Homemade cat food
Sardine & Sweet Potato Bites
Soft, oily little baked bites built on sardines for a big omega-3 hit, bound with a spoonful of mashed sweet potato — a fragrant treat most cats come running for.
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Time
- 25 min
- Makes
- About 20 small bites
🧺 Ingredients
- 1 can sardines in spring water (drained)
- 2 tablespoons cooked, mashed sweet potato
- 1 egg
- 2 tablespoons oat flour (or plain oats blitzed fine)
👩🍳 Method
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F) and line a baking tray with parchment.
- Mash the drained sardines thoroughly with a fork, bones and all — the soft canned bones are safe and a good source of calcium.
- Mix in the sweet potato, egg and oat flour until you have a thick, sticky paste.
- Roll or spoon small pea-to-marble sized bites onto the tray and flatten each one slightly.
- Bake for 12–15 minutes until firm and lightly golden, then cool completely before offering.
- Keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to four days, or freeze for longer.
Nutrition: Sardines are one of the richest cat-safe sources of the omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA, which support skin, coat and joint health, while the soft canned bones add natural calcium. Sweet potato lends a little fibre and holds the bites together without wheat.
📝 Notes
Choose sardines in spring water rather than brine or oil to keep the salt down, and treat these as a snack rather than a meal — treats should make up no more than about a tenth of your cat's daily calories. Skip the oat flour and use a little extra sweet potato if your cat does better without grains.
⚕️ Before you cook for your cat
- Homemade food must be balanced. Cats need taurine, and deficiency causes heart and eye disease.
- Treat recipes are supplements to a complete diet, not a replacement for it.
- Check any new ingredient against the toxic-foods list, and ask your vet before switching diets.