An easy recipe and guidelines for making homemade raw dog food that you can tweak as necessary to what best fits your dog.
For as health conscious as I am about what kind of foods I put in my own body, I have to admit for the better part of six of her seven years, I pretty much fed Ginger the equivalent of fast food to humans.
Sure, it was the good fast food but after awhile, even Chick-Fil-A isn’t “healthy” any more if you know what I mean.
Of course, occasionally, I made her homemade pumpkin dog treats but more often than not her food was anything but homemade.
Then one day earlier this year it was like a switch got flipped.
The guy who sold us our water softener system was sitting in our kitchen and as we looked over models trying to figure out which one made the most sense, the sales guy and I started talking about dog food.
He explained how he starting feeding a raw food diet for his adult dogs and how their energy levels were through the roof (not that Ginger needs help in that department), their coats were shinier than ever and their teeth in great shape.
It made sense.
I completely buy into the same theories from a human perspective, why wouldn’t it be the same for dogs?
So, next trip to Petco, I was forking over some serious money (like 3 times the price of dry food) for frozen raw dog food patties and giving this whole thing a shot.
The first meal I gave her the homemade raw dog food, she came running back into the kitchen after licking the bowl clean as if she was begging for more.
As I was preparing the second meal and she saw me take the food out of the refrigerator, she just about lost it running back and forth between the kitchen and the laundry room (where we feed her), her legs moving faster than her body could on the wood floor running into chairs and walls like a lunatic.
It appeared she liked it.
At $25 for 3 pounds of food however, I knew immediately that wasn’t going to happen and I needed to start looking into some homemade dog food recipes.
Sorry, pup, I don’t eat out every day either.
So, I got to researching.
And it turns out, making your own raw dog food isn’t really that hard for dog owners.
It’s a bit disgusting as you see raw meat and organs swirl around in your food processor, but it’s not difficult by any means.
And yes, dogs can eat raw meat.
I think that’s the number one question I get when talk about this with people so I figured we’d get that out of the way first. Raw meals are not only a healthy choice for you dog, it’s what they were born to eat. Commercial dog food is something big industry made up in the middle of the last century along with the rise of human processed foods. Like in humans, this transition has lead to a slew of health issues for our pets and an obesity epidemic that matches that of their owners.
And if you’re wondering what else dogs can eat, check out my other site – What Can My Dog Eat?
Raw Dog Food Recipe Proportions (BARF diet)
The BARF diet stands for “biologically appropriate raw food diet”. Under this raw dog food diet, a dog’s diet should be high in protein, moderate in fat with a minimal amount of carbohydrates. When broken down into percentages, it will look something like this:
- 70% muscle meat with fat
- 10% raw edible bones (chicken feet can be great for this)
- 10% organs
- 5% fresh vegetables/fruits
- 5% dairy/supplements/nuts/seeds
Using those simple proportions, you can pretty much make up your own recipe from whatever you have on hand or find on sale at the store or.
Meat with fat: I will usually buy ground meat of some sort for this just because it’s easier than breaking down other cuts. Beef, chicken, pork, bison, gamey meats, etc. Muscle meat provides essential amino acids and vitamins for the dog. If your dog has any food allergies, it will likely be to a specific protein. Choose a protein type that works best for your dog based on their health conditions.
Bones: Raw edible bones are an important part of the BARF diet for essential nutrients like calcium and phosphorous.
Organs: The good news is organs are cheap. The bad news is organs are kind of gross. Nothing like some slimy chicken livers getting pulsed up in your food processor. Liver and kidneys are the two easiest to find in the grocery store. Liver is also the most nutrient dense organ there is providing fat-soluble vitamin A and other water-soluble vitamins.
Vegetables/fruits: Ginger happens to hate raw vegetables and fruit. She’s literally spit them out before or eaten around them if we’ve tried to feed her some in her bowl. So I choose sweet things here like apples, carrots and sweet potatoes that get processed real fine so she can’t tell. Avoid onions, grapes and raisins as they can cause kidney failure in dogs. It’s also a myth that vegetables provide no nutritional value to dogs. While they’re not necessary to support healthy dogs, they do provide added minerals and nutrients for better health overall.
