3-Ingredient Sweet Potato Dog Biscuits

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These 3 ingredient sweet potato dog treats are firm, crunchy biscuits made from mashed cooked sweet potato, one egg, and whole wheat flour. Hands-on time is about 15 minutes, and they bake for under an hour. The key to keeping them safe is simple: the sweet potato must be cooked, peeled, and plain.

This is one of my 25 easy 3-ingredient dog treats, all made with just three things.

Recipe Snapshot

• Prep time: 15 minutes (plus cooking the sweet potato)
• Cook time: 25 to 30 minutes, then 30 to 40 minutes drying at a low temperature
• Total time: about 1 hour 15 minutes
• Yield: about 30 biscuits (2½-inch round)
• Difficulty: Easy
• Storage life: 2 weeks in an airtight jar, 3 months frozen

Here’s a fact that surprised me when I started baking for my dog. The American Kennel Club says you should never feed a dog raw sweet potato. It’s hard to chew, it can upset the stomach, and it could even cause a blockage. So step one of this recipe happens before you ever get the flour out.

What’s the Best Way to Cook the Sweet Potato?

Bake it. Baked sweet potato is drier and sweeter, which gives you a dough that rolls out instead of sticking to everything.

I learned this the hard way. My first batch used boiled sweet potato. It soaked up so much water that I kept adding flour, and the biscuits came out pale, dense, and gummy in the middle. Here’s how each method has worked out in my kitchen:

Whatever method you pick, cook it plain. No butter, salt, sugar, or marshmallows. Let it cool, scoop the flesh out, and throw away the skin. The AKC says leaving the skin on makes sweet potato harder for dogs to digest.

Ingredients

• 1 cup mashed cooked sweet potato (about 1 medium sweet potato), cooled
• 1 large egg
• 2 cups whole wheat flour, plus about 2 tablespoons for rolling

How Do You Make Them?

1. Heat your oven to 350°F (175°C).
2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
3. Mash the cooled sweet potato until there are no lumps.
4. Beat in the egg until smooth.
5. Add the flour, ½ cup at a time, and mix with a spoon.
6. Knead the dough by hand for a minute until it forms a firm ball.
7. Roll it out on a floured counter to ¼ inch thick.
8. Cut 2½-inch circles with a cutter or the rim of a glass.
9. Press each one with a fork to make a crisscross pattern.
10. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the bottoms are browned.
11. Turn the oven down to 250°F (120°C) and bake 30 to 40 minutes more to dry them out.
12. Cool completely on a rack. They firm up as they cool.

Are Sweet Potatoes Good for Dogs?

Yes, in small amounts. Cooked sweet potato is a common dog food ingredient, and it brings fiber and vitamins along with it.

According to the AKC, sweet potatoes are low in fat and rich in vitamins A, B6, and C, plus calcium, potassium, and iron. But the same article quotes a vet who warns that too much can cause bone and muscle weakness from excess vitamin A. That’s one more reason these are a treat and not a meal.

The AKC also says sweet potatoes shouldn’t be a dog’s main source of nutrition. Your dog’s regular food does the heavy lifting. If you’re looking for more variety in the bowl itself, a variety meal plan for dogs is a simpler route than piling on extra treats.

How Many Can My Dog Have?

Each biscuit has about 35 calories, so most medium dogs can have one or two a day. Small dogs should get half of one.

My math, using USDA FoodData Central numbers: about 180 calories for the sweet potato, 72 for the egg, and about 815 for 2 cups of whole wheat flour. That’s roughly 1,067 calories across 30 biscuits.

VCA Animal Hospitals recommends that treats make up no more than 10% of your dog’s daily calories. If you give treats all day long, my guide to what treats dogs can eat every day can help you balance them.

What If My Dog Can’t Have Wheat?

Use 2 cups of oat flour instead. Oat flour makes a slightly more tender biscuit, so roll it a bit thicker and handle it gently.

Out of sweet potato? Plain canned pumpkin works the same way. My 3 ingredient pumpkin dog treats use pumpkin, egg, and oats. If you’d rather make chewy sweet potato strips with no flour at all, try my homemade sweet potato dog treats. For an extra veggie, my sweet potato carrot dog treats are a family favorite.

Not a baking week? A good bag of dog treats covers you until next time.

Storage

Store fully cooled, crunchy biscuits in an airtight jar for up to 2 weeks. Freeze extras for up to 3 months.

The low-temperature drying step is what makes them last. If yours are still soft in the center, keep them in the fridge and use them within a week. I like to freeze half the batch right away. And if you want to see whether your dog is actually saving them for later (mine buries his in the couch), a dog camera will tell you.

Questions People Ask

Can I use canned sweet potato?

Yes, if the only ingredient is sweet potato. Avoid any in syrup. Canned is wetter, so you may need a few extra spoonfuls of flour.

Can I leave the skin on?

I don’t. The AKC says the skin makes sweet potato harder for dogs to digest, so I peel it off.

Are these 3 ingredient sweet potato dog treats okay for puppies?

Ask your vet first. If they give the okay, break a biscuit into small pieces, since a hard biscuit can be tough on puppy teeth.

Bake the potato, dry the biscuits low and slow, and you’ll have a jar of crunchy treats that lasts for weeks. If you’ve ever wondered whether all this effort is worth it, I wrote about whether homemade dog treats are healthier than store brands.