Trying to choose between The Honest Kitchen Wholemade and The Farmer’s Dog Instant Fresh? This guide compares the two human grade, add-water dog foods across nine criteria, from ingredient quality and protein to recipe variety, safety, and cost per calorie, so you can decide which dehydrated dog food is right for your dog.

The Honest Kitchen Wholemade is where this category began. The Honest Kitchen pioneered human grade, dehydrated dog food in 2002: real, whole ingredients, gently dried, and ready in minutes with warm water. No freezer, no thawing, and more than two decades spent refining the format. Today, the Wholemade line includes chicken, turkey, beef, whitefish, and duck recipes, with dedicated puppy and senior formulas in both whole-grain and grain-free varieties.

The Farmer’s Dog, well known for its frozen fresh meals, joined the category in August 2026 with Instant Fresh, its first shelf-stable product. Like Wholemade, it is human grade, cooked and then dried, and comes to life in just a few minutes with warm water.

I have spent more than fifteen years as a veterinary technician, and I have fed dehydrated food to my own dogs and my fosters for years. Below, I hold both foods to the same nine criteria: history and track record, ingredient quality and transparency, processing, protein and fat, life stages, recipe variety, sensitivities, safety, and cost.

Which Is Better, Wholemade or Instant Fresh? The Short Answer

Wholemade wins this comparison for most dogs. Instant Fresh is a well-made food from a company with a strong reputation, and it is the better choice for a specific type of household.

Experience and Reputation: Who Has Been Doing This Longest

The Honest Kitchen has made human grade dehydrated dog food continuously since 2002, giving it more than two decades of hands-on experience with this specific format. The Farmer’s Dog, founded in 2014, brought its own take to the category with the launch of Instant Fresh in August 2026.

The Honest Kitchen’s origin:
Lucy Postins founded The Honest Kitchen in 2002, initially operating out of her home kitchen in San Diego. Dehydrated, human grade recipes were not a later addition to the company’s catalog; they were its founding product and its central purpose. The premise was straightforward: source real, whole food ingredients, dry them gently to preserve their integrity, and allow dog parents to restore them to a fresh meal with warm water.

The Farmer’s Dog’s origin:
The Farmer’s Dog launched in 2014 with frozen, gently cooked, personalized meals delivered by subscription. Over the years, the company has built a strong reputation in that format, and it has played a significant role in introducing dog parents across the country to the benefits of fresh feeding. Instant Fresh, introduced in August 2026, is the company’s first shelf-stable product.

Why a Track Record Matters With Dog Food Specifically

Longevity is more than brand heritage; it carries practical weight in pet food.

A company that has produced and refined the same line for more than two decades has had time to learn what works, resolve the variables that only surface through continuous production, and fine-tune its formulas accordingly.

There is also the feeding data: hundreds of thousands of dogs have eaten The Honest Kitchen’s dehydrated recipes across many years, a depth of real-world experience that only time can build.

VERDICT: The Honest Kitchen, on longevity and a proven track record with this format.

The Foods at a Glance

The Honest Kitchen Wholemade The Farmer’s Dog Instant Fresh

Company founded	2002	2014
This format launched	2002	August 2026
Human grade	Yes	Yes
Processing	Cooked, then dehydrated	Cooked, then low-heat dried
Life stages	Puppy, adult, and senior recipes	Adult maintenance only
Recipes available	Multiple proteins, grain-free and whole grain	One, chicken and grain
Preparation time	About 3 minutes	Under a minute
Where to buy	Direct, Chewy, Amazon, Petco, PetSmart	Direct only
Subscription	Optional	Required
Cost per 1,000 calories	$4.39 to $6.71	$12.85

The Farmer’s Dog Instant Fresh, Chicken and Grain

I collected this data by going through The Farmer’s Dog signup flow in August 2026, using a real plan quote for my foster dog Debbie, a three-year-old, twenty-pound beagle at average activity and average body condition. The Farmer’s Dog tailors its nutrition information to each individual dog, so a real plan quote is the most accurate way to gather it.

Ingredients: Chicken breast, oats, potatoes, chicken fat, chicken broth, carrots, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, TFD nutrient blend, salmon oil, spinach, chia seeds, dried yeast, mixed tocopherols, rosemary extract.

