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 been debating and researching and deciding to do this for a long time for our 4, 50lb+ pitbull mixes and 4lb Chihuahua. You can imagine the struggles we have getting the entire pack to eat the same thing for more than 2 months. So for many many many reasons, I decided to finally pull the trigger and try. Holy. Crap. I figured I’d have leftovers to bag up for the freezer. Not. Even. Close. 8cup yield and my dogs had licked everything clean. They LOVED IT. My husband had to monitor them because they kept trying to steal each other’s. I am going to do more research on proper vitamins and calcium, and I also do see this one is fairly high in fat. So those would be my only long term concerns. Wonderful recipe! Thank you!!!
Is this dog food okay for puppies?
I have been using a similar recipe since my puppies were transitioned from gruel at 10 weeks old. My recipe is 50% cooked protein 25% (2 cups ) cooked brown rice and pumpkin one small can 25% mixed cooked vegetables (no corn) and I only use 1 tbsp vegetable oil per 3 lb of meat. I also add the recommended calcium of 1/2 teaspoon per pound of meat. This is both the Canadian and American Kennel Club recommendation. I puree the vegetables simply because younger dogs cannot fully digest the outer skin of peas even though they are cooked. I freeze these in 1 Cup freezer bags. The six puppies and mama are very healthy have beautiful skin and Clear Eyes. It is one of the only foods that my 17 year old Chihuahua will eat. Mama gets 8 ounces her day she is 10 lb and the puppy’s which are 4 and 5 pounds get half a cup per day cable is always left out available for any snacking. The kibble is a very high grade Fraser Valley beef or chicken.
How do I know how much to feed them? I have two pitty pointers who are overweight, so looking for a healthier option for them. One is 100 lbs, other is around 85.
How many cups of food does this recipe yeild?
Recipe lists yield as 8 cups.
My 15 lb Chihuahua loves this recipe. Sometimes I use Ground Beef, sometimes Chicken and sometimes, Rice. Your instructions do not indicate cooking the veggies, but I do since my dog prefers soft food, sometimes I swap a Sweet Potato for the carrots. My pet eats about 4 ozs
Twice daily. Thanks for your recipe. And f you have others, I’d love to see them.
Also, do you add vitamins to the food?
it would be helpful to know how much protein serving to give as per needs of the type of the dog! I think that would prevent the pup from always appearing hungry, as a good serving with appropriate amounts of protein etc should be then filling! Also for calcium, I put in egg shells! I cook them along when I make homemade dog food: brown rice, chicken breasts, sweet potato, mixed veggies. I will also add in blue berries after it is all cooked as well. I was told by an employee at a dog food store that if using brown rice to wash it really well). Also same employee told me that if the dog is pooping it all out, that means they are eating only nondigestable food or kibble! So the less they poop , the better for the pup and means they are getting full in their meals and should not have to worry about over feeding etc. Again, the one question I have is how much is enough!!?? great comments here thank-you! Thanks for this recipe, I will definitely be trying this, though it is very similar to what I already do and again I add in egg shells for calcium!
I will make this recipe this week. During this Covid-19 my dog was diagnosed with severe allergies, the #1 being cockroaches. I do not have cockroaches in my house or around but my vet said they are in processed dog foods/treats. So immediately am cooking for my dog at home. Within 24 hours she was a changed dog. She is still allergic to many foods but I can modify this recipe. I love my vet and she has diagnosed many issues for my dogs over the years but I think this was the most eye opening ever. So thank you for this recipe and I hope my comments help other dog owners.
I made something similar for my dog because after hear health improved with Dr. marty’s probiotics, i still wanted to address allergies. Her nose also has that dry brown crust. i think it is because of the dry food from Costco so i am taking her off completely to see if that clears up. i also feel like there’s so much in the food that we don’t know about…that literally makes them sick.
Have u seen improvement in her crusty nose? My baby girl has same issue.
About the nose crust:
Our pittiful Midge has developed some itchy skin and hot spots. I ordered skin balm from Natural Dog Company. It’s awesome! They also have other balms for crusty noses, wrinkles, pads, and tear stains. They also have supplements.
Nest step is cooking Midge dinner. I sure hope this helps!
I made this for my 4 small dogs ( yorkie mixes) and they loved it! Thanks for sharing!
How do we know how much to give to our dog and how many times a day ? Like on any bag of food, there’s a portion guide. Also, puppy versus adult.
Tanks for your help. My poodle keep vomiting with the food buys him.
My pup started throwing up as well with the store bought kibbles. Try giving your pup rice with cottage cheese for 5 days. It should settle its stomach
Great recipe for a fussy little chihuahua
I also have been making homemade dog food going on 3 yrs because when my son rescued lil Ms Emma Mai (she’s really not that lil) she pooped 5-7 times during the night and at first I thought nerves and being in new place but after few days she’s still pooping everywhere and my friend had said he had a dog that needed to be on a Grainger diet so we tried that and it worked Altho it was terribly expensive so I thought I would try making my own I used ground turkey or chicken 2 cans either black beans pinto and or kidney in a bag and when cooking them add the meat to it and baby carrots (had to mush the beans cuz shed spit am out lol) and brown rice and to this day she loves her homemade food I switch it up and will do turkey and sweet potato and have done oatmeal pumpkin and peanut butter for bfast, I’ve done several varieties like that and so far so good. Its kinda fun esp now were all in quarantine. Happy cooking
This recipe saved me tons of money. My dog loves it and her fur is thick and shiny.
