Easy Slow Cooker Dog Food
Easy Slow Cooker Dog Food is the perfect homemade DIY dog food that is nutritious, easy to make and puppy-approved delicious. Simply add in ground beef, vegetables, rice and beans to your slow cooker and let your crockpot serve up perfect home cooked dog food for your favorite pet.
Easy Slow Cooker Dog Food
When it comes to making crock pot recipes for dogs, this slow cooker recipe couldn’t be easier. Simply add your ingredients to your crock pot and come back a few hours later to an amazing pot of DIY dog food that will feed your pups for days.
Why Make Homemade Dog Food
We want the best for our dogs, right? Making them homemade dog food is a great way to make sure they get the very best. Dried kibble cannot compare to fresh ingredients like vegetables, fruits and lean meats.
If you are looking for a dog food recipe you can make without dusting off the crockpot, be sure to check out my recipe for Stovetop Dog Food.
And from a human momma standpoint, its more economical and honestly, you know what is going into your dogs food. You are serving up REAL food when you start making home cooked food for your favorite furry friend.
The best part about cooking crock pot recipes for dogs is that it is completely customizable based on what you have on hand. You can swap out the ground beef for chicken or turkey and grab whatever veggies you have in your refrigerator.
Just be sure what you are adding is safe for dogs to eat and your pup will thank you for it.
What’s In Crock Pot Dog Food?
- GROUND BEEF– Grab some lean ground beef for this recipe but can also use ground chicken or turkey if that is what you have on hand.
- VEGETABLES– Fresh, frozen or canned vegetables are fine for the dog food recipe.
- BROWN RICE– Brown rice or quinoa is perfect to throw in the slow cooker and its packed full of nutrients.
- BEANS – Look for low or no sodium kidney beans.
How Do You Make Dog Food In A Crockpot?
- Add ground beef, brown rice, beans, veggies and water to your slow cooker.
- Cover and cook for 5 to 6 hours on Low or 3 to 4 hours on High, stirring occasionally to break up the meat and combine everything.
- Let cool completely and then portion out your dog food for the week.
How Much Do I Feed My Dog?
Now, every dog is different and you may want to consult with your vet before changing your dog to a fresh food diet, but here are just some approximate numbers.
FYI, I have five dogs and even though it is more economical to make fresh food recipes for your dogs, to do it for FIVE big dogs would mean I would need to win the lottery 🙂 .. I add my fresh food to their kibble to add some healthy food to their diets until that winning ticket comes my way.
Dog Size Daily Feeding Amount
- Small (under 20 pounds) 1.5-2 cups
- Medium (20-50 pounds) 2-4 cups
- Large (50-80 pounds) 4-6 cups
- Giant (80+ pounds) 6-8 cups
Expert Tips
- When making slow cooker dog food recipes, you will find you can easily customize the recipe around what ingredients you have on hand. Have chicken but no ground beef? Swap it out.. No green beans but have peas? Add them instead… you get the idea.
- Make sure what you are adding is safe for dogs so do a bit of research before adding anything new .. and hey, feel free to message me if you have any questions 🙂
- You are not draining the grease from the slow cooker so be sure to use lean ground beef.
- The small frozen bags of veggies from Walmart are the perfect size for most dog food recipes.
- Let your food cool completely before portioning out for storage. I usually store mine in the refrigerator in a HUGE Tupperware container and feed my dogs by adding ½ a cup or so to their kibble at each feeding. Your dog food in the fridge will be fine up to a week.
- Home cooked dog food recipes like this are a dream to freeze. Simply add your portion to a zip top bag, squish out any excess air, lay the bag on it’s side and press it flat. Freeze them like that and you wont take up all of your freezer space. Frozen dog food is good in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Easy Slow Cooker Dog Food
Ingredients
- 2 pounds Ground beef, lean
- 1 1/2 cups Brown rice
- 15 ounces Kidney beans, low or no sodium preferred
- 1 1/2 cup Butternut squash
- 12 ounces Green beans, chopped
- 2 cups Frozen vegetable mix
- 4 cups Water
Instructions
- Add ground beef, brown rice, beans, veggies and water to your slow cooker.
- Cover and cook for 5 to 6 hours on Low or 3 to 4 hours on High, stirring occasionally to break up the meat and combine everything.
- Let cool completely and then portion out your dog food for the week.
Notes
EXPERT TIPS
- When making slow cooker dog food recipes, you will find you can easily customize the recipe around what ingredients you have on hand. Have chicken but no ground beef? Swap it out.. No green beans but have peas? Add them instead… you get the idea.
- Make sure what you are adding is safe for dogs so do a bit of research before adding anything new .. and hey, feel free to message me if you have any questions 🙂
- You are not draining the grease from the slow cooker so be sure to use lean ground beef.
- Let your food cool completely before portioning out for storage. I usually store mine in the refrigerator in a HUGE Tupperware container and feed my dogs by adding ½ a cup or so to their kibble at each feeding. Your dog food in the fridge will be fine up to a week.
- Home cooked dog food recipes like this are a dream to freeze. Simply add your portion to a zip top bag, squish out any excess air, lay the bag on it’s side and press it flat. Freeze them like that and you wont take up all of your freezer space. Frozen dog food is good in the freezer for up to 3 months.
The rice comes out hard. Any tips?
Thanks so much for letting me know — I really appreciate you taking the time to share your experience.
Rice in slow cookers can be a little tricky, especially depending on the type of rice used and the exact heat level of the slow cooker. If the rice was still firm after cooking, a couple of things may have happened:
Some slow cookers run cooler than others, especially on low, which can prevent rice from fully absorbing liquid.
Certain rice types (like brown rice or parboiled rice) need more liquid and/or longer cook time than white rice.
If the lid was lifted during cooking, heat and moisture can escape and affect how the rice softens.
The good news is this is an easy fix. Adding an extra ½–1 cup of warm water or broth and continuing to cook for another 30–60 minutes usually softens the rice right up. Stirring once and checking tenderness before serving can also help.
I’ll be updating the recipe notes to clarify rice type and add troubleshooting tips so future readers don’t run into the same issue. Thanks again for bringing it to my attention — feedback like this genuinely helps make the recipes better for everyone (and the pups 🐾).
Such an easy and hearty dish to make for your pup! Makes a ton of food to get them through the week and your crockpot does all the work for you!