Have you ever wondered how to save money on dog treats by making dehydrated sweet potato dog treats?
It’s a 3-step process that you’ll need a dehydrator for (works better than the oven) along with 10-12 hours of dehydration time.
Having said that, they’re a favorite here in our pack because they’re a cheap, low-calorie dog treat that support your dog’s digestion, so I make them fairly regularly!
The pups love their taste and crunch factor, and I love them because they’re a single-ingredient dog treat without any artificial preservatives or harmful chemicals.
How To Make Dehydrated Sweet Potato Dog Treats
Let me preface this section by saying that dehydrated sweet potato treats make great goodies for your pooch AND for yourself, too!
You can totally share some of Fido’s treats OR make a batch for yourself if you prefer salt and/or olive oil on yours.
What You’ll Need For The Sweet Potato Dog Treats
Now here’s what you’ll need to make these dried sweet potatoes:
- Sweet potatoes
- Sharp knife and/or mandoline slicer
- A dehydrator (best with temp control)
- 10-12 hours of drying time
I was really lucky for a while when I had a neighbor who grew sweet potatoes in her garden because she would always share a few with me.
After I moved, I’d get them from a local grocery store or a farmer’s market, depending on the season.
If you can get your hands on organic sweet potatoes, you won’t need to peel them because their skin won’t contain any pesticides.
That’s a huge bonus because the skin is rich in fiber and potassium!
How To Prepare The Sweet Potatoes
1. Wash and Cut Them
Give them a good wash in the kitchen sink and cut off any bad spots. Then cut them into more or less even slices with a sharp kitchen knife.
To make sweet potato training dog treats, cut them into small cubes. It’s a bit more time consuming but really worth it – they come out so nicely and save so much money on dog training treats!
Tip: A mandoline slicer or a food processor with a slicing disc is helpful because sweet potatoes are much harder than white potatoes.
Side Note: I tried cutting a sweet potato with a cucumber slicer. Definitely the second best idea I had because they resulted in paper-thin slices!
I had a feeling they were too thin, but still put them in the dehydrator for experiment’s sake.
They were done within 2 hours, but only made for a tiny batch of roasted sweet potatoes for dogs.
2. Blanch The Sweet Potato Slices
Next, go ahead and blanch the sweet potato slices for 2-3 minutes. Do the same for your sweet potato dog training cubes.
Blanching simply means to put them in boiling water.
It’ll keep the bright, vibrant orange color of the sweet potato along with its flavor and texture.
It also extends the shelf life of the sweet potato dog treats!
3. Rinse, Dry and Dehydrate Them
Then rinse them off under cool water, pat them dry and place them onto the dehydrator trays (my Cosori dehydrator has 6).
Make sure that none of the slices overlap, or the overlapping parts won’t dehydrate all the way!
If your dehydrator has a temperature control button, put them in at around 125° F / 50° C. If it doesn’t, that’s OK too, it’ll just require a bit more monitoring.
The first one I ever had was a hand-me down NESCO dehydrator that didn’t come with a temperature control button.
But a more modern version like the Cosori dehydrator is a total game changer: it comes with temperature control, dishwasher-safe stainless steel trays, mesh screens and a digital timer (and even fruit roll sheets).
💡Score your own Cosori dehydrator here – Comes with a 50‑recipe cookbook too, so you’re never out of ideas for fun, healthy (human) snacks.
Either way, the dehydrating process takes about 10-12 hours.
That’s why it’s a good idea to make them overnight, that way you’ll be able to “harvest” them in the mornings.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Cosori dehydrator
✅ Lots of dehydration space
✅ Even drying
✅ No tray rotation
How to Dehydrate Sweet Potatoes for Dogs in Oven
If you don’t have a dehydrator, you can also try to dehydrate sweet potatoes in the oven.
If you do, go for the lowest temperature setting on your oven or you’ll risk burning them.
I learned that lesson when I tested the oven option at 250° F (120° C) for two hours.
Not only did they not come out as crunchy as the ones from the dehydrator, they were also on the verge of being burnt!
What’s The Shelf Life Of The Sweet Potato Dog Treats?
Since your homemade sweet potato dog treats don’t contain any artificial preservatives, their shelf life is fairly short.
The blanching process helps extend it some, so they’ll last you for about 10-14 days.
Store The Dog Treats In An Airtight Container
I personally like to store the sweet potato treats in recycled glass jars or mason jars.
But make sure to let the sweet potato slices cool off completely before you close the lid of the storage container.
If you don’t, there’ll be condensation which is the perfect breeding ground for mold.
Benefits Of Sweet Potato Dog Treats
Sweet potatoes are a nutritional powerhouse because they contain beta carotene.
That helps neutralize harmful free radicals and also helps prevent cancer.
They’re also rich in manganese, which is great for healthy bone structure and fat metabolism.
