While it says “vegetarian” in the product name, this food is also vegan.
We’ll go over the complete ingredients list shortly.
Nature’s Recipe is a well-known and reputable dog food manufacturer, and this vegetarian recipe is one of the best vegan dog foods available.
It’s the cheapest vegan dog food for the overall quality of it.
Note that this food only comes in dry kibble (no canned version as of now).
In this review, I’ll go over the most important parts of why this food is highly rated, and if it is or isn’t right for your dog.
Table of Contents
Overview of Nature’s Recipe Vegetarian Dry Food
(Buy here)
Breed sizes: Small Breeds, Medium Breeds, Large Breeds
Main ingredients: Rice, Soybean meal, Barley
Cost: $ (out of $$$$$ for vegan dog food)
Package size: 30 lbs
This food, like all other good vegan dog foods, is formulated for adult breeds of all sizes.
However, it’s not suitable for puppies.
There are lots of positive reviews for it and stories of helping to relieve existing itching and skin issues in dogs.
However, a decent percentage of dogs don’t like the taste of it at all.
So on one hand it’s relatively cheap (compared to other vegan dog foods), but there’s a greater chance that your dog won’t like it compared to others.
If you do buy this food for the first time, buy it from somewhere with a good return policy, like Chewy.com.
The overall quality of this food is good, but the biggest difference from other top options is that it’s one of the few that contains soybean meal, and some dogs have food sensitivities to soy.
Full Ingredients List
Let’s take a look at the full ingredients list:
Brewers Rice, Soybean Meal, Barley, Canola Oil (Preserved with Mixed Tocopherols), Calcium Carbonate, Salt, Natural Flavor, Dicalcium Phosphate, Carrots, Taurine, Vitamins (Vitamin E Supplement, L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate (Source Of Vitamin C), Inositol, Niacin, D-Calcium Pantothenate, Vitamin A Supplement, Riboflavin Supplement, Thiamine Mononitrate, Beta-Carotene, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Folic Acid, Biotin), Garlic Powder, Minerals (Ferrous Sulfate, Iron Proteinate, Zinc Proteinate, Zinc Oxide, Copper Sulfate, Manganese Proteinate, Copper Proteinate, Manganous Oxide, Calcium Iodate, Sodium Selenite), Lactic Acid, L-Carnitine, Choline Chloride, Citric Acid (Used As A Preservative), Onion Extract, Rosemary Extract.
While not completely grain-free, this food is corn- and wheat-free.
Both corn and wheat are typically considered low quality “filler” ingredients that bring no real nutritional value to the table, and can also be triggers for food sensitivities.
The ingredients is pretty normal, with many supplements to meet vitamin and mineral requirements.
You might be asking “why does this food have onion extract and garlic powder in it?”
While dogs should not eat garlic and onions, it’s only present in very small amounts here and won’t cause any health issues. Onions contain chromium, which helps regulate blood sugar, while garlic helps support the immune system.
Nutrient Breakdown
AAFCO creates the pet food standards that brands should meet.
For dog food, the most critical nutritional mark to meet is a crude protein level (based on weight) of at least 18%.
Nature’s Recipe has no trouble beating that mark, and has a protein percentage higher than most other vegan dog foods.
| Crude protein | 22.0% (minimum) |
| Crude fat | 8.0% (minimum) |
| Crude fiber | 4.4% (maximum) |
| Moisture | 10.0% (maximum) |
Product Recalls
Product recalls can indicate that a company is not manufacturing food safely or of consistent quality.
The good news is that Nature’s Recipe has only had 1 recall in their history, and that was long ago in 2012 (for a different product).
This is part of why Nature’s Recipe has a good reputation in the pet food industry.
Where to Buy Nature’s Recipe
As I said before, it’s a bit risky buying this food since many dogs don’t like that taste too much.
The best place I’ve found, based on price and return policy is Chewy.com, one of the biggest online pet stores.
Here’s a link if you’d like to see the current price.
Summary of Nature’s Recipe Vegan Food and Alternatives
On the plus side, this product has good ingredients overall and a relatively high level of protein for a vegan dog food.
Most importantly, it’s as cheap as any vegan dog food gets.
The two potential issues are that some dogs are sensitive to soy, and a decent number of dogs just don’t like the taste of this food.
Here are 2 alternatives that are a bit more pricey, but have no soy, and almost all dogs enjoy:
- Natural Balance Vegetarian Formula – It’s hard to find a story of a dog not liking this food, and it’s only a bit more expensive. Here’s my full Natural Balance Vegetarian formula review if you’d like to learn more.
- V-Dog Kinder Kibble – If you can afford a bit more, V-Dog has a great reputation and has been making vegan dog food since 2005. The protein in this mainly comes from peas. See my V-Dog Kinder Kibble review for more.