Attribute Detail

Guaranteed analysis	Protein 37% min, fat 9.5% min, fiber 3.0% max, moisture 7.5% max
Calories	3,525 kcal per kg, 390 kcal per dry cup
AAFCO statement	Formulated for maintenance of adult dogs
Recipes available	Chicken and grain only
Format and price	6 lb bag, $144.99, subscription only, free shipping
Debbie’s plan	One bag every three weeks, $5.87 per day ongoing

The Honest Kitchen’s Wholemade Chicken Recipes at a Glance

To keep the comparison apples to apples with Instant Fresh’s chicken recipe, the table below covers Wholemade’s chicken-based formulas. The full dehydrated range also includes turkey, beef, whitefish, and duck recipes.

A 10 lb box yields 40 dry cups and retails for $84.99 to $129.99. Available direct from The Honest Kitchen and at Chewy, Amazon, Petco, and PetSmart, with no subscription required.

Ingredient Quality, Sourcing, and Transparency

Both foods are human grade, both are made in human food facilities, and both use named proteins and recognizable whole ingredients. On raw ingredient quality, these two are closer than any marketing from either company would suggest.

What Instant Fresh Does Well

The first ingredient is chicken breast. That is a more precise declaration than most premium foods offer, including Wholemade’s “dehydrated chicken,” because it names the specific cut rather than the animal. The full panel is short, readable, and contains nothing cryptic. The mineral package uses amino acid chelates, which are a well-absorbed form. This is a carefully formulated food, and it deserves to be described that way.

What Sets Wholemade Apart

Organic sourcing. Wholemade’s whole grain recipes use organic barley, organic oats, organic flaxseed, and organic kelp. Instant Fresh’s oats carry no organic declaration. That is checkable on both labels.

Published sourcing detail. The Honest Kitchen publishes where its ingredients come from, reports that 75% of its dehydrated recipes’ ingredients are grown in North America, and requires signed human food grade guarantees from suppliers, backed by audits.

Non-GMO and no added preservatives. Wholemade’s dehydrated recipes are made without GMO ingredients and rely on dehydration itself rather than added preservatives.

Where Each Food Publishes Its Nutrition Details

Instant Fresh’s ingredient panel and guaranteed analysis are complete, clearly formatted, and honest. Because The Farmer’s Dog personalizes each plan, that information lives inside the signup flow, presented alongside your dog’s recommended portions.

Every Wholemade recipe’s full panel sits on a public product page, visible before you buy. For a reader comparing foods the way you are right now, that easy access is a genuine convenience, and it is one of the perks of a food sold on open shelves.

VERDICT: The Honest Kitchen on transparency and organic sourcing. Ingredient quality itself is close to even.

Processing: Dehydration vs. Low-Heat Drying

Both foods avoid the high-heat extrusion used to make conventional kibble, and there is no public evidence that either drying method is meaningfully gentler than the other.

How Dehydration Works

The Honest Kitchen cooks its proteins to a safe internal temperature of at least 165°F, then removes moisture from whole-food ingredients using warm, circulating air. The ingredients keep their structure, which is why you can still see recognizable pieces of carrot and chicken in the box. Add warm water, and roughly three minutes later, you have soft, meal-textured food.

How Low-Heat Drying Works

The Farmer’s Dog gently cooks its recipes and then dries them using its proprietary Low Heat Drying Technology. The company describes the process as designed to preserve nutrients while avoiding the high-heat processing used for traditional kibble. As with many proprietary methods, the specific details stay in-house.

Dehydration, by comparison, is a long-established and well-documented process, so its effects on ingredients and nutrients are widely understood and easy to read up on. Both approaches share the same goal: removing moisture gently so real food stays shelf-stable.

What This Actually Means for Your Dog

The meaningful comparison is not between dehydration and low-heat drying. It is either of those versus extrusion, the high-heat, high-pressure process used for nearly all kibble. Both of these foods sit on the gentle side of that line. Between the two of them, on the evidence available publicly, this is a tie.

VERDICT: A genuine draw. Neither food earns a clear win here.

Protein, Fat, and What the Numbers Actually Mean

This is the section where a spec sheet will mislead you if you let it, so let us do it carefully.

