Review Summary
Reviewed & Fact-Checked By
Dr. Paola Cuevas
Veterinarian, MVZ
Reviewed & Fact-Checked By
Dr. Paola Cuevas
Veterinarian, MVZ
The information is current and up-to-date in accordance with the latest veterinarian research.
We give Honest Kitchen dog food a rating of 4.4 out of 5 stars.
While it can be challenging trying to adjust some pets to a dehydrated dog food, the overall nutritional results can be outstanding. The Honest Kitchen recently released a cold compressed cluster dog food, and it offers many of the same great nutritional perks in a convenient kibble-looking package!
The Honest Kitchen prides itself on making “human-grade” quality dog food. There’s no objective measurement of this, but we can say that it only uses high-end quality ingredients. It doesn’t pack its recipes full of fillers, and the food is great for active pups.
However, all these high-end ingredients drive up the cost, often right out of many owners’ budgets. So, is it right for your pup and is it worth the price? We think so, and we break down why for you here. Click Here & Use Code PETKEEN30 to Save 30% With The Honest Kitchen
At a Glance: The Best Honest Kitchen Dog Food Recipes
Image Product Details
Our Favorite
The Honest Kitchen Whole Grain Chicken Recipe
Only high-quality ingredients
Fresh recipe
Multiple size options
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The Honest Kitchen Cluster Chicken & Oat Recipe
More affordable
Easy to feed
Complete and balanced
Check Price
The Honest Kitchen Whole Grain Turkey Recipe
Multiple size options
High-quality ingredients
Nutritionally balanced formula
Check Price
The Honest Kitchen Whole Grain Beef Recipe
100% human-grade
Available in different sizes
Beef protein source
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The Honest Kitchen Cluster Beef & Oat Recipe
Human-grade ingredients
For all life stages
Complete and balanced
Check Price
Honest Kitchen Dog Food Reviewed
Before we dive into the specifics of our favorite dog foods by The Honest Kitchen, here’s a quick rundown of this great family-owned American company.
Click Here & Use Code PETKEEN30 to Save 30% With The Honest KitchenWho Makes Honest Kitchen Dog Food and Where Is It Produced?
Unlike many companies that are simply subsidiaries of major conglomerates, The Honest Kitchen is a family-owned company with no mega-company oversight.
Even better, it makes its dog food in Topeka, Kansas, and doesn’t source any of its ingredients from China. This means you’re getting high-quality ingredients in each recipe and batch.
Which Type of Dog Is Honest Kitchen Best Suited For?
Honest Kitchen food has a high-quality protein content, making it an outstanding choice for developing puppies and active adult dogs. If your dog has an active lifestyle, they need high-quality, human-grade protein for fuel, and The Honest Kitchen is a great choice.
Which Type of Dog Might Do Better With a Different Brand?
Due to the higher protein content in The Honest Kitchen dog food, it’s not the best choice for dogs with renal disease. If that is the case with your dog, we recommend an option like JustFoodForDogsRenal Support Low Protein.
Discussion of the Primary Ingredients (Good and Bad)
When you’re looking at the ingredient list on The Honest Kitchen dog food, you can recognize all the different ingredients and know exactly what you’re getting. There are no rendered meats, byproduct meals, or other filler ingredients; everything is there for a reason and is great for your pup.
That’s the case for every Honest Kitchen recipe, making it a great choice that you can trust to feed your dog.
Dehydrated vs. Cold Compressed Clusters
The Honest Kitchen makes two types of dog foods: kibble-looking cluster food and a dehydrated dog food. Both are great, but it’s best to know what you’re getting. Dehydrated foods tend to need more work before you feed them to your pup, but the food is also a bit more recognizable.
The clusters are cold pressed to preserve nutrients but just like regular kibble, you can pour them directly into a bowl and feed your dog without any more work. Keep in mind that when you’re comparing the two foods, a 10-pound bag of dehydrated food produces 40 pounds of food, while a 20-pound bag of clusters only gives you 20 pounds of food.
Picking a Protein
Unless your dog has food allergies, there’s no right or wrong answer here. You can either go with the most affordable option or with whatever your pup likes best. You can also mix it up to give them variety in their diet.
Why Is Honest Kitchen Dog Food So Expensive?
There’s no question that when you’re comparing the costs of different dog foods, The Honest Kitchen is on the pricier side of things. But that’s because The Honest Kitchen only uses the best possible ingredients in its formulas.
While its “human-grade” claim is not a regulated term, it means that when you look at the label and only see high-quality ingredients. With The Honest Kitchen, you know that you’re giving your dog high-quality food.
A Quick Look at Honest Kitchen Dog Food Click Here & Use Code PETKEEN30 to Save 30% With The Honest Kitchen
Pros
Only high-quality ingredients
Nutritionally balanced recipes
Multiple size options
Plenty of protein choices
Many recipes
Cons
Expensive
Dehydrated food takes more work to prepare
Recall History
The Honest Kitchen has a short recall history, only once voluntarily recalling its pet food over potential salmonella concerns. Even better from a consumer standpoint, this recall happened in 2013, and the company hasn’t had any recall concerns since.