Forget the poor Hungry puppy. My teenage son and band mates thought I had made them up a snack and devoured the whole pan Before the pup ever had a chance to taste it. They all enjoyed it so much they’ve asked me to make it again and for the recipe for their moms. My son has swore me to Keep it a secret because “a teenager could die of embarrassment if his friends ever found out his mom fed them dog food“ Did not have zucchini and substituted coconut oil for the olive oil. Very tasty and someday the dog might end up getting some.
That is so cute. I still find it funny that I feed the dogs and then lock the spoon i used to serve their food! But it really is good.
As a mom of teenage boys who eat us out of house and home, I can so relate and this is absolutely hilarious!!!
My dogs all love this recipe. It is a great beginning for a better diet. The recipe, as is, is highly deficient in calcium and a few other key nutrients. I am adding bone meal to supplement the recipe. I also have found a local turkey farm that provides a pet grade grind with beneficial organ meat and costs about a dollar a pound. Thanks for the great recipe!
Anyone know if white rice or canned beans promotes tear stains ? I was feeding my white Havanese dogs Stella and Chewys raw dehydrated beef patties which they loved but after both developed tumors my vet told me to make homemade food instead with 1/4 part protein and the rest rice and green beans/carrots/other veggies. I did but my dog is now tear straining badly and I’m trying to figure out what in the new diet may be causing this. I noticed this recipe doesn’t have beans or white rice and just made it now without the brown rice. Any thoughts?
Tear stains may be from allergies – can you substitute a different protein?
Is it possible for my Chug(chihuahua and pug mix and I also have a Chihuahua)to act all sick when she wasn’t given real food but instead her dog food? Talk about moping for almost an hour acting like she can’t even walk and boom, I give her some rice and she is a changed dog!lol we are in transition and I ran out of their homemade food but not for long I guess 🙂 No more dog food, yay! Thank you for sharing this recipe, my little babies love it♡
I was feeding Stella and chewy in all kinds until we found out that it has turkey in everything. Now no fowl. And my havi allergies are much better
Not wanting to be negative but I just called the vet after reading this thinking it would be a great alternative and they have said unfortunately it is ok for a dog with an upset stomach but long term it is missing a lot of key nutrients, calcium and additional benefits to dog food.
She strongly advised against it but said if they were ill it was a good idea for no more than 3 days.
I wonder if this food would then be acceptable by a VET; if you decided to provide your dog a multivitamin specific to your dogs age and size that provides those key ingredients missing? After having had two pets who were diagnosed with cancer and one now as a surviving amputee, I feel like the difference has to be in the food. Let’s hope is as simple as changing our dogs diet from bagged kibble aka Dog McDonald’s to a more whole food method is all that it takes! Thoughts?
My vet said to crush up two tums so the dog receives enough calcium. That’s crucial.
Your vet may not be very knowledgeable (it happens) or open-minded about nutrition. I’ve taught a lot of medical professionals, including M.D.’s, & they get about 2 hours on nutrition in med school, so be confident in your own research. It is simple to add supplements to your dog’s diet, & you easily can add natural calcium to home made dog food. I use plain yogurt, which is easily digestible, in mine.
I’ve been feeding my dog homemade dog food for about 10 years now, and she is in great health. I think vets are just trying to sell you expensive crappy dog food.
I have a sheltie mix. I made this recipe for him to help him loose weight (he was over 60 lbs.) but when I discovered that even this was not helping I got him into the vet, turns out he had a thyroid issue. I have continued to make this delicious meal for him, he is on proper medication and has now lost 13 lbs with our goal to be another 7lbs. He is like a new puppy at age 8, the prime of his life! Thank you so much for the recipe, if not for this I would have not realized that my furry buddy had any health issues I just thought I was feeding him the wrong food for his stage of life and activity! By the way, I did do a taste test and don’t blame him for wanting to eat, not bad, not bad at all for human consumption! Thinking this might be a good diet for me! LOL!!
Thank you for this recipe! They charge us $45-50 for food we can make ourselves. After my sweet boy’s second tummy issue, I knew something had to be done on my end. I’m gonna use this recipe and some pinto beans to make my baby’s food from now on.
What is the serving size for weight of dog?
Am satisfied with this I want introduce this to my adult dog
I am so excited to get this recipe can’t wait to try it !
I’ve never cooked anything- zilch, nada. I like building stuff- houses, boats, docks, those kind of things, and my opinion was that everything tastes better when someone else cooks. But my oldest daughter found a little Staffordshire Bull Terrier living on the streets in Nashville TN. He was under 2 years old, but was dehydrated, under weight and even had mange (hair loss). She nursed him back to health (she is a nurse) and SnapChatted me to death about taking him in. So he (Everest) came up for a trial run and we quickly became best buds, especially after he loved boating as much as I.
So this is the rundown on this recipe:
We have been buying Wellness Core Natural Grain Free dog food from Amazon for about $68 per 26 lb bag, and we give Everest 4 oz per meal, so that comes out to $0.65 per meal, two meals per day. I made this recipe today (under my wife’s supervision) for $15, which provides about 22 four oz meals. That comes to about $0.68 per meal. So going forward, we will probably give him the home made meal in the mornings, and the Wellness dry food for dinners. I’m thinking that should provide a great, well balanced diet, that he should surely love (not that he’s a picky eater, as he even ate my reading glasses once).
My intro to cooking!
Cost breakdown for one batch:
0.40 rice
0.40 carrots
12.00 ground turkey
0.25 frozen peas
0.93 spinach
0.96 zucchini
$15 total for 22 meals