Label percentages cannot be compared directly between foods that contain different amounts of moisture. Converting both to a dry matter basis puts them on equal footing:

Measure Instant Fresh Wholemade Whole Grain Chicken

Protein	40.0%	26.6%
Fat	10.3%	15.2%
Estimated carbohydrate	39%	47%
Fat to protein ratio	26%	57%
Calorie density	3,525 kcal per kg	4,270 kcal per kg

Instant Fresh contains substantially more protein and less fat. Wholemade contains more fat and delivers about 24% more calories per dry cup. Both statements are true, and neither one settles which food is better.

More Protein Is Not Automatically Better

AAFCO sets a minimum of 18% crude protein on a dry matter basis for adult maintenance, and 22.5% for growth and reproduction. At 40%, Instant Fresh contains more than double the adult minimum. Wholemade’s whole grain chicken, at 26.6%, comfortably clears both thresholds.

For a healthy adult dog, protein above what the dog needs is not stored as extra muscle. It gets metabolized, and the nitrogen load is processed by the liver and excreted through the kidneys. In a healthy dog, that is unremarkable. In a dog with reduced kidney function, or a senior dog whose function is quietly declining, a very high protein diet is a conversation to have with your veterinarian rather than a default.

High-protein foods have real uses. Very active dogs, working dogs, dogs recovering from illness or surgery, and dogs on calorie-restricted weight-loss plans all benefit from a higher-protein, lower-calorie profile that preserves lean muscle while total intake comes down. Instant Fresh fits that description well.

But “more protein” is a feature for specific dogs, not a universal upgrade. Most healthy adult dogs do not need double the AAFCO minimum.

The Fat Number Is the One Nobody Is Talking About

At 10.3% fat on a dry matter basis, Instant Fresh is a notably lean food. It clears AAFCO’s 5.5% minimum without difficulty, so it is not deficient. But it carries roughly a third less fat than Wholemade.

The explanation is right there in the first ingredient. Chicken breast is one of the leanest cuts available, which is exactly why the protein runs so high, and the fat runs so low.

Fat is not the enemy here. Dietary fat carries fat-soluble vitamins, supports skin and coat condition, makes food palatable, and provides more than twice the energy per gram that protein or carbohydrate does. For a hard keeper, an active dog, a dog with a dull coat, or a dog who needs to put weight on, Wholemade’s 15.2% is the most useful number.

The Carbohydrate Figure Favors Instant Fresh

To be even-handed, estimated carbohydrate runs lower in Instant Fresh, around 39% against roughly 47% for Wholemade. If you are specifically looking to reduce carbohydrates, that is a point in Instant Fresh’s favor, and it deserves to be stated as clearly as everything else.

One technical caveat that applies to both foods: protein and fat are declared as minimums while fiber and moisture are declared as maximums, so the actual values in any given batch will differ from the label.

So, Which Profile Is Best for Your Dog?

Wholemade’s profile suits most healthy adult dogs, including active ones. Moderate protein, moderate fat, higher calorie density, comfortably above AAFCO minimums without going to an extreme.

Instant Fresh’s profile suits a narrower set of dogs: weight-prone dogs, dogs on calorie restriction, and dogs who need maximum protein at minimum fat. For those dogs, it is genuinely well designed.

VERDICT: The Honest Kitchen Wholemade, for most dogs. Instant Fresh wins on the protein number itself, and that number is the right choice for a specific subset of dogs rather than an overall improvement.

Life Stages: The Clearest Difference Between These Foods

Instant Fresh is formulated for adult dogs only. Wholemade offers dedicated puppy, adult, and senior recipes. If you have a puppy, this section decides the comparison for you.

The AAFCO statement on Instant Fresh reads:

The Farmer’s Dog Instant Fresh Chicken Recipe for Dogs is formulated to meet the nutritional levels established by the AAFCO Dog Food Nutrient Profiles for maintenance of adult dogs.

“Maintenance of adult dogs” is a specific term. It means the food has not been formulated to meet the higher requirements for growth, gestation, or lactation. A puppy cannot eat Instant Fresh as a complete diet. Neither can a pregnant or nursing dog.

Wholemade’s dehydrated line includes a Chicken and Salmon Puppy recipe formulated for growth, including large-breed puppies, which is a meaningfully harder formulation target because of the tight calcium and phosphorus limits that large breeds require. It also includes a Chicken, Oat, and Salmon Senior recipe at a lower calorie density for less active older dogs.

To be precise about what this does and does not mean: Wholemade’s individual adult recipes carry adult maintenance statements too. The line covers puppies through seniors by offering purpose-built recipes for each stage, rather than a single formula claiming to suit all life stages.

