homemade dog food golden retriever

20 Healthy Homemade Dog Food Recipes for Golden Retrievers

Looking for healthy homemade dog food recipes for your Golden Retriever?

Great! Youre in the right place, as in this Digdoggy.com guide youll learn:

• How to make healthy homemade treats using fruit
• Crockpot recipes for slow cooking pet food
• Money saving food shopping tips
• And much more!

Ensuring your dog has a healthy diet is nothing short of necessary which can be a little daunting without the right guidance.

Thankfully you can take the right steps by first learning how safe homemade meals are, what you should be aware of, and the best ways to get started.

Lets kick this off with some fruits

What are the Best Homemade Dog Food Recipes for Golden Retrievers?

Heres a snapshot of the recipes we have put together in this guide. Quickly navigate to the recipe for each of them using the links below.

1. Mixed Fruit Medley with Chicken
2. Fruit and Veggie Strips
3. Fruit Parfait
4. Apple Cakes
5. Autumn Joy
6. Berry Fruit Salad
7. Mixed Fruit Salad
8. Carrot Apple Biscuits
9. Chicken Raspberry Biscuits
10. Banana and Peanut Butter Pup Cakes
11. Salmon Skin Meal
12. Turkey Delight
13. Beef Bonanza
14. Meat Fest
15. Doggie Stew
16. Veggie Meaty Blast
17. Simple Rice and Chicken Breast
18. Crockpot Pork Delight
19. Fish Patty Treat
20. Chicken Casserole

What Are The Benefits Of Homemade Dog Food?

Surprisingly, after researching healthy homemade dog foods to put this guide together, I could not find any professional advice that proved homemade dog foods are any healthier than processed.

According to Dr. Cailin Heinze (Certified Veterinary Nutritionist), studies show you are more likely to do more harm than good as most homemade or online recipes lack one or more important nutrients.

On the other side, commercial foods are legally required to meet nutritional standards that guarantee (somewhat) they can be marked as complete and balanced foods.

Healthy options for pets require very specific amounts of ingredients that I share below in this guide. But keep in mind that consistently feeding your pet a home diet may be well worth coming with commercial foods for the best results.

Also Read: >> What are the best well-balanced dog foods?

Homemade Dog food Recipes with Fruits

These organic dog fruit recipes have all the essentials required that your dogs would relish. Organic dog food would mean low-fat and low-sugar diets that will keep your dog healthy and active.

1. Mixed Fruit Medley with Chicken

This is my favorite fruit recipe for Golden Retrievers. To make this you will need the following:

Ingredients

• 2 Pounds of chicken, cooked and chopped
• 3 Cups of fruit (any fruit that your dog loves)
• 3 Cups of quinoa or cooked lentils or cooked rice

Method

Simply mix all the ingredients well and serve bite-sized normal servings to your dogs.

2. Fruit and Veggie Strips

Replace those chewy meaty strips with these organic chews. Use them as reward treats or a quick snack for them.

Ingredients

• 1 Sweet potato
• 1 Medium-sized banana
• 1 Cup minced carrots
• 1 Cup of applesauce
• 2 Cups of flour (whole or white)
• 1 Cup rolled oats
• 1/3 Cup of water

Method

Cook the sweet potato till the insides get soft. Mash the sweet potato and the banana together with a masher until the mash is smooth. Now add the carrots, oats, and flour.

Add water and applesauce and form a dough. Roll the dough to form the strips. Place in the baking tray and bake in an oven for 25 minutes.

Store in the fridge and use it as a treat for your dog when needed.

3. Fruit Parfait

Treat your little fur kid with this easy-to-make, delicious and refreshing fruit dessert. You would need the following.

Ingredients

• 1 Cup non-fat yogurt cup diced strawberries
• 1 Cup diced blueberries
• 1 Cup applesauce

Method

Blend all the ingredients in a blender and serve this to your dog in little servings. Store in the fridge and use it when needed.

4. Apple Cakes

Treat them for being good and training hard. You can make some super delicious cake for your pup at home.

Ingredients

• 2 Cups of water
• Unsweetened applesauce
• 2 tbsp honey
• Teaspoon extract of vanilla
• 1 Egg
• 1 Cup apple chips (dried)
• 1 tbsp baking powder

Method

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Blend honey, water, applesauce, vanilla, and egg well. Add the rest of the dry ingredients and mix the whole mixture well. Pour it in the muffin tins and bake for 1.15 hours.

Place on a cooling rack. Cut the cake and store the pieces and feed it to your dog whenever its treat time.

5. Autumn Joy

This is another fruit treat that your dog would relish.

Ingredients

• 2 cups Sweet Potatoes Meshed
• 1 cup Pumpkin
• 2 tbsp Coconut Oil
• 1/2 cup Shredded Coconut

Method

Put oil the ingredients in the food processor and mix all of it well. Make bite-sized scoops of the mixture and allow them to freeze for up to 6 hours. Treat them with these fruit balls whenever they get playful.

