Vegan Dog Food
- Madison Leigh
- Jan 9, 2018
- 3 min read
After about a year of being vegan myself, I started paying more attention to what I was feeding my baby, Layla (she's a sweet 7 year old dog who is absolutely amazing). I realized I was not okay with the ingredients in the food I'd been feeding her! Most brands are filled with the leftover animal products that aren't suitable for humans, preservatives, and fillers)
I started doing lots of research of the best dog food brands and if it was even safe for a dog to eat vegan. I was relieved when I learned that yes, dogs can thrive on a vegan diet. However, the dog food was super pricey!! I found some articles and a video of how to make dog food myself. I've been making her food every week ever since!! It's very cheap to make and only takes about 15 minutes of prep time. Totally worth it because I know exactly what I'm feeding her and she LOVES it!!!
You can make this recipe with so many different ingredients. Just do a quick search to make sure the ingredient you are choosing is suitable for dogs. Keep in mind that a dogs meal should include
1/3-1/2 plant based protein, then whole grains, raw and cooked veggies, and supplements.
The base should be soybeans, lentils, rice, oats, and sweet potatoes. All legumes should be well cooked and pureed.
Dogs can eat most fruits, just don't feed them fruit too close to a high protein meal because it can interfere with the absorption of the protein.
It's also good to give dog treats in between meals to help hold them over. Click HERE for an easy, homemade dog treat recipe:)
Vegan Dog Food Recipe
2 cups of legumes (any kind of lentils or salt free beans)
2 cups of a whole grain rice
1-3 Sweet potatoes, squash, or pumpkin (if using canned, make sure it's the only ingredient)
Veggies -I change up the veggies I use depending on what I have on hand. You can use fresh or frozen. I use a variety of about 4 cups of veggies
1/2 cup of flax seeds
1/2 cup of nutritional yeast
2 T of coconut/hemp/flax oil
2 T green mush
1 T Taurine powder
Optional add in: sprinkle of sea vegetable flakes, 1/4 cup of quinoa (add in to cook with the rice and legumes)
Add legumes, whole grain rice, sweet potatoes/squash/pumpkin, any tough veggies like carrots and celery, and 6 cups of water to whatever pot you are cooking with
*If using Instant Pot: Cook on manual for 30 minutes.
*If using Crock Pot: Cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4
*If using Stove Top: Chop Ingredients to allow them all to fit in pot. Bring to a boil then simmer, covered, until water has been soaked up and rice and potatoes/squash/pumpkin have been cooked through.
Once done cooking in desired pot, give it a stir and blend using an immersion blender, blender, or food processor. Add remaining ingredients and give it a stir. Stir in an airtight container in the fridge. I sometimes add a bit of warm water before serving to Layla because warm food is easier for dogs to digest. I skip this step if I'm in a hurry and she never seems to mind:)
Here is a list of products and links I used to make this dish.
I recommend checking all of these out:)
The Instant Pot I recommend (makes cooking so much faster and care free)
The Immersion Blender that I bough specifically for this dish and now use all the time:)
The Taurine Powder I use
http://amzn.to/2qLigDT
The Green Mush supplement I usually use is no longer available on Amazon, so I will be using this green supplement for now on. It is more affordable too so that's a bonus:)
The first video I watched to learn how to make vegan dog food from High Carb Hannah's channel (highly recommend her youtube videos)
A great link to learn about the nutrients a dog requires
Comments