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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Hello I had to read your comments on homemade dog food.
I have A6 year old long haired dachshund she weighs about 15 pounds she had liver failure about six months ago and the vet wanted her to go on a $4.25 dog food I thought that that was ridiculous not only that she didn’t like it so I started making my own I do use brown rice and I think that animals are forgiving for what you give them 25% 40% I don’t think it makes that big of a difference.
I have thought about something that came to mind after I had found a premium dog food dry dog food that had all the great nutrients in it with no copper which she can’t have. I think I am going to put two cups which is 16 ounces of this dry dog food with chicken butt chicken juice to moisten it and then put it in the boneless skinless chicken that I have cooked.
I have often thought about the vitamin minerals that she wasn’t going to get from the homemade dog food and I am really excited about trying this dog food with the chicken. What say you?
I have a 10 year old dog with major allergies and a 12 year old dog that I think now has kidney failure (from what Dr. Google tells me, hehe). what i have read is that a homemade diet is best for kidney failure for lower salt content, protein content, etc. Going to try it I think. not to mention they loooove people food. I just bought Taste of the Wild 30 pound bag for $46 at PSP for 4 dogs. we go thru about a bag a month.
I was feeding dog chow from Sams 50 pounds for $26, but hubby felt our border collies fur wasn’t shining so decided to buy the expensive stuff. Thanks for the info. can’t wait to start cooking for my fur babies.
I have been experimenting, not a nice word, with my dog food. This is what I do. I would appreciate any advice you could give me. even if I am wrong, I need to know it. I have a Shih Tzu (1 1/2) and a Pomchi (7)
I cook a 10 pound bag of chicken legs and thighs and remove the meat and gristle.
I hand grind the meat and gristle, putting into a BOG bowl
I add 5 eggs, 1/4 cup of pulverized dried egg shells (for calcium) 5 medium tomatoes chopped, 3/4 cup minute rice (brown is better but all I had was white)
1/2 large bag of mixed veggies and enough chicken broth to make it moist enough to swell and cook the rice.
Then I spray an 11″ x 14″ corning pan and spread it out evenly. If it seems too thick, I make an additional 8″X 8″ pan.
I bake on 325 until a knife comes out clean…. (close to 1 hour)
When it is cool, I cut into 3 inch squares and they have one in the early morning and one in the evening.
Are there any spices that I can add that are beneficial to their health.
Also, the Shih Tzu eats 2 small salads a week. (no dressing or onions)
All I do is say “CHICKY-CHICKY” and they run to their bowls.
Just made this for my frenchie! I was mixing wet/dry food with water and heating it up. She just started vomiting it up these past few days and I knew I had to change her diet. She loved this! I didn’t even have to sit with her to get her to eat 😛 Thank you!
Hi ,is it safe to make a couple of days worth of Turkey white rice and vegetables to keep refrigerated and then feed at room temperature.
Methods for optimal food storage and shelf life should be based on good judgment and what you are personally comfortable with.
CAN I USE CHICKEN MINCE AS A REPLACEMENT? I AM IN CT SOUTH AFRICA AND AM UNABLE TO FIND TURKEY MINCE
Yes.
One thing to think about is when cooking your dogs food is that your cooking all the nutrients out of the food that your dog needs. Alot of people feed a raw diet.
Great recipe, but I think you forgot to include the amount of balanceIT supplements that you need to add to the mix?
I actually did not include it in the recipe as the amounts can vary depending on the size of your pup.
Hi, do you cook the vegetables before adding them to the mix?
There’s no need to! 🙂
It makes sense for humans of course to eat the brown vs white rice, but remember this is food for dogs, and the white rice is better as far as getting any nutrients due to their short digestive tract. And also since talking about absorbing nutrients, the vegetables in this recipe have not been cooked enough to release the nutrients. If you are determined to feed vegetables they need to be “predigested” so to speak. Cook and pulverize them to simulate them going through the digestive tract of a herbivore. Then add them to the homemade dog food. The comment that cooking them too much will destroy the nutrients, doesn’t make much sense, because if you don’t they simply go through as roughage.
