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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Are the portions the same as if you were feeding your dog kibbles?
How much do you end up feeding her per meal? My dog is 5-6lbs and I’m trying to figure it out myself.
I believe the rule of thumb is abiut 25-30 calories per pound of dog. My dog is 13 lbs, I feel him just shy of a cup per day.
Yea I feed my shih Tzu Bella a cup a day. She loves it. I just started a week ago bcuz she’s a picky eater. But now she sits at her bowl anticipating it every morning.
I just give her a cup of her food, a tablespoon of chobani plain non fat yogurt 2x a week, & her greenie dental treat 1x a day. It’s so much better knowing what goes in & what comes out your dogs body.
It’s suppose to be 1/2-3/4 ounces per 10lb weight.
My Molly loves this recipe! This is totally yummy for people, too. I add a little tamari sauce and toasted sesame seed oil to season my serving. Delicious! 🙂
So I made this recipe and both dogs LOVED! I do have a few questions. Is the spinach chopped and then measured? The picture up top says chicken so I bought chicken quickly as I glanced at it in the store, then saw it said turkey! I hope ground chicken is okay too. And the brown rice is measured dry as well right? Thank you!
Don’t use chicken and turkey interchangeably. One of my dogs has been eating chicken for years, but got sick when I gave him turkey. The vet said NO to turkey.
I have been searching for balanced food recipe for my pupper. He is a very picky eater and real food would make meal time a lot easier. My major concern is getting the nutritions he needs into the bowl. It doesn’t seem like this recipe contains anything that provides significant amount of Calcium. I don’t think that this workS for us unless I give him supplements for Calcium.
My search continues…
I’m thinking of adding yogurt to his diet as a healthy probiotic, maybe that’s the answer for the lack of capacity on this dish!
There’s a Facebook group that helps with these questions. Home Cooked Diet for dogs.
Spinach in this recipe has plenty of calcium for your dog. Spinach has more calcium than most dairy products. And I don’t believe dairy is in any way beneficial to dogs.
Kale and Collard greens also provide a great source of calcium for you pup and they are safe for them as well.
Good luck!
I just started making my own dog food but will also let them have some of the dry food for now with it. We are transitioning them into eating homemade food and do not want to upset the tummies. I made a whole bunch of bone broth from beef neck bones (our store sometimes has stuff like this) so I used that in place of the water when cooking the rice. Our dogs loved it 🙂
They used to each get a whole can of wet food every day (half in the morning and half at night) and dry food. They will eventually eat less dry food as I increase the amount of homemade food I am sure. We are new to this.
Be careful of bone broth cooked with onions or garlic. Dogs don’t do well with these.
Yes, I have met with a pet nutritionist multiple times to ensure my dogs are getting the nutrition they need.
I have been doing home made dog food
For a year. I have 3 that HAD severe skin allergies that nothing would help. Prescription pills would calm it. But it never stopped. No more issues and honestly the dog food is cheaper to make. When I am pressed for time I do buy a non seasoned rotisserie chicken and strip it and use the drippings to flavor the rice. I also incorporate flaxseed, cranberries, apples and bone broth. I make a double batch and freeze. My dogs will bug me until I feed them as they love it.
I haven’t tried this yet but is looks n sounds like it’s just what I need.i have two morkies. Bindi, who is 12 n very sick, n Connor who is 13 n in pretty good health. They now refuse to eat dog food. Connor weighs 16lbs. Bindi has lost weight but because of her food mostly. My question is how much n when should I feed them.
I have been making this for my westies for over 1 year. My old guy wouldn’t eat but would touch this. He died in Feb at age 16. I got Sonny in April and they all have loved it! Katie is allergic to chicken, so I use ground bison, venison or turkey. I even will combine the different meats for variety. Thanks for a great recipe!
Thanks for the recipe…my 13 yo Chug has congestive heart failure. About 2 weeks ago she started to seriously decline and began refusing food. My husband and I started preparing mentally for having to put her down…I was heartbroken. However, I saw that she still begged for people food. So, I stumbled on this recipe in pursuit of trying to find something that I could make her that she would eat. We’ve been feeding a variation of this to her for the last 3 days and her energy is back and she’s like a new dog. It’s been an amazing transformation.
