DIY Homemade Dog Food
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Keep your dog healthy and fit with this easy peasy homemade recipe – it’s cheaper than store-bought and chockfull of fresh veggies!
I never thought I would be one of those dog owners who made homemade human food for their pups. Not in a million years.
But when Butters recently fell sick with an upset stomach, our vet advised us to feed him a bland diet – chicken and rice without any kind of seasoning. So that’s what we did – we poached a chicken, shredded it in a food processor, and mixed in some white rice and fed him this bland diet for 3 days.
That’s when I started to do some research on homemade dog food, and I have been so amazed as to how many different kinds of vegetables dogs can have. And with the help of Balance IT, you can create so many different recipes for your pup!
Now the best part about making homemade dog food – just like making anything at home – is that you know exactly what is going into the dog bowl, and not any of that questionable gelatinous gunk from the canned food.
But it’s important to note that dogs have different nutrient requirements than humans for their proportional body size, such as:
- High-quality protein (meat, seafood, dairy or eggs)
- Fat (meat or oil)
- Carbohydrates (grains or vegetables)
- Calcium (dairy)
- Essential fatty acids (egg yolks or oatmeal)
Now this recipe here has a balance of 50% protein, 25% veggies and 25% grains, but the ratios can easily be adjusted to suit your pup’s breed and/or needs.
Once you’ve made your batch, you can divide them up into single servings, note the date, and freeze it. When ready to serve, you can defrost it in the fridge overnight and nuke it for 15-30 seconds. That’s it! Now who knew that making dog food would be this easy?
DIY Homemade Dog Food
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups brown rice
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 3 pounds ground turkey
- 3 cups baby spinach, chopped
- 2 carrots, shredded
- 1 zucchini, shredded
- ½ cup peas, canned or frozen
Equipment
Instructions
- In a large saucepan of 3 cups water, cook rice according to package instructions; set aside.
- Heat olive oil in a large stockpot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add ground turkey and cook until browned, about 3-5 minutes, making sure to crumble the turkey as it cooks.
- Stir in spinach, carrots, zucchini, peas and brown rice until the spinach has wilted and the mixture is heated through, about 3-5 minutes.
- Let cool completely.
Did you make this recipe?
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The fresh veggies sound like a great way to keep my pup energized and fit. Can’t wait to try this recipe out! Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for the recipe but my dog is 60 pounds how do I know how much to feed him thanks
We use a similar recipe and give our 10-year-old 18 lbs dog 6.5 oz. I’m sure you can find some calculations. I would do around 20 oz.
Thankyou for the recipe my mother inlaw years ago had alot of animals and made dog food be for internet thankyou
This is a great recipe and my fussy Westie ended his hunger strike when I gave him a portion of this and started barking for more when he finished! ☺️
I did all the calculations and the nutrition facts for the whole recipie are:
Calories 3774
Protein 262g
Carbs 253g
Fats 193g
Fiber 22.3g
I used 85% lean ground turkey so this might change if using leaner turkey. You can Google your dogs daily calorie needs by weight to figure out how much to feed. It might also be good to use a supplement to make sure your dog is getting all the vitamins and minerals they need. There are many option on Amazon made specifically to be added to homemade dog food.
How many calories per cup please?
The total for the whole recipie is 3774 Calories, I’m not sure about per cup.
Turned out good!! I reduced the spinach and peas, added apples, pumpkin and beets
A little lamb bone broth too..
Pets really are family. I can’t imagine my life without my little furballs
I just made this. I quadrupled the recipe to make plenty. It was a task.
One thing I’m curious on as I’m putting it together. Is the rice serving quantity cooked or uncooked? I was assuming cooked.
Since the recipe says to add the rice to 3 cups of water, I believe the amount called for is uncooked rice. Another indication for me was the ratio of 1 1/2 cups of rice to 3 lbs of meat. That is my reasoning anyway.
I made a variation of this recipe for the last two years after my 16 yr old Yorkie was given a few months to live with kidney failure. He lived on for almost two years after that initial report and I credit that to switching over to homemade food. Meal time was his favorite!! Thank you for keeping our pups healthy.
My story is much like yours however my baby is a shih Tzu. How did you change the recipe? What are the variations you used,please?
would you share some of the recipes. and did you mix kibbles with the food?
I made this today for my babies. I have 6 small dogs and 1 big one. And 2 cats. They all had it for dinner this evening and licked their dishes clean. I have enough left over for another meal for them. Going to substitute ground beef and sweet potatoes. Thank you for posting healthy meals for them.
Looks great! Sounds healthy. Do you add any supplements or anything to make it a complete meal?
How many meals does this make? I have 4 small adult dogs.
Thank you for the recipe, I cook chicken and rice for my dog 4 days week and alterniting mince beef three days but feel sad it’s a bit bland.
You have given me a way to add flavour and healthy ingredients that I didn’t know he was allowed.
So thank you so much, Regards Sandra ☺️
Whst is the serving size for a 90 lb dog using this recipe
There are 3774 calories in the whole recipie and a 90lb dog needs 1800 calories a day so your dog would need half the entire recipe per day.
My two yr old cockapoo loves this recipe and so do I. It is so easy and very healthy for Rudi! Have been making it for a year now!
Easy easy peasy! I had no idea making my dogs food at home could be this easy! My food-protesting fancy mini doodle immediately ended her hunger strike, and cleared her dish! I won’t be buying mystery dog food ever again. Five stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Hi Chunguh,
Based on your experience I will try making my own dog food for my Chinese Sharpei pup of 4 months. As soon as I finish the kipple I will try your recipe. I look at the ingredients in the kibble and it scares me- chemicals and garbage not regulated. Basically all prepared dry dog food are all the same.
Thanks
Barry
I started this recipe as a last chance life saver for my pup. She went from not holding herself up to 100% back to walking after making this. Thank you
Ps I just posted your link on facebook.
Also my friend just reached out asking for the recipe.
I have been making this for our Rebel (poodle/shih tzu) since we got her four years ago.
She gets a 3rd cup every morning. Some kibble the rest of the day. She absolutely loves it. Dog treats are bits of frozen steak, cheaper than buying treats. She loves that too.
Can you tell how to figure out portion size?
My dog is 60lbs
Thanks