DIY Homemade Dog Food
This post may contain affiliate links. Please see our privacy policy for details.
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?
Tag @damn_delicious on Instagram and hashtag it #damndelicious!
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.
My dog just loves this! I figured that I got three times the amount of food that is in the refrigerator case dog food. I now have a very happy dog. Thank you!
Peas can be dangerous for some breeds, and rice is not a natural food for dogs. I substituted millet for the rice, and left out the peas.
I found this recipe while making food for my (very) mixed breed dog and went looking for what veggies other than peas and carrots I might add to the meat, eggs, and brown rice because the garden just now is abundant. Zucchini, YES! Thank you!! What I typically do otherwise agrees with your recipe entirely and my pooch loves it.
One tip to save on plastic… I freeze my homemade food in a silicon muffin pan (set on a cookie sheet for stability). Then when the “muffins” are frozen, I pop them out and put them all in one big plastic bag.
Great idea – thank you!!
I was told by my vet that the dogs would need vitamins added to the homemade dogwood..
Look up “Wooof”.
I use this liquid taste enhancer that is loaded with all the vitamins and minerals you’re dog needs. I use it along side this recipe
My dogs love it! Do you drain the fat after you cook the ground turkey ?
Amazing & encouraging article. I just wish you would give me mire details as to the quantities of food to offer
I made this recipe. When I was buying ingredients, I didn’t realize it was 3lbs of ground turkey so I only had 1 at 99% lean. I split the other I gradients down to a third as well (the best I could since there was 2 carrots I pretended 2 cups so I used 2/3 cup of the bagged shredded that I bought.) Anywho, my pup loves it. Pomeranian, born 1/29/2021, I feed about 2/3 cups twice a day, so far. He eats the whole bowl each time. I’m beginning to think home cooked meals may be better than the expensive Ceasar Wholesome bowls he prefers. Dry food doesn’t go very far and while dogs can go 3 days without eating, I don’t want any issues down the road that’s preventable. So happy for this recipe! Will be doing it again. (And not much change in his poop either, which is what I worried about the most whoops hoo!)
My dog loves it but it seems a little expensive to feed a 50 pound dog this alone.
I’m use this with softened kibble for my old dogs (15&18) 1/2&1/2 no supplements (1 cup divided in half for 15lbs) . For my big dogs I feed Kirkland kibble at their weight and 1/8 cup just to make them not feel left out lol.
Dogs love it❤️,how long can they be kept in the freezer.
It’s great I’m go to grocery to get now and do it tomorrow morning.
But still want to know how much to feed my 20 lbs terrier. Or send me text where I can look it up?
How much does the recipe cost? Also what about adding ground powdered egg or egg shell for calcium?
Hi
I am very interested in knowing the calorie count per cup in this food. Anyone know?
I just made it for the first time my dog has been sick and I switched over to making my own food for him so I know what I’m putting in his stomach he seems to like it so far thank God! Thank you for the recipe
Can you use ground beef in place of ground turkey?
I made a meal with ground beef and it was very greasy even though I drained it very well.
Boil it instead.
Hi
Do you need to add salt to this recipe, if yes how much.
Thank you in advance
No seasonings for dogs.
Can I ask a question; Did the receipe require you to add supplementation with the Balance IT formulas?