Chicken Quinoa Dog Food Recipe
This grain free chicken quinoa dog food recipe is packed full of nutrition and flavor. Cooked chicken is served with kale, pumpkin, quinoa and healthy blueberries.
All the ingredients are cooked separately, then served together with the fresh blueberries. This homemade dog food is low in fat, calories and carbohydrates and full of protein.
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IS QUINOA SAFE FOR DOGS?
Technically a seed, quinoa contains a healthy amount of amino acids, have a high fiber and protein content and is also a good source of antioxidants. It’s a great alternative to rice too.
However, the quinoa needs to be washed and cooked thoroughly before serving it to your dog. Do not feed it raw to your dog.
Remember to go slowly when introducing new foods. And we recommend checking with your veterinarian first if your dog has any digestive issues or other health concerns.
INGREDIENTS
This homemade dog dinner is full of colour and texture. The quantities in this recipe are for my 4 dogs so if you are feeding a small dog you may want to reduce the amounts or half the recipe.
- Chicken – we used skinless chicken breasts. You could use other cuts of chicken but remove the bones.
- Kale – This can be swapped with fresh spinach.
- Blueberries – Fresh are preferable to frozen
- Pumpkin – Sweet potato could be substituted
- Quinoa – We used a mixture of different quinoa colors.
- Nutritional Yeast – a great source of protein and amino acids
- Coconut Oil – Virgin coconut oil is preferable.
Remember to go slowly when introducing new foods. And we recommend checking with your veterinarian first if your dog has any digestive issues or other health concerns.
HOW TO MAKE CHICKEN QUINOA DOG FOOD
The ingredients are all cooked separately, then assembled together. We chose to poach the chicken breasts as it makes it easier to shred the cooked meat. If you cook all the ingredients at the same time it’s a meal that can be ready in under 30 minutes.
Poach the chicken breasts
Wash and cook the quinoa in water
Boil or steam the pumpkin chunks
Cook the kale in coconut oil and add nutritional yeast
Mix all the ingredients together
Dinner is served!
Want more healthy homemade meal ideas? Visit our low fat dog food recipe collection featuring lean proteins, vegetables, and easy homemade dishes.
RECIPE TIPS
Mash the combined food for smaller dogs so that they can digest it easily. Or blitz it in a food processor for a smoother meal.
STORAGE
Keep this food in the refrigerator in a sealed container and it should last up to 4 days.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
This depends upon whether has your digestive issue with grains, then quinoa is a better option than rice. If your dog has an upset stomach, white rice is often advised. Both quinoa and rice depends upon your dog.
As this is a large amount of quinoa dog food, this can be frozen. Place portions of the food once cooked and cooled into air tight container or ziplocked bags. It will freeze for up to 2 months. Defrost in the refrigerator.
More chicken dog food recipes
Chicken and Rice Dog Food Recipe
Chicken Quinoa Dog Food Recipe
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Ingredients
- 3 medium chicken breasts skinless and boneless
- 1 cup quinoa
- 2 cups water
- 2 cups kale chopped
- 1 cup pumpkin cut into chunks
- 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
- 1/2 cup blueberries
Instructions
Cook the chicken
- Place the chicken breasts in a saucepan of water, bring to the boil and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes until they are cooked through.
- Drain the water, and using two forks, shed the chicken into pieces.
Cook the quinoa
- Place the cup of quinoa in a saucepan with the 2 cups water. Cover and bring to the boil. Simmer for 15 minutes until the water has been absorbed.
Cook the kale
- Heat the coconut oil in a large pan or skillet and add the kale. Saute for 5 minutes until cooked. Stir in the nutritional yeast.
Cook the pumpkin
- It can be steamed but for this recipe we boiled the chunks. Place the pumpkin pieces in a medium saucepan. Cover, bring to the boil and simmer for 10-12 minutes until soft.
Assemble
- Place the cooked quinoa, pumpkin, kale and chicken in a large bowl or container. Add the blueberries and stir well to combine all of the ingredients.
Notes
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator.
My dogs love this recipe. I have a question, what benefits give the nutritional yeast?
Delighted your dogs enjoy the recipe. Nutritional yeast is a complete protein as it contains all nine amino acids and contains high amounts of vitamin B complex, which supports healthy digestion and nutrient absorption.