How Much Homemade Food to Feed a Dog: A Simple Guide
Overfeeding or underfeeding is the #1 mistake new homemade dog food feeders make. Here's exactly how much to feed by weight — with a simple table for every dog size.
Switching your dog to homemade food is one of the best decisions you can make for their health. But almost every new homemade feeder hits the same wall within the first week: how much do I actually give them?
Kibble bags come with a feeding chart on the back. Homemade food doesn't. So people either guess too high — and end up with a dog who gains weight and has soft stools — or they guess too low, and their dog is hungry all the time and slowly loses muscle. Both are fixable, but they're also 100% avoidable if you start with the right framework.
This guide gives you that framework. We're covering the basic rule of thumb, a weight-based feeding table for common dog sizes, how to adjust for your dog's life stage, and how to tell whether your portions are actually working. No guesswork required.
The Basic Rule of Thumb for Homemade Dog Food Portions
The standard starting point for adult dogs: feed 2–3% of their body weight per day. That's total food weight — not dry matter, not calories, just the actual weight of what goes in the bowl.
A few quick notes on that range:
- Cooked homemade food sits closer to 2–2.5%. Cooking removes moisture, which concentrates the calories. You need slightly less by weight compared to raw because each ounce packs more energy.
- Raw diets (or raw-ish diets) typically sit at 2.5–3% because raw meat retains its water weight. If you're exploring a raw dog diet, the slightly higher percentage accounts for that difference.
- Active dogs and puppies need more; sedentary dogs and seniors need less. We'll break those down in the next section.
Think of this as a starting point, not a permanent prescription. Every dog is different. The real goal is to dial in the right amount for your dog based on how their body responds — which we'll cover when we get to monitoring.
Homemade Dog Food Feeding Table by Weight
Here's a quick-reference table for cooked homemade food at the 2–2.5% range. Cups are approximate — a cup of homemade food isn't standardized the way kibble is, so use this as a rough guide and always weigh when you can.
| Dog Weight | Daily Amount (oz) | Daily Amount (approx. cups) |
|---|---|---|
| 10 lbs | 3.2 – 4 oz | ⅓ – ½ cup |
| 20 lbs | 6.4 – 8 oz | ¾ – 1 cup |
| 30 lbs | 9.6 – 12 oz | 1 – 1½ cups |
| 50 lbs | 16 – 20 oz | 1¾ – 2½ cups |
| 75 lbs | 24 – 30 oz | 2¾ – 3½ cups |
| 100 lbs | 32 – 40 oz | 3¾ – 5 cups |
Split the daily amount into two meals for most adult dogs. If you're feeding a puppy or a dog with a medical need, splitting into three smaller meals is better for digestion.
Not sure where to start with recipes? Check out our collection of homemade dog food recipes — they include batch-cooking tips and ingredient guidance that pairs well with these portion guidelines.
How to Adjust Portions by Life Stage
The 2–2.5% rule is a solid baseline for healthy adult dogs — but puppies, working dogs, seniors, and overweight dogs all have different needs. Here's how to adjust.
🐾 Puppies
Puppies are growing fast and need significantly more food relative to their body size. The rule of thumb for puppies is 3–4% of their expected adult weight — not their current weight. This prevents underfeeding as they grow into their adult frame.
Feed puppies 3–4 times per day rather than twice. Their digestive systems can't handle one or two big meals the way adults can. Around 6 months you can start transitioning to twice daily. If you're building out a full puppy plan, our homemade puppy food recipes guide has the full breakdown.
🏃 Active & Working Dogs
Dogs who are truly active — daily runs, farm work, hiking, dock diving, competitive agility — can easily burn 20–25% more calories than their sedentary counterparts. Start at the higher end of the range (2.5% for cooked food) and bump up from there if your dog seems hungry, loses weight, or shows lower energy during activities. A working dog who's noticeably underfed will let you know.
🐕 Senior Dogs
Senior dogs (generally 7+ years, earlier for large breeds) typically need slightly less food overall — their metabolism slows and activity levels drop. But the bigger priority is protein quality, not just reducing quantity. Older dogs need high-quality, easily digestible protein to preserve muscle mass and support organ function.
Start at 2% and adjust based on body condition. For in-depth guidance on what aging dogs actually need, see our senior dog nutrition guide.
