With all of recent scares over dog treats from China being dangerous for pets, I have only been giving the dogs homemade dog treats. Since sweet potatoes are loaded with vitamins, I tried making some sweet potato dog chews and they turned out great. These sweet potato dog treats are a great replacement for rawhide chews which are not easily digested by dogs.
All you need are 3 medium sweet potatoes and either an oven or dehydrator. I used the dehydrator, but am sure the oven method would turn out just as good.
Wash and dry sweet potatoes. Cut each sweet potato into 1/4 inch slices length-wise. A mandolin would be great for this, but I don’t have one. A sharp knife worked fine for this.
No lemon juice is needed for these chews, dogs don’t like citrus or care if they turn brown.
Dehydrator method: Place sweet potato slices on dehydrator trays, making sure they are not touching. Dry the potatoes for at least 14 hours. I did not get up in the middle of the night to turn my machine off, and they came out just fine after 18 hours. Cool on wire rack.
Oven method: Place prepared sweet potato slices on parchment lined cookie sheets. Heat in 250 degree oven for between 3 to 4 hours, turning half way through. Cool on wire rack.
Store sweet potato dog chew treats in refrigerator for up to 3 weeks.
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I have some of these in my dehydrator right now. There are 114 cal in one cup of cubed sweet potatoes. So I’m sure there are not very many in just one slice since I can get about six slices from one sweet potato.
I forgot to add that you do not say what temperature to put your dehydrator on, so I have put mine at 135°.
I’m doing mine at 150 so it will speed it up a bit. I will get back to you how it works out. 🙂 Thank you for posting this recipe! I’m sure my little doggie (and me) will love them.
Can’t wait to hear how it turns out. I’m sure your doggie will love them.
Are these sweet potatoe chews should they be very crisp or somewhat chewy. Because I did mine on my dehydrator for 12 hours & they are not chewy at all.
I find that if you cut the slices a little thicker they are a little more chewy. My dogs actually seem to prefer them a bit more crispy.
Very good idea ， need to cook？
I lightly coat mine with olive, or now coconut oil and put cinnamon On them. My dog loves them! After making them so often I’ve finally invested in a dehydrator. My dog will eat them either crunchy or chewy, but she seems to enjoy them a bit more when they are a little bit chewy and she can really dig her teeth into them. Any temp or timing suggestions for that outcome?
My dehydrator only has high and low settings. For the 14 hour time frame, so you think that would be high or low for me? My pup Baylee has a very very sensitive system and I am trying my hand at homemade goodies for her. I am so glad to have found this new treat for her and I know she will enjoy these!
I can’t say for certain. Personally, I would try it on low and do it longer if necessary. I hope this works out for Baylee.
Your dog looks exactly like my Bishon, Pixie. It was like staring in her eyes! I will definitely try your recipe. Pixie definitely loves sweet potato in her treats.
Thank you for this post. I got my dog sweet potato treats last summer and she loves them. I decided to make them by myself, but like the french fries. They shrunk a lot so she was getting 2 a day (she is an 11 lb.s maltese). Now I will do it second time, will try to slice them. The only problem I have is that sweet potatoes come in so many varieties. Last time I got ones which were orange inside but this time they are white. Not sure if it matters, hope it doesn’t.