healthy homemade dog treats with sweet potato

By Isabella Storyclaire

last updated September 16, 2024

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Sweet Potato Dog Treats

These homemade sweet potato dog treats are so delicious your furry best friend will ask for them every day! Even better, they are good for your fur babies too!

As you do your fall baking, its important to make some DIY dog treats too. This is a healthy treat that you will feel good about sharing with them. Plus, they look as cute as store-bought!

Keep reading and Ill share the recipe for this natural dog treat, along with extra nutrition and baking tips.

FYI This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Why These Sweet Potato Dog Treats Are the Best

Your dog is gonna love these homemade dog cookies! And you wont mind making them because they are so easy! When you are crunched on time and just want to whip something together really quickly, these sweet potato dog treats are a sanity-saver.

We can all use more easy recipes, cant we? I know I can!

In fact, you probably already have all of the ingredients in your pantry or refrigerator. Yup, I used pantry staples to make this dog treat recipe.

These DIY sweet potato dog treats are made with wholesome ingredients so they are actually good for your dog. Your pup will think they are eating a treat, but you will know they are eating nourishing food that is as good as a vitamin.

Want to know what is so healthy about them? Ill tell you the nutrition information about these all-natural dog treats here in this post.

Dog treats with sweet potato and oat flour are some of the best healthy dog treats you can make. They are a grain-free treat that is high in dietary fiber.

If you enjoy baking healthy dog treats, then this recipe is just for you!

The crunchy homemade dog treats recipe is just a little further below. First, heres more about the ingredients and why I chose to use them.

Benefits of Sweet Potato

These are the best sweet potato chews because of the nutrient-dense sweet potatoes. My favorite thing about them is that they are packed with disease-fighting antioxidants. These antioxidants help your dogs body fight common health issues related to aging like stiff joints or memory loss.

Since they are a good source of fiber, sweet potatoes are also good for your dogs gut. It will help them have regular bowel movements.

Sweet potatoes are also really good for your dogs blood pressure. Since they have lots of potassium, they help your dogs body regulate their fluid balance and keep their blood pressure at a healthy level.

Benefits of Oat Flour

Did you know that oats have a bunch of healthy nutrients too? Thats why dog treats with oat flour are a great thing to make for them! These treats are gluten-free, so you can give them to your pet if they have issues with wheat.

Oats have vitamin B which helps your pet maintain a healthy coat. Its also a good source of omega-6 fatty acids that helps keep a dogs skin strong and healthy.

Just like sweet potatoes, oats have soluble fiber in them too this will help them regulate glucose levels and give them relief if they are having trouble pooping.

Sweet Potato Dog Treats Recipe Ingredients

The quantity of the ingredients and the step-by-step directions are in the printable recipe card at the bottom of this article. First, I want to share some additional information about the ingredients I used in these cookie dog treats.

Heres a list of what you need to make easy dog treats. Use organic ingredients if you want to make organic dog treats.

Sweet Potato Used mashed sweet potatoes that have the skins removed. This is a great way to use leftover sweet potatoes.
Banana This gives a sweet taste to the treats without additional sugar.
Egg This binds all the ingredients together, so it is really important.
Coconut Oil This is a source of healthy fats and is good for your dogs coat and skin.
Oat Flour You can make your own oat flour or buy it from the store.

Ingredient Notes

When you make this dog treats recipe, there are a few things to keep in mind.

Cant find oat flour at the store? Just put old-fashioned rolled oats in a food processor or blender and process until it has the consistency of flour.

You can either bake a sweet potato or peel it and boil some sweet potato slices.

If you dont have a wire rack to let the treats cool, you can place them on a sheet of parchment paper or a silicone mat.

If you dont have any treat trays, you can roll out the dough and use a cookie cutter and cut out the shapes, and bake them on a cookie sheet.

Serving Size

How many homemade dog treats should you give your dog at once? That depends on what else your furry friend ate that day. This might be a healthier treat, but it is still a treat.

Treats should not be a dogs main source of calories they should be something they eat on rare occasions, along with healthy dog food.

Dogs shouldnt overeat too many carbs even healthy ones from sweet potatoes and oat flour. For this reason, I suggest only giving your spoiled hound one treat per day.

Equipment Needed

You probably have most of the kitchen items you need to make these homemade dog treats. You can use any regular silicone candy mold but a dog paw print mold gives these treats a fun look.

