Homemade dog food or canned? taking my dog to a groomer or just learn to do it at home? Does my dog really need more training or he is okay with what he got for now? The cycle of new questions is non-stop.
Everyday we try to enhance our lives through a lot of stages with different techniques, this goes with almost everything in our lives and our dogs are no different.
To get the most for our dogs has become an essential part that all pet owners are looking for to achieve in all the aspects of the canine’s live. Choosing the right food for our dogs will need careful consideration to settle on the best food choices that will serve the dog’s diet and with no doubt, balanced homemade dog food would be the most ideal choice for the dogs’ diets.
Here are some easy-to-be-made recipes that everyone could make for his/her dog without any hassle. The results will impress you and on top of that, your dog will enjoy a tasty and healthy meal.
But before that, you should know why homemade dog food is the ideal choice and how to make it balanced for the sake of your dog’s health.
Why Choosing Homemade Dog Food is Good And Nutritional Values You Should Look for
Your canine could benefit from switching to homemade dog food in a number of ways; he will get fresh and healthy food that is free from preservatives, he is getting good quality food with good ingredients (so, Yay for better digestion!) and on top of those benefits, your dog’s immune system will be built for better fighting microbes and infections.
These are not the only benefits you could get when you choose to feed your dog homemade dog food, in fact, if your dog has allergies, skin problems or even gastrointestinal sensitivity choosing homemade dog food will be a great choice for him.
Even if you are not going to fully depend on homemade dog food, knowing a recipe or two will be a lifesaver if you run out of your usual dog food, you will find a lot of ingredients in your house to make a healthy and balanced meal until you get your usual.
As for nutritional guidelines you should follow, you will have to know what exactly your dogs need and shape your homemade dog food ingredients around it. A ” Balanced” diet should contain protein, fat, carbohydrates, water, vitamins and minerals, a mix of these will be what your dog will need to grow up healthy.
Protein will help your dog with maintaining cells, tissues, organs, antibodies, and enzymes, while Fats will help in the absorption of vitamins, help in protecting internal organs and promote healthy growth.
Carbohydrates will provide glucose for critical organs like the brain and also, maintaining the health of the intestines, as for Minerals and Vitamins, they will help in structuring the dog’s bones, teeth, promote weight loss, keeps the eyes and skin healthy, and help to strengthen the immune system for better guard for the dog against microbes and infections.
Aren’t all these pieces of information tempted you to switch for homemade dog food? Wait until you see the recipes!
Homemade Dog Food Recipes; Meat Mix
Meat is the most common source of protein for our canine. Beef, chicken, turkey and more are sources to give your dog protein from along with cooked eggs. Here are some recipes that have the meaty element in it with other ingredients to add more nutritional value to the meal.
1# Stew Surprise
You will have to get these ingredients first;
- Boneless chicken, chopped 2 lbs.
- Ground beef, 1 ½ lb.
- Rolled oats, 1 cup
- Vegetable mix chopped,12 oz. Choose the veggies you think your dog will like and put it in. This is where the surprise will come from.
Directions
Cut the chicken into small pieces, then add it to a pot with enough water and leave it to boil. After about 40 minutes of being covered and simmered, add the beef, oats, and vegetables and leave it to boil for another 10 minutes and now it is ready.
2# Beef Stew
You will need these ingredients:
- Beef stew meat, 1 lbs.
- Chopped skinless potato, 1 small
- Chopped skinless sweet potato, 1 small
- Chopped carrots, ½ cup
- Water, ½ cup
- White flour, ½ cup
- Canola or olive oil, 1 tbsp.
Directions
Preheat the oven to a temperature of 350° and bake the vegetables for about 15 minutes. Now with the beef, sauté the beef with oil until it is cooked, then remove it from the pan and slowly, start to add water and flour. Keep stirring until they are thick, now add the beef, carrots and the potatoes and leave them to boil for another 10 minutes.