⚖️ Overweight Dogs
This is the most important adjustment on this list: feed to your dog's ideal weight, not their current weight. If your dog weighs 65 lbs but should weigh 50 lbs, calculate portions for a 50 lb dog. Feeding based on current weight perpetuates the problem. Your vet can help you set a target weight if you're unsure — and if your dog has significant weight to lose, a vet check-in before starting is a good idea.
How to Monitor and Adjust Portions Over Time
No feeding chart is perfect for every individual dog. The math gets you close — then you observe and adjust. Here's how to do that.
The Ribs Test (Body Condition Scoring)
Run your hands along your dog's ribcage. You should be able to feel each rib easily with gentle pressure — like pressing on the back of your hand. You shouldn't be able to see the ribs prominently (too thin), and you shouldn't have to press hard to find them (too heavy). This is the fastest real-world check and you can do it daily without a scale.
Weigh Every 2 Weeks
Use a bathroom scale: hold your dog and step on, then weigh yourself alone and subtract. Track this in a notes app or on a piece of paper. Healthy adult dogs on a well-portioned diet should hold a stable weight within about 1–2 lbs over time.
Signs You're Feeding Too Much
- Gradual weight gain over 4–8 weeks
- Soft or loose stools (especially right after switching)
- Leaving food in the bowl consistently
- Ribs becoming harder to feel
Signs You're Not Feeding Enough
- Weight loss over 2–3 weeks
- Constant begging or food obsession
- Prominent ribs or visible hip bones
- Low energy or reluctance to play
If you notice any of these signs, adjust by 10% in the appropriate direction and reassess after two weeks. Small, deliberate adjustments beat large swings.
Common Portioning Mistakes (And How to Avoid Them)
Even well-intentioned homemade feeders fall into these traps.
Measuring by cups instead of weight
A “cup” of ground chicken and a “cup” of chopped vegetables are very different things by weight. Homemade food isn't standardized the way kibble is. Use a kitchen scale — they're cheap and they take the guesswork out completely. Aim for grams or ounces, not volume.
Not counting treats
Treats are food. They have calories. If your dog gets training treats throughout the day, table scraps, chews, or dental bones, those need to be factored in. The general guideline is treats should make up no more than 10% of total daily calories — and most owners are way over that without realizing it.
Adding table scraps on top of full meals
If you're already feeding a portioned homemade meal, adding scraps from your plate on top of that is a surefire way to overfeed. Either reduce the meal slightly to account for scraps, or skip the scraps — but don't do both.
Using the same portion as kibble
Kibble is calorie-dense because it's dry. A cup of kibble might be 350–400 calories. A cup of cooked homemade food is often 200–300 calories — but the volumes look similar. If you eyeball the same “amount” you used to give with kibble, you'll likely underfeed. Go by weight, not by the size of the portion in the bowl.
A Quick Note on Calories
If you want to think in calories instead of percentages, here's a useful baseline: a typical batch of cooked homemade dog food — lean protein, a bit of starch, some vegetables — runs roughly 400–500 kcal per pound of food. That's a rough average; leaner recipes (mostly chicken breast and veggies) will come in lower, while richer ones (ground beef, organ meats, added fats) will run higher.
For calorie-based portioning, a common formula vets use is:
RER = 70 × (body weight in kg)^0.75
For a typical adult dog at maintenance, multiply RER × 1.6. For weight loss, use × 1.0. For high activity, use × 1.8–2.0.
If math isn't your thing, the 2–2.5% rule gets you to roughly the same place for most dogs. Start there, watch the body condition, and adjust.
You've Got This
Getting the portions right is genuinely the hardest part of transitioning to homemade dog food — and most people nail it within the first few weeks once they're paying attention to how their dog actually looks and feels. The table above gives you a starting point. The ribs test and the bi-weekly weigh-in keep you on track. The adjustments are small and easy.
What really makes homemade feeding click long-term is having recipes you can rotate that are already calibrated for nutrition and portioning — so you're not calculating from scratch every week.
Trust the process, check the body condition, and enjoy the fact that you know exactly what's going into your dog's bowl.
Ready to Take the Guesswork Out Completely?
The Natural Dog Kitchen includes portion guidelines for every recipe, along with complete homemade meal plans for dogs of all sizes.
Get the guide →