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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I have small dogs and worry about too much protein which can cause liver shunt in little babies, I think I’ll third the meat and add more veggies!
Yes, but please use your best judgement and consult your vet if you are unsure.
This is fantastic… thank you! I just got an 8-week old puppy. I want to do things right from the start. I see my vet next week and will clear this diet with him, but I’m sure it’ll be better than store-bought dog food. Thanks again!
I am trying this recipe out for my 2 mini-dachies, as they have had some tummy issues lately. They weight approx 11 lbs each. Could you advise as to the daily serving amount that I should be feeding them. Thank you.
Hi Alana! This may be best answered by your pet’s veterinarian as this can vary by breed and/or weight.
This is horrible. You don’t have anything for vitamins and minerals. This is why making homemade food is hated by vets. If you feed this only you will have sick dogs eventually. You need two types of organ. Liver and brain, heart, kidney. You need zinc. You need bone. You do not feed any grain. And you don’t need to cook this. Don’t give advice to people if you don’t know what you are doing! It would be like someone giving you advice on feeding a baby and telling you to give the baby raw meat. Get educated and take this terrible advice down before someone else uses it.
Karen, this is what was advised by my pet’s veterinarian AND nutritionist. If you do not feel comfortable feeding this to your dogs, then you don’t have to feed it to them. It’s as simple as that. 🙂
I made your recipe and we even made a double batch our dog Apollo just loves it. I had been feeding him Merric kibble and caned combined a cup each meal, with your recipe would I still feed a cup each or adjust it up or down please advise.
Thanks so much
Gary Ewaska
Hi Gary! This may be best answered by your pet’s veterinarian as this can vary by breed and/or weight.
I don’t know what all the hype is about. I am in my 70’s, and remember when there was no such thing as store bought dog food, and we all fed our dogs the meat and vegetable scraps from our plates. I have NEVER bought the poison that they suggest we feed our beloved pets, and I have never had a dog that didn’t live to be 16 years or more. My last Collie girl was 19 years old when she passed happily in her sleep.
I have a puppy who is 8 months, mix australian sheperd and husky. When I got him I took him to the vet and doctor found worms. He receive the pill to get rid of rhe worms. He was 3 days with diarrhea ans didn’t want to eat. So I prepare a soup with chicken and rice and blendet it like a pure and he love it and recover from hos diarrhea. I want to change his dietwith nutrients like spinach, vitamins, liver. Please let me know wich recipe is good for him since I want that hi grow up very heathy.
Hi Raquel! The chicken and rice soup sounds amazing! But this question may be best answered by your pet’s veterinarian as he is having some diarrhea and worms. Hope that helps!
do you also add supplements to your dog food? While I agree that commercial foods can be scary to give your beloved fur child, there are also added vitamins and minerals that I would assume are important to their health that are in those foods. In my research it seems people only make these homemade foods with the food and no added vitamins so i was just curious if that’s just something extra you do but didnt want to “advertise” so people don’t start asking you questions like you’re a vet about amounts and such or if you personally feel your pooch or pooches are getting a comfortable amount of nutrition with the few ingredients above.
Hi Nay! Yes, we add supplements/vitamins as directed by our vet and nutritionist. Hope that helps!
What the shelflife for this homemade dog food
As I am not an expert on food safety, I cannot really say with certainty. Methods for optimal food storage and shelf life should be based on good judgment and what you are personally comfortable with. Hope that helps, Juli-an!
Thanks for the recipe. Our adopted pup is such a picky eater. He was fed with table scraps and was malnourished when we got him. We tried to introduce him to dog food but he just eats a handful. Do you have other easy dog food recipes? Thanks again!
I sure do! 🙂
https://damndelicious.net/category/dog-food/
My dog has calcium oxalate stones and was put on a very expensive restrictive prescription c/d diet by his vet, but he refuses to eat it whether it’s canned, stew, or dry. I’m looking into making him homemade meals and possibly supplementing, but assumed it would be costly and difficult to get the nutrition and calories right. This was encouraging and helpful, thank you! Any other tips would be appreciated, too!
Thank you so much for this. My elderly dog is not eating well, I think he can’t chew his dog biscuits any more. I am going to the store today to buy the ingredients. I was going to pick up tinned food but it just looks awful so googled and found this! It sounds lovely. I cook all the family meals from scratch so why not the dogs 🙂
Exactly!
Your homemade recipes are too high in carbohydrates, changes to the dogs PH levels causes allergies, which is not the same as humans PH. Grain free foods are also netter for dogs, as well as organic/grass fed meats.
After thawing the food in the fridge… can we serve directly or do we need to nuke it?
I personally prefer to nuke it for my little guy! 🙂
I would suggest browning the meat first – whether you use turkey, chicken, or ground meat (either beef, lamb or pork). Then add all the vegetables, and let them cook together, adding beef or chicken broth to moisten. Add rice (brown or wild grain), let simmer until rice is cooked through – turn off the heat and add fruit (blueberries are my choice). Let cool and refrigerate. Simplifies a more complex task.
Don’t you have to add certain supplements? Vitamins? Calcium? Fish oil? Probiotics?
Maria, I add supplements/vitamins as directed by our vet and nutritionist but this really should be answered by your veterinarian as this can vary by breed/weight.
My dog has pancreatitis and the vet suggested we feed him a bland low fat homemade diet in addition to his low fat dry food as his appetite is hit or miss. One day he will eat 2 cups of food the next if my husband hand feeds him he will eat half his food. He’s lost 3lbs which doesn’t sound like much until I say he’s a pomeranian, he’s a big pom but you can now feel all his ribs. The vet gave me a list of foods I’m allowed to give him but I’m looking to see if I can find some recipes for him.
I’m really hoping this encourages him to eat as we had to put in a feeding tube and we would really like to get it out.
My dog too was recently diagnosed with pancreatitis from eating too many table scraps. I have always cooked his meals but I only boil them now. I give him boiled chicken with white rice, pasta and I only add the following vegetables (sweet potatoes, carrots, beans, peas, broccoli and cottage cheese), I was told to over boil everything for easy digestion, he loves his food and never leaves anything in his bowl. He also likes dry food so I give him Royal Canin Gastrointestinal low fat prescription diet which agrees with him and loves it. No more health issues.
We started using this recipe back in February and the dogs love it. We have noticed that they dropped weight and body mass very quickly. They were never overweight to begin with. One of our 16″ tall dogs was 17lbs when we started and is now 14lbs. This is after feeding 1 cup twice a day, we are upping him to three feedings a day. With four (4) dogs this is becoming extremely cost prohibitive. The recipe is costing us $25 for a 2 day supply, at this rate it will cost us over $300 a month. Is anyone else having this issue?
Concerned in Connecticut
I would be curious to know the answer to this as well. This is really the way to go to keep our dogs healthy but we also have 3 dogs (not small ones). We want to the best for them…… We do garden so that will help, however What IS everyone spending a month for their dogs homemade food? I know it depends on size of dog, but i’d love to hear everyone’s thoughts.
Chungah! Awesome recipe! I made this for my pup the other night and he loved it
Aw, nothing better than a happy pup! Thank you.
How much does a single batch make (how many cups?) Thank you ☺
About 8 cups.
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