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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I think it is amazing and I think my dog would rather have this then bag dog food
Oh my, I love this! I had no idea you cooked for your dog, I’ve been cooking your human recipes for years now! I was searching “cooking biologically appropriate meals for your dog” and this post came up!
What is Balance IT?
Hi. Terrific recipe. Did I miss how to know how much to give our dogs? I went onto Balance It and found it a little confusing. If you have any information please let me know.
This sounds just like our situation!! I have a 8 month old Rottweiler pup, he fell ill with an upset tummy. The vet said bland diet for 10 days duration of his antibiotics. After he finishes this course I do not want to put him back on kibble, I also however know that just chicken and rice (while he loves it) is not checking all the boxes for nutrients. I want to copy your recipe to a T, and prepare this for Pumba, however, he is a giant breed. 80 lbs right now and adult weight around 130 lbs, therefore how do I find out how much of your recipe to feed him? Per day? Per meal? Etc. any help would be appreciated!!! ALSO, I would no longer provide kibble at all, solely this recipe therefore does this provide everything they need? I saw someone added eggs, where do you get the calcium in your recipe? Can I also switch out ground Turkey for chicken or salmon to switch meals up? Thanks a ton
These recipes look good. You can also buy vitamins that pair with recipes.
I also have a chicken allergic pup and use Just Food for Dogs DIY vitamins with recipes and azestfor.com vitamins with recipes.
How much sweet potato would I use to replace the rice
My dog loves this! He’s a 6-month old German Shepherd Lab mix. We gave him the Acana dog food, which is pricy, and he would “begrudgingly” eat it. This was the case with all foods. He wasn’t an excited eater. He would pick up anything and everything. He’d be hungry because he’d practically starve himself, not wanting to eat the other dog foods. I made this recipe, and he was excited to eat it!! I can’t wait to see the effects of feeding him fresh food. I give him one and a half cups in the morning and afternoon. He always tries to beg for more!!! This is a first. I added six hard-boiled eggs for extra protein, but I followed the recipe to a T.
However, don’t be like me and make this whole recipe together. Divide it in half. I made the mistake and was spilling all over my stove. All in all, great recipe!!!
Dog loved it. Easy. Love the calorie info. Easy to know what to feed my 80 LB dog. I want more! Do you have more recipes and calorie info?
Does anyone who has tried making this food know if it’s good for skin allergies, my dog is itchy and scratches all day long. The vet puts him on apoquel or cytopoint (sp) both are expensive and neither worked 100%. Would love to know if anyone had success with this food.
Thanks
I’m no expert and I’m not super educated in this area so take this advice with a grain of salt. A lot of dogs are allergic to poultry products. If you can afford it (I don’t know what size dog you have) substitute ground beef for the turkey. Don’t worry about the fat. Ground beef and dark and white meat turkey ground together, which is what ground turkey is, have about the same amount of fat. I also add some beef stock to my rice when I’m cooking it. You might wanna get some beef stock and do that as well. By the way this food tastes great for humans to so if you’re in a pinch ….. Also, I give my dog a dollop of probiotic organic plain yogurt with every meal. There is an argument that an unhealthy gut causes the itching. It does appear my dog scratches less when I give him that. Make sure it’s plan and not flavored. The other has too much sugar. Plus, get a bag of frozen blueberries, and give them as a threat throughout the day. They are antioxidant rich, very good for your dog, and most dogs love them. You can give them in their food, too if your dog likes them a lot. I hope your baby gets some relief.
If you find Brewer’s Yeast in any of the food or treats you give your dog, try cutting that out of the diet and see if the itching improves after a few days. It’s included in a majority of commercial dog food, but is a known allergen. Made a HUGE difference for my terrier.
I’m not an expert or veterinarian, but I’ve learned that most allergies dogs get are from the processed dog food. The meat in dog food is processed and dried and there are many additives used that dogs are allergic to. My dog was allergic to kibble and I tried many expensive well known brands. Once I started making homemade meals, his allergies went away and he is much happier and full of energy. Homemade meals are healthier than the processed food, which is full of other chemicals that cause problems for dogs. Homemade recipes are a solution to allergies. The whole food is a fresh and contains better quality ingredients with no unnecessary additives that cause problems for dogs.
Thank You Sue for the link. I will opt for other greens for my babies.
I have been making dog food for some time now and I know that there’s more nutrition in it as opposed to the canned food.
I drive for a living and need to be able to freeze portions.
My dog now will be having her teeth worked on which will result in extracting the rest of them. Looking for a recipe to blend down to soup. I believe that I can do that with any of these recipes. Thank you for your research and sharing.
Can you can this to make it more shevle stable. Thanks
How do I know how much to feed at each meal? I have a small senior puggle.
This is a great recipe! Just need to add some calcium. A couple ground up washed egg shells works perfect. To really boost nutrition, I also add a can or two of sardines.
Sure my dogs love it but I swapped out the spinach as it has a warning for regular feeding https://www.akc.org/expert-advice/nutrition/fruits-vegetables-dogs-can-and-cant-eat/
Would you mind sharing what you used as a substitute for the spinach?
This was so easy to make and it makes so much. My Yorkie is super picky but he chowed this down so fast! I’m so excited as this is my first attempt at making an actual dogfood recipe.. Thank you!!
We recently started cooking for our dog. She was slightly overweight with skin conditions and very rarely would eat during the day until we started cooking for her. Now she eats a full meal twice a day. I will definitel make these recipes.! But what size recipes appropriate for?
This stuff is AMAZING. I just cooked up a batch and my pups were like WOWZA! I had just finished the last of their Farmer’s Dog food (which I had been trying out and one of my pups was not impressed by it), so I thought I would try this recipe. An absolute keeper for sure. So grateful! Thank you!
My dog has some health issues….I found this recipe and it has helped her get better, she’s like a new dog and she loves it. Thank you so much for sharing….I will never buy store bought dog food again.
How do you know how much to feed to your dog ? Also, do you mix with dry kibble or just this fresh food?
My only concern is calcium. I add some bone meal calcium powder and coconut oil after I heat my dog a portion I stir it in before I give it to her, rather than heat it.
Thank you – my pup, 16yrs young, stopped eating her dry kibble which was originally recommended by her vet some years ago even with canned, organic wet food. I now give her a small amount of kibble mixed with a larger amount of this homemade recipe and she doesn’t hesitate to gobble it up. One note, transition slowly as she did throw up after 2 days – I could see bits of veggies.
for about 6 months now, I have been making food like this for my dog. He is a 9 year old 150 pound dog, was over weight and not very active. He has lost weight and bounces around like a puppy. I would rather feed him this type of food than dry dog food. it really is not that expensive or hard to make.
How much do you feed your pup?! Mine is a little smaller than yours (weight-wise) nut same age and she generally only eats once a day, two cups of dry kibble. I know she hates it and I’m curious how much of this fresh food you feed your dog. Thanks in advance!
The Best Dog Food for German Shepherds
How much do you feed your GSD? Once or twice daily? I have 2 GSDs; on 12 yr old male about 95 lbs. and a 4 yr. old female about 75 lbs. Do you make in advance and freeze?
Thank you.
Curious as to how much you feed your GSD. I have 2 GS and one of mine has had an overgrowth of bacteria in his gut for over two months despite antibiotics. I’m going to go the human food route and hopefully cure him if his chronic diarrhea. I just don’t know how much to feed him because I know he’d eat more than he needs. Thank you in advance.
Perfect recipe Thank You