Homemade Dog Food: Turkey and Rice is so Very Nice
One of my favorite things to do in my spare time is try out new homemade dog food and dog treat recipes. We use homemade dog food to supplement the kibble we feed our dogs. We also make almost all of the training treats we use for them at home, using a variety of different human grade ingredients to keep the treats exciting and interesting for the pups. But we also give our pups organic pet food to provide them the very best of natural and organic diets.
Our dogs go crazy for homemade dog food, and get so excited when they know we are preparing their meals. One of my current favorites is a ground turkey, rice, and vegetable mix that I found on Damn Delicious. I love this recipe for many reasons, including but not limited to:
- It’s super easy and quick to make. This is important for us, because of how active and busy we are.
- The ingredients are all easy to obtain from your local grocery store.
- All of the ingredients are human grade.
- Most importantly, our dogs love it.
The recipe calls for ground turkey, brown rice, spinach, carrots, peas, and zucchini. The quantity of ground turkey in this recipe is high, so our dogs get some important protein from this meal. Furthermore, you can adjust the quantities based on how active your dog is (or how much protein they need). Our dogs are very active and burn more calories than the average dog (mostly because of their participation in agility), so we make sure they get plenty of protein in their diet. For those who love to take care of their cutting board I recommend to use mineral oil for cutting board. Once oiled, your cutting board will look as close to new as possible and it will restore the shine that was once on its surface.
Check out the full recipe here.
After we started feeding our dogs more homemade and human grade meals we’ve received many compliments on how healthy Raleigh’s coat looks, and both of our dogs are maintaining their ideal weight. We’ve also found that Raleigh in particular has more energy after transitioning her to homemade dog food. Neither of our dogs has been to the vet for anything that is not routine (vaccinations, nail trims, annual checkups, etc.) since we made the switch.
Switching to homemade food created a noticeable difference for our dogs, and I would highly recommend it to anyone considering making the switch! Stay tuned for more of our favorite homemade dog food and treat recipes.
The turkey and rice combination is great for dogs with sensitive stomachs. After Soldier’s bout with pancreatitis, the veterinarian suggested feeding him primarily ground turkey and white rice, as it is easy to digest and delicious. It’s been our primary food for Soldier ever since.
I’m glad it worked for Soldier! We love that we know the quality of the ingredients, and that it’s healthy for our pups! The high protein is also a big plus for our dogs because of their high activity level.
It’s a great idea to supplement dog food with some that is homemade, I do the same thing. I mix together boiled chicken breast, cooked quinoa, cooked wholegrain rice, boiled broccoli, raw carrot, raw apple and some olive oil. What I also love about it is I can make a big batch and freeze small portions so I don’t have to keep cooking – something I don’t enjoy at all!!
I love recipes like that as well: we often make large batches of food and treats, and then freeze the portions we won’t use within a week. I love your suggestion above, especially tossing in some apples. We’ve found recently that our dogs love apples, so we’ve been incorporating that into their food more. I’ll have to give that a try!
I only cook for Layla using a freeze dried vegetarian food which I then add the protein that I want, have been doing it for over a year and Layla is one healthy 11 year old. (The plus with this food is it has all the super foods in it plus turmeric, hemp hearts etc)
That’s a great idea! It’s nice to be able to control the protein content of their meals. Layla does indeed look healthy and happy: she’s adorable!
I make ground turkey and pumpkin when Mr. N is sick and needs bland food. We tried rice but he picks all of it out!
Iggy will sometimes pick the spinach out if it isn’t cooked and wilted enough. We love pumpkin in our house too: we use pumpkin-peanut butter treats as one of our training treat options.
Our dog Molly also loves homemade food and treats! We just shared new treats on the blog for her and she loved them! I have made a chicken and rice dinner for Molly and she gobbled it up in minutes.
Our dogs go crazy for it too! Chicken and rice also is a good option with high quality ingredients!
One of my goals after the first of the year is to start cooking more at home, especially for me. I don’t know if I’ll ever prepare the girls’s food, but I need to take care of myself in order to take care of them.
