Homemade Dog Food – It’s Not Hard

If you’re like me, you love your pets like a member of the family. You want them to have only the best in their lives and that means you want them to have the best diet too, right? So why buy store bought dog food that sits on the shelves for months (and has who-knows-what ingredients inside) when you can make your own homemade dog food recipe with human-grade ingredients?

Hi, I’m Mike, AKA That Helpful Dad. I’ve been making homemade dog food for my pups for over a decade and I’m here to help you learn how to make it too. Cooking homemade dog food for your pets is easy, it’s fun, and it’s oh so good for them. In this article, I’ll show you one of my favorite recipes for homemade dog food.

Cooking for your dog is easier than you think!

Homemade Dog Food Recipe VIDEO

Homemade Dog Food Recipe

Ingredients:

1. 2 fresh celery stalks
2. 1/2 cup fresh carrots
3. 1/2 cup frozen or fresh green peas
4. 1/2 cup frozen or fresh chopped spinach
5. 1 medium fresh sweet potato
6. 2 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)
7. 1 cup fresh lamb
8. 1-2 fresh chicken breasts
9. 1-4 cups non-salted chicken broth

Tools Needed:

1. Large Cooking Pot. Lots of options for this but I use one by Rachel Ray. Here’s a link to the newest version of it on Amazon:
   Rachael Ray Porcelain Enamel II Nonstick 8-Quart Covered Oval Pasta Pot with Pour Spout, Green Gradient
2. Food Processor. Lots of options for this too. I use the tried and true Cuisinart. Here’s a link for that too.
   Cuisinart DLC-10SY Pro Classic 7-Cup Food Processor, White

Steps

1. Gather ingredients. Note that you may need to adjust the quantities for your ingredients based on the size of your pets. The recipe here is enough to feed 2 small Yorkies (6-8 lbs each), 1/2cup of food twice per day, for about 4 days.
2. Heat 2T of EVOO in your pot
3. Use your Food Processor to roughly chop all your vegetables (NOT the meat). You don’t need to liquify them, just chop them into ‘bite-size’ pieces appropriate for your pet.
4. Put all vegetables and the raw meats into the pot.
5. Add your chicken broth to the pot.
6. Add enough water to cover the meats
7. Put the pot on the stove and bring to a boil.
8. Once it boils, turn down heat to medium and cook for 20-30 minutes or until the meats reach an internal temp of 165 degrees. If you want a good thermometer to check this, here’s the one I use:
   ThermoPro TP03A Digital Food Cooking Thermometer Instant Read Meat Thermometer for Kitchen BBQ Grill Smoker
9. After 20-30 minutes, remove your meats and use the food processor to chop the meat. Then return the meat to the pot – at this point, it should start to look like a stew.
10. If you are going to serve immediately, be sure to let it cool first – maybe add an ice cube or two to your pet’s bowls.
11. Refrigerate any unused portion. It should keep for 3-4 days in the fridge (OR) you can also freeze it for long-term use.
12. Watch your pets go crazy for this food!

Homemade Dog Food Recipe Source

This homemade dog food recipe is adapted from the book “The Whole Pet Diet” by Andi Brown. This book is very helpful on many topics related to helping your pet – beyond just a good diet. It not only provides you with a lot of recipes like the one I’m recommending but also a wide variety of holistic tips about caring for your dogs the natural way (without simply relying on medications). You can pick it up on Amazon here…

Editor’s Note: Where available I’ve included Amazon affiliate links on this page to help you find these products faster – while I may earn a small fee if you buy the products I recommend, know that using my links does NOT cause you to pay higher prices AND most importantly understand that I ONLY recommend products I actually use myself. To learn more, see my Trust Guarantee. Regardless of where you may buy these items, I honestly do believe they will help you.

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