This list was updated January 1st 2022
This list of lightly cooked dog foods includes over 20 different brands. Each company has it’s own unique offerings – some specialize in high protein recipes, other in individualized nutrition with a variety of compositions to fit dogs with different nutritional needs. Most of these companies offer Topper Meal Plans to make is simple to add on small amounts of fresh food to the bowl while keeping within your budget.
Each fresh dog food review includes:
- Answers to the WASVA questions
- Recipe Composition on Dry Matter and Caloric Basis
- Ingredient Breakdown
- Cost Comparison
- Allergy Information
- Low Fat Recipe Information for Sensitive Stomachs
- Cooked Dog Food Storage and Feeding Instructions
- Comparison to other popular foods such as Kibble and Raw
The idea is to give you the information you need in order to choose the best fresh food diet for your dog.
Brands are listed in no particular order (aka the first is not the "best" and the last is not the "worst"). The composition of diets was calculated based on guaranteed analysis (with an Ash value of 1% if not listed) unless calculated/analysis values were provided by the company
A Pup Above Dog Food Review
- Diets Offered: Beef, Turkey, Pork, and Chicken.
- Protein Content: 36-45% on a caloric basis
- Fat Content: 35-42% on a caloric basis
- Comments: Single protein recipes, all are grain-free and high protein.
- AAFCO: Recipes are only balanced for adult dogs.
- Research: No AAFCO or Digestibility trials.
AllProvide Gently Cooked Dog Food Review
- Diets Offered: Pork, Beef, Turkey
- Protein Content: 29-39% on a caloric basis
- Fat Content: 54-69% on a caloric basis
- Comments: Single protein recipes, all are grain-free and high protein & fat.
- AAFCO: Recipes are balanced for puppies and adults.
- Research: No AAFCO or Digestibility trials.
Bramble Vegan Dog Food Review
- Diets Offered: Pea & Lentil.
- Protein Content: 25-28% on a caloric basis
- Fat Content: 40-44% on a caloric basis
- Comments: Vegan recipes, one with potatoes and the other with rice
- AAFCO: Recipes are only balanced for adult dogs.
- Research: No AAFCO or Digestibility trials.
Cesar Fresh Chef Dog Food Review
- Diets Offered: Beef & Chicken, and Chicken.
- Protein Content: 25-26% on a caloric basis
- Fat Content: 38-60% on a caloric basis
- Comments: Refrigerated fresh (not frozen), Moderate protein, high fat recipes. Both are grain-free.
- AAFCO: Recipes are only balanced for adult dogs.
- Research: No AAFCO or Digestibility trials.
Chi Dog Food Review
- Diets Offered: Chicken, Turkey, Vegetarian (Egg & Tofu), Beef and Pork
- Protein Content: 33-50% on a caloric basis
- Fat Content: 40-56% on a caloric basis
- Comments: Single protein recipes, combination of grain and grain free recipes.
- AAFCO: Recipes are balanced for adult dogs and puppies (including large breeds).
- Research: No AAFCO or Digestibility trials.
EverMore Dog Food Review
- Diets Offered: Chicken, Beef, Lamb, Turkey
- Protein Content: 30-42% on a caloric basis
- Fat Content: 44-61% on a caloric basis
- Comments: Single protein recipes, all are grain-free and high protein.
- AAFCO: Recipes are only balanced for adult dogs.
- Research: No AAFCO or Digestibility trials.
The Farmer’s Dog Food Review
- Diets Offered: Beef, Pork, Turkey, Chicken.
- Protein Content: 28-34% on a caloric basis
- Fat Content: 39-54% on a caloric basis
- Comments: Single protein recipes, all are grain-free and higher in protein and fat.
- AAFCO: Recipes are balanced for adult dogs and puppies (including large breeds).
- Research: No AAFCO or Digestibility trials.
Freshpet Dog Food Review
- Diets Offered: Usually multi-protein recipes.
- Protein Content: 25-33% on a caloric basis
- Fat Content: greater than 50% on a caloric basis
- Comments: Refrigerated fresh (not frozen). large variety in recipes, but tend to be high in fat.
- AAFCO: Recipes are balanced for adult dogs and puppies.
- Research: No AAFCO feeding trials. Some recipes have digestibility trials.