Dairy/supplements: Whole eggs (shell and all) are a great source of calcium. I’ll also use some plain yogurt to help bind the patties. Supplement wise, ground flaxseed meal, olive oil and fish oil are great additions too. You can also choose to feed your dogs sardines for the healthy omega-3 benefits similar to olive oil.
How much raw food do I feed my dog?
This question has come up a lot in the comments so I figured I’d address it in the post.
The general guideline for adult dogs is to feed a balanced diet between 2-3% of their bodyweight. So, for a 50-pound dog that would be between 1 to 1.5 pounds of food per day.
Influencing factors on determining feed amount
- Activity Level
- Adjustments for weight gain or weight loss (the graphic in this post is helpful in that regard although discussing with your vet is probably best)
- Life Stage
Activity level
Be honest with this assessment. Is your individual dog mostly a lounger that hangs out inside all day with a few backyard jaunts or is it a truly active dog like a sporting breed that hunts, a working dog like a police K9 or your pal that goes hiking with you multiple times a week for hours on end?
Human tendency is to over emphasize/assess activity levels.
Adjustments for weight gain or weight loss
Simply put, does your dog need to lose weight? Gain weight? Maintain? The answer to those questions will help you figure out which end of that 2-3% spectrum you want to start with when starting a raw food diet.
Life stage
Notice I said adult dogs when referring to the 2-3% of body weight for food amounts. Puppies are an entirely different story as they’re quickly growing and need more calories to support that growth.
There are two approaches for feeding puppies:
- 2-3% of their expected adult weight (obviously easier to figure out with a pure bred dog)
- 5-6% of their current puppy weight – adjusting with the dog as it grows
Senior dogs shouldn’t have drastically different needs than a middle-aged dog unless of course, activity level impacts them.
Pregnant dogs are something you should speak to your vet or a veterinary nutritionist about in determining the best amount of raw food to support a healthy pregnancy.
Making our dog homemade raw dog food has just become a part of the weekly routine now.
We do half of the homemade raw dog food recipe and half dry food which we upgraded as well to a grain-free feed with ingredients that make me comfortable when I read the back of the bag.
Because digestion rates of dry food (kibble) and raw dog food differ, we now feed one meal completely raw and one meal completely dry rather than mixing the two as seen in these pictures.
It’s a 30 minute weekly commitment that has made both her and I incredibly happy. Easy raw food dog recipes like this are a small price to pay to have complete control over the nutrition our dogs deserve.
Nothing can beat the look she gives me when she sees me reach into the fridge with her bowl in my other hand. And when I see her little stub waging ferociously from the lunatic excitement she has for every meal now, it’s a heartwarming feeling.
Knowing time is precious when you have a seven year old dog, something as simple as good food which I have the ability to control just isn’t even up for debate any more.
The Easiest Homemade Raw Dog Food Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 pounds ground beef
- 4 ounces chicken livers
- 1 carrot, chopped
- 1 small apple, cored
- 1/2 cup baby spinach
- 2 whole eggs, including shell
- 1/2 cup plain yogurt
- 1 tablespoon ground flaxseed
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
Instructions
- Add the carrot, apple and spinach to a food processor and process until finely chopped.
- Add the remaining ingredients except the ground beef and process again until well combined.
- Transfer the mixture into a large bowl. Add the ground beef and mix together with a spatula or your hands.
- Form into patties about the size of your palm and place on a parchment lined baking sheet.
- Freeze patties until solid, transfer to a storage container or plastic bag and keep frozen.
- Remove one day’s worth of patties from the freezer the night before and place in the refrigerator to thaw before serving.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Gina Matsoukas is an AP syndicated writer. She is the founder, photographer and recipe developer of Running to the Kitchen — a food website focused on providing healthy, wholesome recipes using fresh and seasonal ingredients. Her work has been featured in numerous media outlets both digital and print, including MSN, Huffington post, Buzzfeed, Women’s Health and Food Network.
