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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Cooked this today for our 4 dogs. I’m sure they will love it.
Used chicken, didn’t have spinach or zucchini used coleslaw instead. Gibbs only eats when desperate and I’ve been feeding him chicken breasts and rice for years. Couldn’t believe it, turned to rinse pan, when turned around his dish was empty. Wow
I would be careful with the coleslaw or cabbage. Could cause gas or gastrointestinal issues.
Thank you so much..
I’m doing this recipe as I txt
How much of this recipe is sufficient for an 7 year old over weight pug mix. I really like the ingredients. I rescued him at 6 years old and he has gained a lot in a year. He’s 30 pounds and sluggish.
Badger has had intermittent problems with commercial dog food. Our vet also said he should be on a bland diet. He loves this recipe, but is not digesting the peas completely. Will either eliminate them from diet (pun intended) or smash them up…we’ll see.
Thank you kindly. Goingvto try. My poor dog always suffering with skin issues.
Question…Is the amount of rice the recipe calls for, for cooked or uncooked?
I have the same question but judging for the video I think it’s cooked rice
Do you measure the meat before or after cooking it?
Dogs loved it but pooped
I love this recipes
For my dogs. To keep them healthy and fit. Thanks to post it here.
Looks so good I might Eat it too!
Is the serving size based on pounds my dog weighs 55 lbs how much should I feed him
My dog weighs 7 pounds and she gets 2 meals a day how much should she get in each meal
I have a 18 lb Westie and she had pancreatitis is doing well now so am going to try this recipe, but to the know how much to feed her ! Can you help me?
I saw on another similar recipe that the recommended amount was 1/2 cup for 25 pounds. Hope this is helpful.
I have been looking for a good wholesome recipe for y dogs who are a bitnoverweight,. On e dog 8s inactive and the other partly active if he finds a tennis ball. These recipes look good, so i will change to a different meat every day. Thank You.
I started using your recipies and was blown away. My chis and slimming and o ly the right stuff goes it. Good proteins and nutrients. It’s incredible how much it worked. No more turned up little noses!! Thanx!
It is great that you are providing a means for people to prepare a homemade diet for their pets. I would like to respectfully point out that this recipe is deficient in providing an essential ingredient: calcium/phosporus. I encourage you and your readers who are interested to visit Donald Strombeck’s website (DVM) has a wealth of recipes that are properly balanced. http://dogcathomeprepareddiet.com/ is a wonderful resource. By simply adding bone meal (which has the proper mix of calcium/phosphorus) to this recipe, it will become more complete–adding to the current freshness and wholesomeness. Failing to do so means that the dog’s body will get what it needs from the dog’s bones causing structural damage.
Hello, I believe if it’s not added in their food directly, this can be solved with the right vitamins.
Cheers!
So glad to see some exact measure recipes. This makes so much, I know the recipe could be halved. I am wondering what luck anyone has had with freezing this in serving sizes. My little pup is a terrier mix about 13 lbs. Currently eats 3/4 cup of commercial dry dog food. Would he get the same amount of this or more? Thanks for all the information you have posted.
I meal prep for our Miniature Pincher every other week, and i freeze his food. I use snack bags & measure using a digital scale, then seal all in a gallon Zip lock bag. I don’t measure my ingredients, just try to make it healthy for him. He had a serious reaction to Blue Buffalo, and then Prescription Dog food. He is much healthier now!
I was very happy to find this recipe, as I was new to preparing my dogs food. I had no idea of the right ratio of what to what. My vet told me to use white rice though. Not sure what to think of that! But I was also pleased to see just how many veggies could be included. She eats 5 baby carrots and about 1/5 of a fresh pepper every morn but I wasn’t sure what elase was ok. Thank you again.
NIce to see some quality recipes for our fur babies out there. i Have been making my dogs recipe for 12 years. She will be 18 yrs old this March. I use 3 lbs. ground turkey, or shredded poultry with grinder carrots, apples, and sweet potatoes. A little bit of oas and sometimes bulgar wheat. All organic as much sac possible. My girl Jenna weighed 75 lbs most her life and is 65 lbs now which the vet said is ok due to joint arthritis. IF anyone else has some good quality recipes, please put them out there, Our 4 legged families deserve the best. homemade cat food recipes too!, Thanks!!♥️♥️
Hi Lisa, I add turmeric to my puppy’s mix & coconut oil too.
http://dogcathomeprepareddiet.com/ Dr. Donald J Strombeck has a wealth of recipes at this website for both dogs and cats to include special needs diets. Please consider visiting. I’ve been feeding homemade, raw diet, for 7 years. I have a commercial grinder, so I grind bone in leg quarters with equal parts boneless, skinless thighs. (40 lbs each) I also grind in 20% by weight of frozen vegetables (carrots, zucchini, green beans, cauliflower). (I buy at restaurant supply, so my cost is about $1 per lb combined).
Daily, I make a starch that I add to the raw food. I use beans, potatoes, rice, macaroni, lentils. My pressure cooker makes short work of processing some of these. If not feeding bone in, it is essential to supplement with bone meal powder. I also use a multivitamin as recommended. Now my cats…they get commercial food…could never get them switched over. While a little more work involved, it has contributed to the good health of my dogs.
My dog isn’t a picky eater but for some reason, he doesn’t eat his dry food unless I mix it with wet food. I know his wet food isn’t exactly the best for him so I tried to make him a little something today.
I had to substitute for some ingredients since I didn’t have them all. I used multigrain rice, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, and yellow carrots. He really liked it and gobbled it all up. I will definitely add meat next time.
For reference, I have a 11 lb Shih Tzu/Maltese mix. We feed him half a cup of food per meal.
How much do you feed her a day, my dog is 68 lbs
I feed my girl two cups a day one in morning at six and one in the evening around six. Due to some health issues She is not as active as she used to be that’s why only two cups.
How much should I fed my 3 dogs? I have a 65lb GSD, a 60lb Lab/Rottie mix, and a 14lb Chihuahua/Pomeranian mix.
If you go to the BalanceIT website it will help you. I did a quick run of this recipe for a 65 lb dog, caloric intake should be 1417, if feeding twice a dog that almost 2 cups per meal time just for the one dog. The 60 lb dog should have 1335 calories per day and the 14 lb dog should have 448 calories per day per balanceit.com
I weigh my food. I believe a food scale essential. How much you feed depends on the age and activity level of your dog. I might suggest that you try 20-28 oz of food per day for your larger dogs. I have a 65lb pit bull that I feed at that level. I have a 45 lb English SEtter. She’s geriatric (15), she gets 15-16 oz per day–and she maintains her body condition. Another English Setter (13-14) gets 11 oz per day. She’s smaller, and much less active. Your little one will need much less. Watch the body condition and adjust as appropriate. You can vary the protein/starch mix from a 1:2 to 1:1 ratio. I use the scale to measure and keep those ratios. A more active dog needs more protein (and calories). http://dogcathomeprepareddiet.com/ is the most comprehensive resource on the internet for feeding this way in my opinion.
My Harley loved this … 3lb of mince.. seemed loads .. unless I weighed wrong … I have now bought aniforte complete .. so now I can cook his meat and veg and add the essentials he needs in a meal .. wish you had more recipes for doggy meals .. I feed my Harley 9oz of food a day … he weighs 13.3 kg .. trying to lose weight .
I haven’t made it yet but how much would I need to give my 3 dogs? I have a 65lb GSD, and 60lb Lab/Rottie mix, and a 14lb Long Hair Chihuahua/Pomeranian mix.