Christmas Dinner for Dogs: Turkey with Sweet Potato and Blueberries
Christmas dinner for dogs: roast turkey with sweet potato, green beans and blueberries, plus calcium and omega-3. Their own holiday plate, no table scraps.
- Time
- 1 h + 15 min resting
- Makes
- About 1.2 kg / 2.6 lb (2 days for a 15 kg / 33 lb dog; 4 for a 5 kg / 11 lb dog)
- Type
- Main meal
- Difficulty
- Easy
- 49 % turkey breast
- 35 % sweet potato
- 10 % green beans
- 4 % blueberries
Follows THE RULE. All 7 ingredients are on our safe list: nothing that could harm your dog.
This Christmas dinner for dogs is their own holiday plate: roast turkey breast, sweet potato roasted in the same pan, green beans and a mashed blueberry "sauce" with no sugar. It smells like a holiday roast, it cooks in the oven while you get your own meal ready and, unlike table scraps, it has nothing in it that could upset their stomach.
The idea is for your dog to have a special plate at the same time you sit down to eat, so nobody needs to share theirs. It makes a little over a kilo (about 2.6 lb), so you can freeze portions for Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year's. With the eggshell and salmon oil it is also a meal balanced in calcium and omega-3, not just an indulgence.
Why it works
Turkey breast is a lean, highly digestible protein, and roasted without the skin it keeps that holiday flavor without the fat that so often causes trouble at this time of year. Roasted sweet potato provides energy, fiber and a natural sweetness that replaces any sugar. Green beans add volume with very few calories, and blueberries bring color and antioxidants. Ground eggshell balances the phosphorus in the meat, and salmon oil adds the omega-3s EPA and DHA that turkey lacks.
Step by step
Prepare the pan
Preheat the oven to 180 °C / 350 °F (conventional, top and bottom heat). Peel the sweet potato, cut it into 3/4-1 1/4 inch (2-3 cm) cubes and spread them in a roasting pan. Place the turkey breast in the center and brush everything with the tablespoon of olive oil, with no salt or anything else.
Roast the turkey and sweet potato
Cover the pan with aluminum foil and roast for 20 minutes; then remove the foil and roast for 15-20 minutes more. The turkey is done when, cut at its thickest part, it is white and juicy with no pink (75 °C / 165 °F if you have a thermometer), and the sweet potato falls apart with a fork.
Cook the green beans
Meanwhile, trim the ends of the green beans, cut them into 1/2-inch (1 cm) pieces and steam them or boil them in unsalted water for 10 minutes, until tender.
Make the blueberry sauce
Put the blueberries in a small saucepan with a tablespoon of water and heat them for 3-4 minutes, until they burst. Mash them with a fork: you get a thick purple sauce with nothing added. If they are fresh and ripe, you can also mash them raw.
Chop and mix in the calcium
Cut the turkey into pieces the size of a large chickpea (smaller for a toy breed) and mix them in a bowl with the lightly mashed sweet potato and the green beans. Add the pan juices too, which are just turkey and oil. Let it cool for 15 minutes, sprinkle in the ground eggshell and stir well.
Plate the dinner
Serve their portion warm, with a spoonful of blueberry sauce on top and their share of the salmon oil (about 2 teaspoons for the whole batch). Divide the rest into containers or freezer bags, one day's portion each.
How much should I feed?
Approximate daily portion for a "spayed or neutered adult" profile. Split it into two meals (three or four for puppies).
— g a day
| Weight | 3 kg | 5 kg | 10 kg | 15 kg | 20 kg | 30 kg | 40 kg |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grams/day | 210 | 310 | 525 | 710 | 880 | 1,195 | 1,480 |
Puppy, senior, very active or on a diet? Calculate the exact portion.
- Energy
- 120 kcal/100 g
- Protein
- 59 % dry matter
- Fat
- 10 % dry matter
- Calcium:phosphorus
- 1.3 : 1
Values estimated from the ingredients (BEDCA/USDA data). An everyday meal. To feed it daily as the only food, add a vitamin and mineral supplement for homemade diets.
