Easy Carrot and Squash Dog Treat Recipe

I like to eat winter squashes. I usually eat them for lunch because my husband isn’t fond of most of them and we do lunch as a fend for yourself kind of meal. Often the recipe makes too much food for one person to eat at a time so I deduce the amount of ingredients by half, eat my fill and freeze the rest for a quick lunch option. By that time I’m tired of eating squash to make another recipe and I don’t want to waste it. Fortunately Lacey LOVES carrots and winter squash and when I checked with Lacey’s veterinarian, she OK’ed it. (Please check with your veterinarian if the winter squash and vegetables you want to use in this dog treat recipe is safe for your pet.)

Now whenever I cook a winter squash I always put some of the uncooked and unseasoned squash to the side to make Lacey quick, easy, and healthy carrot and winter squash dog treats!

 

Save this dog treat recipe to your Pinterest boards for later! Share it with your friends - and their dogs!

Carrot and Winter Squash Dog Treat Trail Mix Recipe

 

We nicknamed this recipe Lacey Trail Mix because I add different dried squash and carrots to her treat jar when time and supplies permit. It’s kinda like human trail mix but without the poisonous chocolate, nuts, and other stuff.  This works well from a reward standpoint because Lacey doesn’t know what she’s going to get until she’s earned it and eaten it.

If you don't have a dehydrator (I got this exact Nesco Dehydrator for Christmas and I love it! IMHO it is much better than the Excalibur) you can make my carrot and squash dog treats in the oven although they may still have a bit more moister in them than if you use the dehydrator method. I would store them in the refrigerator or freezer just in case. (Disclosure: I am including affiliate links for your convenience.)

 

You will need to make this recipe

Carrots

Winter squash – I have used acorn, butternut, butterkin, pumpkin, and spaghetti squash

Food Dehydrator or oven

Clean a Screen dehydrator trays – optional but highly recommended. They are much easier to clean than trying to clean all of the dried goo stuck between the slots in in bare dehydrator trays.

Vegetable Steamer Basket like this kind

Electric pressure cooker – I have an Instant Pot but any electric pressure cooker like these will work

Vegetable peeler

Knife and cutting  board

Spoon

Dog Project Manager desperate for yummy treats!

 

This jar is so empty it echoes! Lisa I suggest you fill it at your earliest convenience and by convenience I mean NOW.

 1. Cut the squash in half and scoop out the seeds with a spoon. If you are using carrots, wash, peel and chop the carrots to size.

2. We need to steam the squash/carrots so they will dry more quickly and easily in the dehydrator/oven.

Instant Pot method: Pour about 1 inch of water in the bottom of the instant pot. Put the squash and carrots in a steamer basket inside the Instant Pot. .Set the Instant Pot to cook on Manual for six minutes for smaller squash like acorn or butternut. If you are including larger/more dense squash like pumpkin you may need set it up to 15 minutes.

Stovetop method:  Steam the sliced or cubed butternut squash over boiling water for 10 minutes or more. We are not trying to cook it, just trying to make it a little less dense so it will dehydrate more quickly.

3. Use the cutting board and knife to slice the carrots and squash into dog chewy size slices or small dog treat size cubes keeping in mind that the slices and cubes will reduce in size when we are done.

 4. Dry the winter squash and carrots into dog treats.

Oven method: Place the carrots and winter squash on a cookie sheet and bake in a 250 degree oven for two hours with the oven door open to allow the moisture to escape. Remove the winter squash and carrots from the oven and turn them over on the cookie sheet. Bake them for two more hours.  The total baking time is four hours or more depending upon the thickness of the slice/cube.

 Dehydrator method: Line the dehydrator trays with the clean a screen trays. Add the carrots and squash to the tray and dry the carrots and winter squash at 135-145 degrees (F) for six to ten hours or more depending upon the thickness of the slices and how much moisture is in the steamed squash/carrots. Rotating the trays in the dehydrator will make sure everything dries evenly and may speed up your drying time.

7. After the Doggie Trail Mix Treats cool, treat your pup right!

 

Lacy says my dried butternut squash dog treats make great dog Christmas gifts too!

The beauty of making your own dog treats is you get to control the size as well as the ingredients. We have to be careful about Lacey becoming overweight because it could cause trouble for her long dachshund back and spine which is why I cut her dog treats small. I cut the vegetables and fruit (yep! squash has seeds which makes them a fruit even though we treat them like vegetables) larger when I make these dog treats for her dog cousin Rusty the Rottweiler.

Did you like this post? Get more like it by subscribing to the Lazy Budget Chef RSS feed or by subscribing to Lazy Budget Chef by email.