The Honest Kitchen Dog Food Review

About The Honest Kitchen

The Honest Kitchen makes nutritious meals, supplements, and treats for your pets. Its human-grade dog and cat foods are gently steamed, dehydrated, and shipped right to your door.

The Honest Kitchen has been mixing things up for quite some time. As one of the pioneers of the fresh dog food industry, the company has been celebrated in various pet publications including Tree Hugger, Green Matters, Pet Age, and The Bark.

Stay tuned as this The Honest Kitchen dog food review dives deep into the brand and its products. We’ll cover ingredients, customer ratings, promotions, and more to help you decide if its pet-approved meals are the right choice for your furry friend.

Overview of The Honest Kitchen

Lucy Postins started The Honest Kitchen in 2002 out of her beach house’s kitchen. After wondering if her dog’s (Mosi) diet was causing skin and ear problems, she further pondered why his food was made with such low-quality and processed ingredients. So, she set out to shake up the market.

Throughout 15 years of research, the brand developed a range of The Honest Kitchen cat food and dog food that are completely human-grade. Healthy, human-grade foods for pets means they’re free from additives, preservatives, and fillers. Instead, they’re filled with ingredients like chicken, potatoes, carrots, and pumpkin.

The Honest Kitchen sources its ingredients from all over the world, but the majority, or roughly 84%, come from North America. Check out the Food Source Map on the company’s website to see exactly where each natural ingredient comes from. The brand now operates from its headquarters in San Diego, California.

The brand also offers a helpful blog for dog and cat owners that covers a wide range of topics, such as recipes, tips, and DIYs. For example, if you have a pet that loves to wolf down its food in one gulp, check out The Honest Kitchen snuffle mat DIY blog post to slow down its eating and engage its brain.

Now that you know a little more about the brand’s roots, this The Honest Kitchen dog food review will fill you in on its pros and cons:

Pros

• A wide selection of dog and cat meals, treats, toppers, and more
• 100% human-grade food
• Made in the USA
• Completely natural, healthy ingredients
• Transparent about what’s in the food
• No need to add vitamins to the food, it contains everything your pet needs to thrive
• Food Source Map shows you exactly where the brand gets its ingredients
• Eco-friendly packaging
• Subscription option for regular deliveries and a 5% discount
• Multiple ongoing promotions
• 30 Day Return Policy (rare for pet food, but shows the company wants your pets to be happy)

Cons

• Only ships within the USA

Is The Honest Kitchen raw?

The Honest Kitchen uses whole food ingredients in all of its recipes. While the meals are not raw, they are dehydrated to lock in important nutrients and allow for a longer shelf life and more convenient storage.

Ingredients like meat, eggs, leafy greens, and fish are steamed, whereas the starches are flash heated so that they can be digested more efficiently. These processes all come before the ingredients are dehydrated, packed, and shipped to you.

Is The Honest Kitchen organic?

While The Honest Kitchen is not 100% organic, it does use only organic grains in its selections. Its meat is hormone and antibiotic-free, veggies and fruits are non-GMO, and quinoa is fair trade.

You can see a breakdown of all of The Honest Kitchen’s ingredients, where they source them, and why they use them on the brand’s website.

Do vets recommend The Honest Kitchen?

The Honest Kitchen is endorsed by veterinarians, but aside from that, there isn’t much explanation on the balance and nutrition of the brand’s products and why they’re suited for dogs and cats.

On her blog, veterinarian Dr. Justine Lee questioned the trace minerals within The Honest Kitchen foods. She expressed concern over this aspect, in the end, only recommending it for “healthy adult dogs and cats,” not those with health issues or puppies.

The company cooks up healthy and delicious meals and treats for cats and dogs (and technically, humans too as the brand is FDA-approved). We’ll be taking a look specifically at its dog food and supplements in the next section of this The Honest Kitchen dog food review.

The Honest Kitchen Dog Food Review

The company’s dog food recipes are brimming with nutrition. You have the option to choose from a few different sizes for each of The Honest Kitchen human grade dog food recipes. These sizes include: 2lbs, 4lbs, 7lbs, 10lbs, 12×1.75 cups, or 4x10lbs boxes. For each product, we’ll list the price range for these sizes.

