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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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!
Great recipe use it my dog and my cat. My Rottweiler was 20 lb overweight no longer is. Thank you
How much did you feed him per day? I have an 80 pound lab I want to try this with.
Jerry – I am looking at this for my 1 year old rott. What suggestions can you give and how much do you feed per day?
This is a great recipe and my corgis love it. We hunt deer and have an abundance of venison so they get mostly it for their protein. I add in some tuna and eggs for additional protein and the egg shells for calcium. I put fresh blueberries and apples for some sweetness.
I have a similar recipe but I added blueberries for the antioxidants. She will leave all the blueberries at the bottom of the bowl. Now I squash each blueberry and she eats everything! She loves it!
My yorkipoo loves this and no more doggie breath. Just not sure how much to feed my little 9# baby.
I also need to know how much to feed my dog. He is about 7 and a half pounds. He also has developed a terrible skin allergy in his later years. Nothing is working, keeps losing hair. Hooding this might work. Just started today and he loves it. How much please??
Love this recipe going to use it for my 8wk staffie pup i have also bought some meat and bone meal 4kl how much do I add to his food before I freeze it thank you.
Lynda
How do you know what portion size to give a dog for the day.
I want to feed my labs on this kind of food as both have had tummy trouble recently and have been on chicken and rice which they love .
Both big boys but I would much rather feed them this kind of food.
Are there any guidelines as to how mu h for weight of dog?
Hi Angela! This would be best discussed with your vet and/or nutritionist.
A good general guideline I go by is to give twice the amount you would give of dry kibble because this food still has the water so is less dense. Adjust from there.
Thank you for posting this, Yeah my Chihuahua has just woofed it down. The first homemade dog food she has eaten. She refused the rest. I feel now my fur baby will be healthier and happier and with me for more years to come. Thank you
I mean she refused all previous version of homemade food. But loved yours Thank you X
How much of this do you feed you dog daily ?
I have a chihuahua too but hes overweight…18 pounds to be exact..
My vet won’t help me!
Just made this for my elderly dog. She’s going in for surgery Wednesday and I wanted to do everything possible to help in the recovery.
I added 1Tblsp of fresh chopped rosemary per # of meat. Also used some shredded broccoli and blueberries.
She gobbled it up!
Excited to try this for our pups! Do you know the length of time this last for?
Hi Crystal! It should keep for at least 2-3 days in the fridge (they are also freezer-friendly in individual servings) but methods for optimal food storage and shelf life should be based on good judgment and what you are personally comfortable with. Hope that helps!
Hi. I just saw this recipe and just wondered how much it makes?? I’ve made homemade dog food before and this sounds delicious.
The recipe yields 8 cups, Jenny. 🙂
I am a certified canine nutritionist and this is a good recipe if supplemented with appropriate balance mix. I have fed my dogs, Charlie and Lisa (12 and 10) a homemade diet all their lives and they are happy and spunky dogs. Variety is key in a homemade diet. You need to make sure they are getting a variety of proteins (fish, poultry, meat), organs (about 5% of their protein intake), veggies, healthy and healthy grains, and supplements like calcium (I make my own from ground eggshells), spirulina, vitamin E, cod liver oil, and others. Charlie is a picky eater so I like to supplement with nutritional yeast when I am worried he is not getting all his vitamins and minerals. Just like humans, our pets need variety so choose lots of different types of foods!
I’ve never tried homemade dog food for pets. This is a first! Thank you for making it simple. Was wondering, is this receipt also for puppies?
Robin, this is something that should be consulted with your veterinarian.
Wonderful meal for my finicky chihuahua eaters!! Thanks so much, all 3 of them devoured it.
Add a tablespoon of powdered bone meal, a tsp of dried, powdered kelp, 1 tsp of brewers yeast and 5000 mg organic fish oil to make sure they get all the essential minerals they need! My 14 year old beagles love it! I also give them a little organ meat as a treat every 2-3 days, and extra nutrients. I mix up the brown rice with organic oatmeal. I make my own bone broth from chicken or beef bones to cook the grains. My pups don’t like peas, so i switch the veges around. they love pumpkin or butternut squash and green beans. actually I cook for them, and I share some of their food with them!!! I take some out without the fish oil or brewers yeast for me 🙂
Where do you recommend getting these supplements? Any particular brand?
Very helpful
Although I haven’t tried this recipe yet, I gave it 4 stars because of the brown rice. I just spoke with my veterinarian today about rice and was told that dogs can’t process brown rice like we can and should be given white rice. It may be better for us, but not our fur babies.
This webpage got me started on making homemade dog food for my 8-year old Pomeranian that we rescued from a shelter a year and a half ago. He has some heart damage from heartworms. For a year, I fed him a well-recommended dry dog food. He coughed up mucus, vomited, passed bloody, runny stools, and coughed all throughout the day and in the middle of the night. I switched him to homemade very quickly, not even mixing in much dry to aid in the switch. He go so much better immediately. Coughs in the morning and when he goes to bed. Very little during the day and never wakes us up in the middle of the night anymore. Never coughs up mucus, vomits, or passes blood. Stools are normal. His coat is so shiny now. He could hardly make it up the back stairs and now he tears around the backyard like a puppy. He weighs about 10 pounds and I’ve found I have to feed him a 1/2 cup in the morning and a 1/2 cup in the evening. I give him an omega 3 a couple times a week. Would like to add a vitamin, but haven’t yet. I looked up the list of recommended meats, vegetables, and grains on another website and rotate things, so he gets a variety. Not one problem from anything yet. He’s had brown rice, quinoa, hamburger, chicken, ground turkey, chicken gizzards and livers, sweet potatoes, spinach, kale, peas, carrots, green beans, and some other misc. things. I do pulse everything in a food processor to break it up, but I don’t make it mushy. I do give him one “meaty bone” a day to give him a chance to chew on something. I don’t think he would have lived one more year the way he was going. I anticipate quite a few more years for him now. It’s not that hard if you make a large batch at once and freeze in one-week portions. Then I just scoop it out with a measuring cup. Individual servings frozen is too much work. Don’t forget to add enough olive oil or animal fat. He lost weight when I neglected this and was hungry all the time. It’s worth the effort!