How to Make Sweet Potato Dog Treats

These are the recipe steps and some photos of the process for making the treats. I hope they help you make this healthy dog treats recipe!

You can scroll down to the bottom of this article for a printable recipe card.

Bake a large sweet potato that is big enough to yield 2/3 cup of flesh. Let it cool, then peel it and mash the flesh. Discard the skin.
Place mashed sweet potato, mashed banana, egg, and melted coconut oil in a bowl.

Mix it up until its all combined.

Add oat flour.

Stir to combine. The dough will be a little sticky.

Press the dough into silicone candy molds. Place the molds on a baking sheet.

Bake at 350 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes.
Transfer the baked treats to a wire rack to cool.

Note that instead of using candy molds, you can roll out the dough and use cookie cutters to cut the dough. You will need to refrigerate the dough for an hour before rolling it out. You may need to add more oat flour if the dough is too sticky to roll out.

How to Store Baked Dog Treats

Store the DIY dog treats in a container for dog treats. You can store your sweet potato treats at room temperature in an airtight container.

A dog treat jar is best so they are not mistaken for human treats. Here are some cute ones on Amazon:

Can you eat dog treats?

Oh yes, you sure can eat these treats! All of the ingredients are safe for human consumption. Since they arent sweet, you probably wont like them. I suggest making Sweet Potato Pecan Cookies to enjoy and share with family and friends.

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More Homemade Dog Treat Recipes

Want to make more treats for your dog? Here are some different types of dog treats to make:

Find more easy dog treat recipes here on Spoiled Hounds!

Want to get the best store-bought dog treats instead of making homemade ones? Check out these favorite dog treats on my Amazon dog treats ideas list.

Sweet Potato Dog Treats

Your dog will love these crunchy homemade sweet potato dog treats made with banana and oat flour.

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes Cook Time 1 hour hour 10 minutes minutes Total Time 1 hour hour 25 minutes minutes

Ingredients

1 large Sweet Potato
1 Ripe Banana
1 Egg
2 tablespoons Melted Coconut Oil
2 cups Oat Flour

Instructions

Bake a large sweet potato at 400 degrees until fork tender, about 45 to 60 minutes. Allow it to cool to room temperature. Peel and mash the flesh. Discard the skin.
Reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees.
Place 2/3 cup mashed sweet potato, mashed banana, egg, and coconut oil in a bowl.
Combine the wet ingredients well.
Add the oat flour to the wet mixture and combine well. The dough will be sticky.
Press the dough into cookie/candy molds. See notes below for instructions for rolling out and cutting the dough.
Place the molds on a baking sheet.
Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

Notes

For dough you can roll out and cut, place the dough in the refrigerator for about 1 hour. Roll the dough out onto a flat surface and until about inch thick. Using your favorite cookie cutter, cut out as many shapes as possible. If the dough is still too sticky to roll, add a little more oat flour to make it drier. Re-roll and form as necessary until all the dough is used up.

Nutrition

How to Cook Sweet Potato for Dogs

Sweet potatoes are healthy, tasty, and oh so nutritious! If you are looking for a way to make your dogs diet delicious while keeping it clean, sweet potatoes will make your dreams come true.

These underground tubers have plenty of fiber that can go a long way in supporting a dogs healthy gut. They are often used to alleviate things like diarrhea and constipation and encourage healthy bowel movements.

Vegetables are also low in fat while packing on essential vitamins such as B6, A, and C.

The best part about sweet potatoes is that you can prepare it in a number of ways for your lovely pup.

If it is your first time to prepare sweet potatoes for your pup and you are looking for some inspiration, this guide will come in handy.

Are sweet potatoes dog-friendly?

In case you are wondering whether sweet potatoes are good for your dog, the plain answer is yes they are!

According to the AKC website, these tubers are safe for dogs. Since they are whole, they dont cause an immune response in a dogs body or cause damage to his GI tract.

However, if your dog is diabetic, less active, or overweight, you need to exercise a little more caution. This is because they have a high glycemic index.

Like with all other things in life, exercise moderation when it comes to feeding sweet potatoes to your dog. Give according to the size of your dog, his activity level, and his health condition.

Also, if you can, remove the skin to make it easy for your dog to digest it.

Finally, never feed your pup raw potato or one that is extremely dry and hard as it is difficult to chew.

How to Cook Sweet Potato for Dogs

There are a number of ways to prepare sweet potatoes for your dogs. You can bake, mash, boil, and steam them.

