I am a lucky girl. My mom bought me an InstantPot for my birthday, and I love it. One thing I really wanted to do with it was create healthy dog food. I googled all over for a healthy InstantPot dog food recipe, but couldn’t find anything. There is one dog food recipe on the InstantPot site, but it’s not very healthy. At the same time I was doing all this searching, my friend Jodi from Heart Like a Dog sent me a pet food recipe book that was created by a holistic veterinarian. The book explains the best ingredients, proper ratio of meat and carbs, and everything else you need to know about pet nutrition.
Knowing that I would need a pretty simple recipe if I was actually going to cook it, I took all the knowledge I had learned, and came up with this recipe. I don’t like cooking, and barely cook for us, but this is really easy.
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Ok lets get to the recipe.
Vegetables. I peeled and chopped up one sweet potato that was about 6 inches long. I ended up with 2 cups. 2 whole carrots that were around 7 inches long when chopped gave me 1 1/2 cups. I then shredded some spinach until my one cup measuring cup was full. You could also use peas.
Throw that in the InstantPot.
Added 1 cup of brown rice. Brown rice is important because it still has all the good fiber that white rice does not. And dogs need fiber to stay healthy.
Put the rice in the pot, then add 2 1/2 cups water.
Take two fresh chicken thighs and lay them on top. I left the skin on while it cooked for added fat and moisture.
The pet cook book mentioned that dogs need calcium. This can either be given in a supplement, or finely ground egg shells. Grinding my own egg shells in my Mr. Coffee grinder seemed way easier, and cheaper to me. Note…I have never ground coffee in my coffee grinder, only flax seed. Caffeine is not good for dogs, so be sure your grinder is clean of any coffee grounds.
I added 1/2 teaspoon of the ground shells.
Hit the manual button on your InstantPot and set it for 23 minutes. When done, turn it off and let it natural release.
Everything was cooked to perfection.
I took the skin off the chicken, and the chicken off the bones. I shredded this all really fine with my fingers. Roxy tends to be a gulper, so I made sure that everything was well mashed, and small. While the mixture was warm, I added coconut oil.
The dogs knew I was making something for them, they supervised the whole time.
Verdict, it’s delicious.
The total calorie count for this recipe is 1271, that does not include the coconut oil. 1 TBLS of coconut oil adds 117 calories.
The recipe makes about 4 1/2 cups total. I had to break it down so I knew how much each dog would get based on their calorie needs. 1 cup of food is 282 calories. But I added coconut oil bringing the per cup calorie total to 308. Roxy gets 1/2 plus 1/8 cup per day, and Torrey gets 1 3/4 cups. I just divided any remainder between all the servings. This batch of food will feed them for two days.
Use these calculations from PetMD to determine what to feed your dog.
2 whole chicken thighs
1 cup brown rice
1 – 6 inch sweet potato peeled and chopped
2 – 7 inch carrots chopped unpeeled
1 cup shredded spinach, or peas (check with your vet before giving your dog spinach)
2 1/2 cups water
1/2 tsp finely ground egg shell, or calcium supplement
Coconut oil if you choose
Throw all the ingredients except coconut oil in the InstantPot. Cook on manual for 23 minutes, turn off and let natural release. Take chicken off bone, shred, and stir all ingredients well. Add coconut oil if desired while the mixture is warm.
That’s it, easy. Will I cook this every two days for them? Probably, it depends. When we are in one place for a little while then yes. Obviously travel days it’s impossible to cook for us, never mind the dogs. Am I excited to give them healthy natural food, you bet! Am I all about saving money, ya that too.
This recipe could easily be doubled, even tripled, but I don’t have space in my freezer for anything other than people food.
And it goes without saying, but I’ll say it anyway…when feeding your dog new food, take it slow. Mix part of the old with the new to avoid any upset tummy issues. And don’t be alarmed, the sweet potatoes and carrots make a nice orange poop. Easy to find in the lawn actually.
Be sure to save and share this recipe with all your dog loving friends.
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