Storage
Fridge: up to 3 days in a sealed container, with the blueberry sauce kept separately. Freezer: up to 3 months, in one-day portions; the sauce freezes well in ice cube trays. Thaw in the fridge overnight and serve it warm: 20-30 seconds in the microwave, stirring halfway so there are no hot spots. Always add the salmon oil after heating.
If you don't have…
- Your dog doesn't tolerate turkey
- Skinless chicken breast in the same amount, roasted the same way
- You can't find sweet potato
- Pumpkin in the same amount, cubed and roasted in the same pan (15 minutes less)
- You don't have blueberries
- Raspberries or strawberries in the same amount, mashed with a fork
- You don't have salmon oil
- Swap 150 g (5.3 oz) of the turkey for 150 g of fresh skinless, boneless salmon, roasted in the same pan for the last 15 minutes
Cooking tips
- If your dog eats kibble and has never had homemade food, don't switch their dinner all at once on Christmas Eve: mix half of their usual kibble portion with half of this dish. A sudden change plus a hectic night at home is the perfect recipe for diarrhea on Christmas Day.
- Give them their plate when you sit down to eat, in their usual spot, and afterwards a stuffed toy or a chew. If they are busy and full, they will beg less and it is less likely that anyone slips them something under the table.
- Make the recipe a day or two ahead: it keeps 3 days in the fridge and takes work off your plate on the busiest cooking day of the year.
- To feed it every day as their only food, add a vitamin and mineral supplement for homemade diets: the recipe covers protein, energy, calcium and omega-3, but not every vitamin and trace mineral.
Safety
- No leftovers from Christmas dinner: no turkey or ham skin, no fat, no stuffing and no gravy, which usually contains onion, garlic, wine or store-bought stock. Cooked bones, including turkey and chicken bones, splinter and can get stuck in or perforate the intestine. If your dog swallows one, don't make them vomit: call your vet and watch for vomiting, belly pain, blood in the stool or straining without passing anything.
- Watch what isn't food, too: butcher's twine, aluminum foil and toothpicks smell of meat, and some dogs dig them out of the trash. Close the lid tightly or take the trash out that same night.
- No holiday sweets from the table and no grapes. Fruitcake, mince pies and Christmas pudding are full of raisins, currants and sultanas and often contain alcohol; chocolate is toxic; eggnog brings sugar, alcohol and nutmeg; and "sugar-free" candy and baked goods can contain sweeteners such as xylitol. Grapes and raisins are toxic to a dog's kidneys and no safe amount is known. If your dog eats any, call your vet even if they seem fine.
- Turkey, always cooked through and skinless. If you buy it pre-roasted, brined or marinated, it won't do: it almost always contains salt and spices.
Frequently asked questions
What can my dog eat for Christmas dinner?
Their usual food, or a homemade dish made just for them, like this turkey with sweet potato and blueberries. What you shouldn't do is feed them from the table: roast leftovers, gravy, skin and holiday desserts carry fat, salt, onion, garlic or sugar, and at this time of year they are the most common cause of vomiting, diarrhea and pancreatitis.
Can dogs eat Christmas turkey?
Yes, if it is turkey meat cooked without skin, bones or seasoning. The family roast rarely qualifies: it comes with salt, spices, butter or stuffing with onion, and the skin is almost all fat. If you want to share, set aside a piece of breast before seasoning the roast and cook it plain.
Can dogs eat blueberries?
Yes, fresh or frozen blueberries are a safe fruit for dogs, with fiber and antioxidants. Give them whole to a large dog, or mashed to a small dog or one that gulps its food. What doesn't count is canned cranberry sauce or dried cranberries, which almost always have added sugar.
Can I give my dog Christmas dinner leftovers?
Better not. A Christmas dinner piles fat, salt, onion, garlic, spices and alcohol into gravies and side dishes, and cooked bones splinter. A small amount doesn't always cause trouble, but emergency visits for pancreatitis and blockages rise over the holidays. If you want your dog to join in, make them their own plate with safe ingredients.
What's in it, in detail
- Turkey Yes
- Sweet potatoes Yes
- Green beans Yes
- Blueberries Yes
If they liked it, try
The fridge list
The foods your dog can eat, can have in moderation and must never eat, on a single printable page.