If you want to take things to a new level, feel free to make cookies off of your sweet potatoes or mix them up with liver or pork.

To get you started, here are two of our absolute sweet potato recipes for dogs.

1. Delightful Mashed Sweet Potatoes

Most dogs enjoy sinking their teeth into a bowl of mashed potato goodness! It is savory and creamy, making it a good treat for your four-legged friend.

If youve made a mashed potato dish for your family before, you know how easy it is to whip it up.

Well, making this healthy veggie for a dog is even easier. This is because most of the ingredients such as butter, brown sugar, heavy cream, nutmeg, and salt are not included in the recipe.

Most of these condiments are not dog-friendly not to mention necessary. Dont get it twisted though, even without these flavor enhancers, the mash will taste delightful. The reason is simple: the food is already sweet in nature.

Lets get into this tasty sweet potato for dogs recipe.

What Youll Need

Two medium-sized potatoes

Directions

I. Wash and peel your sweet potatoes

For optimal results, soak them first in vinegar before washing them thoroughly. This step helps to draw the dirt out more than water alone will do.

Use a potato peeler or a knife to peel the potatoes.

Once peeled, give them one more wash and slice them into cubes.

II. Boil the cubed sweet potatoes

The best way to do this is to bring some water to a boil in a pot. As a rule of thumb, the water should cover the potatoes entirely.

Once it boils, throw in the potatoes, reduce the heat to medium and let them simmer away for 30 minutes.

To know if they are ready, pierce into one cube with a fork or knife. If it goes through with ease, the potatoes are done.

Else, cover the pot and give it a few minutes for them to be fork-tender.

III. Mash them up

The final step is to mash the sweet potatoes. Before doing this, drain off the water in the pot using a strainer.

Then proceed to mash it up using a potato masher. This is the fun part.

Be sure to work the mash until you get a smooth consistency.

Let the potatoes cool before serving it to your pup.

IV. Serve

Thats it! The mashed potatoes are ready to be served.

You can offer it to your dog as is or mix it in his food.

Ideally, the amount to give depends on the size of your dog. If you have a toy breed, you might want to serve only a tablespoon of the mash.

Otherwise, you can serve as much as 1/4^th a cup for giant breeds.

2. Yummy Homemade Sweet Potato Treats

Homemade sweet potato treats are easy to make and only require one ingredient; sweet potatoes! They are also incredibly easy to prepare.

Heres a great recipe to follow for great sweet potato treats.

What Youll Need

Two medium-sized potatoes (or whichever amount you please)

Directions

I. Wash and peel the potatoes

Begin by thoroughly washing your veggies. If you can, soak them up in vinegar for a while then rinse them up to get all the dirt out.

You can also go ahead and scrub them up using a kitchen brush to really make them completely clean.

Then proceed to peel the up using your potato peeler or knife.

II. Slice the potatoes

The next agenda on your list is to slice the sweet potatoes. This time around, you dont want cubes but rather, thin slices that can become chewy or crunchy when baked.

You have two options here: slice them longitudinally about 1/8 inches thick.

The thinner the slice, the crunchier the treat; and the thicker it is, the chewier the treat.

Secondly, you can cut lengthwise, about the same measurements.

III. Bake the potatoes

Place the slices on a baking sheet and spread them out in one layer.

One big sweet potato (or two medium ones) will cover one baking sheet. If you have more, you might need more baking trays.

Do not add salt, oil, or any spice. The treats need to be as natural as possible.

Once ready, throw the baking tray in a 200-2500F oven for three hours. You might want to check on them after one and a half hours.

Flip them up to make them evenly cooked.

The time frame depends on the thickness of your slices and the end result you are looking to achieve. More time in the oven makes them crunchier. If you only want them to be chewy, dont let them sit for more than three hours.

Ideally, a chewy hydrated treat is great compared to a dry crunchy one.

IV. Serve

Once ready, let the potatoes sit in the oven until cooled.

Serve them to your pup and see him go bonkers over them. Keep the remaining in an airtight container. These treats can last anywhere from five days to three weeks depending on whether they are chewy or crunchy.

As you might have guessed, the latter tends to last longer than the former.

Final Thoughts

Sweet potatoes are as good to dogs as they are to humans. They have plenty of essential vitamins, are rich in fiber, and most importantly, harmless to a dog.

Hopefully, you now know how to cook sweet potatoes for dogs. The secret is to keep the recipe simple, chewy, and delicious!

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