All Natural Homemade Dog Treats
If you’re wild about your dogs and want to show them how much you love them, I promise your dogs will go wild for these homemade chicken jerky dog treats. While the process of dehydrating the chicken does take some time, this is a single ingredient recipe and is super easy to do, whether you’re using a traditional oven or an air fryer oven. There’s also the added benefit of knowing exactly what is in the treats you are giving to your furry companions, or more specifically knowing what is NOT in these dog treats – no preservatives, dyes or other unpronounceable ingredients. You can add these treats to other homemade dog treat recipes like my Sweet Potato and Apple Dog Treat Twists, the No Bake Peanut Butter Oatmeal Puppy Treats and my Blueberry Pup Muffins to keep your pups happy all the time.
How to make Chicken Jerky
The first step to making these chicken jerky dog treats is to freeze a chicken breast (or two) for just a couple of hours. This makes the chicken firm enough to slice into very thin slices, which is key. Of course, this is your opportunity to choose the quality of the chicken you are feeding to your pooches – organic, free-range, etc…
Oven vs Air Fryer
You could make these treats in either your oven or your air fryer, but either way, make sure you lightly oil the mesh basket or rack that you are using. I give the rack a spritz with oil in the sink so that any extra oil is easy to clean up. Then, spread your chicken strips out on the rack or basket with no over-lapping.
Time and Temperature for Chicken Jerky
Making these dog treats in your air fryer will save you a little time. The hot air blown around in the air fryer helps to dehydrate the chicken. Use a setting of 220˚F for 1½ hours. Then, flip them over and air-fry at 220˚F for another 30 to 45 minutes, depending on how thick you sliced the chicken.
In the oven, use a temperature of 200˚F and let the chicken bake low and slow for 2 hours. Then, flip the pieces over and bake for another 45 minutes. When finished, the chicken strips should be completely void of moisture and crispy.
How to Store Chicken Jerky
When it comes storing these tasty treats, I suggest choosing a place away from Golden Retrievers! Keep them in an airtight container or storage bag – there’s no need to refrigerate them because the dehydration process has removed the moisture and preserved the chicken. There’s no real expiration date on these treats. Just know that they won’t last too long – at least they don’t in my house!
I made three batches of these today (only have a 3 qt. air fryer). My aging Border Collie “Tina” has a sensitive tummy and anything other than chicken will cause her (and me) sleepless nights.
Anyway, the treats were a BIG hit with her (I must admit, I too had a nibble), have not seen her so animated in a long time. I gave her only 4 treats and will see how she tolerates them, but I think she’ll be all right.
I call the treats “chickchick”, and whenever I say that, she’ll come running. Works better than “come”.
Thank you, Meredith, for thinking of our furry family members. You made mine (and me) very happy.
Couldn’t people eat this? I tried making chicken and Turkey jerky once and it just didn’t look appetizing and I tossed it all. I make beef jerky for my husband that turns out great.
Sure – this is absolutely edible for people, but you might like to put a spice rub on it if making it for people. For dogs, keep it plain.
If I want to make these in a convection oven, what temp and approximately how long do you think I should cook them?
You can cook them on convection at 175°F for the same amount of time as in the recipe.
Hi Meredith – I have made your jerky dog treats twice with chicken and once with beef. Needless to say, the dogs (a French bulldog and a sweet pit bull) both loved them, to the point that they got quite demanding for another one! I may try turkey jerky next.
Could you use boneless chicken thighs?
Hi Marie. Sure you can, as long as you can slice them thinly. Chicken thighs have more fat in them than breast, so make sure it fits into your dog’s diet and that they can handle the extra fat content.