There are so many cat foods on the market these days that we are left confused about what to choose.
While wet food provides our cats with the hydration they need, it’s more expensive, and your cat might want more variety.
Dry food provides all the vitamins and minerals your cat needs, but many foods have unnecessary filler ingredients that we’d rather avoid.
Making your own cat food is a way to ensure that your feline is getting the best quality chow possible. And it’s not as hard as you think!
Cats are obligate carnivores, so they require meat to thrive. But they also need vegetables and other foods to have a well-rounded diet. Keeping that in mind, it is easy to come up with a variety of recipes for your furry friend.
If you do plan to cook and feed your cat homemade recipes, it is advised to gradually transition them to this food. Sudden changes in diet can cause stomach upset.
Below, we’ve outlined a list of easy to make recipes for your cat.
1. Pumpkin Chicken
Ingredients:
- 10 pounds bone-in chicken quarters (legs, thighs, etc.)
- 2-3 cups white rice
- 1 can of pumpkin puree
- 3 tablespoons finely ground flax seed
Instructions:
1. Bake chicken quarters in the oven at 350 degrees for 50 minutes, or until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of at least 165 degrees.
2. Cook white rice until soft and sticky
3. Take meat off of chicken bones and place in a large bowl
4. Combine a can of pumpkin, rice and flax seed with the chicken.
5. Store in a lid tight container. It will be good for four days in the fridge, and 3 months in the freezer. Do not add salt or seasoning to your cat’s food, as it can wreak havoc on your cat’s body.
2. Simple Chicken
Ingredients:
- 2 cups cooked chopped chicken
- 2 cooked egg yolks
- 3 tablespoons steamed broccoli
- 2-3 teaspoons of olive oil
Instructions:
1. Combine all ingredients in a container, and store in the fridge, where it will be good for four days. In the freezer, it should last several months, but once you see freezer burn has formed, you will have to toss it.
3. Carrots & Sardines
Ingredients:
- 1 can sardines in olive oil
- 2-3 tablespoons mashed and cooked carrots
- ½ cup oatmeal
Instructions:
1. Combine these ingredients together into a bowl or container. The consistency of this food is similar to that of a store bought wet food, so it is able to be canned if you have the tools to do so. The oatmeal adds a perfect amount of fiber to keep your cat’s stools regular.
4. Vitamin Rich Ground Turkey
Ingredients:
- 1 pound of ground turkey
- 1 egg
- 1 ground eggshell
- 1 tablespoon sunflower oil
- 1000 mg of Omega 3 Fatty Acid
- 1 teaspoon ground flax seed
- Cat multivitamin-mineral supplement
- 1000 mg of taurine powder
Instructions:
1. Cook the ground turkey in a pan on the stove. Combine the egg and the oil with the turkey and cook it all together. Once the turkey turns white, it’s ready.
2. Grind up the egg shell
3. Combine the cat vitamin with the fish oil, taurine and ground flax.
4. Combine the egg shell and vitamin mixture with the turkey and egg.
Store in fridge. The serving size is 130-140 grams per ten pound cat.
5. Chicken and Mackerel
Ingredients:
- 3 pounds chicken leg quarters
- 3 ounces chicken livers
- 1 cup of water
- 2 hard boiled eggs
- 1 can mackerel
- 1 ½ tablespoon of fish oil
- 1 400IU vitamin E softgel, pierced and squeezed
- ½-1 B complex 50 capsule
- 2000mg Taurine powder
Instructions:
1. Bake chicken legs at 350 degrees until they reach an internal temperature of at least 165 degrees. Once fully cooked, take the meat off the bones. Keep the pan juices.
2. Hard boil the eggs
3. Blend chicken meat in a food processor with the pan juices, eggs, liver, mackerel and 1 cup of water. You will want to keep blending until it reaches a pate consistency.
4. Mix in the vitamins
6. Egg & Veggie Bites
Ingredients:
- 1 tablespoon nonfat dry milk
- 3 medium eggs
- 3 tablespoons cottage cheese
- 2 tablespoons of grated vegetables
Instructions:
1. Combine the milk powder with a little bit of water
2. Add eggs in and beat with a fork or mixer
3. Place mixture in a frying pan and cook on medium-low heat
4. Once cooked, place on a cutting board or plate. Flip over as you would a pancake and spread the cottage cheese and vegetables on half of it. Then fold it like an omelet.
