Homemade Dog Food or Kibble? What the Math Really Shows
Homemade food only feeds a dog well when a professional has calculated the recipe. Researchers at two Brazilian universities, UNESP and USP, analyzed 106 homemade recipes for dogs and cats published in Portuguese, in books, websites and articles: every one had at least one nutrient below the recommended level. Of the 82 recipes for dogs, 73.2% fell below the minimum for calcium.
This article does not teach a recipe or a supplement dose. It shows what that study found, compares the monthly cost of four adult kibbles from our catalog and says when to call a board-certified veterinary nutritionist.
Is homemade dog food better than kibble?
Not by itself. Homemade food only has a chance of being complete when a veterinarian or a professional trained in nutrition formulates the recipe and the owner repeats it without improvising. Recipes copied from a website or a book fail often: in the UNESP and USP study, none of the 106 recipes met all the recommended nutrients.
The food itself is not the problem. Rice, chicken and vegetables are real food. The problem is the sum: a dog needs dozens of nutrients in the right amounts, every day, and a bowl put together by eye rarely closes that math.
The authors themselves warn that an owner can make a good recipe worse. Even a well-informed owner may swap ingredients over time, and that changes the balance of the diet.
Why are homemade dog food recipes often incomplete?
Because the nutrients that go missing most are the ones the eye cannot see. In the UNESP and USP analysis of the 82 recipes for dogs, calcium, iron, zinc, copper, vitamin E and choline fell below the recommendation in more than two thirds of the recipes.
| Nutrient | Recipes for dogs below the recommendation |
|---|---|
| Choline | 85.4% |
| Copper | 85.4% |
| Vitamin E | 82.9% |
| Zinc | 75.6% |
| Calcium | 73.2% |
| Iron | 68.3% |
Source: Pedrinelli et al., Journal of Nutritional Science, 2017. 82 recipes for dogs, compared with the FEDIAF maintenance recommendation (2014).
Calcium shows the size of the hole. The recipes that fell below the recommendation supplied, at the median, only 19.7% of the recommended calcium. For vitamin D, the 61 recipes below the recommendation (74.4%) supplied, at the median, 14.4% of the recommended amount, according to Table 1 of the study.
There are caveats. The composition was estimated by software from food tables, not measured in a lab. Almost half of the recipes (48%) did not state ingredients and amounts precisely. The authors conclude that these recipes expose animals to nutritional deficiencies.
How much does balanced homemade dog food cost?
There is no honest price without the recipe in hand. The cost depends on the ingredients, on the supplement the professional prescribes and on the preparation time. The study authors note that homemade diets sometimes cost more, and require complex preparation and specific ingredients and supplements.
So the math we can close with real data is the other side: what a complete adult kibble costs per month. We ran it for an adult 10 kg (22 lb) dog, using the catalog. The energy range comes from the FEDIAF 2024 calculation used across the site: 534 to 619 kcal per day.
| Dog food (adult) | Average price | Per kg | Grams per day | Cost per month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Diamond Naturals Adult Lamb Meal & Rice (40 lb / 18.1 kg) | $44.00 | $2.43 ($1.10 per lb) | 150 to 174 g (5.3 to 6.1 oz) | $10.95 to $12.68 |
| Blue Buffalo Life Protection Formula Chicken & Brown Rice Adult (30 lb / 13.6 kg) | $68.10 | $5.00 ($2.27 per lb) | 147 to 170 g (5.2 to 6.0 oz) | $22.08 to $25.56 |
| Fromm Gold Adult Chicken (30 lb / 13.6 kg) | $120.00 | $8.82 ($4.00 per lb) | 143 to 166 g (5.0 to 5.9 oz) | $37.84 to $43.81 |
| ORIJEN Original Dog Grain-Free (23.5 lb / 10.7 kg) | $106.93 | $10.03 ($4.55 per lb) | 136 to 157 g (4.8 to 5.5 oz) | $40.81 to $47.25 |
Math: grams per day = kcal per day ÷ (kcal per kg of the food ÷ 1,000); cost per month = grams per day × price per kg × 30. Catalog average price, no shipping; the bigger bag usually costs less per kilogram.
For the same dog, the priciest food costs almost four times the cheapest. Part of the gap comes from bag size, not from the formula. Check the current price at the store before you buy.
Which dog food should you choose if you can't cook?
Choose a food made for your dog's life stage, adult in this case, and compare it by what the label and the catalog show: ingredients, guaranteed analysis and monthly cost. The four in the table above are adult formulas; see how each one scores in the dog food ranking.
Mixing is a common middle path: kibble as the base with a little real food on top. If you do that, first read how much chicken you can add to your dog's kibble. If you want to replace kibble with homemade food, or your dog has a disease, an allergy or is old, do it only with a veterinarian's recipe and periodic rechecks.
Frequently asked questions
Can I feed my dog just rice and chicken?
As a routine, not without a calculated recipe. The study did not analyze rice and chicken in particular: it evaluated published homemade recipes, and all of them had at least one nutrient below the recommendation. If your dog needs a homemade diet for some reason, the way is a veterinarian who calculates the recipe for his weight and life stage.
Is a recipe from a book or website safe?
It depends on who calculated it and for whom. The study gathered recipes from books, websites and articles, and all of them had at least one nutrient below the recommendation. Ask for the recipe's nutritional analysis and supplement recommendation, and be wary of anyone who promises a "complete" recipe without asking your dog's weight, age and health.
How much does dog food cost per month for a 10 kg (22 lb) dog?
Between $10.95 and $47.25 across the four adult foods compared above, at the average price in our catalog. The value changes with the bag size and the store.
Homemade food is not wrong. It is hard to get right on your own. If you want to cook for your dog, take the idea to a board-certified veterinary nutritionist and ask for a calculated recipe; if you prefer the convenience of kibble, choose by life stage and monthly cost.
Picked by score from our overall dog ranking, not by the topic of this article. To get it right for your pet — age, weight, spayed or neutered — take the quiz and get a list made for them. A pet with a diagnosed condition needs a diet prescribed by a veterinarian.
