Healthy Homemade Dog Food… Fast (with a pressure cooker)

Healthy Dog Food Pressure Cooker

When our Boston Terrier Jack turned 10, we started to think more about his health, especially with the low-quality, dangerous dog food causing illness and even death in some pets. We didn’t want to feed him mass-produced dog food, even from previously well-trusted brands.

We decided that cooking quality, human-grade food made of chicken, veggies, and grains was the best way to ensure he’s eating well. And our recipe was a hit with Jack, a notoriously picky eater. Additionally, since feeding him this fresh dog food, we get lots of compliments on how shiny his coat is and how young he looks.

When we started making the recipe below, we were cooking with a crock pot, which required 8 hours of cook time. While we were happy with the result, it was far too time consuming to make.

Healthy Dog Food Pressure Cooker

When I adapted the same recipe for my Instant Pot electronic pressure cooker, I could cook everything in 1 hour. Also, the quality of the dog food I made was much better than with a crock pot, results were more consistent (it’s easy to control precisely how long each ingredient cooks), and cleanup became much easier (no more burnt on food on the sides of a pot).

If you want high-quality, human-grade, dog food that you can make quickly and in bulk, the following recipe is great for dog lovers who want to give their puppy only the best.

Homemade Healthy Dog Food Recipe

Cooking Time: 1 hr
Yield: Approximately 5 meals for a 15 pound dog.

Ingredients

  • 2 frozen chicken breasts (3 if you’re feeling generous)
  • 2 carrots
  • 2 cups of white rice
  • 1 medium-sized sweet potato
  • 1-2 cups of frozen spinach
  • 2.5 cups of water

Cooking Directions

  1. Add half a cup of water to the pot in your electronic pressure cooker. Optional: Microwave the water for 1.5 minutes first to speed up the process

  2. Add the frozen chicken breasts to the pressure cooker.

  3. Close the lid and seal. Set electric pressure cooker for 30 minutes at high pressure.

  4. Healthy Dog Food Pressure CookerThe Instant Pot Duo electric pressure cooker

  5. While the chicken cooks, skin and medium dice the carrots and sweet potato

  6. Rinse the rice and let soak for a minute, then drain to remove excess starch, Repeat 2 more times.

  7. When the 30 minutes are almost up, microwave the remaining 2 cups of water for 3 minutes to speed up the process.

  8. At 30 minutes, the chicken is done. Fully release the steam from your pressure cooker, then open the lid

  9. Add the diced sweet potato and carrots, rice, and hot water to the cooked chicken. Stir so that all the rice is underwater, then then close the lid again and seal.

  10. Healthy Dog Food Pressure Cooker

  11. Set electric pressure cooker for 12 minutes oh high pressure.

  12. After 15 minutes, fully release the pressure. Open the lid and mix in the spinach. Shred the chicken with a large spoon, and combine well with the veggies and rice.

  13. Healthy Dog Food Pressure Cooker

  14. Separate all food into five Tupperware containers (the Rubbermaid 1.25 cup containers work well) and refrigerate.

  15. When you want to feed your dog, remove on container from the refrigerator, remove the lid and heat for 1.5 minutes. Mix well and serve with a plastic spoon or in bite-sized clumps in a large bowl.

Healthy Dog Food Pressure Cooker

Variations and Substitutions

  • You can easily double the portion of food, just remember to double the amount of water if you double the rice

  • Substitute regular potatoes for sweet potatoes with no modifications in timing.

  • You can add other diced veggies too, such as celery if your dog likes it.

  • Sub frozen broccoli for frozen spinach, but add it at the same time when you start cooking the carrots.

  • Substitute brown rice for white rice, but cook it for 16 minutes instead of 12.

If you don’t have time one week, you can get the benefits of high-quality, homemade food but you don’t want to cook it yourself (or invest in an electric pressure cooker, we also feed our Boston Terrier pre-made, dehydrated dog food made from chicken and vegetables. You just have to mix hot water and this powdered mix together. It doesn’t look as pretty, and our dog doesn’t like it quite as much, but it gets the job done and The Honest Kitchen is a brand you can trust.

The Honest Kitchen dog food

3 thoughts on “Healthy Homemade Dog Food… Fast (with a pressure cooker)”

  1. thx. I just got a pressure cooker and was going to make dog food for my three dogs. I’m going to try this but I have to adjust to make more.

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