Head & Paws · The Head & Paws Kitchen

The Great British Fish Supper

Name: The Great British Fish Supper
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 50 min
Total time: 65 min
Yield: One batch: 280 g raw edible ingredients, plus water. Cooking changes the weight: weigh the whole cooled batch. It makes several treat portions, not one complete dinner; the number depends on your dog’s allowance.
Ingredients: 100 g plain boneless cod or haddock fillet; 100 g peeled potato; 50 g carrot; 30 g peas (plain fresh or frozen); 50 ml water, plus enough for boiling or poaching

A proper catch. Hold the batter and chips.

The Great British Fish Supper — Illustrative cooked batch; divide before serving. — Illustrative cooked batch; divide before serving.

What we’re making

A nod to fish and chips, with plain baked white fish and soft potato wedges. The potatoes are cooked without oil; the fish is gently flaked and checked carefully.

An occasional treat, not a complete everyday meal. For allergies, illness or a prescribed diet, check with your veterinary team before cooking.

Preparation: 15 min · Cooking: 50 min · Total: 65 min

One batch: 280 g raw edible ingredients, plus water. Cooking changes the weight: weigh the whole cooled batch. It makes several treat portions, not one complete dinner; the number depends on your dog’s allowance.

What you’ll need

Ingredients

Weights are raw edible weights, after peeling or trimming. Use plain, unseasoned ingredients. No added oil, butter, milk, salt or stock.

100 g plain boneless cod or haddock fillet
100 g peeled potato
50 g carrot
30 g peas (plain fresh or frozen)
50 ml water, plus enough for boiling or poaching

Equipment

Digital kitchen scales, separate raw-food board and knife, clean food thermometer, spoon, plate and shallow storage containers. Saucepan with lid and sieve for the vegetables. Oven, baking tray, baking paper and separate covered ovenproof dish for fish.

Metric quantities are primary. US: 100 g ≈ 3.5 oz; 50 g ≈ 1.8 oz; 30 g ≈ 1.1 oz; 50 ml water ≈ 1.7 US fl oz. Weigh ingredients rather than using cups.

A little prep first

Wash and weigh the vegetables first. An adult cuts the peeled potato into narrow wedges and carrot into 5 mm pieces. Keep the measured peas ready. Keep raw fish and its utensils separate from the vegetables and cooked food. Feel through the fillet for bones; check again after cooking.

**Illustrated cooking stage** — An adult checks a plain white fish fillet for bones, with potato, carrot and peas kept separately.

Wash hands, utensils and surfaces, and keep raw ingredients away from cooked food. Fully thaw frozen fish in the fridge before you begin. Peel potatoes and discard green or sprouting ones. Use a clean thermometer for doneness; cooking times are a guide.

Use an unseasoned cod or haddock fillet, not smoked, salted or battered fish. Even a “boneless” fillet needs checking before and after cooking. No tartare sauce, vinegar, salt or deep frying.

Let’s get cooking!

Lovely soft vegetables
Pop the prepared carrot into a saucepan and simmer in water for 12–15 minutes until easily crushed. Add peas for the final 4 minutes (or follow longer packet instructions), then drain.
Soft wedges, no frying
Illustrated cooking stage — An adult transfers soft boiled potato wedges to a tray lined with baking paper, without oil.
Odie: “A careful bone check is part of good service.”
Heat the oven to 190°C conventional / 170°C fan (375°F / 340°F fan). Cut the peeled potato into narrow wedges, boil 12–15 minutes until very soft, then place on baking paper.
Bake about 10 minutes without oil while the fish cooks; do not make a hard crust.
Bake the fish
Illustrated cooking stage — An adult checks plain baked white fish in its oven dish with a food thermometer.
Odie: “The chef has my full attention.”
Feel the raw fillet carefully for bones and remove them. Put fish in a separate covered oven dish with 50 ml water and bake about 12–18 minutes.
Check 75°C for at least 30 seconds (167°F) in the thickest part; it should also be opaque and flake easily.
Flake and check every piece
Flake onto a clean plate with fingers or a fork and check every flake again for bones. Serve with the soft wedges and vegetables after cooling; break wedges down further for small dogs.

Cool it down, then dish up

An adult flakes the cooled cooked fish and checks for bones again, alongside soft potato, carrot and peas. Odie and Finn appear as separate cartoon portraits, away from the cooking. — **Illustrated cooking stage** — An adult flakes the cooled cooked fish and checks for bones again, alongside soft potato, carrot and peas.
Finn: “I’m giving the chef plenty of room.”

One final fish check: gently flake the cooked fish and feel through every piece for bones. Squash the peas and cut the soft carrot smaller. Mash or break up the soft wedges for a small dog. Cool the measured portion to room temperature before the fish supper is served. Mix the batch evenly before weighing your allowance, or take the same small fraction of each component. An adult serves in a quiet space. Put the untouched rest away promptly — it is not an invitation for second helpings.