6. Berry Fruit Salad

Toys are an essential part of your dogs training. These toys can be filled with food that your dog loves. This fruit salad is one of the best food that you can fill these toys with.

Ingredients

• 1 cup Strawberries
• 1 cup Blueberries
• 1 tbsp Applesauce

Method

Mix all these ingredients together and stuff it inside your dogs toys or simply serve it to them in a dog food bowl.

7. Mixed Fruit Salad

This is another version of the fruit salads that you can offer to your dog. They would simply relish all the fruits that it would have.

Ingredients

• 1 cup Blueberries
• 2 Bananas
• 2 Apples
• 1/2 Greek Yogurt or Plain Yogurt
• 1 tbsp Peanut butter

Method

You can either make it layer by layer to stuff your dogs toy and allow it to freeze. Or you can simply mix all the ingredients together and serve it to your dog. They will enjoy the treat anyway.

8. Carrot Apple Biscuits

Both the ingredients that are apples as well as carrots are rich in very essential antioxidants that help in reducing the risks of heart diseases and cancer.

Ingredients

• 1 Cup of oats
• 1 tbsp. brown sugar 2 cup wheat flour
• 1 Peeled, grated apple cup peeled/grated carrots
• 1 Egg
• 1 Cup coconut or vegetable oil

Method

Mix all the ingredients as and work up a dough. Once done cut the dough into desired shapes using a cookie cutter. Put them into the oven for 40-45 minutes unless the biscuits are firm and ready.

9. Chicken Raspberry Biscuits

If your dog gets hungry between meals more often serve them these biscuits that are rich in Vitamin B for good heart as well as digestive health of dogs.

Ingredients

• 1 Cup cooked, shredded chicken
• 1 Cup of raspberries
• 1 Egg
• 1 tbsp. honey
• 2 Cups of wheat flour

Method

Mix all the ingredients and form a dough. Cut the same with a cookie cutter and bake in an oven to form hard and tasty biscuits.

10. Banana and Peanut Butter Pup Cakes

The bananas coupled with Peanut butter can combine to form the best treats. Bananas are a good source of fiber, potassium, and copper. Peanut butter provides the required protein and fats.

Ingredients

• 2 Bananas
• 2 Cups of water
• 1 Lightly beaten egg
• 2 tbsps. or peanut butter.
• 3 Cup oats
• 1 tbsp of baking powder

Method

Mash the bananas and add all the ingredients together and mix them evenly in a food processor. Add the dry ingredients as well. Pour into the baking pan and place it in the oven, bake for 20 mins. Serve a few slices of the cake to your dog and store the rest in the fridge.

Homemade dog food in a Crockpot

A crockpot is a slow-cooking appliance that can cook almost all the food your dog would love. The following are some very popular recipes.

11. Salmon Skin Meal

This meal is the perfect dog meal that has some veggies and fish in it. This is the perfect and balanced nutrition for your dog.

Ingredients

• 2 tbsps. of olive oil, 1 Squash, 3 potatoes,
• 2 Carrots
• 2 Portions of salmon
• 1 Broccoli head

Method

Cut the squash, carrots, and broccoli and mix all of it together and cook it. Air fry the cut potato shavings with 2 tbsps. of olive oil in an air fryer. Now pan fry salmon with the skin side on the pan and then peel off the crisp skin and place it in the dog bowl. Mix everything else in the dog bowl and serve it to your dog after cooling it for 15-20 minutes.

12. Turkey Delight

This dog meal is easy to prepare and can be made in large amounts and allowed to freeze and can be used to feed your dogs for days and days.

Ingredients

• 1 to 2 cups of brown rice,
• 1 tbsp. of olive oil, 3 lbs ground turkey, 3 cups of chopped baby spinach,
• 2 Shredded carrots,
• 1 Shredded zucchini,
• 1 cup of frozen and canned peas

Method

Cook the rice in a large saucepan with 3 cups of water. Heat the olive oil in a crockpot set at medium and add the ground turkey. Cook until it turns brown and waits till the turkey crumbles into fine pieces. Stir in all the rest of the ingredients and heat thoroughly. Cool and serve it to your dog.

13. Beef Bonanza

Your dog would love the beef meal cooked nicely in a slow-cooking crockpot.

Ingredients

• 2 Pounds of ground beef
• 1 Cup brown rice
• 1 Ounce kidney beans
• 1 Cut of butternut squash (chopped)
• 1 Cup carrots (chopped)
• 1 Cup canned frozen peas

Method

Add all the ingredients to a crockpot and stir and mix well. Once done cover and cook the meal at low heat for 6 hours. Once done cool it and serve it or put it inside the refrigerator.

