The Best Raw Dog Foods

Raw dog food is becoming an increasingly popular option for pet-parents who want to know what their dogs are eating and control their diets.

The first step to achieving a healthy dog diet is to feed your pet nutritious and balanced foods. For a long time, dry kibble and wet canned dog food were the only two options on the market.

Now, manufacturers have improved their game, producing some of the best raw dog food in the last few years.

What are these raw dog foods, and how do you know which brand is best for your dog? We have broken down the top ten raw dog foods below to give you clarity on this exciting development.

The 10 Best Raw Dog Foods Reviewed

Stella & Chewy’s freeze-dried beef patties are made with grass-fed beef containing no antibiotics or hormones. It also contains organic-certified, dog-approved fruits and vegetables.

The all-natural recipe mimics the dog’s carnivorous diet in the wild. It is sourced from sustainable, single-source protein, as much as 95 percent grass-fed beef, organs, and bone.

The packaging method offers the perfect nutrition in a convenient and safe package. The shelf-stable preparations ensure that it lasts long enough for your dog to enjoy it. The patties don’t contain grains, gluten, artificial flavors, colors, preservatives, and fillers.

What We Like About This Recipe

• The raw dog food presents a complete and balanced diet for your dog, enhanced with probiotics to aid digestion. It’s the perfect recipe for dogs with sensitive stomachs or skin issues.
• All ingredients are also sourced from USA reputable suppliers, making it one of the best raw dog food choices currently on the market.

The product is made with human-grade ingredients sourced entirely from the USA, so Tylee’s Beef frozen dog food can be eaten on its own or as a topper mixed in with dry dog kibble.

The food is grain-free for dogs with sensitive stomachs, and contains no filler ingredients, like soy, corn, wheat, or animal byproducts.

All you need do is to defrost the food and give it to your dog–for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. The dog food is processed minimally and frozen in record time to retain all its natural flavor.

The process preserves the valuable amino acids, antioxidants, minerals, and vitamins that support your dog’s immune, gut, skin and coat, and eye health.

What We Like About This Recipe

• It has ground flaxseed, chia seeds, and sunflower oil packed with Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids. These ingredients nourish your furry friend’s skin and coat, as well as their immune health.

The raw nutrition contained in this Instinct’s By Nature frozen dog food promotes the strength of your dog’s lean muscle and keeps your carnivorous friend full of energy.

Instinct’s dog food recipes are frozen raw and not cooked. It contains 85 percent natural, hormone and antibiotic-free beef, and 15 percent non-GMO, organic, dog-approved fruits and vegetables, vital vitamins, and minerals.

The cold processing extends the food’s shelf life and deactivates harmful bacteria, making a delicious raw meal that’s safe to eat.

What We Like About This Recipe

• The high-protein content in this raw dog food keeps your dog active and energized. It also promotes healthy teeth and gums, lean muscle, gut health, and energy levels.
• All ingredients are sourced from within the USA, giving you the ultimate peace of mind.

Primal Chicken grain-free nuggets contain real chicken meat, necks, gizzards, and livers.

It also includes organic carrots, blueberries, and apples, sunflower seeds, and salmon oil, rich in Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids, with tocopherols as a natural preservative.

The raw dog food is antibiotic, hormone, and steroid-free, using natural meat. It also includes fresh ground bone for added calcium.

All you need do is add water to give your dog a delicious meal that will have them licking the bowl clean.

What We Like About This Recipe

• The high-protein content in this freeze-dried raw dog food mimics your dog’s primal, paleo diet. It is an excellent way of maintaining the correct weight while boosting overall health.

Instinct by Nature’s grain-free protein kibble and freeze-dried raw dog food with real chicken has a high-protein content, with retained freeze-dried nutrition.

The free-range chicken promotes healthy lean muscle in your dog that works with the added probiotics to boost digestive health.

Omega-3 and 6 fatty acids promote a shiny skin and coat, and antioxidants support your canine’s immune health.

What We Like About This Recipe

• Instinct by Nature includes a probiotic in this mixed dry kibble and raw dog food recipe. Probiotics boost your dog’s gut health and keep your dog’s immune system healthy.

Merrick’s raw-infused kibble recipe has the perfect combination of protein-rich, grain-free kibble with real, freeze-dried raw red meat (from lamb, beef, and rabbit).

All sources are certified as antibiotic and hormone-free and sourced locally within reach of the manufacturer’s Texas facility.

Dog-approved fruits and vegetables, like peas, sweet potatoes, apples, and blueberries, are also present to add vital nutrients, vitamins, antioxidants, and fiber to the raw food.

What We Like About This Recipe

• Added chondroitin and glucosamine supports healthy hip and joint function in dogs of all ages, but especially in larger or senior dogs.

Sojos turkey freeze-dried recipe consists of fresh turkey, sweet potatoes, whole eggs, flaxseeds, and vitamin-packed cranberries.

It also has health boosters, like natural enzymes, trace nutrients, and vitamins, like kelp, pumpkin, and ginger.

Soak your dog food in water to serve.

Sojos raw dog food is made from ingredients entirely sourced within the USA and does not contain grains, soy, artificial flavors, colors, preservatives, and GMO ingredients.

What We Like About This Recipe

• Sojos products are tested for Salmonella before being released into the market.
• We also love this complete and balanced nutritional recipe that is simple to serve and doesn’t need any further additions.

