🐾 How to Make Healthy Homemade Dog Food for Beginners (Complete Guide)

Switching your dog from kibble to real food can feel overwhelming — but it doesn’t have to be. Whether you’re feeding a playful adult (or a lazy bum), or a senior dog who needs extra care, healthy homemade meals can transform your dog’s health, energy, and longevity... literally helping them live longer.

In this article, we’ll cover all the basics you need to know to start making healthy homemade dog food:

✅ Tools you’ll need for meal prep

✅ Exactly how much food to feed your dog (adults and seniors - this is NOT puppy food)

✅ Core ingredients for balanced meals

✅ Supplements, natural, food-supplements, and add-ins that support longevity

✅ Batch cooking & storage tips

To get allllllll the details, download the free guide :)

📹 Watch the full video tutorial here:

📸 Throughout this post, you’ll see photos from our own kitchen and senior dogs enjoying their meals. Before you start cooking your pup's food, make sure you have the right tools:

🥣 Getting Started. Tools You’ll Need to Make Homemade Dog Food:

⚖️ Food Scale: Essential for weighing meals by grams.

🍲 Crockpot / Instapot: For bulk cooking meats & broths.

🥡 Meal Prep Containers: Glass, plastic, or bowls with lids.

🍖 Strainer: For making bone broth.

🐶 Slow-Down Bowl: Helps excited dogs eat at a safer pace. Use if needed

💡 Pro Tip: Meal prep once a week to save time. Store two days’ worth in the fridge, the rest in the freezer. We portion two days of food, per bowl, per dog.

🤯 95% of online homemade dog food recipes are nutritionally unbalanced.
Source: UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine study (200 recipes analyzed).

Why?

Many people simply parrot recipes they found online. Not much thought is put into selecting the ingredients. OR, they base their dog's entire diet on a recipe aimed at a dog suffering from an upset stomach, hence the mountain of recipes based on boiled chicken and rice.

This is why following the ingredients in this article, plus the recipes in the free guide, is essential. 'Balancing' dog food is not complicated, IF you know how. Then its super easy, and your dog will live longer...

⚖️ How Much Homemade Dog Food Should You Feed?

Commercial dog food bags give feeding guidelines — but they don’t apply to homemade food. In fact, if you try to use the 'cups' of food style, you will have a huge headache. Use this formula instead:

Adult / Senior Dogs: Start with 20g of food per kilo of body weight (≈ 1–2% of body weight).

Example: 15kg dog → 300g food/day

Example: 40kg dog → 800g food/day

👉 Adjust portions based on activity level, weight, and health conditions.

This is important. 20g/kilo of bodyweight is your starting point. Many dogs require less. Some more. This depends on activity level, metabolism, current health status.

For example, Ghangis, a doberman mix ate a full 20g/1kg. She ran a ton, chewed toys, and was naturally lean.

For example, Ghangis, a doberman mix ate a full 20g/1kg. She ran a ton, chewed toys, and was naturally lean.

She was 14 when she was diagnosed with stage 2/3 cancer. She's one of the few dogs I had since puppy hood, and she had several lumps removed from her, even as a baby. Unfortunately, sometimes, genetics are not friendly.

After her diagnosis, her diet went from low carb to keto, and along with her treatment - a non-chemotherapy chemo mimicking drug called palladia, she added specific supplements to her food to help her thrive for over 18-months, despite the cancer.

Her daily recipe looked like this:

• Ground Pork - 300g

• Eggs (3) - 150g

• Liver, raw - 50g

• EPA/DHA oil (omega 3)

• Bone Broth - 250ml

• Kefir - 2 spoonfulls

• Soaked Chia Seeds - 1 tablespoon

• Apocaps - 2 caps per day

• Turkey Tail mushrooms - 2 caps/day

• Turmeric past, homemade - 1 tablespoon

• BARF vitamin and mineral powder

Her diet is also a great example of how to use supplements for SPECIFIC needs (more on this later) rather than just shoveling in every supplement possible.

What about a different dog? One with no health issues, but a little less active?

