I love making treats for my dogs. It means I know exactly what’s in the treats.
And I can experiment with different flavors that may not be available in commercially sold treats.
The only problem is many of the ingredients I can find in store make such a large quantity of treats that my dogs can’t eat them all before they go bad.
That’s where baby food dog treats come in.
Baby food comes in much smaller packages than most other ingredients, so you can use the whole container without having an overly large quantity of treats once you’re done.
Another reason to make baby food dog treats is that you don’t need many ingredients to end up with treats your dog will love.
Both of the recipes below use only 2 ingredients for the treats.
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Benefits of Using Baby Food
There are several benefits of using baby food besides just the fact that it comes in a smaller package.
One benefit is that there are so many flavors to choose from. There’s beef, chicken, ham, carrots, sweet potato, applesauce, green beans, and many others.
As long as it’s a dog safe food, you can use it. Just make sure to not use the foods that have onion or garlic seasoning added. Both of those are bad for dogs.
Another benefit is that baby food has limited ingredients so there isn’t a whole bunch of unpronounceable stuff in it.
One more benefit is that everything is precooked, so if you only use baby food in the recipe (see recipe 2 below), you don’t need to bake it if you don’t want to.
Always consult your veterinarian before giving your dog new foods.
Baby Food Dog Treats – Recipe 1
1 – 4 oz container baby food (Gerber Stage 2 Fruits and Veggies are this size)
1 cup flour (I used wheat flour, but any dog safe flour is fine)
To make these just combine the baby food with the flour and stir until it forms a workable dough. If it’s too sticky, you can add a little more flour.
Once mixed together, roll out on the counter and cut with cookie cutters, like these bone cookie cutters. Or just cut into shapes with a knife.
Place on a baking sheet and bake at 350°F for 20 to 25 minutes, or until they are just starting to brown. Make sure to check the bottoms of the treats so they don’t burn to the pan.
These should last 1 to 2 weeks in the fridge depending on how dry you bake them.
Baby Food Dog Treats – Recipe 2
5/8 cup baby cereal (I used oatmeal)
2.5 oz baby food (Gerber stage 2 meats are this size)
Or
1 cup baby cereal
4 oz baby food
Mix the baby cereal with the baby food. You should end up with a workable dough.
Once you have the dough mixed, roll into small balls.
You can either stop here and refrigerate for some no bake dog treats, or you can go one step further and bake these.
To bake them, squish the balls flat, so they are less than a quarter inch thick, and bake at 350°F for 20 to 25 minutes until the bottoms start to brown.
Results
I let my dogs try both of these recipes, with the second one both baked and not baked.
Both of my dogs loved all of the treats so much it was hard to get a picture. They didn’t seem to care which one as long as they got to eat the treats.
I liked the ease of both of these recipes and I really liked the fact that the second one doesn’t need to be baked.
I have another recipe, peanut butter and pumpkin no bake dog treats, that uses oatmeal and have had some people comment about using the oatmeal without baking it.
This recipe avoids that issue since the baby food oatmeal is precooked.
The other thing I like is that there are so many options for what flavors to use.
My dogs aren’t overly picky, heck the one will eat poop (we’re still working on that – read about how to stop your dog from eating poop for tips if your dog does the same), so I don’t worry about them not liking what I make.
But I know some dogs are picky or are unable to eat certain foods. So if you have a picky, or allergic, dog these treats still may work for you as you can choose a baby food your dog will like.
You can also combine flavors, though you would have to adjust the amount of flour based on the amount of baby food you use.
What flavors do your dogs like best?
Baby Food Dog Treats
Dog treats made from baby food.
Ingredients
- 1 - 4 oz container baby food (Gerber Stage 2 Fruits and Veggies are this size)
- 1 cup wheat flour (or any dog safe flour)
Instructions
- Combine the baby food and flour until it forms a workable dough. You may need to add extra flour if it's too sticky.
- Spread some flour on the counter, then roll the dough out and cut. You can either use cookie cutters or cut the dough with a table knife.
- Place on a baking sheet and bake at 350°F for 20 to 25 minutes, or until they are just starting to brown.
- Store in a covered container in the fridge for 1 to 2 weeks depending on how dry they are.
Oh, my goodness! I can’t wait to try these for my dogs! This looks like such a good recipe! I just wish they didn’t have to be refrigerated so that I could travel with them. Do you think there would be a way that they could be stored at room temperature after baking?
The baked treats should be able to be stored at room temperature but they won’t last as long as they would in the fridge.
After treats are done baking leave them in oven, after U turn oven off, crack door for a minute or then close door and let them stay in there while oven cools. It will dry them out so U won’t need to refrigerate them. Or dehydrate them when done baking.
I have two chi ,s and I am so happy that I found you ! The recipes are fantastic! 🥰❤️
Thank You For Your Recipe For Dog Treats.
Are These Safe For Cats Too? Do You Have Recipes For Cats
I don’t know if they are safe for cats or not. I did find that cats can have the plain meat baby food but not the fruits or vegetables. I was unable to find out if they can have oatmeal baby food. I would assume these are not safe for cats. I only have dog treat recipes as my cat is super picky in what she eats.
Are These Safe For Cats Too?