For a multi-dog household with dogs at different ages, or for anyone who wants to keep feeding the same brand as a puppy grows up, that difference is decisive.

VERDICT: The Honest Kitchen, decisively.

Recipe Variety and Dogs With Sensitivities

Instant Fresh launched with a single recipe: chicken and grain. The Farmer’s Dog has been open about this. In a public statement on Instagram, the company said it is only offering a chicken and grain recipe at this time, and that it hopes to expand the Instant Fresh selection in the future.

That is a reasonable position for a brand-new product, and the lineup will very likely broaden. But you are choosing food for your dog today, so here is what one recipe means in practice.

No grain-free option. If your dog does better without grains, whether for a diagnosed sensitivity or your own preference, Instant Fresh is not currently an option for you.

No novel proteins. Wholemade’s dehydrated range spans chicken, turkey, beef, duck, whitefish, and salmon combinations. Novel proteins are the backbone of an elimination diet, and Instant Fresh does not offer one at this time.

No option for a chicken-sensitive dog. Chicken is among the most commonly reported protein sensitivities in dogs. If your dog is one of them, this is not a matter of preferring a different flavor. There is no version of Instant Fresh your dog can eat.

No rotation. Some dogs get bored. Some develop intolerances to a protein they have eaten for years. With one recipe, either of those means leaving the product entirely.

The Wholemade line also extends beyond complete meals: it includes limited-ingredient recipes for dogs with sensitivities and protein-free base mixes for households that prefer to add their own fresh protein, neither of which has an Instant Fresh equivalent.

How Wholemade Fits Into Real Feeding Routines

Beyond the recipe count, Wholemade is more flexible in how you use it. It works as a complete meal, as a topper over kibble to add moisture and palatability, spread on a lick mat, or stuffed into an enrichment toy. Because it is sold as a box on a shelf rather than a subscription plan, you can buy one and try it without committing to anything.

Trying Instant Fresh means entering a subscription flow.

VERDICT: The Honest Kitchen, decisively.

Nutritional Balance and Safety

Both foods are AAFCO complete and balanced, both are formulated by board-certified veterinary nutritionists, and both are produced in facilities that meet human food safety standards. Neither company is cutting corners here.

The Farmer’s Dog employs board-certified veterinary nutritionists on staff and states that its food meets or exceeds WSAVA’s pet food guidelines. The Honest Kitchen works with veterinary nutritionists and was an early mover in meeting the FDA’s requirements for using the human grade designation on pet food.

One technical note where the two differ: The Honest Kitchen has completed in-home, comprehensive AAFCO feeding trials on core recipes in its dehydrated line, including the Whole Grain Chicken and Grain-Free Chicken formulas, the former being the very recipe compared throughout this article. That gives it real-world feeding validation beyond formulation alone. Instant Fresh is formulated to meet AAFCO nutrient profiles.

Recall History

The Farmer’s Dog has never issued a recall, voluntary or mandatory. That is a clean record, and it deserves to be stated plainly.

The Honest Kitchen has had one recall, in 2013, when a supplier’s parsley tested positive for Salmonella. The company has had no recalls in the thirteen years since.

The fair context on both sides: The Honest Kitchen’s record covers twenty-four years, and The Farmer’s Dog’s covers eleven. A spotless record over a shorter period is still spotless, and it is still a shorter period. Reasonable people can weigh those differently.

A Note on How New Instant Fresh Is

Instant Fresh is simply too new to have a feeding history of its own yet, which is true of any recently launched food. In the meantime, its safety story rests on The Farmer’s Dog’s broader record, which is a strong one.

VERDICT: Close to even. The Farmer’s Dog has the cleaner recall sheet. The Honest Kitchen has the longer demonstrated run and AAFCO feeding trial data behind its dehydrated recipes.

Pricing, Value, and Where to Buy

This is where the two foods separate most sharply, and it takes a moment of setup to compare them honestly.

Why Cups and Bag Weight Will Mislead You

The Farmer’s Dog calculates a personalized portion for your specific dog. The Honest Kitchen publishes feeding ranges by weight. Comparing each brand’s own recommendation would compare two different calorie targets, which tells you nothing.

Comparing price per pound is worse, because these foods have different calorie densities and different bag sizes.

The only fair method is to feed both foods at the same number of calories per day and compare what that costs. Better still, compare cost per 1,000 calories, which is unaffected by portion size, bag size, or how any individual dog is fed.

