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Keep your dog healthy and fit with this DIY homemade dog food recipe, made with ground turkey, rice, and fresh veggies. Budget-friendly, nutritious, and easy to make at home.

Homemade dog food in Dutch oven with ground turkey, rice, and fresh vegetables

DIY Homemade Dog Food - 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.

DIY homemade dog food with turkey, spinach, carrots, zucchini, and peas cooling in pot

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.

Healthy homemade dog food recipe portioned into bowls for serving

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!

DIY dog food with rice, carrots, zucchini, peas, and ground turkey mixed together

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:

  1. High-quality protein (meat, seafood, dairy or eggs)
  2. Fat (meat or oil)
  3. Carbohydrates (grains or vegetables)
  4. Calcium (dairy)
  5. 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.

Homemade dog food cooling before freezer meal prep and storage

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

DIY Homemade Dog Food

Yield: 8 cups
Prep: 10 minutes
Cook: 45 minutes
Total: 55 minutes
Keep your dog healthy and fit with this easy peasy homemade recipe - it's cheaper than store-bought and chockfull of fresh veggies!
4.9 stars (656 ratings)
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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

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.

Equipment

Dutch Oven
Dutch Oven

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Veterinary disclaimer for homemade dog food