Can (and should) My Dog Eat Sweet Potatoes?

If you enjoy cooking for your pet, you’re probably looking for foods you can prepare for your dog that are both delicious and nutritious. The sweet potato checks both boxes and can be used to make delicious treats you can easily share with your dog. We’ll share how to prepare and serve sweet potato so your dog can enjoy it too!

Health benefits of sweet potatoes for dogs

Sweet potatoes are a popular ingredient in dog foods, (we even use them here at Ollie) because they are a whole food source of carbohydrates and high in dietary fiber. The health benefits of sweet potatoes for your dog are similar to the reasons they’re a great addition to your diet.

They are low in fat and contain good amonuts of vitamins A, B6, C, calcium, potassium, and iron. The only caveat is that they are high on the glycemic index, so they may not be the best choice for dogs who are obese or diabetic.

Ways to cook sweet potato for your dog

Since you should never feed your dog raw sweet potatoes, here are some different cooking methods you can use when preparing sweet potatoes for your pup. Even if you cook the potato with the skin on it, you should remove the skin before sharing it with your dog.

Roasted – To roast sweet potato, you can poke holes in it and place it in a 400-degree oven until it is soft all the way through (about 40 – 60 minutes for a medium or large sweet potato)

Grilled – you can cut your sweet potato into wedges and grill (or even bake) them into a tasty treat.

Dehydrated – If you have a dog who loves to chew, cut your sweet potato into quarter inch slices and place in a food dehydrator or in the oven on a cookie sheet at 250 degrees for about 3 hours.

Steamed – While probably not the most efficient method on the list, you can cut your sweet potatoes and place in a steamer basket until they’re fork tender.

Boiled – Place the chopped sweet potato into boiling water and let it cook until the potatoes are fork tender. Drain and let cool. Or, you can make a mash for your pup, just don’t add any butter or salt. A little cinnamon is okay if your pup isn’t on a bland diet.

Baked in a treat – Once you’ve cooked your sweet potatoes, you can get a little creative and add them to a dog safe recipe like this biscuit recipe.

How to serve sweet potato to your dog

1. In your dog’s Kong or enrichment toy

Once you’ve cooked the sweet potato, you can mash or cut it and add it to your pup’s Kong or favorite enrichment toy. They’ll enjoy spending time digging out the delicious treat.

2. Over a bowl of kibble or fresh food

For an extra boost of carbohydrates you can add some sweet potato to your dog’s meals. This might not be suitable for dogs who are diabetic or overweight so chat with your vet first if you plan to do this regularly.

3. Whipped or mashed as part of a holiday meal

Humans aren’t the only ones who like to indulge at the holidays. If you are making a sweet potato dish for a holiday gathering, save some of the plain, cooked sweet potato for your pup to enjoy along with you.

4. With eggs at breakfast

If you’re making a sunday brunch consider allowing your dog to join with their own eggs (any style they like) and some sweet potato

5. With plain chicken or ground beef as part of a bland diet

If your dog has an upset stomach and doesn’t enjoy rice, you can use sweet potato as a source of carbohydrate when offering a bland diet. Use the general guideline of 2 parts starch/carbohydrate to one part lean chicken or ground beef.

If all of this sounds like a lot of work, don’t worry, you can order some of our beef recipe straight to your door. A few hours of thaw time and your dog will have a complete and balanced meal, with some sweet potato mixed in no cooking required.

The Ollie blog is devoted to helping pet parents lead healthier lives with their pups. If you want to learn more about our fresh, human-grade food, check out MyOllie.com.