Are you training a new puppy? Need a healthy dog treat? Then these Easy Dehydrated Chicken Treats for Dogs are for you. Your dogs will love them!
I am puppy training and I need treats! Lots and lots of treats!
Finding something that was semi-healthy and cheap for Callie my Labrador Retriever puppy was challenging.
It seemed like I was at the Pet store every week buying a $10.00 bag of training treats. That adds up quickly!
I needed something a bit more economical. I had to come up with a different solution since Callie the Lab puppy is still training and Ruby my Goldendoodle just loves treats!
I've read about dehydrating meats for dogs and decided to give it try. I dove right in and bought a dehydrator from Amazon. Isn't Amazon great!
Two days later my dehydrator arrived. I was beyond excited. Off to the grocery store I went to see what I could come up with to dehydrated as a dog treat.
Choosing the best meats to dehydrate as dog treats
Let's face it, dogs love meat!
Some of the easiest meats to dehydrate for dog treats are:
| Chicken | Beef |
| Liver | Turkey |
| Duck | Beef Heart |
| Turkey Sausage | Organ Meats |
| White Fish | Salmon |
What I used to make dog treats
For this recipe you can simply buy chicken breasts that are already cut up for stir fry.
If it's already sliced, how can you go wrong? Don't judge me. I'm for anything the lazy method.
With the stir fry chicken meat you could simply take it out of the package and lay it on the dehydrator without having to do another thing.
I love to give these treats as small rewards.
What I used to make chicken dog treats
I used the lazy girls method, of course!
I bought chicken breast meat for stir-fry. It's already cut up, how could I not buy that! The packages were anywhere from $ 3.00 to $ 5.00 for an entire package!
I could have simply laid them on the dehydrator straight out of the package, but instead I decided to cut them up into bite size pieces.
It took maybe 5 minutes to cut them all up and lay them on the dehydrator.
For this recipe, I choose not to use any spices. My dogs love meat, no spice necessary.
How to make dehydrated chicken treats
Directions:
- Cut up your chicken into strips or bite size pieces. * If you buy the chicken breasts for stir fry, they'll already be sliced. You can lay them on the dehydrator as-is or cut them into smaller bite size pieces. I like to cut them smaller before I place them into the dehydrator.
- Turn you dehydrator on and let them sit until firm, but not completely crispy.
- Dehydrate approximately 6 hours. More if needed.
Step 1:
I like to buy the chicken strips for stir fry packets. These packets come pre-sliced.
You can place these directly onto your dehydrator or cut them into bite size pieces.
Step 2:
Cut your Chicken into bite size pieces. This will help to give small rewards as treats.
Step 3:
Place the cut up chicken slices or bite size pieces onto the dehydrator racks.
Keep them spread out so they can dry.
Step 4:
The chicken will look dry. Keep feeling the chicken.
The finished chicken pieces should feel like jerky on the outside and still be slightly soft on the inside.
Step 5:
Place your dried chicken pieces into an air tight container like these.
You're pets will love you!
How to store your dog treats
I love these storage bins for all of my dogs treats. I keep them on the counter so they are easy to grab when potty training my puppy.
The chicken treats can last up to two weeks.
A $4.00 package of chicken stir-fry with two treat loving dogs can last just about 2 weeks. That's about 1/4 of what I was spending at the pet store for training treats!
I'm in love with this dehydrator. Next dog food treats to try are chicken hearts. Seriously, how easy would those be to make! I'll let you know.
Easy Dehydrator Chicken Treats
Easy to make dehydrator chicken treats your dogs will love!
Ingredients
- Chicken breasts
Instructions
- Slice or cut into bite size pieces.
- Lay in the dehydrator.
- Dehydrate for 6 hours.
Notes
1. I like to buy the chicken breast for stir fry. It's already sliced to lay directly into the dehydrator or you can cut the strips into bite size pieces.
2. Check the chicken treats after about 5 hours. You'll want them hard on the outside, but still minimally soft on the inside.
3. Store them in an air-tight container.
Poultry should be cooked before being dehydrated. A normal dehydrator does not get hot enough to kill all the bacteria.
You know I have always just dehydrated my chicken pieces for my dogs without any issues. I had to go look up if poultry required cooking before dehydrating and it appears you are right! Thank you so much for letting me know, I really appreciate it and will put in a disclaimer.