Its Vitamin A content is great for a proper metabolism, and its Vitamin C content offers protection from infectious diseases.
As mentioned earlier, their skin is a great source of dietary fiber, meaning organic sweet potatoes are wonderful for digestion!
Related Reading: Foods that Settle Dog’s Stomach
Sweet Potato Dog Treats Are A Low Calorie Treat
If you’re looking for a low calorie, high value dog training treat, look no further!
Sweet potatoes are also low in calories. 1 cup has about 114 calories.
Most dogs really love their taste and texture and will gladly “work” for them.
Tip: Cut the sweet potatoes into really small, quickly edible bites before you place them on the dehydrator trays if you want to use them as dog training treats.
Personally, I love using them as rewards for our backpack training sessions. If you’ve never tried a dog backpack with your pup, here’s the training guide I use with Wally.
Single-Ingredient Dog Treats Made In Your Kitchen
You know what I like best about my homemade sweet potato dog treats?
The fact that I know exactly what they’re made of and where they’re grown.
Right wherever you happen to live when you make them.
Now THAT’s peace of mind!
Store-Bought Dehydrated Sweet Potato Dog Treats – An Alternative
Every now and then when I don’t feel like wearing my chef hat, I’ll order some sweet potato dog treats on Amazon.
For example, sweet potato dog treat slices from Brutus & Barnaby.
Or Dr. Harvey’s Sweet Potate’r Chews.
It’s an easy and QUICK alternative I resort to every so often.
The pups love them, and it’s almost the same as making them yourself – but of course, not quite as cheap..
Leave your comments or questions below in the comment section!
Content Related to Sweet Potato Dog Treats
- Can dogs eat raw pumpkin?
- How to make pork dog treats
- How to puff yak cheese for dogs
- 20 easy no bake Valentine’s Day dog treats
- How to make doggie popsicles with handles
- Best training treats for small dogs and puppies
- What’s so special about single-ingredient dog treats?
Barbara Rivers is the founder of K9sOverCoffee and a raw feeding educator with over a decade of hands-on experience.
She has fed raw in the US and Europe since 2015, after her Boxer mix Missy’s cancer diagnosis led her to move away from processed kibble and commit to species-appropriate nutrition.
As a former professional dog walker, she developed deep insight into canine behavior, conditioning, and the essential link between proper exercise and long-term health.
Barbara completed online training with veterinarian Dr. Marion Smart and Labrador breeder Dana Scott and works for one of Germany’s leading raw dog food brands, BARFER’S.
In 2026–2027, she is completing a year-long raw nutrition certification for dogs and cats at THP School, founded by raw feeding pioneer Swanie Simon.
Through her blog and weekly newsletter, she provides clear, experience-based guidance to help dog owners feed raw safely and confidently.
This sounds awesome! I will be trying this out! The pugs love homemade treats.
Your pug puppies will be in for a treat ;-))
I am definitely making these. I love sweet potatoes and they are so nutritious and delicious :)
Pawsome! Would you share a picture once you’ve made some?
Yes :)
Cool beans!
Haley loves sweet potatoes and the thiner versions sound interesting. I’ve been meaning to buy a food dehydrator but I wonder if you could make sweet potato jerky sticks in the oven if you bake them at a really low heat. Hmm, I may have to experiment with this. Great tips for our sweeties, thanks Barbara!
When watching a few YouTube videos on how to make Dehydrated Sweet Potato Treats, someone mentioned that they found their dehydrator for just a few $$$ at a thrift store (WITH a temperature control button), so that might be something to look into for starters?
Just checked to see what our oven’s lowest temperature setting is, and it’s 170° F. Apparently 125° F is the ideal temperature to dehydrate sweet potatoes at – do you know how low your oven will go temperature-wise? My mom doesn’t have a dehydrator and suggested to leave the oven door open since most ovens won’t go below 170° F-ish – my only objection to that was that the pups might get a little too curious and end up burning themselves in that one split second I’m not paying attention…
Have fun experimenting with it and I’d love to hear about the outcome – however Miss Haley got her paws on the Sweet Potato treats (Dehydrator Style or Oven Style) :-)
That’s what I was thinking too, leaving the oven door open. I’ll give this a try and let you know what happens. It might make the Pinterest Fail Board, but we’ll see, lol!
These look yummy and so healthy. I’m glad you mentioned that humans can eat them too because that was on my mind when I read this post. I’ll let you know how my batch turn out.
Thank you, Sharon, they really did come out nicely – I’d even say as well as the ones made by brands, except that my slices didn’t all have the same thickness/visual appeal because they were cut with a knife. The pups told me they could live with that, though ;-)
I’m looking forward to hearing/seeing (if you would like to share a picture, that’d be awesome!) about your batch!
These look doggy delicious! And human delicious, hehe…
Oh yes…I had several and added spinach dip…and a glass of red wine ;-)