Do you have a chihuahua or other small dog breed? This chihuahua dog food recipe is perfect for adding nutrition to your dog’s diet. All the ingredients are dog-safe and very healthy.
Commercial dog food can contain harmful additives and is often overly processed, leaving little nutrition behind. When you make your own homemade dog food, you can feel good knowing exactly what ingredients are in it and how healthy it is for your pup.
Below we will provide the recipe and talk about some of the benefits of making homemade dog food.
Chihuahua Dog Food Recipe
Prep: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 45 minutes
Yields: 6 cups
Servings: 6
Recipe Ingredients:
- 1 pound ground chicken (see notes)
- 1 cup green beans, chopped
- 2 carrots, peeled and chopped
- 1 sweet potato, peeled and chopped
- 1 small zucchini, chopped
- 2 tablespoons bone broth (optional)
Recipe Tools needed:
- Cutting board
- Knife
- Measuring cups
- Steamer pot
- Sautee pan
- Large spoon or spatula
Chihuahua Dog Food Recipe Instructions:
- Rinse the green beans, carrots, sweet potato, and zucchini.
- Peel the carrots and sweet potato.
- Chop all the veggies and place in a steam pot.
- Steam the vegetables until they’re soft, about 15-20 minutes.
- While the vegetables are steaming, cook the ground chicken in a separate pot.
- Once the vegetables and ground chicken are done, combine them together and mix well.
- Add 2 tablespoons of bone broth. This is optional but adds nutritients.
- Once cooled, store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
This food should be consumed within 5 days. You can also freeze this food in smaller portions, in a Ziplock bag or other airtight container.
Dog Food Recipe Notes:
For this chihuahua dog food recipe, we used ground chicken but you can use any protein that you want. Ground beef, bison, turkey, and lamb are all good choices. It’s good to rotate proteins. If you make this recipe often, you can try a different protein each time. Our homemade salmon dog food recipe could be a great option as well!
If you are using frozen vegetables instead of fresh, add them to the sauté pan after cooking the ground chicken.
Adding bone broth is optional but it is very nutritious. Bone broth has several different nutrients including 19 different amino acids and provides support for a health digestive system and immune system. Your dog’s overall health may benefit from bone broth.
If your dog tolerates rice, you can also add rice to this recipe. Cook the rice separately and mix it with the ground chicken and veggies.
Depending on your dog’s weight, you can feed ¼ – ½ cups 2x a day.
If you are strictly feeding your dog a homemade diet, be sure all nutritional needs are being met.
You can also add multivitamins to ensure your pup is getting all the essential vitamins and minerals. Speak with your vet about a dog-safe vitamin supplement to add to your dog’s diet.
Benefits of Making Your Own Dog Food
Not all dog food on the market is healthy for your dog. Some dog food manufacturers have even had recalls due to harmful contamination.
Making your own DIY homemade dog food makes sense especially if you are seeking to avoid additives or prevent particular health issues. If your pup has dietary restrictions, is a senior chihuahua with sensitive teeth (or no teeth!) or has health issues that could benefit from a diet change, then this chihuahua dog food recipe could be a good fit for your pup.
Feeding your dog a healthy diet that doesn’t have chemical additives is one way to prevent future health problems. Some of the health issues that dogs have are directly linked to poor diet and lack of proper nutrition.
Prevent health issues related to poor diet:
- Obesity
- Pancreatitis
- Skin and coat issues
- Diabetes
- Kidney disease
- Poor immune health
- Dental issues
Chihuahuas have specific health conditions that they are more susceptible to, including food intolerances and food allergies. The symptoms of these can show up in different ways including stomach issues (such as diarrhea and vomiting), chronic ear infections, and skin issues.
Chihuahuas are also prone to tooth and gum disease which can be diet related. Joint problems, hypoglycemia, and heart valve problems are also often found in the chihuahua breed. All those health issues can be greatly impacted by diet.
If your chihuahua or small breed dog already has health issues, you may be able to improve your pup’s health with a specially designed homemade dog food diet. You can also add supplements to your dog’s food at mealtime to address specific health issues.
There are a variety of dog-safe brands of probiotics, joint support, and immune support supplements.
Chihuahua Dog Food Recipe Variations
As we mentioned above, you can try out different proteins for this recipe.
You can also switch up the vegetables. Trying out different vegetables can enhance the nutritional aspect of the food. You could add greens like kale, spinach, and Swiss chard. Dogs also love and benefit from squash in their diet, like butternut squash and pumpkin. We have a great chicken and pumpkin dog food recipe for you to check out!
Eggs have a lot of nutrition and would be a great addition to our chihuahua dog food recipe.
Potential dog-safe ingredients to test out in your recipes:
- Celery
- Broccoli/cauliflower in moderation
- Squash (seeds removed)
- Beets
- Peas
- Bison
- Rabbit
- Chicken hearts
Creating your own DIY dog food recipe is easier than you think. But keep in mind that your dog needs balanced nutrition. If you make your own chihuahua dog food recipe with alternative ingredients, use this guide on what can dogs eat and review below to be sure you’re incorporating all the vital nutrients your dog needs.
Be sure to include these essential nutrients:
- High-quality protein (meat, seafood, dairy, eggs)
- Fat (meat, eggs, or a healthy oil)
- Carbohydrates (grains and/or vegetables)
- Calcium (bone broth, dairy)
- Essential fatty acids (bone broth, egg yolks, oats)
In our experience
Once you’ve made this chihuahua dog food recipe a couple of times, you’ll know what ingredients your dog likes best. If you aren’t sure that the food you are making contains all the nutrients your dog needs, you can always consult with your veterinarian.
Remember, if you are introducing new foods to your dog, be sure to add small amounts slowly. Your dog’s digestive system needs time to adapt and adjust to the change. An excellent way to introduce new or homemade foods is in the form of dog treats, like our no-bake dog treat pupsicle or with a homemade dog food topper recipe.
We hope you have fun creating new recipes for your dog, check out our other nutritious homemade dog food recipes to add some more variety to your dog’s diet!