Little Kitchen Helpers

Fancy being today’s little kitchen helper?

You can help count and weigh the washed carrots. The grown-up cooks the fish and checks every flake for bones; once everything is fully cool, help arrange the measured potato and vegetables with a clean spoon.

A quick note for the grown-ups

Match tasks to your child’s age, ability and confidence, with active adult supervision. Wash hands before and after. Adults handle raw meat and fish, knives, heat, hot food and cleaning. Keep dogs outside the cooking area; an adult checks and serves the portion, then everyone gives the dog space to eat. Children should not hand-feed.

The grown-up stays in charge of raw ingredients, knives, heat and serving. Wash hands and let the dog eat undisturbed.

Small-dog portions

Make a batch, serve a little. Use the worksheet to work out the remaining treat allowance, then weigh that amount from the evenly mixed, cooled food. Start with a tiny taste if an ingredient is new. The picture shows a batch to divide, not one dog’s recommended serving.

Whole cooled batch
Weigh your allowance
Cut into little bites

A method illustration, not a scale drawing or a recommended quantity. The worksheet determines the amount.

Finn: “Small dog. Small plate. Very large appetite.”

These are occasional treats, not complete meals. All extras together should generally stay within 10% of daily calories, counted within the daily allowance, with at least 90% from complete food. Needs vary: use your dog’s feeding plan and the label-based worksheet, not plate size or weight alone.

Your portion worksheet

Use kcal (food Calories), not kJ. Sum each ingredient’s grams × its label kcal per 100 g ÷ 100 to estimate the batch energy. Include every ingredient and count all treats already given today. This is an estimate, not a prescription; if a label is missing, use a verified food-composition entry matching the ingredient and preparation or ask your veterinary team.

Illustrations only: a dog on 200 kcal/day has at most 20 kcal for all extras; on 600 kcal/day, 60 kcal; on 1,200 kcal/day, 120 kcal. These may suit some small, medium or large dogs respectively, but are not weight-based feeding recommendations. Any other treats reduce this budget.

Without JavaScript: remaining kcal = max(0, daily kcal × 0.10 − other extras). Maximum grams = remaining kcal × cooled batch grams ÷ batch kcal, capped at the batch weight. This is an upper limit, not a target.

Save some for another day

Separate untouched leftovers into shallow containers promptly. Cool and refrigerate within 1–2 hours at 5°C or below; use within 48 hours of cooking. Freeze small labelled portions promptly at −18°C; aim to use within one month for quality. Defrost in the fridge and use within 24 hours of full thawing. Reheat only once until steaming hot throughout (for a thermometer check, 70°C for 2 minutes), stir and cool the serving again. Never serve hot. Discard food left in the dog’s bowl, food kept at room temperature for more than 2 hours, or leftovers with uncertain storage; smell is not a reliable safety check.

Nutrition, suitability & ingredient swaps

Ingredient substitutions

Cod and haddock can replace one another by raw edible weight. Choose plain, unsmoked, unsalted boneless fillets; check for bones before cooking and again while flaking. Keep the same 75°C-for-30-seconds check, adjusting time for thickness. Oily, smoked, salted or battered fish is not an equivalent swap. Recalculate batch energy after any change. Introduce new ingredients gradually; for allergies, digestive illness or a prescribed diet, check the feeding plan with your veterinary team first.

Nutrition & portions

This recipe is not complete and balanced. Keep the usual complete diet as the foundation; treats and extras together should generally supply no more than 10% of daily calories. Count extras within the daily total and reduce the usual ration by their calories, keeping at least 90% from complete food. Age, activity, body condition, medical needs and existing food all affect the allowance. A larger “special meal” needs a veterinary feeding plan rather than simply replacing a whole bowl of complete food.

We have not measured cooked yield or established a verified calorie value for this recipe. Fat content, labels and moisture loss vary, so no fixed grams-per-dog serving or calorie claim is given. Use the label-based portion worksheet below; if you cannot establish the calories, keep this to a tiny taste and ask your veterinary team for a suitable allowance.

For a healthy dog who tolerates the ingredients. Dogs with allergies, pancreatitis, digestive or kidney disease, prescribed diets, and puppies with particular nutritional needs may need individual veterinary advice before trying it. No onion, garlic, chives, leeks, grapes, raisins, xylitol or cooked bones. If poisoning is suspected, contact a vet promptly.

Feeding & food suitability

Feeding & food suitability · Food lookup

Evidence & editorial notes

Recipes are editorial adaptations informed by the sources below. They have not been independently cooked, taste-tested or clinically validated. Images are AI-generated serving illustrations, not photographs of tested recipes; they show a batch to divide, not a recommended serving.