

The GAPS Diet occurs in two phases. The Introduction Diet lasts eighteen to thirty days (roughly three to ve days per stage) and involves removing all foods that might be gut irritants, such as dairy, from your daily intake. You then reintroduce certain foods slowly and look for adverse reactions.

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Are bananas allowed on gaps? ›

Bananas are allowed on GAPS from the start but they need to be fully ripened or even overripe because they are easier to digest that way (less starch and more simple sugar). But as you get more and more used to the GAPS diet, it's said that even fresh bananas should be ok to digest by now.

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Is rice allowed on gaps? ›

This means avoiding or significantly restricting potatoes, sweet potatoes, plantains, yuca, taro, and all grains, including white rice.

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What is Stage 1 of GAPS diet? ›

It includes simple, well cooked meat and vegetables in a meat stock. For most people, there is a wide variety of vegetables and meats you can use to make your soups and stocks. On this stage, you consume plenty of meat stock, added animal fats and boiled vegetables and meat.

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Does the GAPS diet help lose weight? ›

It's possible to lose weight on the GAPS diet, but that's not the aim of the protocol.

Do people lose weight on the GAPS diet? ›

The GAPS diet is directly linked to weight loss as it promotes the growth of healthy microbiome in the gut. It reduces inflammation, insulin resistance, and unhealthy fats. It does this by replacing bag bugs like acidic compounds and fats with healthy fats.

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What are the side effects of the GAPS diet? ›

Campbell-McBride states that symptoms such as vomiting, severe stomach pain, distended stomachs, and extreme diarrhea or constipation, as well as increases in the symptoms you're trying to eliminate with the GAPS diet, are totally normal. Given time, the diet will work and your gut will begin to heal.

Which diet program is the most successful? ›

A quick look at the best weight loss programs

Best overall (tie): Mediterranean diet, plant-based diet.
Most flexible: WeightWatchers.
Best weight loss app: Noom.
Best for meal planning: PlateJoy.
Best with GLP-1 medication support: Calibrate.
Best for diabetes: Mayo Clinic diet.
Best for PCOS: Low carb diet.

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GAPS Recipes for Kids: 50+ Delicious Ideas the Whole Family Will Love (2024)

What is the GAPS diet?

Who can benefit from the GAPS diet?

Does the GAPS diet work?

What are the best GAPS recipes for kids?

GAPS Recipes for Kids: Proteins

GAPS Recipes for Kids: Breads/Pasta

GAPS Recipes for Kids: Side Dishes

GAPS Recipes for Kids: Desserts

GAPS Recipes for Kids: Breakfasts

GAPS Recipes for Kids: Soups/Broths

GAPS Recipes for Kids: Drinks

RECOMMENDED READING:

FAQs

Does GAPS diet really work? ›

Where do I start the GAPS diet? ›