4 easy homemade cooked chicken cat food recipes for beginners

These healthy homemade cooked chicken cat food recipes are perfect for beginners! You can use premixes and simple ingredients from the store.

I’m including homemade completer premixes because these are great for beginners. Premixes help you get used to putting the recipes together without having to buy a bunch of ingredients. This is exactly how I started feeding Jericho homemade food!

homemade cooked chicken cat food recipe food bowl jess and jericho caticles.com

There’s also a cooked chicken recipe that’s a bit more intermediate. This recipe is included for cat parents who want to use more meat ingredients and fewer supplements.

The more meat ingredients you can use, the healthier the recipe is! But I understand that seeing multiple ingredients may get overwhelming for beginners. So start with one of the premixes and work your way down this list for more variety. This is exactly what I recommend as a pet nutritionist.

Please keep in mind that cats are cautious (not picky!) about food changes. Use my food transition plan to switch to homemade food successfully.

Easy homemade cooked chicken cat food recipes:

griffen eating homemade cooked chicken cat food recipe jess and jericho caticles.com

Disclaimer: I earn a commission if you purchase through the affiliate links below. No additional cost to you.

Note: The pictures on this page show a cooked homemade chicken recipe that I made for my mom’s cats, not these specific products.

Know Better for Cats Chicken Recipe premix for homemade cat food

Know Better for Cats is a completer supplement mix that you mix with water and add to cooked ground chicken. That’s it!

gracie eating cooked cat food jess caticles

The premix ingredients are egg yolk, calcium lactate, chicken liver powder, gelatin, whey protein isolate, psyllium husks, EFA from fish oil, taurine, kelp, and Vitamin B complex.

Know Better for Cats Chicken recipe:

  • 2 lbs (900g) meat of your choice
  • 1-1/2 cups of water
  • 1/2 cup Know Better for Cats

How to make this recipe:

  1. Add 1-1/2 cups of water to 2lbs (900g) ground meat of your choice.
  2. Cook 5-7 minutes on medium heat until brown.
  3. Cool to room temperature.
  4. Add 1/2 cup of Know Better premix and stir.

Using a premix completer for homemade cat food is very simple. And I highly recommend this for beginners. Making this recipe will help you get used to buying ingredients and making homemade food easily.

Buy Know Better for Cats premix on Amazon.

EZ Complete Fur Cats homemade completer premix recipe

EZ Complete Fur Cats is another homemade completer premix supplement powder that you add to cooked chicken.

charlie eating homemade cooked chicken cat food recipe jess and jericho caticles.com

This premix includes dried chicken liver, calcium carbonate, dried egg yolk, pork pancreas glandular, Green Lipped mussel (NZ), taurine, digestive enzymes (bromelain, lipase, amylase, cellulase), vitamin E, chelated iron, vitamin B complex, chelated manganese, zinc, chelated copper, vitamin D3, potassium iodide (iodine).

EZ Complete Fur Cats Chicken recipe:

  • 2 lbs (900g) meat of your choice
  • 1-1/2 cups of water
  • 1/2 scant cup EZ Complete Fur Cats

How to make this recipe:

  1. Add 1-1/2 cups of water to 2lbs (900g) ground meat of your choice.
  2. Cook 5-7 minutes on medium heat until brown.
  3. Cool to room temperature.
  4. Add 1/2 scant cup EZ Complete Fur Cats and stir.

This premix does include more minerals and may have a better balance than the previous premix. Plus the digestive enzymes can be helpful when transitioning to new food.

Buy EZ Complete Fur Cats on Amazon.

Holistic Vet Blend Feline Premix for homemade cat food

Holistic Vet Blend Feline Premix is another homemade cat food supplement completer. Her recipe includes a few more ingredients. So this is the perfect way to transition to more variety for your cat.

ash eating homemade cooked chicken cat food recipe jess and jericho caticles.com

The ingredients in the premix are New Zealand grass-fed beef liver, heart and kidney, Calcium carbonate, Dicalcium phosphate, Nutritional Yeast, Choline chloride, Taurine, Icelandic Kelp, Ginger, Biotin, Vitamin E, Folic acid, Vitamin B9 (folate), Vitamin B1 (thiamine).