3# Meatloaf
You will need these ingredients:
- Ground beef, 3 cups
- 2 whole eggs (with shells)
- Finely chopped celery, ¼ cup
- Finely chopped carrots, ¼ cup
- Cottage cheese, ½ cup
- Rolled oats, ½ cup
- Peas, ¼ cup (canned or fresh)
Directions
Preheat the oven to the temperature of 350°, then mix all the ingredients together and put them in a loaf pan and bake them for about 40 minutes.
4# Savory Crockpot Pork
You will need these ingredients:
- Deboned and chopped pork, 2 pounds
- Chopped asparagus, 2 cups
- 2 cups of beetroot (chopped)
- White potatoes, 2 cups (chopped)
- Olive oil, 1 tbsp.
- Ground flaxseed, 1 tbsp.
- Water, 1 cup
- ¼ tsp Rosemary
- ¼ tsp Clove
- ¼ tsp Basil
Directions
Mix all the ingredients in a bowl and then put them in the crockpot. Set the pot for low cooking and leave the mix for 4 hours and let your dog enjoy this savory meal.
5# Chicken and Rice, Homemade dog food
You will need these ingredients:
- cooked, skinless chicken, ¼ pound (boneless)
- cooked brown rice, 1 cup
- broccoli, ½ cup (chopped)
- peas, ½ cup
- vegetable oil, 1 tablespoon
Directions
Sautee the vegetables until they are soft and then mix all the ingredients together and it is ready to be served.
6# Chicken Crockpot Medley
You will need these ingredients:
- boneless skinless chicken, 3 lbs.
- 1 cubed sweet potatoes
- 2 sliced carrots
- 2 cups of green beans, (frozen)
- 2 cups of peas, ( frozen )
- 1 cored and a cubed medium apple
- kidney beans 1 can (drained and rinsed)
- 2 tbsps. olive oil
Directions
Add the chicken to the crockpot and then, pour water until it covers the chicken. Start to add all of the potatoes, carrots, kidney beans, green beans, and apple. Set the crockpot for an 8-hour, low cook. After the 8 hours pass, add the frozen peas and cook it for 30 minutes, in the end, add oil and mash the ingredients altogether.
7# Baked fish
You will need these ingredients:
- 2 fillets codfish
- ½ peeled and cubed sweet potato
- ground sesame seed, ½ cup
- ground parsley, ½ cup
- sunflower oil, 4 tsp
- Water
Directions
Preheat the oven to the temperature of 350, then put the potatoes in water until they are tender. After that, put the potatoes and cod in a baking pan and place sunflower oil on top of it, bake it for 35 minutes. After you get the baking pan out of the oven, let it cool and then, add the sesame and parsley on the top.
8# The Old Standard Recipe
It is one of Damn Delicious recipes that your dog will adore, it is easy to be made, has no expensive ingredients and could be made in large quantities and stored.
You will need these ingredients:
- One and a half cup of brown rice
- Two shredded carrots
- A zucchini (shredded)
- Olive oil(one and a half tsp)
- Three pounds of grounded turkey
- Three cups of baby spinach( chopped)
- 1/2 cup of peas(frozen or canned)
Directions:
First, start with cooking the brown rice, get a saucepan filled with three cups of water and drop the rice in it, follow the instructions on the rice pack and set it aside.
Get a stockpot or a Dutch oven to medium heat and heat the olive oil, then, cook the grounded turkey. Your cue that the turkey is ready is when the turkey is brown, it would take about 7 minutes, make sure that all the turkey is cooked by crumbling it while it is being cooked.
The spinach, zucchini, carrots, peas, and brown rice are all stirred together until the spinach wilt, this will take an estimated time of 10 minutes. Now you have your meal ready! Set it aside until it cools off completely and gives it to your dog after that.
Our next one on the list of easy recipes that anyone could cook is ” crockpot beef and veggie recipe” It is also one of the damn delicious good food recipes that I personally fell in love with.