This The Honest Kitchen dog food review will feature the brand’s best-selling dog food, probiotics, and supplements to keep your pup happy and healthy.

The Honest Kitchen Dehydrated – Grain-Free Beef Recipe Review

Like humans, some pups have a hard time digesting grains. The Dehydrated – Grain-Free Beef Recipe uses nutrient-packed sweet potatoes and pumpkin to bring fiber and carbohydrates to this delicious recipe.

Good for puppies, adults, and active adults, a 10lb box of The Honest Kitchen puppy food contains 16lbs of ranch-raised beef—a powerful protein that will fuel your pup’s active needs. The Dehydrated – Grain-Free Beef Recipe is $25-$410.

The Honest Kitchen Dehydrated – Whole Grain Turkey Recipe Review 

Like a thanksgiving meal that you decided to dehydrate, the Dehydrated – Whole Grain Turkey Recipe contains a spectrum of protein, healthy fats, and vitamin-filled veggies like carrots.

Recommended for less active adults and senior dogs, this recipe has fewer calories than others but is still packed with delicious flavor. 12 lbs of cage-free Turkey is stuffed into this mouth-watering recipe that is $23-$270.

The Honest Kitchen Dehydrated – Whole Grain Chicken Recipe Review

Home cooking at its finest. The ingredients in a 10lb bag of this recipe look like what you’d find in your mom’s famous soup, well, a really, really big batch! Including 15lbs of free-range chicken, 6 scoops of oats, 7 scoops of barley, 4 potatoes, 5 cups of green peas, plus more, the Dehydrated – Whole Grain Chicken Recipe sounds comforting.

Watch your pup scarf down this meal the way you used to eat your momma’s cooking. Get it for $23-$250. For another home-cooked favorite, try The Honest Kitchen Zeal Fish Recipe.

The Honest Kitchen Instant Bone Broth – Beef & Turmeric Review

Bone broth is filled with minerals that are essential to your dog’s health. The Instant Bone Broth – Beef & Turmeric mix is the perfect way to ramp up the nutrition in your pet’s food. You can even cook up a batch and pour mix it in with a yummy dehydrated recipe.

Other key ingredients include turmeric and pumpkin to give your pup a full belly of nutritious goodness. The Instant Bone Broth – Beef & Turmeric powder comes in either a 3.6 oz canister or 12 x 3.5gram sachets for $7-10.

The Honest Kitchen Whole Food Clusters – Grain Free Chicken Review

The Honest Kitchen clusters are the healthy alternative to kibble. Whole Food Clusters – Grain Free Chicken contains chicken, chicken livers, and salmon oil as well as veggies and starches to provide a delicious, muscle-building, heart-healthy meal for your dog.

Use this The Honest Kitchen dehydrated dog food the way you would normal kibble, but rest easy knowing these ones are feeding your dogs the way their bodies need to be. Great for all types of dogs with all kinds of activity levels, these clusters come in 1lb, 5lb, and 20 lb bags for $6-$75. If your pup is more a turkey guy, try The Honest Kitchen Turkey Clusters.

The Honest Kitchen Dehydrated – Whole Grain Beef Recipe Review 

If your furry friend can handle grains, they provide an array of benefits for them, many of which dogs have experienced with the Dehydrated – Whole Grain Beef Recipe. Balancing hearty beef protein, nutrient-rich eggs, antioxidant-packed cranberries, and brain-boosting spinach, this recipe is perfect for adult, less active, and senior dogs thanks to its lower calorie count.

If you have a smaller dog, try The Honest Kitchen small breed recipes, instead. Let your four-legged friend try out the Dehydrated – Whole Grain Beef Recipe for $23-$290.

The Honest Kitchen Instant Goat’s Milk with Probiotics Review

Traditional dog food can cause troubled tummies. Just like us, our pup’s digestion can become slow or problematic over the years or due to too much “x, y, or z”. Every dog is different, but probiotics can help.

Warm up some of the Instant Goat’s Milk with Probiotics that contains 5 billion living cultures that will help to help your pup or kitten’s gut. Available as a 5.2 oz canister, or 12 x 5 gram sachets, serve by itself or use The Honest Kitchen goat milk as a topper for $11-$15.

