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 made this for my dog and he loves it, except he did not like the zucchini. He would pick it out or eat around it. Can you suggest a substitution?
Sweet potatoes are always my dogs favorite
Be careful as sweet potatoes can cause diarrhea.
Some people have posted about needing to add vitamins and fish oil to their diets to make the recipe a good one. But, if they are already just getting dry kibble, wouldn’t anything be an improvement?
(I’m genuinely asking.)
Even low quality dog food is usually fortified with vitamins and minerals; kinda like breakfast cereal. So while homemade food is definitely an improvement, it can sometimes lack important micronutrients.
They do sell all kinds of doggie supplements including a multivitamin. I just found one for my dog that was relatively inexpensive. Most people suggest going over the food recipe with your vet to see if there’s any breed specific gaps.
Hope this helps!
This is a good start for a recipe but please be aware that your dog needs a careful balance of vitamins and minerals as well – the balance.it website can help you figure out what else they will need. In particular, it can be challenging to meet the calcium/phosphorus balance. And never cook for a puppy, their needs are even greater and the repercussions to their growth and development are serious.
My dog is allergic to Turkey , peas and olive oil also sunflower oil .. what can I substitute the oil with. I was going to sub the Turkey with beef and peas with green beans. Also can I sub the rice with sweet potatoes, thank you
I have a 11 month old cockapoo he is a very picky eater. I have try some many dry & wet food but nothing makes him happy. I decided to cook for him now and I tried this first recipe and he loves ❤️ it.
A homemade dog food should also have an organ meat. I always put beef liver in mine. They also need to have a good fish oil and a daily vitamin supplement so they get all the minerals and vitamins needed. I use salmon oil and canine complete for a supplement. They can both be purchased from Chewy. If you are serious about feeding this to your dog, PLEASE check with your vet!!!!! If dogs don’t get the proper balance of nutrition they need, it will affect the heart and other organs!
My dog is the PICKIEST eater! I’ve never been able to keep her on the same food because she’d rather starve (literally to the point of vomiting) than eat something she doesn’t like.
I had her blood checked to make sure she was ok, everything came back normal. My dog is part poodle and the vet said poodles are known to be really picky eaters.
Made this recipe, also got the idea from Instagram to pretend I was adding salt and pepper like I would to my food. Ha ha. She was hesitant at first but then wanted seconds than thirds! I made a new batch today with chicken. Even caught the cat taking a nibble when my dog was done.
Thank you for sharing!! This one’s a keeper!
My dogs love this… It seems to be well balanced nutritionally… time will tell… so I’ll be getting back to you in a few more weeks. Thank you for doing the hard stuff… then sharing this recipe with us all!
I want to just incorporate this with kibble. Any idea the amount of kibble to take out and this to add in? I have a 110lb golden that eats 2cups dry kibble twice a day.
I would start with equal amounts.
It looks so delicious and healthy .. I am thinking to cook for me and my dog .. salt and sugar is not good for humans .. or may be sprinkle salt for taste
I use the same except raw meat ( both vegetables raw meat in to different container!)
Do you have a ground chicken recipe for crock pot??
Hello I have 2 dogs that are 18lbs how much should I give them? Thanks for your help
How many cups for a 55lb dog a day
MY DOG WILL NOT STOP ETCHING HAVE TRY THE PILLS AND SHOTS NOTHING WORKS GOING TO TRY HOME MADE FOOD AND SEE WHAT HAPPENS
your dog may have allergies to protein you are feeding. My dog is allergic to chicken and beef I feed him salmon
My German shepherd had itching and the vet said to put 2 tablespoons of olive oil or vegetable oil in his food and mix it up. Over about a week his itching wasn’t as bad.
My dog got so itchy I would have to take her for allergy shots usually once a year when it got bad. Since switching to raw carnivore (raw meat only) 6 years ago she hasn’t needed any shots and no more itching. She mostly eats raw ground beef, occasionally ground chicken or turkey if it’s on sale. I do 80 percent lean is perfect. If it’s fattier ground beef I give her next meal leaner turkey. Or half and half. If all we have is lean I add salmon oil. She used to eat chicken gizzards sometimes too (low cost) but now shes older her teeth can’t handle that but i did just get some gizzards on sale and ran them through the food processor for her. She loves her meat and has so much more energy. Only here looking for what I can mix in for awhile while the budget is tight here. Hope u find something that helps your pup.
Hello- I am one one of those people that would never make my own dog food well guess what!! Here I am and my 2 pups love it thank you!!
My chihuahua is 12 years old has Pancreatitis she has to eat 3 times a day small amounts how much should I give her she’s used to kindle , can I add crumble egg ?
Plan on making this for my almost 2 year old
43.2 lbs Saluki Lab Mix.
She eats twice a day (Breakfast & Dinner); but I am not sure how much of your homemade dog food recipe I would need to feed her per meal?
Please advise?
Thank you
On a raw diet an adult dog is supposed to eat 2-3% of their body weight. This would be .86-1.3 pounds daily. Devide that between the two meals.
What amount would a 60 lb senior dog need per day of this recipe?
My dogs LOVED this! I was making them chicken and rice. But I did not like the way their breath was smelling. Think I was missing some important veges. They devoted it!! Thank you!
So instead of using olive oil I used coconut oil. Because it’s good for the skin and fur. And sometime I add a scrambled egg for an extra boost of protein for my 14 year old boys.