This is very true! We’ve found that cooking more at home usually saves money AND we feel healthier with more energy. Often while I’m cooking dinner for the humans I can make the pups’ food at the same time since I’m near the stove. 🙂
I’ve never really thought about making home-cooked dog food for my pups. We usually feed raw. Though we’re going to be trying a lightly cooked dog food for them soon too. If they like it, maybe I’ll try this out! It looks easy enough
We’ve considered feeding raw as well, just haven’t gotten around to trying it yet. This recipe is very easy to make, so it’s one of my favorites. Essentially toss all the ingredients into a pan and stir and you’re set!
That looks very good! I am going to have look at your recipe and see if it is something I have time and energy to do.
It’s very easy to do! It usually takes me about ten to fifteen minutes to get it cooked, and then I let it cool before I place it in the containers. And the dogs LOVE it. 🙂
I am just lazy! I have not got time to cook for eight cats and us too! This does look tasty though!!!
Merry Christmas
The Dash Kitten Crew
I can’t blame you! Sometimes I multi-task and cook different dishes for the humans while cooking the dogs’ meals as well. Otherwise I think I would spend most of my time in the kitchen!
My dogs enjoy turkey too, but I’ve never tried ground turkey – that’s a good idea, so much easier than roasting a whole turkey LOL! I like to sometimes add fresh food to my dogs dry food. This sounds like a really good recipe to try, thanks for sharing.
Love & Biscuits,
Dogs Luv Us and We Luv Them
SO much easier! I love the ground turkey because it cooks really quickly! Our dogs love their fresh food, and get so excited around breakfast and dinner time now. 🙂
Jasmine was on home-cooked after we discovered she was suffering from IBD. It helped a lot ans she really loved it.
We have heard that for dogs with IBD bland home-cooked meals like hamburger/turkey and rice and others work very well to settle their stomachs!
This is such a quick and simple recipe for dogs! Home cooked food is a great way of treating them to something delicious and healthy.
You are so right! We love that we know all of the ingredients are items humans can eat, as often times regular dog kibble includes unhealthy fillers!
This is so great! I would love to start making homemade food for my dog. I know she would love it so much more dog food. Maybe I’ll try this recipe out with some of the leftover turkey from Christmas!
That’s a great idea for leftovers! What originally inspired me to use ground turkey was that we had some left over from another recipe, so I looked for recipes that would allow me to use it.
This sounds like my dogs will really enjoy it! Great recipe!
They do really enjoy it! Ours go crazy when we start preparing their dinner.
This looks like such a treat for your dogs and I’m sure they absolutely loved it! Dogs deserve the best for sure!
wow! i really think my dog will like this recipe. And as a bonus it seems healthy!
We have two golden retrievers at our house (Harry and Sally). Once, when their tummies were upset, our vet recommended a simple meal of chicken and rice. From there, as a maintence kind of thing, we still make it and mix it in with their regular food. Like you said, their coats are shiny and you can tell they’re healthy (and happy!)
We had just rescued a dog almost a year ago and he was the most gorgeous little guy ever!! That was until we started feeding him regular dog kibble. He started losing his fur and his tail looked like a rat tail! Lol. So I automatically thought of diet and decided to try something homemade for a little bit and it was a miracle!!! I will never go back to store bought dog food again. This recipe sounds fabulous and I will definitely have to try it with him!
My wee boy isn’t to good with grain so I’d switch the rice with say … lentils? My sweet one has his meals made fresh daily with loads of veggies. This is a great post!
I have been making my 2 year old pup food for almost 1 year. My vet expressed concerned with using homemade recipes I found online because sometimes those recipes are leaving out some much needed nutrients. She recommended me to this website that I LOVE (below)! You can choose which food items to put into the recipe (so if your pup doesn’t like something, then you don’t include it). I also bought their supplements to add to her food. I recommend using the desktop version of the site rather than the mobile because it will list multiple recipe versions (well balanced, high protein, high carbs options) as opposed to mobile with just 1 option.
https://secure.balanceit.com/recipegenerator_ver4/index-mobile.php
That sounds great! We use this food primarily as a topper- and rely on our dog food recommended by our veterinarian to provide necessary nutrients. It’s always important to consult with your veterinarian prior to making any changes to your pup’s diet!
How much would I give my 38 pound pup? Currently he’s eating 1 cup of high quality dog food twice/day. I’m having issues with allergies (suspect chicken & grain) & diarrhea