Making your own dog food can be very time consuming. There is prep work involved, like chopping vegetables, and some recipes take more than an hour to cook. You can't serve it to your dog when it's piping hot, so you also need to wait for it to cool. Have you considered using a crock pot to make cooking homemade dog food much easier?
It will take longer for the food to cook, but with a crock pot you can “set it and forget it.” What I mean by that, is all you'll have to do is add the ingredients to the crock pot, set the timer and go about your day. When you get home you'll have homemade dog food that is ready to be served.
Crock pot dog food recipes are great for busy pet owners that want to feed their pooch a healthier diet.
You'll still need to do the prep work, but you won't need to spend the time cooking your pet's dinner. I can prep the food for this Beef and Rice crock pot dog food in about 20 minutes.
MORE IDEAS & VIDEOS: Homemade Dog Food & Dog Treats Recipes
Beef and Rice Crock Pot Dog Food Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 cups of water
- 2 1/2 pounds of ground beef
- 1 1/2 cups of brown rice
- 1 can (15 ounces) of kidney beans – drained
- 1 1/2 cups of squash – chopped (I used zucchini, but any type of squash will work)
- 1 1/2 cups of chopped carrots
- 1/2 cups of frozen peas
As I mentioned, aside from the prep work of chopping the veggies, this is an extremely easy recipe to make.
First, add the 4 cups of water to the crock pot. Then add in all the other ingredients. As I demonstrate in my video, I like to evenly spread the ingredients out instead of just dumping them all in a pile.
It makes it much easier to stir everything together when you're through adding the ingredients.
When all the ingredients are added, stir them together until everything is evenly distributed. Place the cover on your crock pot and turn it on the ‘low' setting.
In my video I mention that you should cook this homemade dog food recipe on low for about 5 hours. Some slow cookers have a built in timer that will automatically shut the cooker off after the designated amount of time.
If your crock pot doesn't have a timer, don't worry about it. Try your best to cook it for 5 hours, but if the food cooks longer it's okay. The beauty of slow cookers is that the food won't burn if it cooks for an extra hour. It will just be a bit more mushy, but your dog won't mind.
Once the homemade dog food is cooled to room temperature you can feed it to your dog. You can store the extra dog food in an air tight container in the refrigerator for 3-5 days. You can also freeze it to use at a later date if you choose.
ANOTHER RECIPE: Venison and Vegetable Stew Homemade Dog Food