What It Costs to Feed the Same Dog

Debbie’s Instant Fresh plan works out to 457 calories per day. Feeding Wholemade Whole Grain Chicken at that identical calorie level:

Measure Instant Fresh Wholemade Whole Grain Chicken

Cost per 1,000 calories	$12.85	$4.39 to $6.71
Cost per day	$5.87	$2.00 to $3.07
How long a package lasts	21 days	About 42 days

Wholemade costs roughly a third to a half as much per calorie as Instant Fresh. For a like-for-like comparison, that figure puts Wholemade’s regular retail price against Instant Fresh’s ongoing subscriber rate, which already includes The Farmer’s Dog’s standing 15% subscription discount.

But a 6 lb Bag Costs How Much?

If you looked at that $144.99 bag and did the division, you got about $24 per pound, and you were right to be suspicious. Premium kibble runs $2 to $4 per pound. Wholemade runs about $8.50 to $13.

Per pound is the wrong lens, and here is why. The Farmer’s Dog’s frozen food is roughly 72% moisture. Instant Fresh is 7.5%. That is a concentration difference of more than three to one, so six pounds of Instant Fresh is roughly equivalent to twenty pounds of their frozen food once the water goes back in. Measured that way, it lands near $7 per frozen-equivalent pound, which is consistent with how The Farmer’s Dog has always priced. The sticker is startling because the water is gone, not because the pricing is unusual.

What that reveals is the practical takeaway. Removing the water also removes freight weight, cold chain shipping, and freezer storage, and The Farmer’s Dog has priced Instant Fresh at parity with its frozen food rather than below it. The shelf-stable format is positioned as a convenience option rather than a budget one.

One more note on that number: The Farmer’s Dog sizes each bag to the individual dog, so $144.99 was the price quoted for Debbie. A different dog gets a different bag and a different figure. Wholemade’s $84.99 to $129.99 is a shelf price for a fixed box, identical for every buyer.

Where You Can Actually Buy Each One

Wholemade is sold directly by The Honest Kitchen and at Chewy, Amazon, Petco, and PetSmart. You can buy one box, with no account and no commitment, and stop whenever you want.

Instant Fresh is available only through The Farmer’s Dog, by subscription. There is no one-time purchase and no retail option.

For some households, an automatic delivery you never think about is exactly right. For others, picking up a single box with no commitment is the easier way to give a new food a try.

VERDICT: The Honest Kitchen, decisively.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the main difference between Wholemade and Instant Fresh?

Wholemade offers multiple proteins and recipes for puppies, adults, and seniors, and is sold in stores without a subscription. Instant Fresh currently offers one chicken and grain recipe for adult dogs only, by subscription. Wholemade also costs roughly a third to half as much per calorie.

Are both foods human grade?

Yes. Both The Honest Kitchen Wholemade and The Farmer’s Dog Instant Fresh are made to human grade standards in facilities that produce human food. This is a genuine tie, and it is why the comparison comes down to other factors like life-stage coverage, recipe variety, and cost.

How is dehydration different from low-heat drying?

Dehydration cooks ingredients and then removes moisture with warm circulating air. The Farmer’s Dog’s Low Heat Drying Technology is a proprietary method that also cooks and then dries at low temperature. Both avoid the high-heat extrusion used for kibble.

Can I feed either one to a puppy?

Only Wholemade. Instant Fresh carries an AAFCO statement for maintenance of adult dogs, which means it is not formulated for growth. Wholemade offers a dedicated Chicken and Salmon Puppy recipe formulated for growth, including large-breed puppies.

Which has more protein?

Instant Fresh, at 40% on a dry matter basis, compared to 26.6% for Wholemade Whole Grain Chicken. Both exceed AAFCO’s 18% minimum for adult dogs. More protein is not automatically better; it suits active, recovering, or weight-managed dogs, while most healthy adults do well in Wholemade’s range.

Why is Instant Fresh lower in fat?

Its first ingredient is chicken breast, one of the leanest cuts available, which produces high protein and low fat. Instant Fresh contains 10.3% fat on a dry matter basis against Wholemade’s 15.2%. Both exceed AAFCO minimums, but Wholemade’s higher fat better suits active dogs, hard keepers, and coat condition.

How many recipes does Instant Fresh offer?