Well, Maeby the Beagle?... she eats around 17g/1kg. She's active, but she has a tendency to gain weight easily.

IMPORTANT: this is for ADULTS AND SENIORS, this is NOT for puppies. They have a very specific set of needs, and it's best to consult with an expert in puppy nutrition for their homemade food. Maeby the Beagle?... she eats around 17g/1kg. She's active, but she has a tendency to gain weight easily.

IMPORTANT: this is for ADULTS AND SENIORS, this is NOT for puppies

🥩 Building their Bowl: Core Ingredients

A healthy, homemade diet balances protein, fat, fiber, and micronutrients.

1. Protein Base

Choose from:

• Ground beef, pork, chicken, or fish

• Eggs (protein + healthy fats)

If you want to go with a very low carb, or ketogenic, diet, choose ground pork, chicken (with skin), or beef. These are close to the fat/protein ration needed and you won't need to add in extra fats, other than fish oils.

Eggs are a CHEAP source of proteins and fats. As far as quality, eggs are the gold standard of bioavailability - the percentage of protein your dog's body can actually use.

In most areas, eggs can be as low as .20-cents each. This makes them an easy, healthy way to add weight to your pup's food.

Medium eggs weigh about 50g.

• So, if your dog needs 400g of protein foods per day, and that seems expensive, remember that you can replace some of the meats with eggs.

• Rather than give them 400g of ground pork, you could easily do 200g of pork with 4 eggs. You end up at 400 grams and save a ton of money while giving your dog varied protein and fat sources.

2. Healthy Fats

• Fish oil or krill oil (omega-3s for brain, internal, stem-cell, and joint health )

• Extra virgin olive oil or Extra Virgin coconut oil (olive oil has anti-inflammatory effects)

• Ghee or grass-fed butter (for keto diets)

Fats are an important part of your dog's diet. If they're eating meat (pork, chicken, beef) then they won't need a lot of extra fats added. Fish oil, however, is a must-add. Not for its fat content, but for the Omega 3's.

Oils like olive and coconut can be used as a supplementary fat. If you have a big dog who needs a lot of food, oils like this are a great way to get there. If your dog is on the ketogenic version of this diet, they'll probably need extra fats adde, too.

3. Vegetables

Add for vitamins, minerals, polyphenols, phytonutrients, & fiber:

• Spinach, zucchini, cabbage, bell peppers

• Pumpkin (fiber + beta-carotene)

• Sweet potato (ok vegetable source if not strict keto or low-carb. I suggest you don't overdo it with the sweet potatoes)

• Don't count vegetable weight in the total count. Vegetables are there for their nutrients, but they contribute very little calorically.

• Vegetables are also excellent to help with GUT health, providing pre-biotic fibers that the your pup's healthy bacteria can feast upon

• Pumpkin, for example, is great for upset stomachs and constipation because of the insoluble fiber. It creates bulk and helps move everything out the back door.

4. Supplements & Add-Ins

🐟 Fish Oil: EPA + DHA for brain & joint support

🌱 Chia Seeds: Fiber & omega-3s (pre-soak before feeding)

🥛 Kefir or Greek Yogurt: Natural probiotics + calcium

🍖 Bone Broth: Collagen, glucosamine, gut healing, amazing source of vitamins and minerals

🥚 Eggshell Powder: Easy homemade calcium source

🌱 Vitamin and Mineral Powder - This is optional, but remember you will need some kind of calcium supplement. Dogs have a tremendous need for calcium.

We use a bones and raw food line of multi-vitamin and mineral. It's cheap, easily absorbed, and sourced from vegetables, herbs, and egg shells. If you can afford it, use it.

Most calcium supplements are super cheap. Use it.

• Most supplements are optional, but please, use bone broth. Every day. It not only helps with joints and GUT health, the collagen may have an effect on your dog's ability to produce new, strong, healthy stem cells and mitochondria.

🧬 Why Gut Health Matters for Dogs

Did you know? ... Most of a dog’s immune system lives in the gut. That’s why gut health is central to longevity.

Not only that, GUT health is directly tied to internal health, joint health, and brain health.