Try TruDog’s high-protein recipe made from free-range turkey, amino acids, and Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids.

Ground turkey with bone, turkey liver, turkey heart, and herring oil make this recipe a real nutritional powerhouse that promotes healthy and active muscles and bone health.

The freeze-drying process retains vital nutrients so that the raw dog food requires no refrigeration. It is also convenient to serve—add water to the bowl and watch your dog eat.

What We Like About This Recipe

• The potent recipe with minimal ingredients will promote healthy muscle and bone, a shinier coat, reduced allergies, improved gut health, and fresher breath in your dog.

Nature’s Logic raw frozen dog food is organic, gluten-free, and grain-free. The frozen raw dog food only uses whole-food natural ingredients, with no synthetic vitamins, minerals, or trace nutrients. Chicken meat, liver, and heart form the main ingredients, as well as finely-ground eggshells for extra calcium.

Dog-approved dried vegetables and fruits, such as broccoli, apples, artichoke, carrot, cranberry, blueberry, pumpkin, tomato, and spinach, also feature in a balanced diet.

What We Like About This Recipe

• The recipe doesn’t contain peas, lentils, and potatoes, which constitute filler ingredients. It also leaves out allergens, like wheat, soy, corn, rice, and soy, and synthetic vitamins, minerals, and trace ingredients.

Primal Beef freeze-dried dog food contains beef meat, liver, and heart, as well as squash, broccoli, apple, cranberries, and blueberries. It has freshly ground beef bone for extra calcium.

It also doesn’t contain any antibiotics, hormones, or steroid beef organs. It is made in the USA, and you can trust the ingredients to be free of soy, grain, corn, gluten, and wheat.

The recipe mimics your dog’s paleo diet, making it highly palatable and easy to serve.

What We Like About This Recipe

• We love the high levels of protein in this recipe for promoting healthy bones and lean muscle development in your dog. The added amino acids, essential fatty acids, natural enzymes, and minerals and vitamins support all the healthy biological functions in your dog.

Buying Guide

Before you switch your dog’s diet from dry kibble to raw dog food, it is advisable to contact your veterinarian. Dogs differ according to size and breed and have different nutritional requirements. Changing your dog’s diet without expert advice could leave them malnourished, or worse, lead to obesity and the shortening of their life span.

What should you look for when searching for the best raw dog food? Below are the main points to ensure a hassle-free shop that ticks all the boxes for a healthy dog.

Video: Myths and Truths Of The Raw Food Diet.

What To Look For In A Raw Dog Food

A non-processed raw diet for dogs consists of muscle meat, tripe, organ meat, bones, approved fruits and vegetables, dairy, raw eggs, and ground eggshells. These ingredients come in many raw food recipes and contain no artificial flavorings, additives, GMO ingredients, or preservatives.

You should always avoid raw dog food with fillers or harmful ingredients, such as wheat, soy, bone meal, corn syrup, propylene glycol, BHA and BHT, and salt.

The Benefits Of A Raw Diet

Raw dog food gives dogs a healthier alternative, especially if you’re after a high-protein diet. Dogs experience increased energy, improved dental health, healthier skin, and shinier coats on this type of eating plan.

Your dog’s stool also becomes less smelly and smaller, making it easier to pass. Raw dog food promotes easier and more frequent bowel movement, which is excellent for senior dogs. Chronic conditions also benefit from a strengthened immune system, more agility, and mobility, as well as improved liver and pancreatic health on a raw diet.

Raw dog food is also 100 percent natural, and it gives you greater peace of mind. You’ll be sure that no processed foods or additives are consumed by your beloved furry friend.

The Downside Of A Raw Dog Food Diet

Feeding your dog raw food is more time-consuming than commercial ready-made kibble or wet food. Pay special attention to the quantities and daily calorie intake, too, as these may change in different batches of raw food. It is also more expensive—something to keep in mind if you’re on a tight budget.

Raw dog food is not recommended if you have young children or immune-compromised individuals living in the home. Clean and disinfect all surfaces or utensils that have had contact with the raw food with hot, soapy water. Raw dog food is likely to contain higher levels of harmful bacteria such as Listeria, E. coli, Salmonella, and Campylobacter, as evidenced by the multiple product recalls over the years.

Raw dog food is also less cost-effective, prone to higher rates of spoilage than kibble due to its limited shelf life. Always freeze raw dog food until you’re ready to use it.

Frozen Raw Food vs. Freeze-Dried Raw Food

Frozen raw dog food is similar to the meat we buy for our freezers. Freezing the dog food keeps the food fresh, preserving its nutritional content until you’re ready to feed it to your dog.

Freeze-dried raw dog food, however, has had the moisture removed from it while the nutrients remain. The process deactivates any bacteria present, making the food shelf-stable without the need for a refrigerator or freezer.

Both processes protect the nutritional value and safety of your dog’s food by increasing shelf life.

Final Thoughts

Should you feed your canine on a raw dog food diet? Some owners are completely against feeding their dog raw food, but we believe that the health benefits are convincing.

All-natural dog food is always a good idea, and raw dog food foots the bill perfectly. The safety of your dog and the people in your home is paramount, so be more careful when storing, handling, and cleaning any items that may have come into contact with the raw dog food.

You should also talk to your veterinarian first about the raw dog food options on the market before you start your precious pup on a diet.