Yes, I cook for my dogs. It started when one of our dogs got sick and wasn’t interested in eating unless it was the good stuff but once you 
let that “Mommy’s cooking chicken for you” genie out of the bottle,
there is NO way it is going back in. (The picture to the right is Finnegan and Buford guarding the stew while I shred the chicken.) So, just in time for Valentine’s Day, I am sharing Scooby’s Stew recipe with you so you too can share the homemade goodness with your most loyal companions.
I can barely get dinner on the table for the humans in the house some nights, so the dog food needed to be super easy and produce a large enough batch that I could make it only once a week. 
I landed on a combination of brown rice, sweet potato, chicken breast and mixed veggies that gets dumped into a slow cooker. It takes about 15 minutes to get the potatoes and chicken cut up, and combined with everything else in the slow cooker, but then you’re done. Cook for 5 or 8 hours and serve.
Be warned that it smells really good, and once you make it the first
time, the dogs will stalk the crock pot and leave piles of drool on the floor in front of it while it finishes cooking. I recommend a strategically placed washable rug to address this situation to keep you from stepping in a giant puddle.
It keeps in the fridge for a couple of days, and freezes and thaws beautifully. I bag it up by one cup portions in sandwich size 
zipper bags which I flatten to 1/4″ or 1/2″ thick. I put a couple in the fridge and put the rest in the freezer. In a bowl of tap water, a bag of food will thaw in 15-20 minutes.
While I am cooking dinner for the family during the week, I will take a bag of stew out of the freezer and let it thaw so the puppies have dinner ready at the same time 🙂
So, why do I call it Scooby’s Stew? We adopted Scooby about six years ago from the Humane Society. He was sweet, gentle and would let my daughter dress him up in pretty much anything. Scooby was with us three years when he was diagnosed with cancer. Surgery worked on the first batch of tumors, but within a year, there were more. His appetite wasn’t very good after that point so I started making him a stew of his favorite foods. 
We lost Scooby more than a year ago, but his younger brother Finnegan loved the stew too so I have continued to cook it for him. Our new baby, Buford, has already learned what the stew smells like so I really need to invest in a more absorbent rug before I make this again.
And speaking of our new baby Buford – who grew up way too fast – you can check out his cookie recipe here! Buford’s Easy Peanut Butter Cookies whip up in no time, keep for a couple of weeks, and are a great alternative to store-bought treats. Click the pictures to check it out 🙂
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups water
- 1 cup brown rice
- 2 cups sweet potato, cubed
- 2 large chicken breasts, cut into 6 pieces each
- 2 pounds frozen mixed vegetables (corn, peas, green beans, carrots)
Instructions
- Place ingredients in slow cooker in order listed, covering chicken completely with vegetables
- Cook 5 hours on high or 8 hours on low
- Remove from slow cooker, shred chicken and stir into rice and veggie mixture until evenly distributed.
- Store covered in fridge for up to three days or freeze in single-serve portions.
Can you use frozen sweet potatoes?
Hi Lisa! Using frozen sweet potatoes would not be my first choice but you could certainly give it a try. In my experience, they have more moisture and don’t hold their texture as well as the fresh. The texture here isn’t really a big issue since the party eating it probably doesn’t care too much LOL! I am concerned that the stew could end up too wet which would be a problem during the freezing and thawing process (presuming you do freeze some). Perhaps you can reduce the water in the recipe by 1 or 2 Tablespoons and see if that doesn’t even things out? Let me know how it goes!
Thanks so much for the great recipe. Our very picky Lab is loving it !
So glad your pup is enjoying it 😘👍
Hi. One of my dogs has a grain allergy. Do you know of anything that could be substituted for the rice?
Hello! I would substitute 2 additional cups of chopped sweet potato and a half cup of water. The two cups of chopped sweet potato have a similar nutritional profile to the 1 cup of rice so the balance of carbs and protein won’t change much. Please let me know how this works out for you and you puppy 🙂
The rice turned to mush at the bottom of the crockpot. Did anyone else have this problem? Next time I will cook the rice seperately. Also, I might not add the veggies until the last hour. I was disappointed with how this recipe turned out, so I would love any suggestions for improvement.
Hi Vanessa! I’m so sorry you weren’t happy with the stew! The rice does come out somewhat mushy when I make it but it is still solid enough to mix in with the rest of the ingredients. Maybe you could try a lower temperature setting on your slow cooker? The excessive mushiness could be the rice getting overcooked so less heat might mean less mush… I do hope you try the recipe again and that it comes out better for you the second time 🙂
Do you peel the sweet potatoes?
Hi Lori! I do not peel them, but I do scrub them really well before I cut them up.
Hello! Been dabbling in homemade dog food since the pup has pancreatitis issues and the special diet is so pricey! I am hoping to go 50/50. How many bags do you get each time?
Thanks for sharing your recipie!
I would say ten bags of roughly a cup of food each. I usually feed it fresh the day I make it, and the day after too, so I’ve never actually frozen the whole batch. Hope your furry one enjoys this as much as ours do!
Thank you so much for posting this!!My dogs loved it…
Lab, Jindo and Chihuahua!!
I’m so very glad to hear they loved it! If you haven’t checked out Buford’s Peanut Butter Cookies, you may want to give them a try too. Both of my pooches drool in front of the ovens when they are baking LOL!
Would this be enough without adding it to store bought dog food for my 14 yr old dog who is not fond of store bought and can’t eat crunchy anymore?
Hi Anne! I don’t claim to be a dog nutrition expert but I will tell you that when my dogs have been sick or otherwise very picky about what they eat, I’ve given them this alone because I know they will eat it and will be able to keep it down. It may not be the ideal mix of ingredients for every dog so check with your vet just to be sure you don’t need a vitamin or other supplement to meet your pup’s needs. Much love to your dog from my furry guys – at 14, yours has earned the right to be a little picky about dinner 🙂
Didn’t think dogs could eat corn
Much like people, most dogs do just fine with it but some do not. Your vet can help you understand what the best choices are for your pooch.
Do you always mix this with their kibble?
Yes, I do always mix it with their dry food (kibble).
If they are fussy about eating dry food and pick around it like Maisy. then just put the kibble in a sandwich bag and pound it with a meat pounder to just about a meal and mix in with chicken mixture. I had to go and buy OraVet dental chews for her teeth. This does clean her teeth and breath. Can get on Amazon and I get her the nuVet Plus vitamins. With her size she get half a pill a day. A bottle will last 190 days for her. Maisy will let me feed her by hand if I let it. She was sick with tummy upset and she would not eat so I gave her couple tiny bits of chicken just about put it in her mouth and she took it. then I shoved the plate under her and she ate.
Any thoughts on portion sizes for little dogs?
Hi Penny! My aunt’s dog is a Maltese mix and they have put a tablespoon or so in with her kibble. They always shred the chicken very finely and mash up the vegetables to make it easier to chew. Instead of storing and freezing it in sandwich sized bags, you may want to use snack size bags. Once thawed, one small bag could give you a couple days worth of food. Let me know if you have more questions 😊
Do you put the rice in there cooked or uncooked?
Hello! The rice goes in uncooked. Nice and easy 😊
How much do you feed per day
I substitute stew for 25% of the kibble. Since my big pups each eat two cups per feeding, I substitute a half cup of stew for a half cup of kibble.
I also make a variation using ground turkey and including blue berries and apples.