One, a chicken and grain recipe. The Farmer’s Dog has said publicly that it hopes to expand the Instant Fresh selection in the future. Wholemade’s dehydrated line offers chicken, turkey, beef, whitefish, and duck options across whole-grain and grain-free recipes, as well as limited-ingredient formulas and protein-free base mixes.

What if my dog is sensitive to chicken?

Instant Fresh currently offers only a chicken recipe, so it is not a fit for a chicken-sensitive dog. Wholemade offers turkey, beef, whitefish, and duck recipes, which also makes it usable for elimination diets. Chicken is among the most commonly reported protein sensitivities in dogs, so this affects a meaningful number of households.

Can I buy either one without a subscription?

Only Wholemade. It is sold as a box you can buy once, with no account required. Instant Fresh is available exclusively through a Farmer’s Dog subscription, though you can pause or adjust deliveries in your account.

Where can I buy each?

Wholemade is available directly from The Honest Kitchen and at Chewy, Amazon, Petco, and PetSmart. Instant Fresh is available only at thefarmersdog.com. If you prefer to buy dog food where you already shop, that is a practical difference worth weighing.

How long does each take to prepare?

Wholemade takes about three minutes: add warm water, stir, and wait for it to fully rehydrate. Instant Fresh rehydrates faster, in under a minute. Both are far quicker than thawing frozen food, and Instant Fresh has the edge on speed.

What is the recall history for each brand?

The Farmer’s Dog has never issued a recall. The Honest Kitchen has had one, in 2013, caused by a supplier’s Salmonella-contaminated parsley, with none in the thirteen years since. The Honest Kitchen’s record spans twenty-four years, and The Farmer’s Dog’s spans eleven.

Which is a better value per day?

Wholemade, substantially. Feeding the same dog the same daily calories costs $2.00 to $3.07 per day with Wholemade Whole Grain Chicken, against $5.87 with Instant Fresh. Measured per 1,000 calories, that is $4.39 to $6.71 versus $12.85.

So which is better overall?

Wholemade, for most dogs and most households, on value, recipe variety, life stage coverage, and track record. Instant Fresh is a well-made food that suits adult dogs with no chicken sensitivity in households that want personalized portions delivered automatically, at roughly double the cost per calorie.

The Verdict

What The Honest Kitchen Wholemade Wins

A twenty-four-year track record with this exact format. Completed AAFCO feeding trials on its dehydrated diets. Published nutrition and sourcing you can read before you buy. Organic grains and non-GMO ingredients. Dedicated recipes for puppies, adults, and seniors. Multiple proteins, including novel options for sensitive dogs. A moderate protein and fat profile that suits most healthy adult dogs. Higher calorie density. Availability at every major pet retailer with no subscription. And a cost per calorie roughly a third to a half of its competitor’s.

What The Farmer’s Dog Instant Fresh Wins

Substantially higher protein, which is the right answer for very active, recovering, and weight-managed dogs. Lower carbohydrate. A named premium cut as the first ingredient. Portions calculated for your individual dog. Automatic delivery you never have to think about. The fastest preparation of any fresh food format. A spotless recall record. And a company that has earned real trust with fresh feeding over eleven years.

Instant Fresh is a good product. It is also a brand new one, with a single recipe formulated for adult dogs and a cost per calorie roughly double Wholemade’s. The lineup will almost certainly broaden, and when it does, this comparison is worth revisiting.

The History, One More Time

For a lot of dog parents, Instant Fresh is their first introduction to the add-water format, and it is worth knowing how deep the format’s roots go. The Honest Kitchen has been refining this exact approach since 2002, and after twenty-four years, it remains the standard the category is measured against.

Our Recommendation

Choose The Honest Kitchen Wholemade if you want the best combination of value, flexibility, and proven track record. It is the right choice for most dogs, and it is the only choice of these two if you have a puppy, a senior, a dog with a chicken sensitivity, a dog who needs grain-free, or a preference for buying dog food without a subscription.

Choose The Farmer’s Dog Instant Fresh if you have a healthy adult dog with no chicken sensitivity, you specifically want the highest protein and lowest fat profile available, and you value having portions calculated for your dog and delivered automatically. Expect to pay roughly twice as much per calorie for that convenience.

*This article is sponsored by The Honest Kitchen. iHeartDogs also earns a commission on purchases made through links in this post. Our comparison methodology, testing, and opinions are our own.