Tis’ the season for family, friends, celebration and food: Lots and lots of food. While the holidays are a time for sharing and giving thanks, they can also be a time of danger for our four-legged friends and family members. Many traditional holiday spices and ingredients can be harmful to dogs and sharing our meals with them can result in upset tummies or worse. Give your pup a safe and delicious meal of his own this year with this easy Thanksgiving dinner made right in your slow cooker!
This recipe can be made the night before your holiday meal and can be served at room temperature or chilled. The leftovers will keep for up to two weeks in the refrigerator.
Slow-Cooker Thanksgiving Dinner for Dogs
Ingredients:
(Use more or less of each of the ingredients, depending on the size of your fur-babies. These measurements are not exact, so feel free to play around with the proportions. This feeds 3 medium sized dogs, with some left over for the next day-because that’s always the best part!)
3 cups of lentils (any type)
2 cups of brown rice
2 cups raw yams, sweet potato or pumpkin, roughly chopped
1 inch nub of fresh ginger
2 cups raw white potatoes, roughly chopped (be sure there is no green on them)
2 celery stalks, roughly chopped
2 whole carrots, roughly chopped
½ cup chopped, fresh parsley
Optional ingredients: Beets, spinach or green beans
Give the brown rice and lentils a quick rinse and remove any small stones that might be in the lentils. Add to the slow cooker bowl.
Using your blender, blend the remaining ingredients with water until they are in very small pieces, but not completely smooth (think very chunky applesauce.) This will take multiple batches, adding the chopped veggies to the slow cooker after each batch. Chopping the veggies this small will help your dog digest them more easily. If you don’t have a blender, just chop everything as small as you can with a knife and add more water at the end.
Once the veggies, lentils and rice are added to the slow cooker bowl, add enough water so that it rises about half an inch above the ingredients. Remember, the rice will absorb moisture as it cooks. For a soupier texture, add more water.
Give everything a stir, cover and cook on low overnight or on high for 4 hours if preparing the same day as serving. Cool and serve.
This dish can be served all on its own or mixed in with your pup’s favorite kibble. Add a little nutritional yeast and/or some non-dairy, unsweetened yogurt on top for an extra special treat!
Also by Claire: Vegan Slow Cooker Chick-un Pot Pie
Also in Thanksgiving: How to Survive Thanksgiving with Your Non Vegan Family
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Photo: Claire-Marie Harris