9# Crockpot Beef and Veggie Recipe
You will need:
- Two and a half pounds of beef
- One and a half cups of brown rice
- 1 and a half chopped butternut squash cups
- Chopped carrots (one and a half cup)
- One can of kidney beans, washed and rinsed
- Half cup of peas frozen or canned
Directions
Put the ground beef, brown rice, kidney beans, butternut squash, carrots, peas with four cups of water in a slow cooker and stir them in.
For slow cooking option, put it on cooking for 5-6 hours if you are going to put it on high cook for 2-3 hours.
Let the meal cool off completely and then, it is ready to be served.
10# Breaded Salmon
You will need:
- Brown rice, 1½ cups.
- Frozen green peas, 16 oz.
- 2 Shredded Carrots.
- Canned salmon, 75 oz. (packed in oil)
- 2 tbsps. flax seed
- Whole wheat bread crumbs, ½ cup
- Chopped chives, 1 tbsp.
Directions
Cook the rice according to the description found on the package or cooker directions, then heat the frozen peas and at last, mix all the ingredients together. You could mash it if you desire or serve it as it is.
11# Beef and Rice Meal
This one is not only easy to be made(it would only take 10 minutes!) but also, the amount you will get is sizable, 12 cup is what you will get if you tried to make this recipe. You could save many of these cups for future feedings in the freezer.
You will need:
- Ground beef, 2 ½ pounds
- Uncooked brown rice, 1 ½ cups
- Drained and rinsed can kidney beans, 15-ounce
- Chopped butternut squash, 1 ½ cups
- Diced carrots, 1 ½ cups
- Frozen peas, ½ cup
- Water, 4 cups
Directions
Put all the ingredients on the crockpot and stir them all together with the 4 cups of water, then cover the crockpot and set the temperature on low for 5-6 hours, if you will set the crockpot on high heat, it will only take 2-3 hours to be fully cooked. Leave it to cool down to the room temperature and it is ready to be served!
Homemade Dog Food Recipes; Savory Treats
Our homemade dog food is not only about making big meals, but treats are also included! you could make some tasty homemade treats for your dog and he is going to ADORE them.
Pumpkin biscuits are one of the great homemade treats that you will like for more than one reason; Your dog will find them tasty, it is easy to be made and it is an excellent digestive aid!
12# Pumpkin Biscuits
You will need:
- 1 Pumpkin puree can
- 2 eggs
- Oats, 1/2 cup ( It could be replaced with an extra 1/4 cup grain-free flour if your dog is on a grain-free diet)
- Whole wheat flour, brown rice flour or gluten-free flour, 3 cups
- Peanut butter, 3 tablespoons ( Look for xylitol free peanut butter)
- Half teaspoon of cinnamon(optional)
Directions
First, make sure to preheat the oven to 350 degrees, then get a small bowl and mix the flour, oats, and cinnamon. In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs, peanut butter, and pumpkin puree together until they are combined, now stir all the wet ingredients with the dry ones (found on the small bowl), Pour the mixture on a floured surface and roll the down to a 1/2 thick dough, then cut it with a cookie cutter( you could an inverted glass if you don’t have a cutter).
Bake it for 30-35 minutes or until the biscuits are golden brown, after that, get them out of the oven and let the biscuits cool down.
13# Frozen Banana Cubes
On a hot summer day, your dog will find this treat so refreshing, it contains ingredients that you think you are making a smoothie for yourself, do I need to say more?
You will need:
- Peanut Butter, 2 tbsp (xylitol free)
- Plain Yogurt, 4 cups
- 3 Peeled and mashed ripe bananas
Directions
Blend all the ingredients until it becomes a puree, then pour the mixture on ice trays or toddler popsicle trays and freeze them. You could keep these cubes frozen up to 2 weeks.
So, this was our list of 13 easy homemade dog food that anyone could cook, share with us what is the best recipe that you think your dog will love and whether you take the homemade dog food as the main source of your dog’s meals or you are more of store food consumer.
Don’t forget to take care of your dog’s teeth too, so he would be able to fully enjoy his tasty meals, check Can You Brush Dog Teeth with Coconut Oil? to know how to use coconut for cleaning your dog’s teeth.
