Homemade dog food: a complete guide to getting it right

Key points

• A complete homemade meal includes animal protein, a carbohydrate, vegetables, fat, a calcium source and omega-3s.
• If homemade food makes up more than 10-20% of daily calories, it needs a vitamin and mineral supplement formulated for home-cooked dog diets.
• Portions are worked out from calories, not by eye: the calculator gives you the grams for your dog's weight and activity level.
• Switch from kibble over 7-10 days, mixing in a little more homemade food each time.
• Large-breed puppies and dogs with medical conditions need a diet formulated by a veterinarian.

Homemade dog food is real food, cooked in your own kitchen with ingredients you recognize: meat or fish, a carbohydrate, vegetables and a little fat. Done well, it can be a healthy dog's everyday diet for life. Done badly, it falls short on calcium, zinc or vitamin D, however good the bowl looks.

This guide is the map you want before you start: how to build a bowl, why you need a vitamin and mineral supplement, how to work out portions, how to switch from kibble without diarrhea, and which dogs shouldn't start without their vet. With one big pot and a Sunday afternoon, you can have food ready for the whole week.

Why feed your dog homemade food (and who it makes sense for)

People switch to homemade dog food for very different reasons, and they're all valid: knowing exactly what your dog eats, working around an allergy to a specific protein, reviving the appetite of an older or picky dog, or simply enjoying cooking for them. Many dogs eat a warm bowl that smells like real food far more eagerly than a bowl of dry kibble.

What you shouldn't expect is a miracle. There's no solid evidence that homemade food helps dogs live longer than a good complete commercial diet. What we do know is that a poorly balanced homemade diet causes real problems: a 2013 study from the University of California, Davis analyzed 200 homemade dog food recipes published in books and online, and 95% were deficient in at least one essential nutrient. That's why on this site we check every recipe against a whitelist of ingredients and calculate calcium and phosphorus.

It makes sense if you can spare a couple of hours a week, have room in the freezer and don't mind weighing ingredients. If not, a very reasonable middle ground is to use homemade food as a topper on kibble (no supplement needed, up to 10-20% of daily calories) or to cook only on some days.

How to build a homemade dog food bowl

Think of the bowl as a six-piece puzzle. These are rough proportions, by weight of cooked food:

Piece	Approximate share	Examples
Animal protein	40-50%	chicken, turkey, beef, rabbit, hake or cod, hard-boiled egg
Carbohydrate	25-35%	rice, sweet potato, cooked potato, oats
Vegetables	15-25%	zucchini, carrot, green beans, pumpkin
Fat	1-2 teaspoons per 500 g (about 1 lb)	olive oil or sunflower oil
Calcium	per recipe	ground eggshell
Omega-3	per recipe	sardines, salmon or salmon oil

Calcium, the piece people forget

Meat is rich in phosphorus and has almost no calcium. A dog that eats only meat, rice and vegetables ends up with an inverted calcium-to-phosphorus ratio, and the body pulls the missing calcium from the bones. The simplest homemade fix is eggshell: washed, dried in the oven for 10 minutes at 150 °C / 300 °F and ground to a fine powder. As a rough guide, about 4-5 g (around 1 level teaspoon) per 500 g (about 1 lb) of meat; if you're following one of our recipes, use the exact amount it gives.

Omega-3s

EPA and DHA, the fatty acids found in oily fish, support skin, joints and the heart. Including sardines or salmon a couple of times a week, or adding salmon oil at the dose on the label, is enough. A good way to start is our homemade sardine recipe.

Why you need a vitamin and mineral supplement

Even with meat, vegetables and calcium in the bowl, homemade food usually falls short on zinc, vitamin D, vitamin E, iodine, copper and choline. That isn't a flaw in the recipe: with supermarket ingredients it's almost impossible to cover everything without absurd amounts of liver or fish.

If homemade food is your dog's everyday diet, or more than 10-20% of their calories, add a vitamin and mineral supplement formulated to balance home-cooked dog diets, following the manufacturer's dose (usually by body weight or by calories). Check three things:

• It's made for dogs, not a human multivitamin: the doses and some ingredients aren't suitable.
• It's designed to complete homemade food, not to give an "extra boost" to a dog already eating kibble (that could mean too much vitamin D).
• You don't double it up with another supplement without checking first.

If the homemade portion stays under 10-20% of daily calories (as a topper on kibble, for example), you don't need one.

How much homemade food to feed

The portion depends on the calories your dog needs and the calories in the recipe, not on how full the bowl looks. A spayed or neutered 15 kg (33 lb) dog with normal walks needs about 850 kcal a day; with a recipe at 140 kcal per 100 g, that's about 600 g (roughly 1.3 lb) split into two meals.

You don't have to do the math: the portion calculator gives you the grams for your dog's weight, age and activity, and every recipe shows its own feeding table. If you want to understand where the numbers come from, we explain it in how much should my dog eat. Weigh your dog every two weeks at first and adjust by 10% up or down depending on how they're doing.