I lost my little Bindi to heart failure in March at 15 years old, they told me as a puppy she would only live 2-4 years. I wish you all the best with this recipe, wish I had it when I needed it. I’m looking because my new little sensitive soul just got out of intensive care after spending 4 days there with HGE, she had 4 blood transfusions. Right now she can only eat boiled chicken. But will need more as the days go on.
Hi!
Thanks for sharing!
My sweetie has tummy problems also, and even though I have been cooking for her since I got her, 4 yrs now, even some meats, veggies bother her, but your recipe i think will do her fine.
Just be careful with the broths and sauces for humans because especially onion and garlic, msg etc: can cause serious issues. I read every single label anymore to make sure. Very few store broths don’t have onion. Don’t know if you know, or make your own. Just fyi.
Best wishes and healthy happy days for many years to come for you and your family!
I have a beagle and I have been making her food with these and similar recipes for almost a year and she doesn’t shed nearly as much and feels so much better! She’s 9 and playful like when she was 3!
Can you share what other recipes you use with your beagles? I have two and beginning this quest.
My little old yorkie has cancer and getting to eat is a challenge but he loves this stuff!
Easy to make! Added chicken in the mix. Thank you for sharing 🙂
Love this. My dog is about 20kg. Just want to know how much per serving I need to feed and how much serving in a day.
Instead of peas and zucchini what can I add? Pinto or kidney beans??
Really wanting to make this, but don’t want peas for sure in it.
Your dog wont know about the peas lol… hope you dont think this is a receipe for yourself
her dog may have a pea allergy, which is why she doesnt want peas
I think many don’t know how some veggies fit a dog’s diet. Each veggie has vital ingredients they need. Spinach has copper, peas are great proteins, and the list goes for miles.
We might dislike some of the ingredients, but they may add healthy years to your dog’s life. Read up on safe and unsafe spices. Cinnamon and tumeric are great, as well as basil and ginger. Just watch out, you might enjoy your dog’s dinner.
I’m looking forward to making this dog food, however I don’t know how much my Lab should have each day. Ace is a big boy and will eat all day if I let him. I have to how much to feed him. Thanks . After reading other reviews I know now to ask the Vet. There are some things I can add to this discussion. DO NOT FEED DOGS ONIONS. Maybe look up what they can’t have it may help. If certain foods are out of season you can use baby food. It comes organic! Just watch it to see the salt content. I have enjoyed reading all the reviews. Thanks to all animal lovers
I made this for my mini wiener! (7lbs) she is 5 yrs old and has dripping runny eyes since I brought her home. Hoping this fixes that. She LOVED it. I used canned carrots and peas….so I had carrots and peas left over, as well as some brown rice, so I thought I would be clever and mix those with some pumpkin as a treat…..NOTHING>. Not going for that at all. Although I was frying the turkey and she was well aware of that, I think she was disappointed. I also did a GREAT dog mommy hack! I stole about 1/2lb of of the turkey burger and in a SEPERATE pan I fried that up with some onion and some of the spinach, added about 3/4 C brown rice a little ketchup, mustard and Wercestershire sauce….not much, not runny like sloppy joes, just enough for some flavor…..and it was delish!
just fyi. “Onions contain compounds called disulfides and thiosulphates which can be toxic cats and dogs if ingested. “
or are you the one eating the onion one lol?
NO ONIONS for dogs! Onions actually cause their blood cells to explode! Look it up, please! DON’T feed onions to your dog!
I just made this for my Beagle’s, added butternut squash to the recipe as they love a taste of sweet. They loved it!!! We have been having trouble trying to find a healthy food for them as they are getting old. 5 stars, let’s hope it continues
Hi! I was thinking of doing this for my beagle too. Do you have any recommendations for serving size? Can a smaller batch be kept in the refrigerator for a week?
I have a beagle and I have been making her food with these and similar recipes for almost a year and she doesn’t shed nearly as much and feels so much better! She’s 9 and playful like when she was 3!
Dogs have a system like ours. Food left a week is not good for us, and not good for them. Freeze meal size portions and keep them safe and healthy.
I am so happy to found this recipe! I am fostering ( hoping to adopt) a pup who did not want to eat the kennel dog food we were given for him. The poor guy is so thin and has a bad knee and will need surgery soon. I made this this morning, super simple, and the little guy ate it up! If he continues to like it, I will invest in additional vitamin supplements to ensure its a balanced diet and add liver and other goodies. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!