Only high-quality ingredients
Nutritionally balanced recipes
Multiple size options
Plenty of protein choices
Many recipes
- Only high-quality ingredients
- Nutritionally balanced recipes
- Multiple size options
- Plenty of protein choices
- Many recipes
Expensive
Dehydrated food takes more work to prepare
- Expensive
- Dehydrated food takes more work to prepare
Reviews of the 3 Best Honest Kitchen Dog Food Recipes
- The Honest Kitchen Whole Grain Chicken Recipe Dehydrated Dog Food
Check Price on The Honest KitchenThis is a basic recipe, but it highlights everything that The Honest Kitchen does well with its dog foods. It’s nothing but high-quality ingredients from start to finish. The entire recipe is extremely fresh, and there are multiple size options to choose from.
That’s a good thing because not every dog likes dehydrated foods, and this gives you a chance to purchase a smaller quantity to test with your dog before buying in bulk.
Check Price on The Honest Kitchen
This is a basic recipe, but it highlights everything that The Honest Kitchen does well with its dog foods. It’s nothing but high-quality ingredients from start to finish. The entire recipe is extremely fresh, and there are multiple size options to choose from.
It’s expensive, but keep in mind that the 10-pound package actually makes up to 40 pounds of food.
Only high-quality ingredients
Fresh recipe
Multiple size options
Nutritionally balanced formula
- Only high-quality ingredients
- Fresh recipe
- Multiple size options
- Nutritionally balanced formula
Expensive
Some pups won’t eat it
Takes extra work to prepare each meal
- Expensive
- Some pups won’t eat it
- Takes extra work to prepare each meal
- The Honest Kitchen Food Clusters Whole Grain Chicken & Oat Recipe
Check Price on The Honest KitchenThe Honest Kitchen recently started making a cold compressed cluster food, and it seems to be a massive hit. It’s a nutritionally balanced recipe that provides everything that your dog needs, and it’s easy to feed.
It only uses high-quality ingredients, and when you look at it on a per-portion basis, it’s more affordable than the dehydrated foods. However, it’s still about twice the cost of many other dry kibble dog foods, and the maximum size that you can get at once is only 20 pounds.
The Honest Kitchen recently started making a cold compressed cluster food, and it seems to be a massive hit. It’s a nutritionally balanced recipe that provides everything that your dog needs, and it’s easy to feed.
So, while this might be an excellent choice for small dogs, if you have a large dog, you will need to be ready to spend quite a bit of money to feed them this food. You can start with a small 1-pound bag to see if they like it, though, so you won’t end up stuck with a large amount of food that your dog might not like.
More affordably priced than dehydrated food
Complete and balanced
Cold compressed to preserve nutrients
Easy to feed to your dog
Multiple size options
Only high-quality ingredients
- More affordably priced than dehydrated food
- Complete and balanced
- Cold compressed to preserve nutrients
- Easy to feed to your dog
- Multiple size options
- Only high-quality ingredients
More expenssive than regular kibble dog food
- More expenssive than regular kibble dog food
- The Honest Kitchen Whole Grain Turkey Recipe Dehydrated Dog Food
Check Price on The Honest KitchenSometimes your pup can’t handle chicken, or you just need to mix things up for them. That’s why it’s nice that The Honest Kitchen offers a turkey recipe for its dehydrated dog food. It’s slightly more expensive than the chicken recipe but only by a few dollars.
Keep in mind that while this dog food might only come in a 10-pound bag, that’s enough to make 40 pounds of food. If you’re not sure that your dog will like it or if you have a small dog, there is a 2-pound box that’s great to try out.
Sometimes your pup can’t handle chicken, or you just need to mix things up for them. That’s why it’s nice that The Honest Kitchen offers a turkey recipe for its dehydrated dog food. It’s slightly more expensive than the chicken recipe but only by a few dollars.
Finally, while we only highlighted the chicken and turkey dehydrated recipes here, The Honest Kitchen also has a fish and oat and a beef recipe that you can get to mix up your pup’s palette.
Multiple size options
Nutritionally balanced formula
Only high-quality ingredients
Dehydrated recipe
- Multiple size options
- Nutritionally balanced formula
- Only high-quality ingredients
- Dehydrated recipe
Pricey
Takes extra work to prepare each meal
Slightly more expensive than chicken formula
Some pups won’t eat it
- Pricey
- Takes extra work to prepare each meal
- Slightly more expensive than chicken formula
- Some pups won’t eat it
What Other Users Are Saying
Conclusion
If you want a high-quality food for your dog, it’s hard to top what The Honest Kitchen offers. It’s expensive and some dogs don’t like it, but other pups can’t get enough and it’s nothing but high-quality, human-grade ingredients.
So, get one of the smaller containers and try it out for yourself! We’re confident that if you do, you’ll love everything that The Honest Kitchen has to offer for your dog!
