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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When I originally found this site there were 3 recipes. I made the one with ground turkey (Harley LOVES it) and I have the salmon recipe. I can’t find the ground chicken recipe?
Hi, help! how much should i feed my 4 pounds tiny yorkie with this recipe? She is a very picky eater, And by the way would it be ok if i substitute ground turkey to lean ground chicken ?
Hi I have a quick question. Can your dog food recipes be home canned in a pressure cooker? They would be canned by the safe canning rules. Thank you
How much should I feed my overweight chihuahua? He’s 8lbs but should be close to half that! He needs to lose weight!
To everyone asking, a cup of this food has approximately 279 calories (see post further down). Google how many calories your dog needs daily and you can figure out how much to feed. For example: My fat, elderly dog who should weigh 50 pounds gets 3 cups of this daily plus a few treats. I figured that out by googling it.
Our dog, Jack loves this. His coat was dull and flaky, now is shiny. Friends have noticed how good he looks! Thanks
I have been using this recipe for about 6 weeks now because something either in the store bought food or treats I was buying my 1.5 yr old Havanese caused a food allergy reaction, and she was already a very picky eater.
Ever since I started with this recipe she is eager to eat (eats everything), her energy is higher, the allergy symptom went away and it is so easy and affordable to make. SO happy!
One thing I would like to confirm is the quantity. She is just over 10lbs. So far I give her 1 cup/ day and while she gained bit of needed weight I want to make sure that is right? Is there a way to find out how many calories per weight of food for this recipe?
I have been making this for our Furbaby for over a year now and I can’t tell you how much Clara loves it! She is 7 years old but when I get her food bowl out she starts doing spins and jumps. That was a first! I use ground turkey instead of chicken and add a little bit of salt. Dogs need salt and since I also make her treats, I know she isn’t getting any unless I add it. Clara is very picky about food and also has a very sensitive tummy, and this food has been fabulous for her. I do have a question tho….do you have any idea how many calories per cup? She is starting to get pudgy (could be the cookies I make for her….LOL). Thanks for great recipes!
This has been so helpful. My ChiWeiner; Duece is 9 and over the past 2-3 years he’s become very overweight. The vet contributes it to some type of disease. We’d had some blood tests done and now they want to do more extensive tests. But before I started hundreds of thousands of dollars for testing. I stumbled across your page. So happy to report Deuce LOVES the food as does our other teacup Chi; Nala. Deuce is down a total 5 pounds in 3 months and is able to get up and down the stairs to get in and out of the house again and appears so much happier again. Thank you so much and God Bless you for sharing all your knowledge
Made this for our King Charles Cavaler. He absolutely loves it! We used lean ground beef. I love it to when I add spicy seasoning to it for me. I can now say I eat dog food!
This sounds perfect – I haven’t tried it yet (just found this page this morning) but I’m wondering about how much to feed my puppy. I have a 5 month old german shepherd and he’s between 35-40 pounds.
My maltipoo is 11 lbs. she is 2 years old. She loves this recipe but i did use green beans instead of peas. I’ve been feeding her a cup per day but not sure if that’s enough. Anyone that can share a suggested amount?
Love this recipe! I also add golden paste to the mixture and my yorkies love it. Hey @Rosanna Salas, you should check with your vet, but I think one cup maybe a little too much for an 11lb. dog, we feed our 10.5 lbs. Yorkie 5oz. daily and it works for him, he has been maintaining that weight with no issues
Hi Amanda, do you add any vitamins in their food? Mine is a morkie and he is 8lb picky eater
Can’t wait to try this. I think my fur babies will love this.
My dog has a very sensitive stomach. I tried this recipe and it works great for her. I tried buying her fresh food on line and it is so expensive: over $200 per month, but it still didn’t do the job…. Hardly any meat, and lots of vegetables in it.
I am so happy with this recipe, Easy to make, affordable and works for my dog. I ad multi vitamins and an egg every morning to it.
Thank you.
My 15 year old Maltese mix has recently become very difficult to feed. We’ve tried all the ‘expensive’ brands to no avail. I tried this recipe-left out peas as she doesn’t like them-but subbed in green beans instead. I put some in her dish and she immediately ate every bite. Tears of joy! Thanks so much!!!
Does your Maltese have tear stains? I was wondering if this dog food helped with it. Also hoe much do you give her a day?
Hi Sherri, I have a Bichon Frise. We found that distilled water only did the trick. That and a pet probiotic, PetLab Co. This recipe is fantastic too, it definitely can’t hurt!
I have been making this recipe for about a year. I am curious if I could try my instant pot or crockpot as well.
Hi! I’ve been cooking my chicken for dog food in my instant pot. As it’s cooking i have the brown rice going and prep all of my other ingredients(shredded sweet potato, frozen green beans and frozen kale). When the chicken is finished in my IP I add everything to my standing mixer and add 1 T of coconut oil and 2 T spinach powder. I’ve been adding beef liver recently and they really seem to enjoy it.
Hi Melinda,
I’ve been making my dogs food for a few years now. I throw a chicken in the crock pot and cook it all night the next day while I’m deboning it I cook brown rice in the chicken broth then mix it all together and add the veggies. My dog loves it and I can make bigger batches.
I’ve used my instapot to make this for years, keeps the nutrients in it. Cook your rice first and set aside so it’s not mushy, (it just looks better to me) and sometimes I add lentils or beans, liver, etc. Great for dogs with preservatives allergies ( and who wants all those preservatives anyway???)
So I’m giving it five stars anyways but I have not tried the recipe yet but it sounds wonderful. I had found another recipe that i’ve been using for the past month as I am just recently started making homemade dog food. That recipe called for shredded chicken breast and I found it to be way too expensive And to be honest way too much work. They say work smarter not harder that sounds like ground turkey or chicken is the way to go. I also found it to be way too much rice in one recipe for dogs. I believe rice is OK sometimes but not every time. That being said I am going to use ground turkey in replacement of the chicken and I’m going to use sweet potatoes Along with the other vegetables. Can’t wait to try this
Thank you very much for this awesome recipe!! Thank you.
Easy to make and I know my dog is eating healthy.
This looks so healthy and easy to make. I need a recipe for dog treats.
I made these for my my son’s 70lb Shepski and he loved them!
Thank you very much for this awesome recipe! My Shih Tzu loves it!
My dogs love this!! I am just using it as a topper for their kibble, but I hope to transition to using homemade food exclusively. My elderly dog (14-year-old hound mix of unknown breed) has borderline kidney problems and is on a prescription diet. I read somewhere that peas are not good for dogs with kidney problems, so I substituted green beans for the peas. I used 99% lean ground chicken, so I definitely need to add the oil. The elder dog loves all kinds of veggies; not picky at all. My 3-year-old Great Dane is a bit picky, even with her kibble, and when we add this homemade food, she gobbles it up without hesitation. Thank you for this recipe!