Instant Pot Dog Food With Beef

So why do I do this? My dogs have been eating an organic grain-free kibble their entire life. Nothing is more frustrating than to learn experts have determined a grain-free diet is not good for dogs, and in some cases, dangerous. Where were those experts when the kibble was first introduced?! Add to that the constant recalls, and it becomes an exercise in frustration to figure out what is safe for my "kids" to eat. Everyone has an opinion on their particular brand of kibble, whether or not to feed "raw", etc. Once I got my first instant pot, I started noticing recipes for dog food and it intrigued me.

I quickly decided I was not going to totally switch their diet to homemade. I just don't have enough freezer space to accommodate two standard poodles and two adults. Not to mention, I would spend more time cooking for them than for myself. So this is my compromise. I have always free fed them their kibble and when they are hungry they eat. And, yes, they still eat their kibble.

My female used to have constant eye goobers that I cleaned out each morning. This is common with standards. Her vet diagnosed dry eye and gave me drops for it. The drops made no difference and it was a battle every morning to put them in her eyes (I think the drops stung). Since I have been feeding her this recipe, the eye goobers are a thing of the past. Clearly there is something in this recipe her body needed and wasn't getting from the kibble. Nice surprise.

So every five days, one of my pots is devoted to Jack and Chloe. They LOVE their instant pot! 🙂

This is one of those recipes that, rescued by some seasonings, would actually be good enough for humans. And it's quite easy. You will be dumping the ingredients into the pot in the order listed.

First, the rice. I normally use Lundberg organic short grain brown rice. Costco was out of it so I bought a bag of organic regular grain rice this time around.

Next, peel the sweet potato and cut up into bite-sized chunks and dump into the pot.

Wash the carrots and trim off the ends. Slice into half-inch chunks and add to the pot.

Next dump in the peas or green beans. Again, I buy the frozen large organic bags at Costco. This particular month I am using green beans but the kids also love the peas.

Add your meat to the top. Spread out the pieces so that they are in a single layer. I typically use chicken. But turkey or beef is also an option. I have used a combination of  ground beef and ground turkey as well (a pound of each). I just break it up into chunks.

Next pour the quart of chicken broth over the ingredients in the pot. It is certainly not necessary to use broth. Water is just fine. I am actually using a chicken bone broth I made in the instant pot using leftover whole chicken bones. When I make the broth, I use NO seasonings, which is why I prefer it for my dogs.  In addition to the broth, I usually add another cup or so of water (I just refill that quart jar about a third of the way).

Now it's time to close the lid, make sure the valve is sealed, and program the pot. Set it for 1 hour. I use the meat setting. Once the pot has timed down to zero and beeped, let it naturally pressure release for at least 30 minutes (longer is okay too). Then carefully open the valve to release the rest of the pressure.

Remove the lid. With two forks shred the chicken; with a large spoon mix it all together.  You'll be tempted to taste test it. Go ahead. You'll find it's quite bland but with some seasonings wouldn't be half bad.

I use small Rubbermaid containers that hold a little over a cup of the food. I get 10 servings from a batch. I have two standard poodles so this lasts for five days. I use this as a supplement to their kibble. They don't hesitate to remind me when it's dinner time….like almost to the minute.

• 1½ cups brown rice
• 1 large sweet potato, peeled and cut up
• 6 large carrots, washed, trimmed and sliced
• 2 cups frozen peas or green beans
• 1 - 1½ lbs boneless chicken thighs
• 32 oz no seasonings chicken broth
• 8 oz water

1. Add ingredients to the instant pot in the order listed.
   

2. Place the lid on the instant pot. Set the pressure valve to seal. Set the "Meat" setting to 1 hour.
   

3. Once the hour has passed. Hit the cancel button to turn off instant pot. Let in naturally pressure release (NPR) for 30-45 minutes. Open the pressure valve to release any remaining pressure. Open the pot and stir.
   

Typically if I am adding meat that has already been cooked, I will add it to the pot after I'm done cooking the other ingredients. I did that when I had left over Turkey from Thanksgiving. No need to cook it twice. I've also done that when I've oven roasted or IP cooked a whole chicken.

Update: October 18, 2019

Here are some pics of the ground turkey/ground beef combination I made today after reading a comment that someone had tried the ground turkey and it burned.

This is the batch just before I put the top on. First I broke the ground turkey into chunks and distributed it over the top. Then I broke the ground beef into chunks and distributed it over the ground turkey. Finally, I poured a 32 oz jar of homemade chicken broth (the yellow is the congealed fat from the broth) and another 16 oz of water (about half of the broth jar).

Here's what the batch looked like when I opened the lid after letting it set for 30 minutes after the buzzer went off. You can see there is a lot of liquid.

And this it was how looked after I'd broken up the meat chunks and thoroughly stirred. It's still a little watery, but honestly, my dogs love it that way. Every morsel and drop of liquid is consumed. If you get batches where the rice is burning to the bottom of the pot, consider adding more liquid to the recipe. Every pot cooks slightly different. My 8-quart constantly gives me "burn" messages, which drives me nuts. I only make this recipe in my 6-quart now.

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Source: https://hobbystash.com/dining-in/instant-pot/instant-pot-dog-food/

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