Just Food For Dogs – Dog Food Review
- Diets Offered: Beef, Chicken, Fish, Turkey, Venison, Lamb
- Protein Content: 26-43% on a caloric basis
- Fat Content: 25-53% on a caloric basis
- Comments: Single protein recipes, combination of grain-free and grain-inclusive options. Also have a veterinary prescription line.
- AAFCO: Recipes are balanced for adult dogs and Fish and Chicken recipes are balanced for puppies (including large breeds).
- Research: Both AAFCO and Digestibility trials.
Kabo Dog Food Review
- Diets Offered: Beef, Chicken, Lamb, Turkey.
- Protein Content: 32-41% on a caloric basis
- Fat Content: 27-63% on a caloric basis
- Comments: Single protein recipes, some recipes are grain-inclusive, others are grain-free. All recipes are high protein.
- AAFCO: Recipes are balanced for adult dogs and puppies.
- Research: No AAFCO or Digestibility trials.
My Perfect Pet Dog Food Review
- Diets Offered: Most recipe are multi-protein – Lamb & Beef, Chicken & Beef, Turkey & Salmon, Beef and Chicken.
- Protein Content: 32-38% on a caloric basis
- Fat Content: 19-32% on a caloric basis
- Comments: Recipes use combination of carbohydrates (grains and potatoes), and multiple protein sources. All recipes are higher in protein, and low to moderate in fat
- AAFCO: Recipes are balanced for adult dogs and some are balanced for pupies, gestation and lactation.
- Research: No AAFCO feeding trials, however digestibility trials have been performed.
Nature’s Logic Lightly Cooked Dog Food Review
- Diets Offered: Beef, Chicken, Lamb.
- Protein Content: 27-31% on a caloric basis
- Fat Content: 61-65% on a caloric basis
- Comments: All recipes are multi-protein, grain-free, and extremely high fat.
- AAFCO: Recipes are balanced for adult dogs and puppies.
- Research: No AAFCO or Digestibility trials.
Nom Nom Dog Food Review
- Diets Offered: Beef, Chicken, Pork, Turkey.
- Protein Content: 27-31% on a caloric basis
- Fat Content: 35-49% on a caloric basis
- Comments: Single protein recipes, some recipes are grain-inclusive, others are grain-free. All recipes are higher in protein and fat.
- AAFCO: Recipes are balanced for adult dogs and puppies.
- Research: No AAFCO feeding trials, but Digestibility trials have been performed.
Open Farm Dog Food Review
Diets Offered: Beef, Chicken, Turkey, Beef & Salmon.
Protein Content: 27-38% on a caloric basis
Fat Content: 55-61% on a caloric basis
Comments: Single protein recipes, higher in protein and very high in fat. All recipes are grain-free.
AAFCO: Recipes are balanced for adult dogs only.
Research: No AAFCO or Digestibility trials.
Ollie Dog Food Review
- Diets Offered: Beef, Chicken, Lamb, Turkey.
- Protein Content: 24-35% on a caloric basis
- Fat Content: 26-53% on a caloric basis
- Comments: Single protein recipes, composition varies based on recipe, all recipes are grain-free.
- AAFCO: Recipes are balanced for adult dogs and puppies (including large breed puppies).
- Research: No AAFCO feeding trials. But have done digestibility trials.
PetPlate Dog Food Review
- Diets Offered: Beef, Chicken, Turkey, Lamb, Venison, Pork.
- Protein Content: 23-34% on a caloric basis
- Fat Content: 24-46% on a caloric basis
- Comments: Single protein recipes, variety of compositions, some grain-free and grain-inclusive.
- AAFCO: Recipes are balanced for adult dogs and puppies (including large breed puppies).
- Research: No AAFCO feeding trials, but do have digestibility information on all of their diets.
PURE Dog Food Review
- Diets Offered: Chicken, Salmon, Turkey, Beef.
- Protein Content: 29-48% on a caloric basis
- Fat Content: 16-46% on a caloric basis
- Comments: Single protein recipes, combination of grain-free and grain-inclusive recipes.
- AAFCO: Recipes are balanced for adult dogs and puppies (including large breed puppies).
- Research: No AAFCO or Digestibility trials.
Raised Right Dog Food Review
- Diets Offered: Beef, Chicken, Pork, Turkey.
- Protein Content: 46-49% on a caloric basis
- Fat Content: 44-47% on a caloric basis
- Comments: Single protein recipes, higher in protein and very high in fat. All recipes are grain-free.
- AAFCO: Recipes are balanced for adult dogs and puppies (including large breed puppies).
