Chicken & Courgette Summer Bites

🧺 Ingredients

• 150g skinless boneless chicken breast
• 40g courgette, finely grated and squeezed of excess water
• 1 medium egg
• 1 tbsp plain unsweetened porridge oats, ground fine
• 2 tbsp plain water or unsalted chicken cooking liquid

👩‍🍳 Method

1. Poach the chicken in plain unsalted water for 12–15 minutes until cooked all the way through, with no pink remaining. Keep the cooking liquid.
2. Let the chicken cool, then shred it finely by hand, checking carefully for any cartilage or stray bone fragments.
3. Grate the courgette finely and squeeze it firmly in a clean cloth — it holds a surprising amount of water, and wet mixture will not hold together.
4. Combine the chicken, courgette, beaten egg and ground oats in a bowl, adding cooking liquid a teaspoon at a time until the mixture just holds its shape.
5. Roll into small bites roughly the size of a chickpea and place on a lined baking tray.
6. Bake at 180°C (350°F) for 12–14 minutes until firm and lightly golden. Cool completely before serving — they are much easier to handle once set.

📝 Notes

These are a treat and a hot-weather appetite aid, not a complete diet: there is no added taurine, calcium or vitamin supplementation here, and a cat fed only home-prepared food of this kind will become deficient within months. Keep treats to around 10% or less of daily calories. Introduce any new ingredient over three or four days and watch for loose stools. Courgette is safe for cats in small amounts but is not a required part of the diet — its role here is moisture and bulk. Refrigerate in an airtight box for up to 3 days, or freeze in a single layer for up to a month and defrost what you need.

🎬 Related videos

• Homemade Cat Food Recipe in Just 15 Minutes