AIP dairy-free chicken Alfredo over spaghetti squash, meal-prep friendly

Creamy pasta is one of the first dinners people miss hardest on this protocol, and missing a dinner that much is exactly what pushes a person toward takeout instead of the stove. This rebuilds the whole plate AIP: chicken, spaghetti squash standing in for noodles, and a dairy-free sauce with real body to it. Made once on a slow evening, it turns into four dinners already waiting by Wednesday, which is usually when the week gets hardest.

Chicken breast is where the protein and B vitamins in this dish come from, tied to steady energy while a body does the slow work of healing. The sauce gets its cling from arrowroot and its richness from full-fat coconut milk, with nutritional yeast standing in for the cheese note, no dairy anywhere in the pot.

Choose a chicken raised well when your budget allows it, though this is not a dish that depends on that choice to still be good for you. Come Wednesday, when this shows up from a container instead of a plate, it is still dinner made with care, not an afterthought.

Ingredients

• One 2 1/2 to 3 pound spaghetti squash
• 1 1/4 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast
• 1 tablespoon coconut oil or olive oil
• Sea salt

For the sauce:

• 1 cup chicken broth
• 3 tablespoons arrowroot flour
• 1 cup full-fat coconut milk
• 3 teaspoons unfortified nutritional yeast
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 3/4 teaspoon sea salt

Method

Heat the oven to 400 F. Halve the squash lengthwise and scoop out the seeds. Set the halves cut-side down in a baking dish with about an inch of water and roast about 30 minutes, until the skin gives slightly when pressed. Let it cool, then drag a fork through the flesh to pull out the strands. Do not overbake, or the strands turn mushy.

While the squash roasts, salt the chicken breasts and cook them in the oil in a skillet over medium heat, about 8 minutes per side, until they reach 165 F. Rest 5 minutes, then slice.

For the sauce, whisk the arrowroot into the chicken broth until it dissolves with no lumps and set it aside. In a saucepan, bring the coconut milk to a boil with the nutritional yeast, basil, and salt. Drop the heat to low, pour in the broth-arrowroot slurry, and stir constantly until it thickens, about a minute.

To meal prep, divide the squash noodles among four containers, top with sliced chicken, and spoon the sauce over. Refrigerate up to 5 days or freeze.

Instant Pot variation

You can cook the squash in the Instant Pot to save the oven time. Set a rack inside, add a cup of water, and pressure cook the halved squash on high for about 7 minutes with a quick release, then fork out the strands. You can also brown the chicken using the saute setting right in the same pot before you start. The 7-minute squash time is an ARM estimate, so check the strands and add a minute if they resist the fork.

Stovetop note

The chicken and the sauce are already stovetop steps. If you would rather skip the oven entirely, use the Instant Pot for the squash as above.

*Adapted from asquirrelinthekitchen.com*