Can sara l creekmore it’ll be a little more specific with the breakdown of her ingredients it sounds like the best diet for my dogs and I just like to know the portions on which you add how much of this and how much of that cuz I’m not really sure but it would be absolutely perfect please can you help me with this diet I want to use this one very much thank you from Kim Thompson in St Louis Missouri
Hello:) you said you feed kibble and raw , just wondering how you figure how much of each to give to not overfeed? I’d love to do the two together but I don’t know how much of each to give. I have a 45lb pitbull she gets a cup of kibble 2xa day. And if she were to be raw she would need just over a lb of raw food per day I just don’t know how much to give to not overfeed
If you’re doing half and half you can start by halving the amount of dry food you currently give her. It’s actually best to feed the dry food one meal (preferably morning as dry takes longer to digest) and raw food another meal (night). If she would need about 1lb raw total then you can do about .5lb to start (assuming you’re feeding her dry food for the other half of her intake) and see how she looks after a week or two. It’s very easy to gauge by sight if the dog is properly fed.
Is any of this food cooked? I just can’t tell since you’re saying raw dog food and it never says to cook anything anywhere, but I would think it needs to be cooked.
No, it’s raw dog food – the whole premise is that it’s uncooked.
i know it may sound dumb but are the eggs boiled or left raw and should you add bones
They’re left raw and yes you can add bones (uncooked) up to 10% of the total food volume.
Never cook raw dog food it takes away most of the nutrients (and never feed cooked bone, they can have raw bones (not machine cut bones… chicken breast bones and leg quarters and necks and wings
I make dog treats with chicken liver & flour . I’m thinking I can leave the liver out of the. Recipe ?
Hello! Just an FYI, please Do NOT feed your dog avocado and very little tomatoes- no tomato greens, very poisonous. We have two 100-120lb Great Pyrenees-Anatolian shepherds mix. The boy is 1.5 yr old and the girl is 2yr old. We have been feeding them raw food for over a year now. We buy 80lbs of chicken backs from the butcher (last a little more then a month) and they each get 1-2 in the am and 1 in the evening. Also in the evening, they get chunks of raw beef roast, 1 egg, 1 fillet each of mackerel, 1 tablespoon of yogurt and pumpkin, a cap full of apple cider vinegar and some organ meat such as gizzards, liver or heart. You can tell their bodies are absorbing so much more then kibble due to the fact that their poop is so small for the size of the animal. And very little smell. That alone is worth feeding them raw!! The dogs do not have bad breath, teeth are very white and the coats are beautiful. They do not need the teeth cleaner Greenies because the bones in the chicken backs help keep the teeth clean. We spend a lot less on food and much better quality with no fillers. Something to think about since you don’t have to mix or chop very much. Its good for the dogs to break down the bones. Never cooked bones though!!!
How much do you spend approximately monthly for the 2…. I have 6 (100lbs GSD/Saint Bernard’s and Saints) ….. theyve been on kibble Earthborn Holistic Grain-Free and they eat more than 2 bags a week which is $90 a week! I’m trying to figure something better quality, possibly cheaper and if I can do it from home, I’d do it in a heartbeat!!! My oldest Saint is gonna be 4 in Jan, so I want them to be as healthy as possible! My GSD is a working protection dog/service dog so her body takes a beating and shes 3.5 years old!!! The pups are going to be starting their careers now that they’re a year old, so I’d like to get them on a healthy diet as their bodies will be will be starting to work and could use the extra boost!!! Please let me know, I’d be very gracious!!!
This is excellent. Samson is my 8 year old German Sheperd, he weighs 103. Do you give them anything else in morning bowl other than the chicken backs?
Thanks for the recipe and the breakdown! I just made my first batch using your recipe as a base, and added some goodies that my dog raids from the garden every year, as well as added ground turkey and beef heart to the mix. My dog LOVES IT and he had an EXTREMELY noticeable change within 24 hours! His eyes looked less cloudy, his dull, crispy fur became supple, smooth and shiny, and his arthritic limp is almost GONE!!! I just took him into the Vet on Saturday, and he was amazed! He wants the recipe that I used because he wants to start his old dog on it!
