For a special treat for your pet, try these homemade chicken treats. They use a handful of ingredients and come together in no time at all.
This is a simple recipe and you don’t have to be a skilled baker to do this. If you have more chicken breast on hand as you make this, my advice is to cook it all and then give the extra chicken (that you don’t need for the treats) to your cat (or dog). From my experience, cats love cooked shredded chicken, mixed with water the chicken was cooking in.
This recipe is based on the recipe in Dr. Pitcairn’s Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs & Cats, a fun book to have if you are interested in dog and cat care. Of course having regular veterinary care for your pets is just as important.
Recipe
Homemade chicken treats for cats and dogs
These homemade chicken treats are a great reward every now and then, but can't replace regular feedings.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups cooked chicken breast shredded
- 1 tablespoon sunflower oil
- 1/2 cup chicken stock
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- 1/3 cup polenta or cornmeal
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 175°C (350°F). Cover a baking sheet with baking paper and set aside.
- In a medium bowl, combine shredded chicken with oil and stock. For a finer texture, you can blend the chicken with stock prior to adding oil.
- Add flour and polenta and mix until it's all combined and resembles a dough. Flour your work surface and roll out the dough to 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick (about 0.5-1 cm thick).
- Cut out your treats in any desired shape and place them on the baking sheet. They can be placed close together, as they won't get bigger during baking. Bake for 20 minutes in the center of the oven. Let them cool for about 10-15 minutes before serving.
Notes
If cooking fresh chicken breast, cook it in water in a pot covered with a lid. Once the chicken is fork-tender, remove the pot from heat and allow it to cool before using. While this recipe uses chicken breast, you could experiment with darker meat such as chicken thighs.
You can use the water you cooked the chicken in instead of chicken stock.
Hi! How long do these treats keep in the refrigerator?
Hi Sydney, I would say no more than 5 days!
It’s been a long time since I made these, but I wouldn’t keep them longer than that. I have 3 cats, so they eat quite a lot, but you could make a smaller batch and not risk any going bad.
Hope this helps!
My twin sister has a malmute husky mix, I have a rat terrier-fox terrier mix and we have 2 kittens so thanks for the recipe.
That’s quite a group you have, love it!