This complete and balanced high protein beef and rice dog food recipe is a great option for moderately active dogs. This recipe is a great option for someone just starting to home cook for their dog. The entire recipe takes less than 45 minutes to cook from start to finish, including prep time. It also doesn’t require any specialized equipment such as a meat-grinder, as we are using pre-ground meat.
Beef and rice dog food recipes are a great option for dogs with food allergies to poultry. And can also be a great choice for picky dogs as many dog prefer red-meat over other protein sources. This recipe is also fairly easy to mix together – making it a great option for dogs with tend to pick-out foods that they don’t enjoy.
The recipe today is formulated to AAFCO standards and is complete and balanced for adult dogs if all ingredients are prepared as listed and all supplements are included. If any changes are made to the recipe it will no longer be considered balanced and should be considered a “treat” or “addition” and be kept to 10% of your dog’s overall daily caloric needs.
BEEF AND RICE DOG FOOD RECIPE INGREDIENTS
95% Lean Ground Beef: Lean ground beef is an excellent source of essential amino acids along with many different vitamins and minerals such as vitamin B12, zinc, selenium, iron, vitamin B6, niacin, and phosphorus.
Brown Rice: A great source of healthy fiber, an excellent source of manganese, magnesium, vitamin b6, vitamin b1, selenium, iron, and a good source of certain types of antioxidants such as phenols and flavonoids.
Spinach: Provides many different essential vitamins and minerals such as vitamin K, vitamin A, vitamin C, folate, manganese, magnesium, iron, and vitamin B2. Spinach also contains several antioxidants such as Quercetin and Kaempferol – which can help reduce inflammation and oxidative stress.
Zucchini: A great source of antioxidants such as carotenoids (like lutein, zeaxanthin, and beta-carotene), and an excellent source of fiber to support a healthy microbiome.
Walnut Oil: An excellent source of linoleic acid and alpha-Linolenic acid – which are essential fatty acids that dogs need in their diet.
Nordic Naturals Omega 3 Pet: A wonderful source of EPA and DHA, along with vitamin E. Nordic naturals fish oil is a purified, third party tested oil that has an excellent EPA to DHA ratio perfect for balancing out the higher omega 6 essential fatty acids found in the chicken and walnut oil.
Supplement (BalanceIT Canine): Without using the supplement this recipe will be deficient in riboflavin, thiamin, vitamin A, calcium, copper, iodine, and vitamin D.
DIET COMPOSITION
PERCENT CALORIE BASIS:
- Protein: 47%
- Fat: 28%
- Carbohydrate: 24%
- Moisture: 73%
- Calories: 961
BEEF AND RICE HOMEMADE DOG FOOD RECIPE
- 383g 95% lean ground beef, pan-broiled
- 106g Brown Rice, long-grain, cooked
- 45g Spinach, cooked – boiled
- 90g Zucchini, cooked – boiled
- ½ tsp Walnut Oil
- ½ tsp Nordic Naturals Omega 3 Pet
- 4 ⅛ tsp BalanceIT Canine
HOW MUCH TO FEED
The amount that you feed your dog will be based on their individual metabolism and lifestyle needs. Calories needed can range up to 50% high or lower than the “average” amount and still be considered normal.
Overweight or obese dogs trying to lose weight should be fed to their “ideal weight” – if your dog needs to lose weight please discuss your dog’s individual caloric needs with your veterinarian.
The below chart is the average calories needed for a dog of a particular weight. If you are using this recipe as a treat – the portion should be kept in the “treat” category. If feeding as a complete and balanced meal, you can either re-calculate the recipe using BalanceIT or feed according to your dog’s caloric needs (average suggested amounts within the “food” category).
BEEF AND RICE DOG FOOD RECIPE COOKING INSTRUCTIONS
If you have a rice-cooker this recipe is going to be VERY simple to do. The recipe calls for about 1 cup of cooked brown rice. So start with about ½ cup of dry rice, with 1 cup of water, and follow the directions on your rice cooker for perfect rice!
For this recipe you will need about 1 lb of 95% lean ground beef to start as it will loose water while cooking . Place the ground beef in a nonstick pan (I prefer cast iron), and cook until lightly browned. DO NOT ADD OIL while cooking. We do not want to add any extra fat to the recipe.
In a separate stainless steel pan add 1 cup of water and boil. Chop up about 180g of Zucchini (about 1 large), and add it to the boiling water. Cover and allow to soften for about 3 minutes, then drain and set aside to cool. In the same pan add a 1/2 of water and boil. Then add in spinach mix until softened, then drain and cool.
ALL INGREDIENTS SHOULD BE MEASURED AFTER COOKING.