Inflammation in the gut = joint pain, low immunity, higher cancer risk.

• Probiotics + prebiotic fiber = stronger digestion & resilience.

• Bone broth, kefir, chia seeds, and pumpkin all help restore balance.

For seniors especially, supporting gut health = supporting the whole body.

For those of you who watch our videos on YouTube and TikTok, you're probably sick of hearing us talk about GUT health. However, it is probably the SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT factor in not only helping your dog live longer, but also improving their 'healthspan' - how well they live, every day, in their golden years.

The good news? It is damn-near free to improve this. A few vegetables, bone broth, and a little yogurt or kefir, fed CONSISTENTLY, along with their anti-inflammatory homemade diet? Guaranteed longer, stronger life for your fur baby

💸 Cost of Homemade Dog Food

The price depends on where you shop. Tips:

🥩 Ask your butcher for cheaper cuts like pork shoulder roasts, oxtail, or “fatty trim” (perfect for broth + keto meals).

🛒 Watch supermarket flyers for bulk meat deals.

🍖 Use bones for broth — nothing goes to waste.

👉 In many cases, homemade can be as affordable as high-end kibble, but far healthier.

🦴 What About Calcium?

Dog food companies push the myth that you can only get calcium from kibble. Not true.

• Eggshell powder: Rinse, dry, grind in a coffee grinder = pure calcium.

• Bone broth: Provides minerals + joint support.

• Mineral supplements: BARF-line multivitamin/mineral powders are excellent.

⚠️ Puppies need even more calcium — always add a supplement if feeding homemade. This guide is for ADULTS and SENIORS, NOT PUPPIES

❄️ Batch Cooking & Storage Tips

Cook large batches of meat & veggies in a crockpot.

• Divide into 3 - 7 daily containers. We do two days worth of meals per container

• Store 2 days in the fridge, freeze the rest.

• Thaw overnight in the fridge.

• Freezing does not affect taste — even picky eaters approve.

Refrigerate the meat after cooking.

This is key, especially if you are using ground pork, beef, chicken, etc.

Why? Because you'll notice that after cooking, there is a lot of liquid left over. Now, much of that is water. However, there's also a lot of fat and amino acids in that liquid. If you dump the liquid, you're throwing away a lot of post-cooking weight.

For example, I batch cook 8 10kilos at a time. Each time I load 3 - 4 kilos into the pot with about 250ml of water for cooking. Once done, I move it to a bowl, letting it cool. Then, I place the bowl in the fridge. The next day, theres a 'pad' of fat on the top. This is (semi)liquid gold.

Trust me on this... I made this mistake many years ago... throwing away the water is like flushing your money down the drain.

We go into deeper detail about this in the free guid, but you'll know the sweet spot after a few batches. If you have too much 'gel' after cooking and leaving in the fridge, you used too much water. Not enough 'fat pad,' add a little more liquid while cooking next time.

This is all explained in the guide...

📥 Free Homemade Dog Food Starter Guide

Want to try this yourself? Download our Free Guide: Healthy Homemade Dog Food and Recipes (For adult and Senior Dogs). Perfect for beginners — fast, affordable, and packed with nutrients.

📌 Homemade Dog Food FAQ

❓ How much homemade food should I feed my dog?

A good starting point is 20 grams of food per kilo of body weight (about 1–2% of body weight daily). For example, a 15kg dog gets ~300g/day. Puppies need more: 5–6% of body weight daily.

❓ Can I switch my dog from kibble to homemade food right away?

Yes, usually — most dogs transition well, especially if you start with easy-to-digest proteins like ground pork or beef and add pumpkin or bone broth. For sensitive dogs, you can do a slow transition over 5–7 days. If in doubt, start wtiha quarter of their bowl being homemade, and transition 1/4 per week for a month.

❓ Do dogs need supplements on a homemade diet?

Yes, but not as many as you might think. While homemade meals are much healthier than kibble, they may lack calcium, omega-3s, and certain minerals. Add-ins like eggshell powder, fish oil, bone broth, probiotics, and mineral supplements help balance the diet.

