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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Omgggg! This is one of the most famous dogs recipes. Congratulations, and I have to say, thank you for sharing it with was. I was looking for homemade dog recipes food. This one is amazing, and a lot of people like, I was reading all those comments.
I haven’t made this yet but I’m just curious don’t you need to amend it with vitamins, fish oil or vitamin E ? I’m no expert but
I thought this was necessary. Also I understand spinach and kale are NOT good for dogs as they are high in oxalic acid. I’d like to start feeding my dogs somehting like this but I’m not sure about it.
Thank you !
I give my dogs pet-cal and pet-tabs for their daily vitamin intake!!
You need to be careful when giving your dog fish oil..from my experience with my 3 adult Labradors, whenever I give them fish oil gel pills (mixed in a small amount of peanut butter), 1 of my labs will end up eating their poop. Doesn’t happen any other time, only with the fish oil. Sometimes I have to give her Benadryl and it’s with peanut butter and she doesn’t eat poop then. I’ve just started feeding my dogs with this recipe without fish oil and it’s AMAZING how much better their coats look and no scratching..and it’s only been 3 days!!
Thanks for sharing, Sandy! We’re happy to hear your dogs are doing so well with this.
My Super LuLu loves home made food so as a schedule I prepare her food every other Friday. It’s fun and gives me peace of mind knowing what she eats. Thank you.
Great!
Can you freeze the dog food?
Yes, absolutely!
How long is it good to keep on fridge?
It should keep for at least 2-3 days in the fridge (they are also freezer-friendly in individual servings) but as always, please use your best judgment.
What would your idea be to make this a dried food recipe? I would need to leave dried food when boarding my pup at my local vet while on vacation. Most renters do not allow pets or I would take her with me. I mostly eat healthy and she refuses “dog food” so she eats a lot of thing that I eat
What a great idea! But unfortunately, without having tried this myself, I cannot answer with certainty. But if you get a chance to try it, please let me know how it turns out! 🙂
I made this for my 12 1/2 lb Chihuahua Honey and she loves it. She not a small Chi and is not overweight. I put the whole mixture in my food processor until it was well mixed. Happy with the results. Not certain on the amount to feed her, so I am starting her on 3/4 cup divided twice daily.
Wow this looks great. Im going to try making it for my chihuahua. He’s 12 yrs old and has kidney disease. He recently stopped eating all processed dog food. Even the canned, wet one he used to love. This morning I boiled some chicken and plain white rice. He tore it up. He was so hungry. So i’m hopping as long as I keep feeding him good, h0mecooked food, he’ll keep eating.
Thanks
We hope he’ll like it!
Just a note – kidney disease diet typically need a low protein, low sodium diet.
Hi, I’m curious how you manage the nutrient profile of the recipe? I’m looking into making my own dog food but am getting bogged down in the idea of her not getting enough vitamin, minerals, etc. depending on what I put in it. Is this something that doesn’t need to be focused on too much? It’s easy to determine calories and then the breakdown of protein, fats, carbs, etc. But I’m having trouble with the nutrition makeup of the food. Don’t want to make her sick by being deficient in something. She currently eats a fresh food that contains beef, vegetables, oil, and a “nutrient mix” to make up for any low vitamins/minerals so I’m wondering how to do that on my own?
Alex, I add supplements/vitamins (ex. Balance IT® Canine) as directed by our vet/nutritionist. But as always, please consult with your pet’s veterinarian and use personal judgment when applying this information to your own dog’s diet.
I’m just starting off but my vet recommended adding vitamins powder, it’s called superfood supplements and you can sprinkle plot over the food, also definitely add fish oil so you get all of the omegas
Super easy to make! My pit bulls are my world! I will start making all of their food from now on. i keep seeing how bad store bought food is for them and now they’re finding poisons that are killing dogs. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE DELICIOUS RECIPE.
Thank you for sharing with us, Sindy!
There are many nutritional and delicious vegetables and other raw food you can find in market and also those delicious organic foods are preferred by pet dogs as well. If you have well known recipes for your pet, then you can easily prepare any food for your dog.
Heck, I’m eating this!!
where is the calcium in this diet?
Janice, I add supplements/vitamins (ex. Balance IT® Canine) as directed by our vet/nutritionist.
I’ve been making this for my 9 pound toy poodle. I use boneless chicken breast. I also give her a daily vitamin. She is almost 3 years old. No more chronic ear infection, no more smelly breath!! Well, except for the two days a week that she gets baked salmon for lunch. It’s so much better to feed them healthy home cooked food!!
Sorry if I missed it in all the reviews. We have an English Bulldog that weighs about 55 lbs. Looks like he would need about 3.5 cups a day. Does anybody know how many cups this recipe makes? Thank you in advance!
About 8 cups.
I have made this recipe several times now. My dogs love it and it. Now I feel Guilty if I run out!
If I choose to use chicken breast as a replacement for the turkey, how many chicken breasts should I use? Also, how much per day would you recommend for a Great Dane puppy/young adult? I am thinking this may be cheaper and healthier than kibble for him. Thank you. 🙂
What a great idea! But unfortunately, without having tried this myself, I cannot answer with certainty. As always, please use your best judgment when making substitutions and modifications.
Regarding serving size, please consult with your pet’s veterinarian and use personal judgment when applying this information to your own dog’s diet.
Super picky overweight Chihuahua loved this. What she didn’t finish our 2 cats did. Thank you for posting this.
Thanks for sharing!
I have two chihuahuas , one of them is a very finicky eater . I made a double batch of this recipe and my two dogs absolutely loved loved it. I mixed it with there dry food. I put about a teaspoon on top of each serving of dog food and they ate it every time. My older dog, a Chihuahua mix is 8 years old and extremely finicky. But she loved every drop of that homemade dog food. I’m making a second batch now and I’m sure it will go over just as well as the first. It’s also great on the budget especially now that I have two dogs. Thanks for the fantastic recipe.
Glad it works for you!
My dog has been diabetic since June. She’s on a prescription diet and the cost of it is hurting me. I’ve been looking at a lot of recipes and I think this would be good for her. Her Doctor gave me different recipes but this one its only chicken and brown rice, 7/8 cup of chicken and 1/8 cup of brown rice, metamucil 4 tsp., corn oil 2 1/4 tsp., also 2 tsp. of Balance IT Canine. 383 calories is enough for a daily meal. Based on her weight she should have 369 calories, pretty close. So that means 4 oz. in the AM and 12 hours later another 4 oz. This recipe has 412 calories and she’s getting a better variety. Again 4 oz. in the AM and 12 hours later another 4 oz.
I will run this by her Doctor and hope he agrees with this.
Do you drain the meat before adding the rice and veggies?
Yes, you can drain the excess fat if you wish.
Although I added salt, ( all animals need salt) this was such a great idea.
My dog has been on grain-free food since she was a baby and now has cancer, so grain-free is NOT the way to go. This is a great, simple recipe. I will also be adding an egg occasionally and swapping out the veggies, but the combination was perfect and it was so good, I ate some. LOL
Thank you for the inspiration. I did cure a dog of cancer with a homemade diet.
Hi,
can you give us the recipe for the cure cancer diet?