Holistic Vet Blend Feline Premix recipe:

  • 1 lb (900 g) poultry or red meat, chopped and browned in 2 Tbsp coconut oil
  • 3/4 – 1 cup low-sodium broth (no onions) or water
  • 1/2 tsp Holistic Vet Blend Omega-3 Icelandic Fish Oil OR tinned fish (4.5 oz sardines in water OR 6 oz wild salmon OR 7.5 oz mackerel in water)
  • 1 or 2 cooked eggs (optional)
  • 2 tablespoons (15 g) Holistic Vet Blend premix

How to make this recipe:

  • Add HVB Feline Premix to one pound of cooked meat browned in 2 tablespoons of coconut oil.
  • Add water or broth.
  • Add tinned fish (4.5 oz sardines in water OR 6 oz wild salmon OR 7.5 oz mackerel in water) or another omega-3 fatty acid source such as Holistic Vet Blend® Icelandic Omega-3 fish oil.
  • Add eggs if desired.
  • Blend or mix the recipe to the desired pâté consistency. You can use a food processor, an immersion blender, or any other type of blender to achieve whatever consistency you want.

I like that Holistic Vet Blend uses more whole food ingredients than the previous premixes. This is a great way to add more variety to your cat’s meals. It also helps you get used to using more ingredient variety gradually.

Buy Holistic Vet Blend Feline Premix on Amazon. I’d recommend using Fera Pets omega-3 oil OR these sardines, also on Amazon.

Easy beginner homemade chicken recipe

I formulated this cooked chicken recipe with mostly whole food ingredients. There are more ingredients compared to the premixes. But the benefit here is that all of the nutrients your cat needs come from whole foods rather than supplements.

The premix supplements are excellent options for beginners. But ideally, we should feed as many whole foods as possible. This beginner-friendly recipe makes that very easy!

homemade cooked chicken cat food recipe on plates jess and jericho caticles.com

I’ve included product links within the ingredients list below of what I use and recommend.

Easy homemade cooked chicken cat food recipe:

  • 8.5 oz chicken thigh meat (remove bones and skin)
  • 5.5 oz chicken thigh meat & skin (remove bones)
  • 7 oz chicken heart
  • 2 oz chicken liver
  • 1.5 oz sardines (canned in water, no salt)
  • 1.5 oz cooked frozen oysters (I buy these at a local Asian Market)
  • 1 oz cooked blue mussels (I buy these at Lidl in the frozen seafood section)
  • 2-1/2 T (21 g) raw sunflower seeds, no salt
  • 3-1/2 tsp NOW bone meal powder
  • 1-3/4 tsp nutritional yeast
  • 500 mg taurine powder
  • 1/2 scoop NOW kelp powder (comes with scoop)
homemade cooked chicken cat food recipe food processor jess and jericho caticles.com

How to make this recipe:

  • Remove any bones from meat. Cut up larger chunks of meat into smaller pieces.
  • Weigh ingredients using a digital scale based on the recipe above.
  • Use a food processor or blender to mix all ingredients together. You can do this before or after you cook the meat.
  • Cook all meat ingredients in a slow cooker or pressure cooker following the manufacturer’s guidelines for cooking chicken. Alternatively, you can cook the ingredients in the oven or pan-fry until the meat is fully cooked through. Add water if needed.

This recipe is formulated to AAFCO guidelines for healthy adult cats. You can view a full nutritional analysis of this recipe here.

Food safety for homemade cooked cat food

  • All meat in these recipes should be served lightly cooked.
  • Practice proper food safety and hygiene while preparing foods.
  • Wash your hands, utensils, dishes, and surface areas with hot water and soap.
  • Preportion daily servings in sealed containers. Store any portions you will not use within 72 hours in freezer-safe containers and put in the freezer until you need it.
  • Thaw food in the refrigerator ~24 hours before you need it. If you need to thaw food quickly, put the sealed container of food in a larger dish full of cold water. Do not thaw raw food at room temperature on the counter. Do not use a microwave.
  • Serve all juices in the container when you feed.
homemade cooked chicken cat food recipe on plates jess and jericho caticles.com

How to transition your cat to cooked homemade food

Please know that cats are cautious (not picky!) about new food. This is a survival instinct that all cats have. Even if they’ve never been outside.

Many cats are also addicted to dry and canned foods. Dry and canned foods are high in carbs and are sprayed with flavor enhancers to get cats to eat them. And unfortunately, cats become addicted to these flavor enhancers. Read more about why your cat is so picky about food to understand this more.

It will be easier to transition from wet food to home-cooked food. So you may have to switch your cat from dry to wet food first. This will help your cat get used to eating high-moisture food without you having to do the work of making the food yourself.

Use my switch from kibble food transition plan. It is mainly for people who are switching to raw. However, you can still use the same plan to switch to wet food and home-cooked food.