If you have decided to feed your dog a homemade diet and need some advice on how to season rice for your dog in a healthy and tasty way, know that you are reading the right article.
Rice is a delicious and healthy food, but it must be cooked in the right way to be digestible and to meet the correct nutritional needs of your dog.
We will explain how to combine basic foods to create quick and tasty meals for your four-legged friend, and how to store them if you don't want to cook every day.
How to season rice for the dog: the basic combinations
The standard foods that you will need to use to cook your friend's meals are the following:
Boiled rice (preferably a type that contains little starch)
Meat (chicken, turkey, beef, pork, rabbit)
Fish (see here the recommended types)
Offal (only once a week)
Carrots
Courgettes
Boiled pumpkin
Cooked eggs
And occasionally:
But there are many other foods that can be integrated into their diet. To learn more, read here!
Boiled Rice Recipes for Dogs
And finally, if you want to know how to season rice for your dog, here are some simple recipes that your furry friend will love.
In most cases, you just need to mix together the ingredients and voila, a delicious buffet for your friend!
And if you keep reading, you'll find some tips for food preparation and calculating quantities.
If you want to use puffed rice, know that 100 grams of boiled rice provide 130 calories, while the same amount of puffed rice provides about 352. Adjust accordingly for substitution!
Dog Burger
Mix all the ingredients together and create small meat burgers. You can cook them in different ways.
In the oven: place the burgers on a lightly oiled baking paper on a tray. Bake in a ventilated oven at 200°C for about 10-12 minutes.
In a pan: heat a drizzle of oil and cook the burgers for about 4-5 minutes per side.
You can also leave them slightly raw, as beef is not dangerous for dogs and they will still enjoy it.
High Protein Mix
Extra Strength
100 grams of liver in chunks
100 grams of chicken in chunks
50 grams of carrots in chunks
50 grams of cauliflower in chunks
50 grams of rice
50 grams of lentils
¼ cup of chicken broth (optional)
Surf & Turf
Cantonese Rice
Rice, Chicken, and Carrots
The classic favorite:
200 grams of chicken in chunks
100 grams of carrots in chunks
100 grams of rice
¼ cup of chicken broth (optional)
Rice, Pork, Egg, and Carrots
150 grams of pork in chunks
1 boiled egg, in pieces
100 grams of carrots in chunks
100 grams of rice
¼ cup of meat broth (optional)
Rice, Cod, and Zucchini
Rice, Chicken, Egg, and Pumpkin
150 grams of chicken in chunks
1 boiled egg, in pieces
100 grams of pumpkin in chunks
100 grams of rice
¼ cup of chicken broth (optional)
Of course, you can mix and match the various ingredients as you like, and substitute food groups with allowed ingredients as you please.
How to Cook Rice for Dogs
This is the most important part of meal preparation: how long should rice cook for dogs? And how to prepare it for cooking? Here's how:
Start by washing the rice well: put it in a container, add water, and use your hands to remove as much starch as possible. Repeat three or four times, or until the rinse water is almost transparent and no longer white.
Bring a pot of water to a boil.
Boil the rice until it is soft (you should not feel the inner part of the grain when you bite it). Generally, it should cook 2 or 3 minutes longer than rice for humans, but do not overdo it, it should not become gluey!
Drain and let cool to room temperature, as rice should never be served just out of the refrigerator, as it would not be digestible for the dog.
How to Prepare Other Ingredients to Combine with Rice
Meat
It should be completely deboned and preferably boiled. Grilling or baking is also fine, but boiling is the easiest and quickest method.
Be careful with pork; it must be thoroughly cooked, as raw pork can contain a parasite very dangerous for dogs.
By boiling, you can also save the broth, which can be used for delicious frozen snacks. No spices or salt, just water, or a drizzle of oil if you're grilling.
Fish
It's better to start with frozen fish, which is safer than fresh or just-caught fish.
It can be baked or grilled, but the easiest way is to put it in a pan with a little water and cook it until it's fully done.
Always without bones, and without spices or salt. And better without the skin.
Vegetables
Vegetables can be prepared either boiled or steamed. Steaming is best, as it causes less nutrient loss.
You can save the vegetable broth and use it to create tasty ice lollies.
And read here to find out which vegetables dogs can eat and which vegetables to avoid or limit.
Eggs
Even though many dogs enjoy raw eggs, it's always better to boil them, not so much for the problem of bacteria, which is practically non-existent in supermarket eggs, but for taste and consistency.
If the dog doesn't like the taste of raw egg, it might refuse the rice. And don't overdo it: as a general rule, only one egg a week should be given to small dogs, and two to large dogs.
Lentils and Peas:
They must be boiled to perfection, until they are tender and fully digestible.
How Much Rice Should a Dog Eat?
After calculating the required grams based on your dog's weight (read here to calculate the ideal amount), you can determine how many grams of each food group you will need to use to create the daily meal.
Regarding percentages, it's ideal to never go below 50% animal protein, and to divide the rest between carbohydrates and vegetables.
To simplify, let's use this formula, which is suitable for an adult dog of about 13 kg:
How to Store Fresh Dog Food
Once you have prepared the food mix for your dog, you can store it in the refrigerator for one or two days, but you should always warm it up before giving it to Fido.
The best method to store dog food is to freeze it and then defrost it in the microwave in the morning.
This is what I do, and I prepare about ten portions so I don't have to cook every day.
If you don't have a microwave, you can defrost the meal in a pan or in the oven (in this case, obviously use paper containers), or by letting it thaw out of the freezer overnight, or for a few hours when it's very hot.
In this case, make sure to use it all the next day, and put it in the refrigerator as soon as it's defrosted or almost ready to be heated.
To learn more about dog nutrition and their nutritional needs, don't miss our articles on khani.co.uk
Disclaimer
The information on our site is of a general nature and does not in any way replace the opinion of a veterinarian. To ensure healthy and balanced nutrition for pets, we recommend relying on the advice of a nutrition expert, who will be able to assess the health status and needs of the individual to create a balanced diet for each specific case.