❓ What vegetables can dogs eat?

Safe and healthy options: spinach, zucchini, pumpkin, cabbage, broccoli, and bell peppers. Avoid onions, garlic, grapes, and anything toxic to dogs. Click here for the 3 best vegetables for senior dogs.

❓ Is homemade food good for senior dogs?

Absolutely - in fact, homemade dog food is the best option for senior and adult dogs. Senior dogs benefit from fresh, anti-inflammatory foods that support joints, brain health, and gut function. Homemade diets also allow you to adapt portions for weight management and add condition-specific supplements (arthritis, kidney support, cancer).

❓ How do I add calcium to homemade dog food?

• Ground eggshell powder (easy DIY)

• Bone broth (provides minerals + collagen)

• High-quality BARF mineral supplements

❓ How do I store homemade dog food?

Batch cook, divide into daily portions, refrigerate 2 days’ worth, and freeze the rest. Thaw in the fridge overnight. Freezing does not affect taste or nutrition.

❓ Can dogs eat rice in homemade food?

Yes, but in extreme moderation. White rice can be useful for digestive upset, but it’s high in carbs. Brown rice is higher in fiber, but harder to digest. For adult and senior low-carb or keto diets avoid it altogether.

❓ Can dogs eat sweet potatoes every day?

No. Sweet potatoes are safe and full of fiber and vitamins. They should be cooked and served in moderate portions, especially for dogs with weight issues or diabetes. However, they should be an add-in, and not a daily ingredient for seniors and adult dogs. If you're in a situation where you, financially, need to add bulk to your dog's food, then sure, use sweet potatoes, but don't go overboard, please.

❓ What meat is best for homemade dog food?

Fatty cuts of beef or pork are great for keto or low-carb diets. Chicken and turkey are leaner but may require added fats like olive oil or ghee. Fish is excellent for omega-3s. Remember, in most areas, there are types of meat that are not really appealing to the average person. It could be a fattycut, cheap steaks that would be 'tough,' meat on the bone, and organ meat. These are cheap and great for your dog. NOTE: if your dog has CKD, do NOT feed organ meats.

❓ Can I feed my dog raw food instead of cooked?

Some owners prefer raw, but seniors and immune-compromised dogs often do better with cooked meals. Cooking reduces bacteria risk and makes nutrients easier to digest.

❓ Do senior dogs need more protein?

Yes — but it should be high-quality, easily digestible protein. Contrary to outdated advice, protein doesn’t harm senior kidneys unless disease is present. Balanced protein supports muscle and immune health.

❓ How do I know if my homemade dog food is balanced?

Watch your dog’s coat, energy, weight, and stool quality. To be sure, include calcium, omega-3s, probiotics, and rotate proteins/veggies. A vet check-up with bloodwork every 6–12 months is ideal. Follow the guide and the recipes - click here

❓ Can I add fruit to homemade dog food?

Yes. Safe fruits include blueberries, strawberries, apples (no seeds), and bananas. Avoid grapes, raisins, and cherries. For adults and senior dogs, it's best to use fruit as a treat.

❓ Is homemade dog food cheaper than kibble?

It depends on where you live and what cuts you buy. Using cheaper cuts, bulk shopping, and broth from bones often makes homemade food comparable to or cheaper than high-quality kibble.

To use a personal example, I've fed 8-dogs for less than it would cost to feed them with high-price kibble. This is after a few years of knowing how to shop for the best deals. It is possible, and quite easy, to get close to the same price, or een beat, the cost of commercial dog food.

❓ Can puppies eat homemade food?

Yes, they should — but puppies need 5–6% of body weight daily and higher calcium. Always include a calcium source and rotate proteins for complete nutrition. This page is for ADULT and SENIOR dogs ONLY. Please consult puppy experts for homemade puppy food.

❓ What supplements should I add to homemade dog food?

Calcium (eggshell powder or supplement), omega-3s (fish oil), probiotics (kefir, yogurt), and joint support (bone broth). Multi-mineral powders from BARF lines are also excellent.