14. Meat Fest

Use any meat that you have at home to make this crockpot food.

Ingredients

• 1 Cup water
• 1 Cup brown rice
• 4 lbs mixed meat (1 lb of ground beef & 3 lbs of ground chicken)
• 1 Cup blueberries
• 1 Large cubed apple
• 1 Cup chopped kale
• 1 Large cubed sweet potato
• 2 Carrots cut into chunks

Put all the ingredients in the crockpot and cook the food at a medium setting and stir occasionally. The ideal cooking time is 7 hours on a low setting and 6 hours on a high setting. Once done cool and serve.

15. Doggie Stew

Make some super healthy stew for your dog

Ingredients

• 3 lbs of skinless and boneless chicken thighs
• 2 Quarters of chicken livers
• 2 Medium-sized sliced and peeled carrots
• 1 Big and 2 medium-sized apples with seeds and core removed
• 2 to 3 cups of water
• 1 Cup frozen peas
• 1 Handful fresh chopped parsley
• 1 tbsp olive oil

Method

Add all the ingredients except the peas, parsley, and olive oil to the crockpot. Cover the crockpot and set on low heat and cook for 8 hours. 10 to 15 mins prior add peas, parsley, and olive oil. Cool and serve and refrigerate for later use.

16. Veggie Meaty Blast

This one combines all the meat your doggie would love.

Ingredients

• 3 lbs of chicken thighs
• 3 lbs of ground turkey
• 2 Potatoes small and diced
• 2 Small sweet potatoes
• 8 Ounces of peas frozen
• 8 Ounces of carrots chopped
• 1 Cup frozen blueberries

Method

Add the ground turkey and the frozen chicken first and add only enough water to cover them, then add the rest of the ingredients and set the crockpot at low heat for 12 hours. Once done serve as required and freeze the rest.

17. Simple Rice and Chicken Breast

This is the simplest food you can make for your fur kid.

Ingredients

• 1 Cup of brown rice 2 cups of water
• 1 lbs green beans
• 1 Medium-sized cut sweet potato 2 carrots sliced
• 2 Deboned chicken breasts

Method

Layer the ingredients in the crockpot in the listed order. Water should be just enough to cover everything. Cook at low heat for 8 hours. Cool and serve and store the rest in the fridge.

18. Crockpot Pork Delight

This is a combo of one or more of the above meaty delights with just a few pounds of pork instead of the others.

Ingredients

• 4 lbs mixed meat (1 lb beef & 3 lbs pork) cup of water
• 1 Cup brown rice cup of blueberries
• 1 Large cubed apple
• 1 Cup chopped kale
• 1 Large cubed sweet potato
• 2 Carrots cut into chunks

Method

Mix all the ingredients in the crockpot and start cooking at a low temperature for 8 hours. Once done cool and serve and refrigerate the rest of the food for later use.

Apart from the above slow cooking recipes, lets look at the last two recipes we have.

19. Fish Patty Treat

Serve your dog a scrumptious fish dinner with this recipe.

Ingredients

• 1 Salmon can
• 1 Carrot medium-sized
• 1 Potato
• 1 Egg
• 1 Celery
• 3 tbsp flour Some oil for frying

Method

Chop the carrot, potato, and celery into small bite-sized pieces and mix it with salmon, egg, and flour. Mix it evenly and then form patties out of the mixture. Fry them in oil till they are golden brown. Serve them along with some veggies to your doggie.

20. Chicken Casserole

An absolutely quick and delicious treat for your doggie.

Ingredients

• 2 Chicken breasts
• 1 Cup vegetables chopped (carrots, potatoes, beans, and broccoli)
• Cup oats
• 2 Cups of chicken broth Oil

Method

Chop the chicken breasts in bite-size chunks and fry them in oil until cooked. Add the rest of the ingredients and let it simmer for 15 mins. Simple and super recipe.

Cheap and Affordable Ingredients

From all the carefully chosen recipes that I have compiled above, there are some common ingredients.

So to make healthy dog food just having these ingredients shall suffice. I love to make something from ingredients that are already in the kitchen or are easily available from the market down the street. Some ingredients that are most common are as follows:

• Brown Rice
• Vegetables such as carrots, beans, potatoes, sweet potatoes, broccoli, etc. Meat (Beef, Turkey, Chicken, Pork)
• Fish Salmon
• Fruits such as Banana, berries such as blueberries and strawberries Eggs
• Flour such as wheat or white

All the above ingredients are commonly available and are quite available. So keep that list handy.

Conclusion

Dogs are as homely and amicable as humans. And just like us they too love homemade food. So love them and serve them homemade food with all the love. Make use of this carefully compiled list of amazing recipes and your golden retriever is definitely going to love every bite of it.

Try one out today!!