Homemade Chicken Jerky for Dogs, Oven-Dried Strips
Homemade chicken jerky for dogs: how to slice it, a safe pre-cook and drying it in the oven at a low temperature. Just chicken breast and nothing else.
- Time
- 3 h + 1 h 30 min resting
- Makes
- 50 pieces
- Type
- Treat
- Difficulty
- Easy
- 100 % skinless chicken breast
Follows THE RULE. All 1 ingredients are on our safe list: nothing that could harm your dog.
Homemade chicken jerky for dogs, the kind sold in pet stores, takes just one thing: chicken breast cut into thin strips and dried slowly in the oven. You get a leathery chew that smells strongly of chicken, that most dogs go wild for, and that you know exactly what's in.
The trick to cutting thin, even strips is to put the breast in the freezer for an hour first: half-frozen, it slices like deli meat. The rest is oven time and one rule you don't break: first a burst of high heat so the chicken is fully cooked, then a low temperature to dry it.
Why it works
Chicken breast is almost pure protein and very low in fat, which makes it ideal for drying: fat is what goes rancid, and here there's hardly any. As it loses water, the chicken drops to a third of its weight, the flavor concentrates and the texture becomes leathery, so the dog has to chew for a while. Cut with the grain it stays more flexible; against the grain, more brittle.
Step by step
Firm up the breast in the freezer
Put the breasts in the freezer for 1 hour, until firm on the outside but not hard. That way you can slice them thinly.
Cut the strips
Cut the breasts into strips 1/4 inch (5 mm) thick, 5/8 inch (1.5 cm) wide and about 3 inches (8 cm) long. For a more flexible chew, cut along the grain; for strips that snap easily, across it. Pat them dry with paper towels.
Cook at a high temperature
Preheat the oven to 160 °C / 320 °F. Lay the strips on a wire rack set over a baking sheet, or on parchment paper, without touching. Bake for 10 minutes: this is what makes sure the chicken reaches 74 °C / 165 °F inside. If you have a kitchen thermometer, check the thickest strip.
Dry at a low temperature
Lower the oven to 80-90 °C / 175-195 °F, prop the door ajar with a wooden spoon and dry the strips for 2 1/2 hours, turning them halfway through. They're ready when they bend like leather and, when you break one, there's no moisture or pink inside.
Cool
Leave the strips on the rack until completely cool, about 30 minutes. They firm up a little more as they cool.
How many a day?
As a treat, keeping under 10% of what they eat each day.
— pieces a day at most
| Weight | 3 kg | 5 kg | 10 kg | 15 kg | 20 kg | 30 kg | 40 kg |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pieces/day | 1 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 9 | 12 |
Puppy, senior, very active or on a diet? Calculate the exact portion.
- Energy
- 14.4 kcal/piece
- Protein
- 83 % dry matter
- Fat
- 10 % dry matter
Values estimated from the ingredients (BEDCA/USDA data). A treat: keep treats under 10% of what they eat each day.
Storage
Fridge: 10 days in an airtight jar or a zip-top bag. Freezer: up to 3 months; thaw only what you'll use that week. Don't keep them in the pantry: homemade jerky still holds some moisture and, being meat, it spoils. If you see mold or they smell off, throw them away.
If you don't have…
- You'd prefer turkey
- Turkey breast in the same amount and with the same method
- You have a dehydrator
- Do the 160 °C / 320 °F oven step just the same, then 4-6 hours at 70 °C / 160 °F in the dehydrator
- You want something more tender for a senior dog
- Take them out at 2 hours, while still flexible, and keep them in the fridge for no more than 5 days
Cooking tips
- The 10% rule: treats shouldn't make up more than 10% of your dog's daily calories. The table in the recipe tells you how many strips fit their weight; for small dogs, break them into three.
- The more even the strips, the more evenly they dry. The thinnest ones will be done first: take them out as you check.
- Make them on a day you'll be home: a low oven with the door propped open can't be left alone all afternoon.
Safety
- Don't skip the 10 minutes at 160 °C / 320 °F. A dehydrator or an oven at 60-70 °C / 140-160 °F dries the meat, but doesn't heat it fast enough to kill the Salmonella and Campylobacter in raw chicken.
- Hygiene: wash the cutting board, knife and your hands with hot soapy water after cutting the raw chicken, and don't use the same board for anything else without washing it.
- It's a chew: supervise your dog while they eat it. If they swallow large pieces without chewing, give them the strips broken into small bits.
- No salt, no spices and no marinades: jerky made for people isn't suitable for dogs.
Frequently asked questions
Is chicken jerky safe for dogs?
Yes, if it's made properly: plain chicken, cooked at a temperature that kills bacteria and well dried. At home, the key is the burst of oven heat at 160 °C / 320 °F before drying. Starting in 2007, kidney problems in dogs in the United States were linked to commercial chicken jerky treats, mostly imported, though the cause was never identified; when you make them yourself, you control what goes in.
How many chicken jerky strips can a dog have a day?
As many as fit within 10% of their daily calories: each strip has about 14 kcal, so about two for a 5 kg (11 lb) dog, four for a 10 kg (22 lb) dog and about nine for a 30 kg (66 lb) dog. They're almost all protein, so they shouldn't replace their food. The table in the recipe gives you the number by weight.
How do you make chicken jerky for dogs without a dehydrator?
In the oven: cut 1/4-inch (5 mm) strips, bake them for 10 minutes at 160 °C / 320 °F to cook them, then dry them at 80-90 °C / 175-195 °F with the door propped open for about 2 1/2 hours, turning them halfway. They're ready when they bend like leather and nothing is pink or moist inside.
What's in it, in detail
- Chicken 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.