The Honest Kitchen Instant Bone Broth – Turkey & Turmeric Review

This broth is the ideal addition to a diet that needs a little extra oomph. Instant Bone Broth – Turkey & Turmeric is a tasty addition to your pet’s meal and is full of stomach-soothing ingredients and nutrition boosters like turmeric.

Add this delicious broth to your pet’s dehydrated food or whole-grain clusters, or let them enjoy it as a warm soup on its own. A 3.6 oz canister is $10.

The Honest Kitchen Herbal Digestive Supplement Review

It happens to the best of us—even our precious pets. Constipation or loose stools can be troubling, not just for your pets, but for you as well, who fusses and frets over the health of your pet as any rightful pet owner should. You see the discomfort and want to do something about it. With the Herbal Digestive Supplement, you can.

Made with natural ingredients like papaya, pumpkin, pectin, and plantain (all of the natural remedies you may have tried on your own), this supplement can be mixed in with your pet’s food to improve their digestion. Get the 3.2 oz canister for $10.

The Honest Kitchen Reviews: What Do Customers Think?

No The Honest Kitchen dog food review would be complete without hearing from customers, so we combed the web to find helpful reviews. Ahead, you’ll find testimonials sourced from the brand’s website, Dog Food Advisor, and Labrador Training HQ that bring to light some important information about the company.

Turning to the brand’s website first, we compiled a range of products and their star ratings to give you an overarching view of how The Honest Kitchen dog food is received:

• Dehydrated Grain-free Beef Recipe: an average of 4.8/5 stars from 622 ratings
• Herbal Digestive Supplement: an average of 4.8/5 stars from 260 ratings
• Instant Goat’s Milk with Probiotics: an average of 4.8/5 stars from 309 ratings
• Whole Food Clusters – Grain Free Chicken: an average of 4.8/4 stars from 293 ratings
• Instant Bone Broth – Beef & Turmeric: an average of 4.8/5 stars from 129 ratings

We chose to take a closer look at the Dehydrated Grain Free Beef Recipe. Among the many cute and friendly photos of customer’s happy dogs lies critical information on the quality, taste, and effects of The Honest Kitchen dog food.

Customers report that their pup’s health issues went away when switching to this food. Allergies were alleviated and picky appetites were squashed. Take this example: “My pups LOVE this food and can’t wait for me to put it on the floor. One has allergies, and this food made her immediately stop chewing on her paws.” To know dogs enjoy the taste and that it does them good is important.

Though there are many who have had great experiences, there have been some dogs who just don’t like the food. One The Honest Kitchen dog food review reads, “Can’t get my dogs to eat it. They won’t even eat chicken if I put this on the plate.” This is somewhat common amongst human-grade whole food pet brands and a possibility for any pet.

Another review on Dog Food Advisor “enthusiastically” recommends the brand and awards it a 5/5 star rating. The dog food review site analyses the ingredients found in the food and assesses the brand based on its findings.

Dog Food Advisor gave the following products scores out of 5 stars:

• Whole Grain Chicken: 5/5 stars
• The Honest Kitchen Perfect Form Limited Ingredient Chicken: 5/5 stars
• Whole Grain Beef: 4.5/5 stars
• Whole Grain Turkey: 4.5/5 stars

The review backs up the score, noting that “judging by its ingredients alone, the Honest Kitchen Dog Food appears to be a superior product.” As for the meat content, something pet parents are usually concerned with, the review reveals that the food has a “moderate amount of meat.” It appears as if the ingredients are super solid.

Though this The Honest Kitchen dog food review doesn’t outright mention any negatives, we learned from it that the brand has had to do a recall on “five lots of dog food.” This could be too great a risk to take for some pet parents, as certain recalls have led to illness in other dog food brands.

A The Honest Kitchen dog food review on Labrador Training HQ (labradortraininghq.com), also checks out the ingredients found in some of the brand’s dog food. The recipes they looked at were:

• Grain-Free Beef
• Whole Grain Chicken
• Grain-free Fruit & Veggie Base

The review remarks on the brand’s very “few ingredients…populated mostly by good stuff.” The article appreciates the types of ingredients found in the food, namely the suitable sources of protein, veggies, and fruits, noting the clever inclusion of pumpkin, “can also aid in digestion.” It’s good to know there are other nutritious foods at play to help your pup.

