Are you looking for an easy, one ingredient chew to make for your dog? It doesn’t get much easier than Tripe Chews, strips of baked tripe cut to chew size.
As our regular readers know, we never give our dogs rawhide because of the risk of choking and obstruction–and the fact that it’s not easily digested. But dogs love chews–so it’s up to us to find safe and healthy options!
Tripe is a meat that’s chewy (perfect for a dog chew!), low in calories and fat, and even a source of B-12 and zinc.
What Is Tripe?
Tripe is the stomach of a ruminant animal; the tripe that you buy in the grocery store is typically a cow’s stomach.
Tripe was once a very popular meat for numerous dishes, so much so that there’s even a World Tripe Day on Oct. 24. Today it’s used in many Eastern European dishes, some Italian foods and, in our area, in menudo, a spicy stew.
According to Wikipedia, several types of tripe are available for purchase:
Beef tripe is made from the muscle wall (the interior mucosal lining is removed) of only the first three chambers of a cow‘s stomach: the rumen (blanket/flat/smooth tripe), the reticulum (honeycomb and pocket tripe), and the omasum (book/bible/leaf tripe). Abomasum (reed) tripe is seen less frequently, owing to its glandular tissue content.
You may have also purchased green tripe treats or food for your dog; this is the unwashed stomach. Typically you’d need to go to a meat source to purchase green tripe but scalded white tripe is available from most grocery stores.
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How to Prepare Tripe
When you take the tripe out of the package, you’ll see that it unfolds into one big sheet:
I know…I know…it is not pretty.
But your dog is worth it! (And don’t worry…unlike with green tripe, white tripe has no unpleasant smell.)
Give the tripe a rinse then you’re ready to start making dog chews!
How to Prepare Tripe Dog Chews
As I mentioned, tripe is a heavy, chewy meat; you can see that one side is also very textured.
You can opt for a sharp knife and cutting board to cut the tripe into strips or do as I did and use kitchen shears to simply cut the meat.
I first cut the meat in half, freezing the other portion for future treats.
Flip the tripe over to the non-textured side and you’ll see the grain of the meat. Cut your strips WITH the grain to make them even chewier for your dog.
Use a parchment-lined cookie sheet to line up your strips, cut to your dog’s liking. They’ll shrink a little when baked but not too much so keep that in mind if you have a small dog.
Pop the cookie sheet in the oven preheat to 325 degrees F.
I baked my chews for two hours, flipping them over about half an hour before they were done, so that both sides would be browned.
The result was a flavorful treat that our dogs LOVE!
Print the Recipe!
Tripe Dog Chews
Ingredients
- 2 pounds white tripe
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
- Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
- Remove tripe from package; rinse tripe.
- Divide tripe into two portions. Freeze second portion for future treats.
- Using a sharp knife or kitchen shears, cut with the grain of the meat. Cut into chew-size strips.
- Put strips on cookie sheet.
- Bake for 90 minutes.
- Flip over chews on cookie sheet, return to oven. Bake an additional 30 minutes.
- Cool chews before serving.
- Refrigerate for up to one week or freeze.
