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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Loved this niche recipe def worth a try! x
So simple! And it smells so much better than canned dog food! Thanks
Thank you for this recipe,he loves it. We went through several brand and the cost for 4lb bag $32.of what he will eat-eventually. This recipe is an answer to aid my Grizzy and my cost.
I never thought I’d a human making food for a dog. Grizzy is my 1st dog in 30 yrs and with my kids (young adults)leaving home, he is now my fur baby.
My dog absolutely loves this receipt he’s 1yo pit bull and he’s whining for more how much should I give him at a time?!
Hi!
How much you feed your dog depends on their size, weight, activity levels. It’s best to consult your veterinarian in regards to how much you feed your pup. My English Mastiff, I use to feed 3 times a day, 1 cup each feed. My more active hunting dogs got fed about 1.5 cups of food twice a day. My smaller dog got one cup of food a day, half in the morning and a half about mid-afternoon. Each dog is unique depending on its breed, age, weight etc. https://www.akc.org/expert-advice/nutrition/how-many-times-a-day-should-a-dog-eat/
This recipe looks great. Wondering if anybody has made this in their Instant Pot? If so, any tips/suggestions on that?
I make this in an instapot using boneless breasts instead of ground chicken. Start with 1 cup rinsed uncooked rice, top with veggies and chicken breasts then add 2 cups unsalted chicken broth. Pressure cook for 8 minutes and let the pressure release on its own. When the lid releases I pull the breasts and shred them. My pups love it!
Thanks so much for the info. Does the brown rice fully cook in 8 minutes? I’m a complete newbie to instant pot cooking!
did you find an answer or solution to the rice in the recipe for the insta pot by chance? Like just starting on the pot and puppy food 🙂
Love this recipe..My Golden retriever is 9 months old..he is kinda picky eater and lately not eating enough.
How much should be the portion given at a time for 9 months puppy?
It is very easy to make this recipe with regular spinach. I did not have baby spinach, so I used regular spinach instead.
How do you know how much to give your dog?
Made the Home made dog food with the turkey and it is fabulous. She loves it. Our 5 1/2 year old Frenchton was just diagnosed with cancer and I immediately started making her food. When you read the packages on dog food you know that most are not free of chemicals they don’t need. Thanks for the recipe
I have a 10 pound puppy and a 20 pound adult. How many cups should I feed each of them?
This recipe says it makes 8 cups I got 12 cups how big are the cups you are using to only make 8
Can I use potatoes instead of rice?
My Frenchie pup has food allergy, can’t eat rice or peas. I substituted sweet potato for the rice. He loves it. His so picky but he loves this food.
What do you use instead of the peas?
Chungah, I made this for my dog and he absolutely loves it! Thank you so much for posting this online
Great easy dog food recipe! I have a question… zuchinni and carrots really vary in size. How many cups would you say each of those are, especially if I buy some pre-shredded ?
Have been cooking dog food for decades and this recipe ticks all the boxes!! Very good!
The calorie amount seems really high. Is it accurate? If so, it’s more calories than any of the commercial dog food for weight management.
Was searching for a recipe for my dog. Tried it and must say my dog loved it. Thanks!
So I have been making this for 2 months now for my Frenchie & new Lab puppy. Although I do not think eatting this is going to cover 100% of their needs, I can safely say this is a healthy start to their eatting habit!
My Frenchie always has been a picky eater in the mornings but now that is a thing of the past.
What we do is:
Mix 50/50 her kibble (healthiest & some what affordable) and this recipe. We also found this liquid vitamin called “Wooof” and add that to the mix.
Both pups are doing great and I’m glad we decided to make this change. Maybe one day we will go 100% off kibble.
Going to make it and try it tonight for my old girl who only has a few teeth left. I’m sure she will love it! I was also curious in how much to feed her so with the nutrition values included in the post I did a little research and found this:
Not sure if this is helpful but I found this information on dogs and their daily caloric needs.
The standard formula used for calculating the energy requirements of the average adult dog that lives inside your home, receives light daily exercise, and is spayed or neutered is:
30 x weight in kg (or pounds divided by 2.2) + 70 = daily caloric needs
Be aware that few of our dogs are “average,” so this formula is merely a starting point. Most dogs will require fewer calories on a daily basis, while a few will require slightly more. This daily caloric total includes not only your dog’s meals, but also any snacks and treats. If your dog needs to lose weight, your veterinarian will recommend caloric restriction (which is usually 70% to 90% of the calculated amount for weight maintenance).
Aren’t canned foods (peas) high in sodium?
In general, all canned products tested showed higher sodium and lower potassium values than those found in fresh or frozen products. The highest sodium content (317.3 mg/100 g) was found in canned green peas, and the lowest (127.4 mg/100 g), in canned tomatoes.
Very easy to make my dog loves it.. ❤
I used regular spinach i didn’t have baby spinach
Dogs loved it, not a crum left in the bowl!
These guys are really picky eaters.