Homemade Dog Food Recipe: A Vet-Balanced Guide (and What Most Recipes Miss)

Cooking for your dog is one of the kindest things you can do, and it is easier than it sounds. But there is one thing almost every online recipe gets wrong, and it is worth knowing before you pick up a pan.

In 2013, veterinary nutritionists at UC Davis analysed 200 home-made dog food recipes, many written by vets. Almost all of them fell short on at least one essential nutrient, and only a handful were fully complete. The most common gaps were calcium, zinc, vitamin E, vitamin D and choline.

None of that means home cooking is a bad idea. It means a good recipe has two parts: the food you can see, and the small additions that make it complete. This guide gives you both.

This makes about 1 kg of cooked food, roughly two days for a typical 10 kg adult dog.

Method:

• Cut the chicken and liver into small pieces and simmer in plain water for 15 to 20 minutes until cooked through. No salt, no stock cubes, no seasoning.
• Cook the rice in plain water until soft.
• Steam or boil the pumpkin, carrots and green beans until soft, then chop small or mash. Dogs digest softened vegetables far better than raw chunks.
• Let everything cool, then mix together with the oil and a splash of the cooking water.
• Stir in the calcium and supplement described in the next section, only once the food is cool.

This is the step that separates a nice meal from a complete diet.

• Calcium. Boneless meat is very low in calcium and high in phosphorus. Fed for weeks, that imbalance affects bones, especially in puppies. A commonly used starting point is about half a teaspoon of finely ground eggshell powder, roughly 1 g of calcium, per 500 g of meat. Ask your vet to confirm the amount for your dog.
• A vitamin and mineral supplement made for home-cooked dog food. This fills the zinc, vitamin E, vitamin D, iodine and choline gaps the UC Davis study kept finding. Use one designed to complete a home recipe, at the dose on the pack.
• Omega-3. A small daily amount of fish oil, dosed by your dog’s weight, supports skin, coat and joints.

If you plan to feed home-cooked food for more than a few weeks, it is worth one conversation with your vet, or a veterinary nutritionist, to have your exact recipe checked. For a short spell or a mixed diet, the recipe above with calcium and a supplement is a solid, safe base.

This recipe has about the same energy per gram as gently cooked fresh food, so these daily amounts are a good starting point for an adult dog:

Split it into two meals. Then let your dog’s body guide you: you should feel the ribs easily under a light layer and see a waist from above. Adjust by about 10% at a time. Our feeding chart explains what moves the number up or down.

Some everyday kitchen foods are genuinely dangerous for dogs. Keep these out of the pot, always:

• Onion, garlic, chives and leeks, in any form, including powders
• Grapes, raisins and sultanas
• Chocolate, coffee and anything with caffeine
• Xylitol, a sweetener found in some sugar-free foods and peanut butters
• Macadamia nuts
• Cooked bones, which splinter
• Salt, stock cubes, spices and fried or fatty leftovers

Home-cooked food spoils faster than people expect, especially in a Saudi summer.

• Keep it in the fridge in a sealed container and use it within 3 days.
• Freeze the rest in daily portions. It keeps well for 2 to 3 months.
• Thaw in the fridge overnight, never on the counter.
• Do not leave a bowl out for more than 2 hours, and less in the heat.

We cover this in more detail in our guide to storing fresh dog food in the Saudi heat.

Homemade food works well when you enjoy cooking, have time each week, and are willing to add the calcium and supplement every single batch. It is harder when life gets busy, because a recipe that is only complete on the weeks you remember is not really complete.

That is exactly the gap Soluky was built for. Our meals use the same kind of real ingredients you have just read about, gently cooked, but the balancing is done for you: every recipe is formulated by a nutritionist to AAFCO and FEDIAF standards, portioned to your dog, and delivered cold. See every ingredient we use and why, or order fresh dog food delivered in Riyadh, Jeddah and across the Kingdom. Build your dog’s box and save 15% on every autoship order.