This particular recipe tastes like dog food, which is a good thing. Because it is dog food. Homemade dog food in a slow cooker.Here at Halfcracker Ranch, we make this for our dog Winchester and he gobbles it up.
So, why do we make our own dog food? Pretty much, it comes down to one reason – Control. We can control our dog’s nutrition and we don’t have to figure out what ingredients are in those cans on the pet store shelves. One popular, high end, dog food includes:
Chicken, Whole Grain Wheat, Cracked Pearled Barley, Whole Grain Sorghum, Whole Grain Corn, Corn Gluten Meal, Chicken Meal, Chicken Fat, Chicken Liver Flavor, Dried Beet Pulp, Soybean Oil, Pork Flavor, Lactic Acid, Flaxseed, Potassium Chloride, Choline Chloride, Iodized Salt, Calcium Carbonate, vitamins (Vitamin E Supplement, L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate (source of Vitamin C), Niacin Supplement, Thiamine Mononitrate, Vitamin A Supplement, Calcium Pantothenate, Riboflavin Supplement, Biotin, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Folic Acid, Vitamin D3 Supplement), minerals (Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Oxide, Copper Sulfate, Manganous Oxide, Calcium Iodate, Sodium Selenite), Taurine, Oat Fiber, Mixed Tocopherols for freshness, Natural Flavors, Beta-Carotene, Apples, Broccoli, Carrots, Cranberries, Green Peas.
Okay, we can figure out what chicken, whole grain wheat and cracked pearled barley are, but what the heck is Thiamin Mononitrate? Pyridoxine Hydrochloride? And really, chicken liver flavor? Why not just add chicken livers?
For this dog food recipe, what you see is what you get. We do have to warn you though, it may not be everything your specific dog needs. Check with your veterinarian and see if you might need to add any supplements. In our case, we feed this as a wet food in the evening and have a good quality dry kibble available during the day. This should cover most of what most dogs will need and seems to satisfy ours.
It seems quite a few people who feed homemade dog food to their pets do it to avoid food allergies. The truth is that very few dogs actually have food allergies. Allergies of all kinds are possible, but environmental allergies are the vast majority that affect dogs. Always see a veterinarian for allergies, they can be really hard to pin down. But if your dog does have a food allergy, making your own dog food can be a great way to work with that allergy.
Homemade dog food won’t save you money and may actually cost more that what you have been serving. This recipe, when ingredients are bought on sale (most are pantry staples), costs us about what a decent quality canned food would cost. Which makes it a good deal when we control the ingredients and, by using sales, the costs.
The recipe here is generic and you can change the vegetables and meats according to what is available in your market area. We generally buy ground meat on sale, the last batch has 93/7 ground beef (93% protein to 7% fat) but 90/10 or even 80/20 works fine. We generally try to keep the fat content lower, and on really fatty meats we will precook the meat and drain the fat.
We try to use ground chicken or turkey as well, staying away from ground breast meat when possible and those versions where added sodium or juices are included. Ground pork is also good, though stay away from sausage, it can have a lot of ingredients they don’t tell you about. If you find a particular cut of meat on sale, you can always grind it at home or ask the butcher to grind it for you.
When fresh vegetables aren’t available, frozen versions work fine. We generally have peas, carrots, spinach, corn, squash and others in the freezer since they are great for soups and stews as well as dog food. We thaw and drain whatever frozen vegetables we use to avoid extra liquids, and we also drain and rinse any canned beans to avoid the extra sodium they are packed in.
The only issue we have here at Halfcracker with this recipe is that we have a smaller slow cooker that barely holds the ingredients, which makes it hard to stir them during cooking. A larger slow cooker or smaller portions are the answer, but don’t go buy a new slow cooker just for this. We actually have several, from tiny to a fairly decent one that has been used to prepare an entire Thanksgiving mean, minus the pie. What we don’t have anymore is an actual Crock Pot™ by Rival. We have inherited three over the years and they all went to a thrift store due to the hideous 1970’s color schemes.
Slow Cooker Dog Food
Ingredients
- 2-3 Pounds Meat Ground Beef, Chicken, Etc.
