Offal dog food recipe
What Are Lites?
Lites (also known as plucks) are animal lungs, a type of offal. They are a common ingredient in traditional dishes like haggis and faggots, and are often minced into sausages. In the pet food industry, they are a primary ingredient in many tinned dog foods.
The Cost-Saving Benefit
However, tinned dog food is typically around 80% water. This means when you buy a £1 tin, you are effectively paying 80p for water and only 20p for the actual meat and vegetable content. By buying fresh lites from a butcher, you get a much higher quality, protein-rich ingredient for a fraction of the cost.
Nutritional Value
Lites are an excellent, cheap source of nutrition, composed of roughly 75% high-quality protein and 25% easily digestible fats. Because of this high protein content, dogs don't need a large portion to feel full and satisfied.
Where to Buy
Most game-registered butchers will sell you lites very cheaply, making them an incredibly budget-friendly option for homemade dog food.
Ingredients for This Recipe
To make this offal-based dog food, you will need:
Main Protein: Lungs (lites/pluck tops) or a lung and heart combo (plucks).
Vegetables: Use vegetable trimmings like potato, carrot, and parsnip peelings, or the leaves and stalks from cabbage, cauliflower, and broccoli. A diced turnip or swede also works well. My dogs particularly enjoy peas, beans, and lentils. Essentially, any veg that is going a bit limp is perfect – just remember: no onions.
Grains: Add a packet of cheap couscous or pasta. If your dog isn't sensitive to it, you can also use cheap rice.
The Result
My dogs absolutely love their lite dinners – and I'm sure yours will too!
Equipment
- 1 Large pot
- 1 Knife
Ingredients
- Lungs aka lites, pluck tops, plucks
- Dog safe veggies e.g., potato, carrots, cabbage, turnip, etc
- 1 pkt Pasta or couscous or rice
Instructions
- Rinse the lites (lungs) thoroughly under cold water
- Place the lites in a large pot and cover them completely with water
- Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 20–30 minutes, or until the meat is cooked through and tender
- Take the cooked lites out of the pot and set them aside on a plate to cool slightly. Keep the flavourful stock in the pot
- Add your vegetable trimmings (like potato peelings, carrot, and cabbage stalks) and your chosen grain (couscous, pasta, or rice) to the stock in the pot. Cook until the vegetables are tender and the grain is soft
- Once the lites are cool enough to handle, dice them into bite-sized pieces. Add the diced lites back into the pot with the cooked veg and grains. Mix everything thoroughly.
- Allow the mixture to cool completely. Divide it into meal-sized portions
- Feed the dog. Refrigerate the portions you will use within 2 days. Freeze the rest for later use
Ohh.. My dog love boiled boar lungs. Can I mix it with red pumkin?
Hi Jamie,
I am going to try this out as soon as I can find me a friendly butcher. Today I cooked up some meaty beef bones from the reduced meat section at work, removed the meat from them and added a couple of leeks and carrots to the stock. Luckily I have an electric pressure cooker which saves oodles of time (and electrickery)!! I think they’re going to love this!
I’m making the change because the dogs are doing well with home cooking so far.
Thanks again for the knowledge you share so freely!
Thanks for the tip about leeks… I hadn’t considered them as like onions.