My dog, Ginger, absolutely loves this meal. Since I started feeding her a complete vegan diet, she is more excited about eating than ever before! She is still a bundle of energy, and she has had a significant improvement in digestion. This diet is relatively new, so I will keep y'all posted on any other changes I notice in her.
Cost per serving: $0.64
Calories per serving: 356
Equipment you'll need: stock pot, baking sheet
Ingredients: makes 3 servings
1 large sweet potato
2/3 cups uncooked brown rice + 1 1/3 cup water (yields 2 cups cooked)
1 can (15 ounces) black beans, drained and rinsed
6 kale leaf stems, broken into 1 inch pieces
1 large sweet potato
2/3 cups uncooked brown rice + 1 1/3 cup water (yields 2 cups cooked)
1 can (15 ounces) black beans, drained and rinsed
6 kale leaf stems, broken into 1 inch pieces
Method:
1. Preheat oven to 400F.
2. Line baking sheet with tin foil.
3. Pierce sweet potato with a fork multiple times around the sweet potato.
4. Place on baking sheet and bake for one hour.
5. While sweet potato is baking, cook rice: Bring rice and water to a boil in stockpot. Lower temperature and simmer, covered, for about 45 minutes.
6. Chop sweet potatoes into small pieces when cooled.
7. Combine rice, beans, sweet potatoes, and kale stems and separate into 3 equal servings.
8. Serve your pup this delicious and nutritious meal and see how much they love it!
1. Preheat oven to 400F.
2. Line baking sheet with tin foil.
3. Pierce sweet potato with a fork multiple times around the sweet potato.
4. Place on baking sheet and bake for one hour.
5. While sweet potato is baking, cook rice: Bring rice and water to a boil in stockpot. Lower temperature and simmer, covered, for about 45 minutes.
6. Chop sweet potatoes into small pieces when cooled.
7. Combine rice, beans, sweet potatoes, and kale stems and separate into 3 equal servings.
8. Serve your pup this delicious and nutritious meal and see how much they love it!
*Note: To ensure my dog is getting all of the nutrients she needs, I also give her the Veg-E-Dog supplement. Find it here.
My dogs are also healthier since I began making homemade vegan dogie stews. No more seizures or ear infections, or scratching skin issues.
That is so great!! My pup is still happier and healthier than ever with her vegan diet 🙂
We just switched our dog to a veggie diet after finding some vegetarian dog food on sale at a health food store. He really liked it so I started feeding him beans and vegetables that I was cooking for my family anyway. He seems to like it so I just ordered the vitamin supplement you recommended and a book on how to feed dogs veggie! Thanks for the information! I'm going to try some of your doggie veggie bowl ideas. I will be glad if I don't have to buy "chicken" or "lamb" based food for him anymore!
Hi there,
I love these recipes for dogs. My concern however is what´s happening to a dog´s teeth after eating such healthy food. I´m always thinking that because they cannot brush their teeth, of course, that the food is just sitting there between their teeth causing gum disease, carries, etc.etc. I would assume that a dog´s saliva helps to combat this. But are we sure? Imagine if the dogs are having teeth aches? Please I would like your opinion on this matter. Thank you and keep up the wonderful work!
Hi Karan! I'm certainly not an expert on dog's dental hygiene but I do brush Ginger's teeth regularly (there isn't much buildup) and feed her things like carrots and apples often, which definitely help in keeping her teeth clean 🙂
Thanks for your comment, Karan!
Annie
Hey there! Love this and going to try this tomorrow for my four babies! What is the serving size you recommend? They are all about 70ish lbs
Hi Michael! I am actually not sure about the recommended serving size for a 70 pound dog! For my 45 pound fur baby I would give her half of this whole recipe for a full meal. Around 500 calories 🙂
Dogs can't be "vegans" and so therefore, I don't think feeding your dog a "vegan diet" is healthy for them, never-ever, dogs need meat every day, you can include veggies and mix it up, but never change their diets to just "vegan" it is ridiculous!
Please, for the love of god don't force your dog or cat to be vegan. It's cruel to make a carnivore eat only vegetables. If your dogs nose starts turning pink that's a sign of malnourishment, you're hurting them. If you can't feed your dog properly you don't deserve to own one. Vegetables are okay for a dog, but they should never be the majority of the diet.
I'm a veterinarian, a lot of my practice is with people who are into clean eating, veganism, etc. I'm on board for people making their own dog food or supplementing with healthy foods for their dogs....but I'm wondering if your dogs are dead or if you've started feeding them meat again since posting this?
