Boiled chicken isn’t something that sounds exciting, but your dog is always eager to gobble it down. Dogs love boiled chicken. Why do you ask? Well, it’s a nutritious, tasty, and healthy treat for a dog, plus it’s a great choice for picky eater and dogs that have sensitive stomachs and digestive problems.
Article Summary
Why Should a Dog Eat Boiled Chicken?
Plain-boiled chicken may not seem super appetizing, but your dog actually loves it. Not only is boiled chicken delicious and healthy, but this treat also contains essential minerals and vitamins that your dog needs.
Here are a few reasons why it’s important to give you dog cooked chicken:
If Your Dog has a Stomach Problem
While boiled chicken is very tasty and high in protein, it’s also pretty gentle on your dog’s stomach. If your dog has an upset stomach, he can have a lot of problems keeping everything in. Even if he is having terrible bouts of vomiting and diarrhea, you won’t have to worry about it being aggravated by plain boiled chicken.
Typically, veterinarians will recommend you feed boiled chicken to a dog with either long or short-term stomach issues. By itself, boiled chicken is nutritious and easy-to-digest food that will help your dog feel better fast.
When your dog is having issues with his stomach, you will need to feed him rice and chicken for a few days or until all his symptoms disappear. Perfect for any dog that has a problem with gastrointestinal issues, cooked rice is also a good source of fiber.
Picky Eaters
Many dogs will devour pretty much any type of food that is placed in front of them, while others are picky and will walk away from perfectly good food. If you happen to have a dog that is a picky eater, you are probably having trouble finding a commercial dog food that will meet your dog’s high demands.
This can be annoying at first, particularly if you have a stubborn and picky do that takes not eating to a whole new level. This type of situation can result in your dog losing weight, developing a sickly appearance, and experiencing a loss of energy.
Well, you’re in luck. Even the pickiest dog will almost certainly not refuse boiled chicken and will even gobble down the entire meal in just a few seconds. If your dog remains stubborn in refusing his food, continue to boil chicken for him before he gets seriously sick from not eating.
Healthy and Nutritious
Many dog owners prefer to make their own dog food. It’s not only inexpensive, widely available, and loved by all dogs, plus chicken is very healthy and highly nutritious. This very versatile food can be used in several different home-cooked dog foods.
Why Should You Boil Chicken?
Everyone loves chicken, and it can be prepared in several different ways. When asked to choose between baked, grilled, boiled, or fried, most people will give a hard pass to boiled chicken. Dogs, however, have a completely different outlook on boiled chicken. And that is only one of the reasons you should really start to make boiled chicken for your dog.
And here are a few other reasons:
It cooks quickly
When you think about fried or grilled chicken, you typically end up with your mouth watering. It also takes a good amount of time to prepare, which, unless you have a lot of time on your hands, can be pretty inconvenient to make for your dog. In comparison, the boiled chicken cooks faster and the cooking process won’t involve a lot of dishes to wash later on.
Convenient
A dog will gobble down baked, fried, or grilled chicken any time. Most of the problem is due to the fact that most of their humans do not have the time to grill or fry chicken daily. Baking chicken can be less time-consuming, but it can take a while to cook in the oven and then eat it. In comparison, the boiled chicken cooks a lot faster, and your dog will still love it.
Healthier
If you should decide to fry or bake your chicken, you may end up adding fat or oil in order to make it taste better. Not only is this bad for you, but it’s also not healthy for your dog. Greasy food can upset your dog’s stomach and cause him to have diarrhea, vomiting, and flatulence as well as other horrible symptoms. Eating fatty food can also lead to pancreatitis and heart disease as well as many other serious health issues.
When you boil chicken, you won’t need to add extra fat for your chicken to be juicy delicious, and juicy, plus it is the healthiest type of chicken that you can give your dog.
