Easy and healthy homemade kibble topper recipe (Chicken, Rice & Veggies)

At a glance

Makes

One big veg-and-rice batch plus two meats, kept separate

Prep

About 20 minutes of chopping and measuring

Cook time

About 45–60 minutes, mostly hands-off while things cook

How we serve it

1 cup veg-and-rice mix + 1/2 cup meat over dry kibble

Our dry base

4 cups dry kibble total across both dogs, once a day

Storage

3–4 days in the fridge; freeze the rest in portions

Why we make this as a topper

Tank and Buddy eat dry kibble as their base food, and that is not changing. Kibble is made to cover the basics day after day, so we treat anything homemade as the good stuff on top — extra flavor, a little moisture, and real vegetables and meat they get excited about — rather than trying to replace their regular food with a homemade diet on our own.

That one choice makes home cooking a lot simpler. We can cook a big batch with plain, common ingredients, keep the meats separate so we can rotate them, and spoon it over their usual bowls. If either dog ever needed a fully homemade diet, that would be a conversation for our veterinarian first. For a topper, this setup works well for us, and both dogs cleaned their bowls the first night.

A quick note before you try it: We are not veterinarians, and this is just what we make at home for our two dogs. If your dog has a health condition, is on a special diet, or you want to feed homemade food as more than a topper, check with your vet about amounts and whether it fits your dog.

What went into this batch

Everything below is exactly what we put in the batch we made at home. All of the canned vegetables and beans were drained and rinsed before cooking, the pumpkin was plain pumpkin purée (not pumpkin pie filling), and everything was cooked plain — no onion, no garlic, and no salty seasoning blends.

For the veg-and-rice mix

• 9 cups cooked brown rice, cooked soft and plain

• 1 can green beans, drained and rinsed

• 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

• 1 can peas, drained and rinsed

• 10 oz frozen mixed vegetables (carrots, green beans, corn and peas), cooked until tender

• 1/2 cup carrots, finely diced and cooked until tender

• 1/4 cup broccoli, finely chopped and lightly cooked

• 2 cups plain pumpkin purée (one 16-oz can) — plain only, not pie filling

• 4 tablespoons coconut oil, stirred in at the end

For the meats — cooked and kept separate

• Chicken: 5 lb boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cooked in a small amount of olive oil and shredded or chopped. No skin and no bones.

• Light seasoning on the chicken only: about 1 tablespoon total across the whole batch of turmeric, black pepper, thyme, ginger and Ceylon cinnamon. Just a small amount for the big batch — not a spicy or salty blend.

• Chicken livers: 1 lb, cooked separately until no longer pink inside and chopped. We keep livers separate on purpose — see the liver note below.

Keeping the chicken and the livers in their own containers means we can use chicken for most meals and add liver only now and then, instead of mixing the whole pound through everything.

How to make it

1. Cook the rice. Make the brown rice plain, a little softer than you might make it for yourself, and let it cool slightly. Measure out 9 cups cooked.

2. Cook the vegetables and beans. Drain and rinse the canned green beans, black beans and peas. Cook the frozen mixed vegetables until tender. Finely dice the carrots and broccoli and cook them until tender as well — nothing goes in raw and crunchy.

3. Mix the veg-and-rice batch. In a big bowl or pot, combine the cooked rice, all of the vegetables and beans, and the 2 cups of plain pumpkin. Stir in the coconut oil while the mix is still warm so it coats everything. Let it cool completely.

4. Cook the chicken thighs. Cook the 5 lb of boneless, skinless chicken thighs in a small amount of olive oil until cooked through. Add the small amount of spices while it cooks, if you are using them. Shred or chop the chicken and let it cool. Keep it in its own container.

5. Cook the livers separately. Cook the 1 lb of chicken livers on their own until there is no pink left inside. Chop them, let them cool, and store them separately from the chicken.

6. Portion and store. Refrigerate only what you will use in the next 3 to 4 days. Freeze the rest in meal-size portions — small containers, freezer bags laid flat, or a muffin tin works well for the veg-and-rice mix — for up to 2 to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge before serving.

How we serve it to Tank and Buddy

We feed once a day. Across both dogs we use 4 cups of dry kibble total, and each bowl gets topped with 1 cup of the veg-and-rice mix plus 1/2 cup of meat. Most days that meat is the chicken. The livers are an occasional add-on, not an everyday protein — about a tablespoon per dog, once or twice a week.