Here is what It used in mine:
Broccoli, chicken breast, tomato (lisene!), ground turkey, beef heart, chicken liver, ground beef, pumpkin(digestive support and enzyme!), whole egg (glucosamine rich membrane!), carrot, apple, blueberry, baby spinach, snow pea, plain yogurt, flax, olive oil, hemp seed (super food! Includes most vitamins, all Omegas, chlorophyll, E, D, etc!), tumeric (for his inflammation), ginger (for tummy support)…..and add either a chicken wing or turkey neck on the side for chewing/bone.
All fruit/veggies were minimal, but added for their specific mineral/vitamin balance, and the vet was blown away at the incredible results that my dog showed just being on it for a week!
Now, if you could just help me figure out a recipe for those dang Greenies that he loves…but that are so expensive! Lol
Sara, what are your proportions? And how much do you feed? My dogs are 45 pounds and 15 pounds.
Thanks so much!
Could you give amounts for your ingredients please? Thanks so much for sharing
Sara, did you just grate a little of the turmeric and ginger and then add it to everything? Did you blend all the non meat and then just add it to the meat? Really new to all of this but I want to do it. The bone thing makes me nervous but I see that it’s so important. You just give your dogs the raw chicken wing or turkey neck and then they eat it all up, no problems? Ugh, I’m nervous .
If you own a meat grinder that can grind bone you’re golden! All you need to do is grind chicken thighs and legs with the bones and then food process the other goodies to add to the grind. Uncooked bones are much softer for your dog to chew then a cooked bone.
Can you recommend a meat grinder that will grind bones?
Hi Sara PLEASE can you elaborate on the ingredient proportions in your amazing sounding recipe ! (Even if it’s approximate).
Many thanks ?
Sara, what do you mean by super food that includes most vitamins, omegas chlorophyll e,d, is that all in the hemp?
Hello do you mince this all up and feed raw? I do a similar mix but cook it into a meatloaf in the oven. Could I try one meal raw and the other cooked?
Yes, it’s fed all raw.
What were the ratios or amounts you used in your recipe? It sounds great.
My vet told me it wasn’t good to mix raw and dry because a dog digests them at a different speeds and it can mess up their stomachs.
They can’t be fed at the same time, but you can feed raw for one meal and dry for the other.
I’m looking to change to a raw diet have been cooking a mixture of beef, chicken and organs, veggie’s (all type’s) and fruits( only approved). He goes nuts we supplement with Dynoite and salmon oil. He is a Cesepeake Bay Retreiver and suffers from MRSA at one point so near death we almost put him to sleep. We battled he battled went to cooking and found out also through testing he is solely allergic to dust mitess. Dust mites are every where but most often in grain products. First a Grain Free dry food frozen for 3 day and longer. All treats frozens no table scraps. His cooked meal must be frozen 3 day ahead and frozen. He had lost all his coat was covered in ulsers and red tenderness. We had to bath him daily one shampoo then the next day watered down bleach wash. Went on for 10 months today I can report he is full coat on shot to reduce itching there is no cure for MRSA He appears outward happy and healthy. The next step is the raw question how fast does one introduce. I may have missed this this in all the questions. Thank you! You have a a lovely sily baby!
Yes. Thatvis true. If you are going to continue feeding both yoinahpuld feed raw at one meal and kibble at the next but not together.
My dogs are both allergic to eggs. Any suggestions on a replacement in the recipe?
I am sure you could simply omit the egg without problem.
They need the calcium in the egg shell. You could replace with raw bone.
Is it the egg or the shell they are allergic to ?
You could rinse and dry the shells the blend then in a food processor to turn to power. Store in a mason jar and sprinkle on food.
I save all my shells and follow the cleaning, drying, storing process.
I use it on my garden as well as a food supplement.
do you cook any of the food? i made a batch of chicken based food that included organs, chopped up entire chicken, kidney beans, carrots, sweet potato, spinach, rice, – my dog was not into it at all. so then i cooked it in a crock pot (removing bones at that point) and she loved it. i’m about to go buy stuff for a new batch and was going to go with beef based – i will try not cooked but if she rejects it i’ll have to cook it some. thoughts?
Hello! I love the simplicity of this! And how cute your pup is! Wondering how much I should feed my girls? One is about 40 lbs and the other 30lbs. Can we do just raw food, or is it a good idea to mix with a few better quality kibble?
Thank you!