Depending on your dog’s size you can add everything into a food processor prior to feeding. Another option is you can chop all elements into bite-sized pieces and mix together.
Allow everything to cool prior to feeding or adding any additional supplements. I highly recommend if you are batch-cooking meals for your dogs to portion all ingredients EXCEPT oils and supplements into containers. Then add supplements and oils the day-of feeding. This will keep everything fresh, and allow you to reheat the food if needed prior to serving. However – if you find it easier to have everything mixed in that should be okay. Do not reheat any food items after supplements or oils are added.
The food should be fine in the fridge for about 3 days, and in the freezer for about 30 days. If you plan to make even larger batches I would highly recommend a deep-freezer and vacuum sealable bags. As otherwise the food may start to loose nutritional value and get freezer burn.
NEED HELP CUSTOMIZING TO YOUR PET?
Are you having problems customizing this recipe to your own dog’s nutritional needs? Unsure of if this dog food recipe is a good fit for you dog? Or maybe you would prefer a recipe using less supplementation? As a home cooker of over 5 years who has helped hundreds of pet parents transition to fresh food, I’d be more than happy to help you answer your canine nutrition questions, set up a meal plan for your dog, or even just talk about the logistics of feeding fresh food. Feel free to reach out with questions, or schedule a nutritional consultation today.
About the Author: Nikki is a Registered Veterinary Technician (Veterinary Nurse) and Dog Mom with over a decade of experience with dogs and cats. Since graduation from college (BS Biology, Dip. Animal Nutrition, AS Animal Science) she has adopted two mixed breed dogs – Ranger and Ash, and has focused her time learning about pet food and nutrition.
Nikki shares information on a range of dog nutrition topics: from how to create a homemade complete and balanced dog food recipes, to how to choose a dog food. Nikki strives to give dog parents the information they need in order to make the best nutrition decisions for their pup!
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My cocker spaniel is about 51lbs and should be closer to 42lbs according to my vet. What is a serving size after making this beef and rice dish? Is 1 cup twice a day okay of should I feed him less to help with weight loss? He is 8 years old and somewhat active when out in our big back yard.
For homemade diets you will need to weigh out the meal portions, not feed by volume. Feeding by volume is not very accurate, and easily leads to over/underfeeding. I’m not sure how many calories you are feeding now. But there are two ways to look at how much to feed. One – if you know how many calories your dog is eating now, we decrease by 10% each week until weight loss is achieved. For your dog’s size this would be about 1/2 lb per week. If you don’t know how many calories your dog is eating… We can do an estimate – at 42 lbs, your dog may need about 640-740 calories per day for weight loss. This is including any treats/additions/chews. This recipe is about 150 calories per 100g, thus your dog would eat about 426 to 493g per day of this recipe (divided into two feedings if you feed twice daily).
If you’d like to learn more about weight loss and weight loss diets you can check out my blog posts here: https://thecaninehealthnut.com/weight-loss-diets-for-dogs/
https://thecaninehealthnut.com/home-cooked-dog-food-for-weight-loss/
Or I do have dog food nutritional consultations where I can chat over zoom and set up an individual meal plan for your pup and answer more detailed questions.
My yorkie broke his jaw while eating a treat because of infection in his teeth. Rushed him to ER vet with a dental specialist. They removed all his teeth and part of his lower jaw. Brought him home from the hospital two days ago & have been looking for food options for him ever since. I thought this might work? But never in my 50 years on this planet have seen a recipe measured in GRAMS! Could be converted but I’m exhausted, I can’t think, & my little baby is starving. SORRY FOR MY RANT BUT I SAW “GRAMS” and burst into tears. 383 grams of meat, 108 grams of rice, and then you go back to using teaspoons? Nobody cares if you use a cast iron pan! We care about consistency! Either use the metric system or get some measuring cups to go with your teaspoons.
I’m very sorry your pup is having a hard time. To clarify the reason for using grams for a majority of the ingredients but tsp for others is accuracy. Measuring in cups can lead to large variation in amounts of the ingredients in recipes – this is why you often see baked recipes from professionals measured in grams, pounds or ounces. I use tsp for the small things in this recipe like the oils and supplements again because of accuracy – 1/2 tsp is 2.5 grams – most people do not have a scale that would allow for this accuracy. Thus I make the decision to opt for tsp instead. And I specify a cast-iron pan so that additional oil will not be added during the cooking process – this again is for accuracy of the recipe as I often see owners do this, and it adds additional fat to the recipe which causes it to be unbalanced. My goal with these recipes is to not just provide you with a recipe that has ingredients – but one that is complete and balanced if directions are followed.