The Honest Kitchen review does mention some of the ingredients the reviewer isn’t “thrilled about.” These included honey, potatoes, and sodium selenite, which are things that either don’t serve a nutritious purpose or can be toxic in large quantities. Of the latter, the review reveals, “there are better ways of providing selenium.”

Overall, The Honest Kitchen’s ingredients appear to be incredibly good for dogs, with the exception of a tiny few. We’re wary of any brands that have had to do recalls, but we also understand it happens to the best of companies, too. The recall was for a batch of human-grade parsley that potentially had salmonella. Since then, the brand has begun to steam its veggies and herbs to ensure potential bacteria are killed off.

Overall, these reviews show us that most pets, as well as their owners, are delighted by the taste, quality, and nutrition content of The Honest Kitchen’s meals. Plus, that the brand takes steps to rectify any mistakes.

Is The Honest Kitchen Worth It?

So, is The Honest Kitchen a good dog food? We think so, and believe it’s worth the buy. The company truly cares about those it feeds. It also wants pet owners to see the product for what it is, providing information on where it comes from, how it’s cooked, and why it’s in the food. All of this information is available on The Honest Kitchen’s website, in press releases, visual maps, and PDFs that each outline all of the specifics.

Dogs get fed—they don’t get to choose—so it’s important we make the right choices for them to help them feel their best. It’s incredible what the right diet can do for our pets, and yet, it’s obvious that it would. We’ve seen the effects a poor diet can have on humans, why wouldn’t it be the same for our fluffy pals?

So, if you’re in the market to spoil your fluffy friend with some nutritious and delicious food, we think The Honest Kitchen is worth the buy.

The Honest Kitchen Promotions & Discounts 

This The Honest Kitchen dog food review discovered the following promotions currently active on the company’s website:

• Save 5% when you subscribe
• Online Rewards Program
• Give $10, get $10 The Honest Kitchen promo code (for you and a friend!)
• Buy 10 get 1 free

Where to Buy The Honest Kitchen

For the best selection of products, you can shop directly from TheHonestKitchen.com. Its products are also sold in pet stores across the country and by authorized retailers including PetValu, Homes Alive, Pet Only, Pet land, Amazon, Chewy, and many more!

FAQ

Who owns The Honest Kitchen?

Lucy Postins created The Honest Kitchen in 2002 and still owns it today.

Does The Honest Kitchen source from China?

The Honest Kitchen claims to source all of its ingredients locally. Though, there was an article published in a Chinese newspaper that refuted the fact. Unfortunately, there isn’t enough information to back up this accusation.

Can you mix The Honest Kitchen with kibble?

Once your pup gets a taste for The Honest Kitchen (it may take a few days), you can add kibble to the human-grade dog food. The company notes that if possible, avoid doing this during the transition time as it can aggravate your dog’s stomach.

Does The Honest Kitchen have taurine?

The Honest Kitchen’s dog meals do include meat-based and added human-grade taurine. This nutrient is essential to a dog’s health and must be present in dog food.

Does The Honest Kitchen go bad?

The Honest Kitchen meals do go bad. Its products are good for 12-24 months. The length of time depends on the area you store the food in and how humid it is.

How long does The Honest Kitchen take to ship? 

Orders from the Honest Kitchen take 4-5 business days to ship. Shipping for orders over $49 is free, or $5 if under. For orders to Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico, all shipping rates are calculated at checkout. At this time, the brand does not ship outside of the USA.

What is The Honest Kitchen’s Return Policy?

If you would like to return your order from The Honest Kitchen, you can do so within 30 days of purchase. Returns must meet these specifications to be valid:

1. The products must be shipped back in their original packaging
2. You must use the free shipping label provided
3. The item must not have been part of a “short-dated promotion”

To start a return, you’ll need to email [email protected]. Include your order number in the email, the product, and the reason for your return. Alternatively, you can call 1-866-437-9729. The Honest Kitchen will send you an RMA number and a free return shipping label.

How to Contact The Honest Kitchen

We hope that you found all of the information you needed in this The Honest Kitchen Dog Food review. If you have any other questions, feel free to reach out to the brand by:

• Email: [email protected]
• Phone: 1-866-437-9729

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