Tank and Buddy also get their usual dog treats, including Milk-Bones, through the day, and every so often one of them will leave a little behind or skip a meal. That is normal for them. The way we keep an eye on whether the amounts are right is simple: we check how they feel. Ribs should be easy to feel but not visible, and we adjust if that starts to change. If you try this, start with a smaller spoonful of topper for the first few days and build up, so your dog's stomach has time to adjust.

How we serve it: Kibble in the bowls, a little coconut oil on top, and the homemade mix ready to spoon over.

Dog sizes:

Tank - approx 80 lb

Buddy - approx 140 lb

Dry kibble

Part of 4 cups total

Part of 4 cups total

Veg-and-rice

1 cup

1 cup

Meat on top

1/2 cup

1/2 cup

Treats through the day are extra, so keep the kibble as the main part of the bowl and the topper as the smaller share on top.

Notes and easy swaps

• Plain pumpkin only. Double-check the can. Plain pumpkin purée is what you want — pumpkin pie filling has sugar and spices and is not the same thing.

• Go easy on the liver. Liver is very rich in nutrients, which is exactly why we keep it separate and use only about a tablespoon per dog, once or twice a week, instead of feeding it every day.

• Chicken thighs are richer than breast. That is fine for our big dogs, but thighs do make a fattier batch. If stools get loose after a new batch, the richer meat is the first thing we would look at. Boneless, skinless chicken breast is an easy swap.

• Brown rice or white rice both work. We used brown rice in this batch. White rice is gentler and is also a perfectly good choice for a topper — use what you have and cook it plain and soft.

• Beans and peas need to be cooked and rinsed. Every can in this recipe was drained and rinsed first, and dry beans should always be fully cooked plain before they go anywhere near a dog bowl.

• Skip the risky seasonings. No onion, garlic, onion powder, garlic powder, or salty and spicy blends. The small amount of turmeric, thyme, ginger, black pepper and Ceylon cinnamon we used went on a 5-lb batch of chicken only.

• Broccoli and spinach in small amounts. A little finely chopped broccoli, cooked lightly, is fine as part of a mix like this. If you add spinach, keep it to a small handful, lightly steamed and chopped.

Make it your own

Once you have made this once, it is easy to vary with what is already in the kitchen. Green beans, peas, carrots and plain pumpkin are the backbone of almost every batch we make. Sweet potato, a little steamed spinach, or a handful of blueberries can go in the veg mix, and the chicken can be swapped for another plain cooked meat you have on hand. What stays the same in our kitchen is the method: cook everything plain, keep the meats separate, cool it all completely, and spoon it over their regular kibble.

Tank is our grass-nibbler and broccoli fan, so a few small pieces of lightly cooked broccoli in the mix tend to disappear first in his bowl. Buddy is happy as long as the bowl is full. Both of them voted with empty bowls on night one — which, in this house, is the review that counts.

Recipe card — save or print

Tank & Buddy's Homemade Kibble Topper

Veg-and-rice mix: 9 cups cooked brown rice • 1 can each green beans, black beans and peas (drained and rinsed) • 10 oz frozen mixed veg, cooked • 1/2 cup diced carrots • 1/4 cup chopped broccoli • 2 cups plain pumpkin • 4 tbsp coconut oil

Meats, kept separate: 5 lb boneless skinless chicken thighs (small drizzle of olive oil, about 1 tbsp total spices) • 1 lb chicken livers, cooked separately

Serve: 1 cup veg-and-rice mix + 1/2 cup meat over dry kibble. Liver: about 1 tbsp per dog, 1–2 times a week only.

Store: 3–4 days in the fridge. Freeze the rest in meal-size portions for 2–3 months. Thaw in the fridge.

Made this for your dogs? Tell us how it went in the comments — and tell us what your dog picked out first. — Steven, Tank and Buddy at Cute Puppy Life

This post shares what we feed our own dogs at home as a topper on their regular kibble. It is not veterinary advice. Check with your veterinarian about your dog's individual needs, especially if your dog has a health condition or you are thinking about feeding homemade food as more than a topper.

Cute Puppy Life • Tank & Buddy's Homemade Kibble Topper

Dinner is served: feeding time at our house. Tank is keeping things safe while Buddy eats.