Dogs. Need. Meat. Often, I recommend that patients and their humans incorporate more vegetables into diets for pups who have digestive issues. Sometimes we even reduce their meat intake, or make sure they're getting cleaner food. Sometimes that means no more cans. Sometimes it means no more grains (dogs don't need grains). Sometimes it means no more starches. Unless we're doing some kind of exclusion diet to determine an allergy (this is phenomenally uncommon), we *never* stop feeding dogs meat (even then, they eat boneless skinless chicken thighs or ground lean turkey).
Dogs are wolves. They're not just "like" wolves, they *ARE* wolves. They can successfully mate. Wolves will sometimes forage and eat berries or fruits to supplement their own diets naturally, but this is a stopgap, not ever a diet. There is no such thing as a vegan carnivore.
Humans are OMNIVORES which means that we can process nutrients out of a lot of foods. But just like we can't process anything but fiber out of grass because we're not Ruminants, dogs can't process their nutritional needs without meat. plain and simple.
If you're concerned about the meat industry being cruel to animals, you're right, but we've done dogs the service/disservice (depending on your perspective) of taming them and making them largely unfit to hunt, so they don't have packs that will go out and kill their food. Your options are buy meat from a place with a low cruelty index, or hunt the food yourself, or start a farm and raise chickens for your dogs to eat.
Hi Bruce!
I've read that dogs are omnivores and can also thrive on a vegan diet just like humans! Here are some links you may want to check out 🙂
https://v-dog.com/blogs/v-dog-blog/dogs-are-not-wolves-amylase-starch-digestion-and-vegan-diets
Here are a few "ask the vegan vet" topics, too!
https://v-dog.com/blogs/v-dog-blog/ask-the-vegan-vet-does-my-dog-need-to-eat-meat
https://v-dog.com/blogs/v-dog-blog/ask-the-vegan-vet-gi-tracts-dog-physiology-and-decline-on-vegan-diets
https://v-dog.com/blogs/v-dog-blog/should-i-be-feeding-my-dog-a-raw-diet-ask-the-vegan-vet
I am an evolutionary biologist and feel strongly that Bruce is correct in his critique. V-dog.com is FAR from a reliable source and woefully misrepresents the peer reviewed (as opposed to blog referred) science it quotes.
The "Dogs are not wolves," article in no way validates separate species status of dogs. More importantly to readers of this here blog, it in no way supports ethically feeding your dog a meat-free diet.
V-dog.com cites "Amylase activity is associated with AMY2B copy numbers in dog:
implications for dog domestication, diet and diabetes." Take home message is: different breeds of dogs, and different individual dogs, have different abilities to digest starch. No comparison was done with wolves though they speculate that domestication has improved some dogs' ability to digest starch better than their wild brethren.
Just because someone has a PhD and is an expert in [human I hope] weight-loss does not mean their advice should be taken for granted. V-dog.com sells vegan dog food and thus is hardly an unbiased source. I'm not arguing that it is impossible to ethically feed your dog a vegan diet, just difficult, and something one should only do with deep pockets in close consultation with a veterinary nutritionist. A balanced, well-sourced, and neutral read:
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/06/well/family/the-vegan-dog.html
"A study published in 2015 in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association that looked at vegetarian commercial pet foods found that of the 24 foods tested, most were not compliant with the minimum labeling standards set by the feed producers’ group. Because some foods aren’t always formulated correctly, Dr. Freeman said, a meat-based diet from a reputable company is the best way to ensure that nutritional gaps are filled."
"If people are doing this because they are under the impression that it’s healthier, that’s just not true,” Dr. Freeman said.
Meant in kindness,
Jake
Thank you for your comment, Jake! There is tons of information out there, so it's always good to see other perspectives. We all have the same goal of having happy, healthy pups!
Recently my dog has been very ill with vomiting, diarrhea, and refusal to eat. After several vet visits and different tests and diets he's finally doing well on a vegetarian & hydrated protein kibble, however it's $100 for a 27lb bag, and he's a 100lb dog...do the math....i'll be broke in a year.
I was wondering if you have any vegetarian diet recipes that have simple protein (he's unable to digest protein very well) and easily digestible for sensitive stomachs? Also, i want to be sure he's getting all the vitamins/nutrients he needs, do you have a supplement you suggest? Thanks for your time, and I love your website!
Hi Lesley! I'm happy to hear your pup is doing better on a vegetarian diet! Have you looked into V-Dog kibble? It's not that expensive & my dogs absolutely love it. Here's the website: https://v-dog.com
Thanks so much for your kind words!!