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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Have made a very similar recipe with leftover cooked chicken and pork. I purée the vegetables so their gut doesn’t have to work so hard to break the veg down (my dogs are 9 and 10 years old), plus it helps bind the food together a bit. I also scramble half a dozen eggs without any seasoning and add those. They would much rather have it than kibble. Good stuff!
Our dogs started having stomach issues even with expensive “healthy” store bought dog food. We decided to make the change to home made food and they love it. Just made this for them last night and they gobbled it up. In just over a week they are already looking and feeling better.
I like to know if the vet approves of the the home made dog food
I was paying as much as $161 per month for a gourmet dog food service that shall remain unnamed. Thanks to this DIY recipe, I was able to produce 21 cups of human grade dog food for about $25. My dog gobbled up her first meal enthusiastically. Goodbye, grotesquely overpriced premium dog food!!
My cocker spaniel throughly enjoys his newly cooked meals.
I give this recipe a five star.
The cocker spaniel has IBS.
Hi Ellie. Can I ask how much you give your Cocker? I have a Coker Spaniel and I just started making her food. She is 11 and she started shunning her dry store bought food(Iams for seniors) shes healthy except for being put on thyroid meds at her last checkup 3most ago. She LOVES the homemade food but I dont know how much to give her. Any tips that you could me would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!
I have a German Shepherd 91 lbs, and a 20 lbs Maltese, how much would the recipe be?
I’ve seen people make this homemadefood and it can be up to 150 per week and that would be only for your Sheperd. So you may be needing about 200 per week depending where you live! Have a nice day!
Read the comment above by Lauren M. Jones … She stated that she was able to make 21 cups of this recipe for aprox. $25.00 Hope this helps
I am chosing to make my 4 dogs their soft food. It’s getting too expensive to buy for them!!
I just switched from buying commercial dog food to making homemade. I’ve been collecting different recipes and so far, yours seems to be our dog’s favorite! Thanks for this with us.
I can’t wait to try this! My puppy went through the same thing with her diet. We did the chicken and rice and then transitioned her back to her kibble but I ended up continuing a little bit of chicken and rice because she loved it so much. How did you transition your puppy to human food? Was it slowly day by day?
My Dogs eat this better than their food . Thanks
I have a question I have a cockapoo about 20pds and she 11 months now about how much should I feed her?
I have a 40 lb dog and he gets 1.5 cups a day so since she is half the size i’d recommend 3/4 but split that 2 times so do a little more than a third of a cup per meal.
Thank you for sharing this with us … I too was wondering how much of this recipe I should feed my pet, she is a 15 lb. Pug.
I love this recipe and so does my dog Gregory- thanks so much for devising such an easy and nutritious recipe. Question: is it 1 1/2 cups of cooked rice that goes into the meat – or do I make 1.5 cups of dried rice and add all if that cooked rice to the meat? Thanks in advance for your clarification.
It says to cook 1 1/2 cup of rice w 3 cups of water and serif aside. That will make 3cups of rice to be added to the rest of the food.
I love this recipe and so does my dog Gregory- thanks so much for devising such an easy and nutritious recipe. Question: is it 1 1/2 cups of cooked rice that goes into the meat – or do I make 1.5 cups of dried rice and add all if that cooked rice to the meat? Thanks in advance for your clarification.
I was just wondering if I don’t freeze the food, I put it in the fridge instead, how long until it will go bad.
I have a mini, long haired dachshund and she absolutely loves it. She is definitely not a picky eater, but I just wanted her to have a healthier diet that is proven and I know what it’s made of because i make it. I am so glad you shared this amazing recipe with us. (I tried some the other day and it’s ACTUALLY human quality)
Bailey, the doxie, thanks you a ton!!
Great recipe. I saw no feeding instructions, how much per pound of body weight? I have a 95 lb dog and one that’s 12 lbs & no idea how much to give them.
I had the same question! But then talked to my vet and she said a dog needs anywhere from 25 to 30 calories per lb, depending on their activity level. And a cup of this is 412 cal. Hope that helped!
I love that I know what is going into my little Josie’s tummy. It was good enough that I ate some for dinner LOL! I will also be giving my dog Hilary’s Blend Supplement as suggested by my veterinarian.
Both my dogs, ( a longhairs chihuahua 5lbs….. a mini bearnadoodle 51lbs) were super finicky! I spent hundreds of dollars on dog food that I kept giving away!! I tried your recipe 4 weeks ago & they . Love it
Now I make it once a week,for my dogs & my daughters dog too.
Thank you so much
Patti
I made a variation of this last week, but today used this recipe. I used fresh rotisserie chicken (skin removed), chopped rather than ground. Once I had all the ingredients mixed my son thought it was dinner it looked so good.
Does this recipe work for cats as well? The ingredients look fine for me.
First a question: can you be more specific about the amount of grated carrots, either by weight or volume?
My dog loves this recipe. She is a rescue dog that I adopted about a year and a half half ago. I tried a combination of several high quality moist and dry foods. The kibble was always available and she got moist food twice a day. Frequently it would be bedtime before she was hungry and would then eat what should have been her breakfast. Some days she ate her kibble, often it just sat there. With this recipe, she eats it all up, often holding her bowl down with a paw to lick the sides. She would happily eat a second serving if she could.
Cats are true carnivores, unlike dogs which are omnivores, and you should be careful when feeding them this many vegetables. They are incapable of digesting a lot of plant matter, but some of it is still good for them as it goes through their systems. You should look for a cat specific recipe and consult with your vet.
My dogs devoured it! Thank you for sharing!!
Does anyone have/know the guide for how much a dog should get for their weight?
I don’t want to over or under feed them.
I just read that it was 1/2 cup per 10 pounds
I read that it should be 2-3% of their body weight.
2-3% Per day, or 2-3% for each meal (I feed mine twice a day)
I tried 1/2 cp per 10lbs. & in 6 weeks my 90lb. Dog looked & acted(going in the trash cans) like a refugee camp survivor!!! I did more reading & found several people recommended 1cp. Per 10 lbs.. He’s been on that about 3 weeks & is still way too thin.
My vet said 25-30 calories per pound. My dogs weigh 30 pounds, so 900 calories per day. A cup of this is 400+ calories, so I feed them each a cup twice daily. Your dog should be getting 2700 calories per day, or about 4.5 cups of this daily.
My dog gets SO excited to eat this. I’m pretty sure he’d fight me for it if I took to long to serve it. I add a puppy supplement to it just to make sure he’s getting all of his nutrients – Wholeistic brand. He seems to be thriving on it.