Steps to Boil Chicken for Dogs
Now that you have decided that cooked chicken is the best thing for your dog’s healthy and stomach issues, here are the steps you need to follow to boil the chicken.
Find the Right Chicken
When you are choosing chicken to feed your dog, buy chicken breasts which are the leanest. Also, choose boneless, skinless chicken breasts because they are the easiest to cook.
While chicken wings and thighs are cheaper, you will find that’s really not the case when you are preparing chicken for a dog. You will end up removing the fat, bones, and skin away, which means you will also be throwing away money instead of saving it.
Prepare the Chicken
You can’t get any easier when preparing chicken, particularly even if it is fresh. But, if you’ve purchased frozen chicken, you will have to wait until after it has defrosted. Always defrost frozen chicken in the fridge and not by soaking it in warm water or defrosting it in the open. If you do, you are risking serving your dog spoiled chicken and making him sick.
If you can’t find chicken breasts that are boneless, then you will need to remove the bones before you cook the chicken since they can be a choking hazard (1).
Boil the Chicken
Once you have everything prepared, you will need to place three skinless and boneless chicken breasts into a pot. Ensure that your chicken breasts are spread out along the bottom of a pot, and they are not stacked on top of each other.
Then, add some water to the pot to make sure that the chicken breasts are totally covered. Make sure to leave about two inches of space so that you won’t have to worry about the water boiling over as they cook.
Next, turn on the stove to high heat and put a lid on the pot. Bring the water to a boil and continue to cook the chicken breast for at least 12 minutes more. Once that time is finished, you will need to take one of the chicken breasts out of the pot and cut it into it with a knife to make sure it is cooked completely. If you see that the meat is rubber-like or still pink, then put it back in the pot to cook it for a few more minutes.
Always remember that the cooking time will vary, and it all depends on your stove and how large the chicken breasts are.
Shred the Chicken
Your next step is to take out the chicken breasts and let them cool making sure to save the broth. You want to make sure the chicken has cooled down enough before feeding it to your dog, who won’t stop to wait until his meal is at a safe temperature.
After the chicken has been cooked, put the chicken on a plate, but not in his dish. You want your dog to eat his meal in smaller bits or he could end up with more digestive issues.
Using two forks, shred the chicken into small pieces that are small enough that your dog can chew them easily and swallow them without choking. Also, take into consideration your dog’s size. A larger dog will be able to handle a larger piece of chicken, while a small dog may need you to shred it twice to get the pieces small enough.
Upgrade to Chicken and Rice
As humans we tend to love chicken and rice, and it’s a good bet our dogs do too! Use the chicken broth to make the rice. Boil the broth and mix in white rice following the two parts water and one part rice recipe. Once it has reached a boil, turn the rice down to simmer before covering it tightly and allowing it to cook for 12 minutes. Mixing the rice and broth together is recommended by vets and can make your dog’s meal tastier.
Once the rice has been cooking for at least 12 minutes, you will want to open it and check it to see if it is done. You can tell that the rice grains are done when they turn from white to almost see-through. If the rice is not done, then you will still be able to see some of the brighter white and opaque color inside the rice grains.
Once the rice is done cooking, then you will want to mix the chicken in with the rice and feed it to your dog. Some dogs may find that three chicken breasts are filling enough while other dogs will need more. If your dog isn’t full after three chicken breasts, add more chicken to their meal until he is full.
Creating a delicious treat for your dog, this mixture also ensures that he receives a filling and wholesome meal. You can also add the shredded chicken as a snack. But, if you are feeding the chicken to a dog with an upset stomach, just add it to some plain white rice, which will help your pup with his digestive system while also providing some added nutrition.
Boiled chicken is one of the easiest and healthiest dinners you can make your dog. Not only is it low in fat, but it’s also full of protein, easy to digest, and tastes great to a dog that is a picky eater. All you need is fifteen minutes to create a healthy and tasty meal for your dog, so if you haven’t tried it already, now is a great time to give it a try.