- Research: No AAFCO or Digestibility trials.
Small Batch Lightly Cooked Dog Food Review
- Diets Offered: Turkey, Beef, Chicken.
- Protein Content: 34-47% on a caloric basis
- Fat Content: 37-58% on a caloric basis
- Comments: Single protein recipes, higher in protein and very high in fat. All recipes are grain-free.
- AAFCO: Recipes are balanced for adult dogs and puppies.
- Research: No AAFCO or Digestibility trials.
Spot & Tango Dog Food Review
- Diets Offered: Beef, Turkey, Lamb.
- Protein Content: 32-37% on a caloric basis
- Fat Content: 38-45% on a caloric basis
- Comments: Single protein recipes, higher in protein and very high in fat. All recipes are use grains such as millet, quinoa and brown rice.
- AAFCO: Recipes are balanced for adult dogs and puppies.
- Research: No AAFCO or Digestibility trials.
Tylee’s Dog Food Review
- Diets Offered: Beef, Chicken, Pork, Turkey.
- Protein Content: 28-35% on a caloric basis
- Fat Content: 50-56% on a caloric basis
- Comments: Single protein recipes, higher in protein and very high in fat. All recipes are grain-free.
- AAFCO: Recipes are balanced for adult dogs and puppies (including large breed puppies).
- Research: No AAFCO or Digestibility trials.
About the Author: Nikki is a Registered Veterinary Technician (Veterinary Nurse) and Dog Mom with over a decade of experience with dogs and cats. Since graduation from college (BS Biology, Dip. Animal Nutrition, AS Animal Science) she has adopted two mixed breed dogs – Ranger and Ash, and has focused her time learning about pet food and nutrition.
Nikki shares information on a range of dog nutrition topics: from how to create a homemade complete and balanced dog food recipes, to how to choose a dog food. Nikki strives to give dog parents the information they need in order to make the best nutrition decisions for their pup!
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thecaninehealthnut@gmail.com
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Great list! Out of all of those foods the only brand I’ve tried with my own dogs was Just Food for Dogs, but I used their DIY kits. I probably would have stuck with it, but my younger dog is super picky and eventually got sick of it and stopped wanting to eat it regularly. He gets acid reflux that gets bad when he skips meals so I can’t really practice “tough love” when it comes to feeding him. I decided to work with a vet nutritionist to help me formulate a handful of different recipes so I can switch things up often and keep even my picky pup interested in his meals.
That is awesome that you have worked with a boarded nutritionist to help you formulate recipes for your pups. I do think it’s hard when you have a picky dog – I find many of them just prefer a homecooked meal.
I didn’t realize that there were so many different brands of lightly cooked dog food. There a few ones that are new to me that I’d like to check out for my dogs.
It’s really crazy how many brands there are now! I remember when I started with DIY there were only a handful of options.
I have had dogs all my life and had never considered a raw food diet until the last few years. I am still learning about this way of feeding and trying to educate myself on the topic. Your detailed list is very helpful in comparing the diets and knowing what to look for.
This is actually a list of lightly cooked fresh food diets – not raw. But I’m glad you found my breakdowns useful. 🙂
This is a fabulously detailed list of lightly cooked fresh dog food diets. There’s definitely a lot to consider and explore with each brand when you’re considering this type of diet for your dog. It almost seems overwhelming. But you’ve done a great job with the details and taking out as much of the complexity as possible.
There are so many gorgeous foods for dogs and raw is rapidly becoming a serious contender so this was a real eye opener.
I love to see the broad selection of good foods for dogs. Nothing like having the option instead of having to cook for your dog–not everybody has the time, skill and resources.
My dog is on raw but for most part I too use commercial raw.
This is a great reference for dog lovers. We all want to give our pups the best possible nutrition that we can give them. Unfortunately, in a fast-paced society, we can’t always dedicate as much time as we would like to. This list really does help people see that they don’t have to have all the free time in the world to try incorporating a different food option for their dog.
Ah, I so appreciate all the work and thought that goes into this list! My dog has a bit of a sensitive stomache and we were (happily) on Nom Nom for a while, but are looking to switch, so I’ll be referencing this list heavily! Thank you from me + the pupper!
I’m so glad this list will be useful for you – I honestly just can’t believe how many companies there are now! Even after I wrote this, I’m looking into two other new companies. I’m excited that this area of the pet food industry is expanding. 🙂