- 1 15 Ounce Can Great Northern Beans Rinsed and Drained
- 8 Ounces Carrots Fresh or Frozen
- 8 Ounces Peas Fresh or Frozen
- 8 Ounces Butternut Squash Fresh or Frozen
- 1 1/2 Cups Brown Rice Can Use White
- 4 Cups Stock or Broth Low Sodium
Instructions
- Start with 2-3 pounds of meat in the slow cooker, beef, chicken, turkey or pork are usually available relatively inexpensively, just make sure you cut them up or use ground options. Stay away from sausage as it has unwanted spices, but you can mix type of meat as you choose. While we often make it with ground beef here, ground turkey or chicken is also usually available and we tend to use what's on sale. For ground beef, we like to use 90/10 beef but 80/20 works fine too. (The number is the percentage of fat, 90% meat, 10% fat and so on).We also will use boneless chicken breasts or thighs cut into cubes and chicken hearts and livers are fine in smaller amounts too. We suggest no more than 1/2 pound of these in a 3 pound mix, they add a lot of fat that can upset a dog's stomach. Using only breast meat, cut up or ground, can lead to a dryer and tougher mix so look for ground turkey and not ground turkey breast. If you want, grind your meat yourself, rabbit, venison and wild boar are good for dogs as well.The recipe says 2-3 pounds, we generally shoot for 2 1/2 pounds but packaging may change that choice. It's not overly critical. We have also thrown in a quarter pound of chopped bacon, though we render the fat out in a skillet first. Bacon grease is a staple around here anyway.
- Add the canned beans, a 15 ounce can, Great Northern beans or kidney beans are a good choice. You can use lima beans, fava beans, red beans or black beans too, we just usually have cans of Great Northern or kidney beans in the pantry. Drain the beans and rinse them well before adding them to the slow cooker, we want to remove as much of the sodium these things are packed in as possible.
- Add the vegetables into the cooker, we try to use about a pound and a half, 24 ounces, of mixed vegetables. Carrots, peas, zucchini, butternut squash, green beans, spinach and others are fine choices and we usually use the frozen bags for convenience and availability out of season. We do thaw the frozen vegetables first so we don't add all the extra moisture to our mix. Stay away from onions, garlic and other plants in the family though sweet potatoes and fresh pumpkin are great.
- This recipe calls for brown rice but you can use white rice as well. In fact, white rice can be a little easier for some dogs. Add 1 1/2 cups directly to the slow cooker. Also add 4 cups, about one package, of a good, low sodium, stock or broth. Chicken, beef, turkey or even vegetable stock are all fins and, if you're short on stock, you can just add 4 cups of water. We figure the broth adds a bit of flavor and some additional nutrients but we basically just need to add moisture to the mix.
- Set your slow cooker on low and let it go for about 5-6 hours, stirring occasionally after the first two or three hours. If you're in a hurry, set it to high and go for 3 hours or so. Let the mix cool, then serve to your pets or portion it and store it for later use. You can store in in the refrigerator for two weeks or freeze it for up to six months. Just be sure to label and date it, serving your in-laws dog food when they show up unexpectedly can be embarrassing. Of course, if to don't tell them what it is, it's perfectly good for people, though possibly a little bland.
Optional Ingredients
- There are a number of options you can add to this mix depending on your dog, your choices and your veterinarian's advice. For example, we generally ad a teaspoon of ground thyme to this mix. Our dog loves the flavor, as do most dogs.You can add a tablespoon of olive oil to the mix. Olive oil, in moderation, is good for dogs. We generally don't but it's usually because we find the mix gets a little oily if we do.We use brewer's yeast as a supplement for our pets, it tends to help keep their coat shiny and can cut down itching and dry skin. The problem with using brewer's yeast is that it's dependent on a dog's size and, to be helpful in a larger dog the amount used may be too high and cause other problems. For smaller dogs it works great. We figure about 1/2 teaspoon per serving and this mix usually makes about 8-12 servings for our dog.People have told us that mixing parsley in with a dog's food can help with their breath, as it can with humans. We've never really found that to be true so simply don't bother.Vitamin supplements are something that many dogs need and you can add it to this food. We've found that supplements needed are usually due to deficiencies in the food and we use a quality dry dog food for our dog to handle any nutrition needs this food might be lacking. Supplements are sometimes hard to add to a batch of food since you need to ensure they are distributed evenly throughout the mix. We simply feed our pets any needed pills as directed by our veterinarian.
