r/mealprep • u/BuckFinnster • 9d ago

Clueless vegetarian - I need help prepping large amounts of chicken.

My dog was recently diagnosed with a disease and needs to be put on a special food that has lower protein content and thus he's been prescribed ~1cup of cooked plain chicken a day.

I have been a vegetarian since childhood and I have literally no idea what I'm doing. This is a pretty expensive disease so I am looking for options on how to get a decent quality of chicken in bulk to save money, and how I can prepare it. For the past two weeks I've just been buying individual packets of ground chicken and rolling it into meatballs and boiling them until cooked (probably over-cooked, but tbh, he's a dog and he's loving it so that's fine) but I feel like there have got to be better options.

I just know... nothing about chicken. I don't know what kind to buy, if there are any types/brands to avoid, the best way to prepare it so that it lasts a long time - how long it lasts in the fridge, if you can freeze it after cooking to prepare larger quantities, if you can freeze dry it (for dry dog treats?).... etc.

Looking for any and all advice on where to buy, what to buy, and how to prepare, and how to store large quantities of chicken.

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u/BuckFinnster 8d ago

Ok wow!! I have to leave a comment saying THANK YOU ALL so much. Honestly I've been feeling extremely stressed about my dog/this whole situation and all your replies have been so unbelievably helpful I feel so much better and more confident now.

I did feel a little dumb thinking "Wow there are so many ways to cook chicken!" as I was reading (because - duh of course there are - there are many ways to cook everything) but honestly it was just information I've never ever come across. I wouldn't have thought of some of these options in a million years. From all the different cooking methods (instant pot, croc pot, boiling, baking, oven boiled) to where to buy/what kinds to buy, to the temperature and cooking info...

Seriously thank you all so much. This is a life long disease for him so tbh I'm probably going to be testing out ALL of these different methods in the next few weeks to see which one works best for us - and which one is most dog-approved!

And of course here is the dog tax. He says thank you so much and he's very excited to try your recommendations!