Christmas dinner for dogs
It wouldn’t be Christmas without it!
For children, Christmas is all about the presents. As adults though, let’s face it - the food is the main event. Cheese boards, turkey, cranberry sauce, Christmas pudding, pigs in blankets, even the sprouts… and the cheese… did we mention cheese? Here at Natures Menu, we’re 100% here for the food – and so are our dogs! In this article, we’re looking at Christmas dinner for dogs, and ways to include our four-legged family members in the gourmet treats of the big day.
What’s in a dog friendly Christmas dinner?
As it happens, a lot of the food that features on the Christmas dinner menu is suitable for a dog friendly Christmas dinner. However, a human Christmas dinner wouldn’t make a suitable dog Christmas dinner because of certain ingredients and the way it’s prepared.
Most of our dishes include onion and garlic, both of which are toxic to dogs. Then, there’s all that seasoning and fat we use to cook. An appropriate dog Christmas dinner recipe certainly won’t feature salt or butter. However, turkey is a great, lean, healthy protein for dogs, and a bit of gently cooked, unseasoned potato, carrots, peas, and green beans are all fine in moderation. They could also try a little cooked parsnip and sprouts! Even a little cooked chestnut could feature in a dog Christmas dinner.
A faff free dog Christmas dinner
So, what’s the easiest way to serve a dog friendly Christmas dinner? That would be our complete and balanced Country Hunter Turkey and Goose raw nuggets with superfoods!
These tasty, wholesome nuggets are made with 80% carefully sourced, real turkey and goose and feature mainly of the ingredients that would go into a Christmas dinner for dogs.
As with all our recipes, we never add sugar or any artificial colours, preservatives, or meat meal, using only real, quality ingredients.
A dog Christmas dinner needs a dog Christmas cake – we like this simple, wholesome recipe and the potato ‘frosting’ looks suitably Christmassy:
Christmas dinner recipes for dogs: Christmas cake
INGREDIENTS
For the cake:
210g wholemeal flour
1 peeled banana, mashed
Half a grated carrot
2tsp coconut oil
250ml oat milk
1 egg
For the decoration:
1 large potato, mashed
Meaty Treats for decorations
METHOD
Preheat your oven to 200 degrees centigrade and line a small cake tin with greaseproof paper.
Mash banana, then add whisked egg, grated carrot, melted coconut oil and oat milk.
Mix, then stir in the flour.
Spoon the cake mixture into the lined cake tin and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour until completely cooked through, then remove from the oven and leave it to cool. Don’t worry if it doesn’t rise much - that’s because there is no baking powder in this recipe.
Whilst your cake is cooling, make the frosting. Peel and chop your potato into chunks, then boil in a saucepan of water for 15-20 minutes until soft. Drain your potato and leave to cool before mashing. Make sure it’s mashed thoroughly and that there are no lumps. Loosen with a little water and spoon into a piping bag, ready to decorate your cake
Cut the cooled cake into two even layers. Pipe some of your mash onto one half and sandwich the layers together. Pipe the remaining mash on top and use our tasty meaty treats to create a simple snowflake or star motif to decorate.
Serve your dog a small slice!
Alternatively, this simple peanut butter biscuit recipe would make great cookies as part of your dog Christmas dinner.
So, what’s the easiest way to serve a dog friendly Christmas dinner? That would be our complete and balanced Country Hunter Turkey and Goose raw nuggets with superfoods!
These tasty, wholesome nuggets are made with 80% carefully sourced, real turkey and goose and feature mainly of the ingredients that would go into a Christmas dinner for dogs.
As with all our recipes, we never add sugar or any artificial colours, preservatives, or meat meal, using only real, quality ingredients.
A dog Christmas dinner needs a dog Christmas cake – we like this simple, wholesome recipe and the potato ‘frosting’ looks suitably Christmassy:
Christmas dinner recipes for dogs: Christmas cake
INGREDIENTS
For the cake:
210g wholemeal flour
1 peeled banana, mashed
Half a grated carrot
2tsp coconut oil
250ml oat milk
1 egg
For the decoration:
1 large potato, mashed
Meaty Treats for decorations
METHOD
Preheat your oven to 200 degrees centigrade and line a small cake tin with greaseproof paper.
Mash banana, then add whisked egg, grated carrot, melted coconut oil and oat milk.
Mix, then stir in the flour.
Spoon the cake mixture into the lined cake tin and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour until completely cooked through, then remove from the oven and leave it to cool. Don’t worry if it doesn’t rise much - that’s because there is no baking powder in this recipe.
Whilst your cake is cooling, make the frosting. Peel and chop your potato into chunks, then boil in a saucepan of water for 15-20 minutes until soft. Drain your potato and leave to cool before mashing. Make sure it’s mashed thoroughly and that there are no lumps. Loosen with a little water and spoon into a piping bag, ready to decorate your cake
Cut the cooled cake into two even layers. Pipe some of your mash onto one half and sandwich the layers together. Pipe the remaining mash on top and use our tasty meaty treats to create a simple snowflake or star motif to decorate.
Serve your dog a small slice!
Alternatively, this simple peanut butter biscuit recipe would make great cookies as part of your dog Christmas dinner.
Christmas dinner recipes for dogs: Christmas cookies
INGREDIENTS
1 ½ cup rolled oats
½ cup natural peanut butter (no added sugar or salt, xylitol free)
2 medium extra ripe bananas
METHOD
Preheat the oven to 180 and line a baking tray with parchment.
Blitz the oats in a food processor.
Mash bananas, then combine with oats and peanut butter to form a firm, sticky dough.
Roll out the dough to roughly ¼ inch thickness then use Christmas cookie cutters, such as stars or Christmas trees, to cut out your biscuits.
Bake for 10-15 mins and leave to cool before feeding.
Please note: Human Christmas cakes and cookies are not suitable for dogs. These often include alcohol and dried fruit which are toxic for pups.
INGREDIENTS
1 ½ cup rolled oats
½ cup natural peanut butter (no added sugar or salt, xylitol free)
2 medium extra ripe bananas
METHOD
Preheat the oven to 180 and line a baking tray with parchment.
Blitz the oats in a food processor.
Mash bananas, then combine with oats and peanut butter to form a firm, sticky dough.
Roll out the dough to roughly ¼ inch thickness then use Christmas cookie cutters, such as stars or Christmas trees, to cut out your biscuits.
Bake for 10-15 mins and leave to cool before feeding.
Please note: Human Christmas cakes and cookies are not suitable for dogs. These often include alcohol and dried fruit which are toxic for pups.
Christmas dinner for puppies
We wouldn’t want to leave out the little ones! Pups are bound to be excited with all the fun and family around. Luckily, we’ve got Christmas dinner for puppies covered, with our complete and balanced Country Hunter Turkey and Fish raw nuggets with superfoods. With tasty turkey, salmon and veg, they’ll be sampling some Christmas classics!
As dog owners know, our dogs give us so much every day of the year. It’s only natural that we take every opportunity to give back to them! And what better way than with tasty, real, wholesome food? It’s sure way to share the Christmas love, and help keep them healthy and happy over the festive period.