Switching from kibble: 7-10 days

The gut needs time to adapt to food with more moisture and a different makeup. A sudden switch is a recipe for diarrhea. This is the schedule we recommend:

Days	Kibble	Homemade food
1-2	75%	25%
3-4	50%	50%
5-7	25%	75%
8-10	0%	100%

Work out the percentages from the full portion of each food: on day 3, half their usual kibble portion plus half a homemade portion. If stools get soft, stay at the previous stage for two or three more days. For dogs with delicate stomachs, start with a simple recipe like the one for sensitive stomachs.

Common mistakes when making homemade dog food

• Forgetting the calcium. It's the most common mistake and the most harmful in the long run.
• Cooking "the way you would for yourself." No salt, onion, garlic, store-bought broth or spices. Go over the list of foods dogs can't eat.
• Overdoing the liver. It's very nutritious, but excess vitamin A builds up. Keep it to 5% of the animal portion of the diet (10% as an absolute maximum).
• Eyeballing portions. Without a kitchen scale it's very easy to make your dog gain weight little by little.
• Using fat trimmings or skin. A very fatty meal can trigger pancreatitis.
• Always making the same recipe without a supplement. Small deficiencies add up over the months.
• Giving cooked bones. They splinter.

Batch cooking: cook once, freeze for the week

Cooking every day isn't sustainable. The practical approach is to make one big pot once a week or every two weeks:

1. Cook the protein, carbohydrate and vegetables separately, or all together if the recipe allows.
2. Let it cool, then add the oil, calcium and supplement (the supplement is best added right before serving if the manufacturer says so).
3. Divide into daily portions in containers or freezer bags and label them with the date.
4. Keep the next 3 days' worth in the fridge and freeze the rest: it keeps 2-3 months at −18 °C / 0 °F.
5. Thaw in the fridge the night before and serve at room temperature or just slightly warm. If you use the microwave, stir well so there are no hot spots. Don't refreeze food that has been thawed.

The weekly meal planner helps you organize portions and your shopping list, and if one day you don't know what to make, try what can I cook for my dog with whatever you have in the fridge.

How much homemade dog food costs

It depends a lot on the protein and on local prices. As a rough guide, for a 15 kg (33 lb) dog eating about 600 g (1.3 lb) a day:

Base recipe	Approximate cost per day	Per month
Chicken or turkey with rice and vegetables	$2.50-3.50	$75-105
Beef or lamb	$4-6	$120-180
Salmon	$5-7	$150-210

Add the supplement, which usually works out to a few cents a day. Overall it costs more than a mid-range kibble and about the same as a premium one. To save money: buy boneless chicken thighs in family packs, seasonal vegetables and rice in large bags, and rotate in budget recipes like chicken, rice and vegetables or the beef stew when beef is on sale.

When not to do it without your vet

For some dogs a small imbalance isn't a detail but a serious problem. In these cases, a homemade diet should be formulated by a veterinarian, ideally a board-certified veterinary nutritionist:

• Large or giant-breed puppies (over 25 kg / 55 lb as adults): too much or too little calcium and calories during growth is linked to bone and joint development problems. Our puppy recipes are a starting point for that conversation, not a substitute for it.
• Pregnant or nursing dogs.
• Dogs with kidney, liver or heart disease, pancreatitis, diabetes or urinary stones. In kidney disease, for example, dietary phosphorus changes the prognosis.
• Dogs with a diagnosed food allergy in the middle of an elimination diet.
• Dogs on long-term medication that could interact with their diet.

For a healthy adult dog, the homemade dog food recipes on this site, with their supplement, are a safe foundation.

Frequently asked questions

Is homemade food or kibble better for dogs?

Neither is better by definition: a good-quality complete kibble and a well-balanced homemade diet can keep a dog equally healthy. Homemade food wins on ingredient control and palatability; kibble wins on convenience and on not depending on you to balance the recipe. The worst option is an improvised homemade diet with no calcium and no supplement.

Can I mix homemade dog food with kibble?

Yes, and it's a very practical option. If you mix, work out the calories of each part so you don't overfeed: whatever share of calories comes from homemade food, cut the kibble by the same proportion. Without a vitamin and mineral supplement, the homemade part shouldn't go above 10-20% of daily calories; if you want to feed more, add a supplement formulated for home-cooked diets.

How many times a day should an adult dog eat?

Two meals a day is the most common pattern for an adult dog: one in the morning and one in the late afternoon or evening. Splitting the portion helps digestion and reduces anxiety around food. Small puppies need three or four meals, and some older dogs or dogs with sensitive stomachs do better on three smaller meals.

How long does homemade dog food last in the fridge?

Three days in a sealed container in the coldest part of the fridge. If you cook for longer than that, freeze it in daily portions: at −18 °C / 0 °F it keeps well for two or three months. Always thaw it in the fridge, never at room temperature, and never refreeze a portion that has already been thawed.

What vitamin supplement should I use in homemade dog food?

One formulated specifically to complete home-cooked dog diets, with or without calcium depending on your recipe, that covers zinc, vitamin D, vitamin E, iodine and copper. Follow the manufacturer's dose, which is usually by weight or by calories. Avoid human multivitamins, and don't combine it with other supplements without asking your vet.