5. Once cooled, cut into bite sized pieces.
7. Tender Chicken
Ingredients:
- Three pounds of quartered whole chicken
- 4 cups of water
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 celery stalks with leaves
- 1 cup of carrots chopped finely
- 2 tablespoons parsley flakes
- ½ cup uncooked barley
- 1 tablespoon of lemon juice
- 3 teaspoons of Brewer’s yeast
- 5 ounces of thawed and drained chopped frozen spinach
- 1 cup chopped fresh green beans
Instructions:
1. Put chicken, salt, water and celery leaves in a large pot or slow cooker. Cover with lid and bring to boil. Once boiling, reduce heat so it is at a simmer. Leave to simmer for 1 to 1.5 hours or until the chicken is soft.
2. Remove the chicken and strain it, capturing the broth in a bowl. Place broth in the fridge until it is congealed. Skim the fat off once it is.
3. Take off the fat, skin and bones from the chicken. Throw these away. Chop the meat into small pieces and set to the side.
4. Put broth back in the pot and add chopped celery with carrots, barley, brewer’s years and lemon juice. Cover the pot with a lid and simmer for 20 minutes.
5. Place the chicken, green beans and spinach into the pot. Cook it for 15 minutes till the beans are tender. Cool down and serve. You can cover it and keep it in the fridge for a week or put in the freezer for a month.
8. Mackerel Delight
Ingredients:
- 1 cup of canned mackerel
- 1 tablespoon of sunflower seed oil
- 1 tablespoon of organic cooked brown rice
- 1-2 tablespoons of water or broth, can be chicken or beef
Instructions:
1. Place all ingredients in a food processor
2. Puree it until blended
3. Serve immediately or store in the fridge for up to three days
9. Chicken Stew
Ingredients:
- 1 whole chicken
- 2 cups of brown rice
- 6 stalks of celery
- 8 scrubbed carrots
- 2 yellow squash
- 2 zucchini
- 1 small broccoli crown
- 1 cup of green beans
Instructions:
1. Clean chicken and place in a large stew pot
2. Cut up the vegetables and add to the pot
3. Add the rice
4. Once the chicken is tender and fully cooked, and the vegetables are soft, you can turn off the stove
5. After allowing the chicken to cool, you can now debone it. Make sure to grab every bone, even small ones, because they can present a choking hazard
6. Pour stew in a blender and blend until it’s smooth. You can also chop it up until the pieces are bite sized if you don’t have a blender
7. Serve or store in the fridge for 3 days, freeze for up to three months.
10. Turkey Heaven
Ingredients:
- 1 ½ cups of water
- 2 teaspoons of corn oil
- ½ cup of uncooked brown rice
- ½ pound of raw turkey giblets, chopped up to bite sized pieces
- ¼ cup of finely chopped carrots
- ½ cup of chopped spinach
Instructions:
1. Combine the oil and water, bringing it to a boil. Then pour the rice into the water and lower the heat. Let simmer for ten minutes.
2. Add the turkey giblets, carrot and spinach, then cover and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes.
3. Allow to cool then serve. Can be stored in the fridge for three days.
11. Happy Tuna
Ingredients:
- 1 cup of cooked chicken breast
- 1 can of tuna with oil
- 1.5 tablespoons of cooked vegetables
Instructions:
1. Place all ingredients in the blender or food processor and blend until it’s pureed
2. Once it’s blended, serve it! You can store it in the fridge for three days.
12. Affordable Chicken Dinner
Ingredients:
- ½ cup of skinless and boneless chicken
- ½ cup of chicken liver
- ½ cup of cooked brown rice
- ⅓ cup of shredded zucchini
- ⅓ teaspoon of coconut oil
Instructions:
1. Cut up the chicken into small, cat bite sized pieces.
2. Place oil in a frying pan and melt. Add the chicken and chicken liver and cook over medium heat.
3. Once fully cooked, remove the pan from the heat and add in cooked brown rice and zucchini. Stir it up until it’s combined. Serve or store in the fridge.
Final thoughts…
Feeding your cat homemade food can be easy! All you need to do is pick the right recipes. Simple, clean ingredients are the key. Your cat is sure to enjoy any of these 12 recipes, and because they’re so straightforward, you can try them all out and see which they like best.
If you want to get creative and make your own recipes, check out our list of safe human foods for cats. You can use any of these foods to create your own cat food!
