Homemade Dog Food Recipe Calculator
You have a recipe; your dog has a calorie target. This calculator bridges them — enter your dog and your recipe's density to get daily grams, per-meal portions and a 7-day batch size.
Enter your dog's details
Tip: recipe kcal/100 g = (total batch kcal ÷ total cooked grams) × 100. Weigh the batch once, cooked.
Daily grams by recipe density (20 kg neutered dog)
| Dog weight | RER (resting) | Daily target | Food per day | Per meal (×2) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 kg · 44 lb | 662 kcal | 1,059 kcal | 636 g | 318 g |
One dog, one recipe density (150 kcal/100 g). Denser recipes shrink the portion: at 120 kcal/100 g the same dog eats 794 g; at 190, only 502 g.
Scaling recipes without breaking them
Scale everything proportionally, including the balancer. The common error is doubling the food but not the supplement — which halves the micronutrient density per calorie. If your recipe says "1 tsp balancer per 500 g batch", a 4.4 kg week needs the full proportional amount, mixed through evenly.
Cook-to-cooked weight matters: raw ingredients lose water in cooking, concentrating calories per gram. Always compute density on the cooked, ready-to-serve weight — that is the number the calculator needs.
Freeze in daily portions. A week's batch, portioned into day containers, removes daily guesswork and keeps food safety simple (3–4 days fridge life; freeze the rest).
How to use this calculator
Enter weight
Enter the dog's weight (use ideal weight for weight loss).
Select life stage and goal
Select the life stage and goal so the correct MER factor applies.
Enter food energy density
Enter the food's energy density (kcal per 100 g) from its label.
Read the daily portion
Read the daily portion in grams, split it across meals, and adjust by 10% every 2 weeks based on body condition.
Frequently asked
How do I find my recipe's kcal per 100 g?
Add up the kcal of every ingredient (labels or a nutrition database), weigh the finished cooked batch in grams, then: total kcal ÷ grams × 100.
How long does homemade dog food keep?
3–4 days in the fridge, up to ~3 months frozen in daily portions. Thaw in the fridge, serve at room temperature or gently warmed.
Can I swap proteins in a balanced recipe?
Similar-lean proteins, yes, roughly gram for gram. Swapping lean chicken for fatty beef changes density 30%+ — recalculate the batch when you change ingredients materially.
How much homemade food does a 20 kg dog need?
At 1,059 kcal/day on a typical homemade recipe (160 kcal/100 g): about 596 g/day — plus a vitamin-mineral balancer. Unsupplemented homemade food is not complete, however good the ingredients.
What supplement does homemade food need?
A vitamin-mineral balancer formulated for dogs (or a recipe-specific balancer). Oil and vegetables do not cover calcium, iodine or vitamin D.
Related calculators
Homemade Dog Food Calculator
Cooked rations by calories — with the nutrient-balance warnings that matter.
Dog Food Cost Calculator
Cost per day and month, and how long a bag really lasts.
Dog Calorie Calculator
RER & MER explained and calculated — resting vs daily energy, per life stage.