Warnings:
- You can change the mix of the ingredients in the recipe, but try to keep the ratios similar. Dogs are carnivores, which means they eat meat, but too much protein in a diet can be tough on a dog. Likewise, too little protein can be detrimental too. Meats provide protein, as well as essential amino acids, that dogs need. On the flip side, dogs need carbohydrates for energy. But too many carbohydrates converts to fat in a dog's body, just as in ours, and leads to many other health problems. We try to provide about 50% meat, 40% vegetables and 10% fat in our dog's diet.Not all meats are the same either, just as not all carbohydrates are the same. For dogs, shellfish can be problematic but fish like salmon is just as healthy for them as it is for us. We also tend to stay away from the carbohydrates that are basically just simple sugar. Fruits for example. While dogs are okay with pears and apples in moderation (remove the seeds please), grapes can be very bad. We also don't use tomatoes or mushrooms in our dog food, although it's fine to let them lick the leftover spaghetti sauce off your plate. Small amounts of many foods are fine.Stay away from nuts, with the exception of peanut butter which is fairly good for doge, as well as corn. Popped or cooked normally. Chocolate and beer are also out for dogs and can cause serious issues, as can avocados.Mostly, check with your veterinarian about what you can and cannot feed your dog. If your dog begins vomiting, has diarrhea or bloody stool, discontinue using your dog food. We provide both dry food and homemade food so our dog has a more balanced diet and we don't feed large amounts of our homemade food at a time.
Update – June, 2019:
We took our dog, Winchester, to the vet for his annual checkup and shots and spoke to the technician about our home-made dog food. He thought it was a great recipe but suggested we try to use white rice instead of brown rice. Apparently there have been some studies that might suggest dogs have a harder time digesting brown rice than white rice. Pretty much all rice is carbohydrates, with a minor amount of protein and usually little to no fats (depends on how you make it). Brown rice has the bran and rice germ that is missing from white rice, and is generally considered more nutritious, usually because of the fiber content. Only, in the giant scheme of things, the increase in fiber really isn’t noticeable. In fact, given the amount of rice consumed by people, or even dogs, the vitamins, minerals, proteins and fiber difference in rice types is undetectable in a normal balanced diet.
But vets are vets, and even vet technicians know more than most dog owners, so we’ll take our vet tech’s advice and use white rice from now on. Most likely it’s not an issue, but that’s not a great reason to ignore your doctor’s advice. And if you regularly do that, it’s time to find a new doctor.
Update – November, 2021
After the various pandemic shortages and price increases over the last six months, we have adapted this recipe somewhat. For one thing, we seem to use more ground pork or turkey when the price of beef is high. We have also moved to only white rice, which we buy in large bags and store in airtight containers to cut costs. We have settled on 3 pounds of ground meat, a can of Great Northern or cannellini beans, rinsed and drained of course, and half a bag of frozen peas and carrots, Publix calls them Garden Duo, as well as half a bag of frozen butternut squash. We no longer thaw the frozen vegetables.
Frozen green beans, broccoli florets, sweet potatoes or cauliflower work as well in the vegetable category, some dogs may not like them as much though. We still make sure we use low or no sodium stock to cut salt, and we toss in some thyme since dogs seem to like it a lot. A teaspoon is plenty and dried thyme works perfectly fine.
Substituting some of the meat with larger chunks of meat when there is a sale on turkey or chicken breasts, or even lean pork, is fine, keep the size of the dog in mind when sizing these chunks. Also stay to leaner cuts, though with chicken or turkey both light and dark meat are fine, when trimmed of skin and fat.
We have been making more home made stocks lately, chicken has been been more economical a food choice and, since we trim backs and wing tips as well as the keel bone when we spatchcock (butterfly) them it is easy to toss the parts into a freezer bag until you have enough for stock. We also make stock from vegetable ends and pieces the same way, and the dog likes that just fine too. Of course, Winchester’s criteria for good tasting food is that it fit in his gaping maw, so anything would go with him.
Disclaimer:
All recipes posted on the Adventures At Halfcracker Ranch blog are ones we personally use and which have not caused us any medical issues. But don’t blame us if you get sick, you know what you can eat better than we do. We are not allergic to nuts, seafood, chocolate, gluten or any other foods (though Mango sap gives Mrs. Cracker a rash) so these recipes do not account for food requirements or allergies. Make sure to follow any government guidelines for cooking times and temperatures as well as canning procedures and, if it smells bad, don’t eat it. Which is why we don’t eat brussels sprouts. Besides, we don’t have enough money to make any lawyers eager enough to sue.