I agree. White rice is more digestible and my dog has pancreatitis so i also over boil the vegetables and mash them up so its easily digestible otherwise he has problems. .
Does anyone have good recipes including venison?
Did I miss something? All that turkey and all that rice plus the veggies and it only makes 1 cup? That’s hard to believe but that’s what it said: 1 serving 1 cup.
The recipe yields about 8 cups.
I am in agreement with Gladys. This reads like a great recipe to try, however I am trying to figure out the economical value in it based on the numbers provided. This recipe/suggestion is for a very small breed dog, yeah?
Three pounds of turkey will cost, roughly, some $15-$20, tack on another $10 for the rest and you have a $25-$30 budget for a little over one week’s worth of food for a medium sized dog (30+ lbs at 1.5-2 cups daily). That’s about $75-$90 a month versus $50-$75 store bought.
Since our Yorkie has such a sensitive stomach, I am going to try making his food for him instead of buying the canned food in stores. I came across this recipe and it looks perfect. Since this will make quite a bit, do you freeze it in ziploc bags, and pull out as needed?
Yes, absolutely. We do that all the time!
Thanks for another new recipe…my fur baby will appreciate it. She is 16 and very picky. She won’t eat the same thing two days in a row and picks out visible veggies so I have to blend them in.
I do worry that she doesn’t get enough calcium although she loves a fruit and milk smoothie and bits of cheese as a treat, I still wonder if that is enough.
Pardon me if this is a dumb question. In the recipe, you say “1.5c of brown rice.” In the instructions it says to cook according to the package. If I calculated correctly, ( 1 cup raw rice will yield 3 cups cooked) Should it be 4.5c of cooked rice or is it 1.5c cooked rice?
I had a insulin diabetic rescue, that I made ( raw) food for and it resolved a lot of issues for him. Our new little guy has a delicate stomach. This is the only thing that hasn’t “bothered” his stomach.
Not a dumb question at all! The recipe calls for 1 1/2 cups uncooked brown rice.
Hello!
I have two 4 year old Pomeranians and I have had them on a cooked diet since they were 8 weeks old. Your recipe
is very similar to mine, but I always use boiled beef liver as opposed to chicken or turkey. Then I add different veggies including carrots, lima beans, green beans, sweet potatoes, sometimes a small amount of corn, squash, blueberries and a little bit of olive oil. Then I add organic brown rice, but in small amounts. Usually the ratio is 50% protein, 30% vegetables and 20% grains. I feed them 1/3 of a cup in the morning and 1/3 cup at night. They love it!! Thank you for sharing your recipe!
apologies, my puppy is a westie
Hi,
please can you tell me if I should add/substitute this mix for a 12 week old puppy?
Michelle, this is something that should be consulted with your veterinarian.
Thanks for your recipe. I will try to do it for my dogs. My mother made her own dog food for years. OUr large dogs lived 15-17 years under her care.
Hi Monica, do you know if your mom used supplements to their diet in addition to making the food? I’m not sure if I should add supplements and if so which ones? Thanks
This recipie was great! My little 10 y/o chihuahua with a picky tummy loved it! I substituted kale for spinach as spinach can lead to kidney damage in large quantities and added 2 eggs in while cooking the turkey. In the next batch I’m thinking of adding some fresh blueberries or pineapple. I portioned in small containers as she doesn’t eat much and this seems to freeze well also. Thanks a million!!
I feed my dog white rice, cottage cheese and boiled chicken and other ingredients. I watched Dr. Oz the other day and the show was about arsenic in white and brown rice. More so brown then white. They recommend boiling rice the same way as you would pasta with lots of water. Cook rice till tender then drain through mesh strainer. The rice is still just as good as cooked the other way but much more safe for you and you beloved pets. Please be sure to wash all veg. and fruits before cooking due to the fact of pesticides.