Raw cat food polarizes opinions — some pet parents love it while others steer clear. Smallbatch is a family-owned pet food company that exclusively produces raw pet foods, but how does it stack up against highly-rated raw food brands like Stella & Chewy's, Open Farm, and Instinct?

From the quality of its ingredients to its recall history, our Smallbatch cat food review covers all aspects of this raw pet food brand. Read on for Wag!'s in-depth, unbiased review!

Smallbatch offers several cat products including two complete and balanced cat foods, supplemental recipes, food toppers, and treats — all based around raw meat! Let's check them out!

All Smallbatch Sliders and Freeze-dried Meal Bites are "complete and balanced," meeting the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) nutrient profile guidelines for all life stages, adult maintenance, or growth. All other meal toppers and treats are for supplemental feeding only. 

Read the guaranteed analysis printed on each cat food label for more information. 

Sliders is one of the two complete and balanced cat food ranges from Smallbatch. This frozen raw food is shaped into individual pucks that you can thaw and serve to your cat.

Sliders come in seven flavors, like duck, lamb, and chicken, and consist of 97% single-source animal protein. For instance, the first few ingredients in the chicken recipe are chicken (with ground bone), chicken, chicken gizzards, chicken hearts, and chicken livers. 

You may be saying ground bone?! That's dangerous for kitties — and you would be right — but only when they are left whole or in chunks. Smallbatch grinds the bones in their recipes down to 3mm so that they can't cause obstructions while still giving them the benefits of added calcium.

So what is the other 3% of the recipe? 

Greens, antioxidant-rich cranberries, and supplements like vitamin E and fatty acid-rich sardine oil comprise the rest of these recipes. Sliders average between 31 and 61 calories per puck. Smallbatch recommends cats eat two sliders per 5 lbs of weight day. For instance, if your kitty weighs 15 lbs, the recommended daily serving size is six sliders. 

True to the name, Smallbatch Freeze-dried Meal Bites are bite-size pieces of a complete and balanced raw food mix. These small but protein-rich bites can be rehydrated with warm water for a soft texture and contain a whopping 98% animal products, including a blend of meat, organs, and bones.

This food is available in three meaty flavors and contains between 50% and 66% protein as fed on a dry matter basis, which is vastly higher than most commercial cat foods. These recipes include dandelion greens packed with vitamins A and K, as well as iron, bone-strengthening calcium, and potassium, a powerful electrolyte. Coconut and sardine oils give these recipes a boost of omega fatty acids and antioxidants as well, which add shine to the coat and help strengthen the immune system.

Smallbatch Base Blends are a blend of meat, organs, and bones meant which you can add to your cat's meals. Since this is not a complete and balanced food, it is not fortified with the vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients your kitty needs. We recommend mixing this food with a complete and balanced commercial food to make sure your feline is getting their nutritional needs met.

 These foods are 100% raw meat, so they should be handled carefully to prevent cross-contamination.

Smallbatch Super Booster meal toppers are a great way to supercharge your kitty's kibble and add some extra protein to their diet, too! These yummy morsels pack between 42% and 61% protein per serving on a dry matter basis and can be fed as is or rehydrated to soften them.

Super Booster meal toppers are made up of 95% meat, bone, and organs. The other 5% is fiber-rich squash, greens, and chia seeds, which are rich in antioxidants and probiotics to support gut health.

Smallbatch Frozen Bonebroth also works great as a food topper to coax picky eaters into eating their kibble. This product comes in three different flavors and is made up of just three simple ingredients — organic bones, organic carrots, and filtered water. These yummy broths are a great way to add flavor, collagen, and moisture to your kitty's diet without many calories.

Smallbatch Freezedried Hearts are a heart-healthy dose of taurine, an essential amino acid felines need for optimal health. These are great for kitties with allergies since they contain just one ingredient — hearts — with no added preservatives or dyes. 

Liver is a favorite of cats all over, and Smallbatch Freezedried Liver Treats will surely hit the spot. These single-ingredient treats come in five flavors and are suitable for both dogs and cats. At just nine to ten calories per treat and at 61% - 73% protein, these make the perfect high-protein snack for hungry housecats. 

Now that we've covered all Smallbatch's products, let's talk about what we like about them!

Smallbatch pet foods exclusively use hormone- and antibiotic-free meats from farms that have been verified as using humane practices through species-specific programs like the American Humane Society and the Global Animal Partnership. This means free-range and pasture-raised meats and wild, sustainably-caught fish.

You'll be happy to know that Smallbatch only uses certified organic veggies and supplements in its recipes. This means no chemical fertilizers, pesticides, or GMOs, so you can feel good knowing all-natural ingredients are going into your fur-baby's body.

Smallbatch has formulated its complete and balanced recipes without added vitamins or minerals. All the micronutrients your cat needs are provided by real meats, veggies, fish oils, and other natural ingredients in this recipe rather than a vitamin premix, which is standard for most kibbles and wet foods.

We were equally impressed to see that their complete and balanced cat foods are comprised of between 97% and 98% animal meat, organs, and bones! Most cat food recipes contain plant-based proteins and fillers to bulk up the recipes, and they contain very little actual meat — not Smallbatch, though!

Here are some things to be conscious of if you plan to choose Smallbatch for your pet.

As with any raw meat product, there are risks when feeding raw pet foods. Raw foods are more likely to be contaminated with harmful bacteria since they aren't processed at high temperatures to kill bad bacteria. For this reason, you'll need to handle these products with care (even the freeze-dried versions!) and disinfect your hands, work surfaces, and pet bowls with hot soapy water after feeding.

Like most things, high-quality ingredients often come with a high price tag, which is true for Smallbatch. A 10-oz bag of their freeze-dried meal bites costs $28, which factors out to almost $45 per lb.

"I recently tried Small Batch Freeze-Dried Chicken Cat Food for my 17-year-old cat, and it has been a huge hit! She's incredibly picky, so finding something she genuinely enjoys is rare. Whether served dry or rehydrated with water, she devoured it every time. I've used it as a treat and as a topper for her regular meals, and it works perfectly in both ways. The quality of this food is excellent, and I'm thrilled with the simple, high-quality ingredients. Knowing I'm feeding her something nutritious and wholesome is a big relief. It's great to see her so enthusiastic about eating, and I highly recommend this for any cat, especially picky seniors!"

"I've been using this as a treat and a meal topper for all three of our cats for the last few days and only have fantastic things to say about this food! I'm always drawn to freeze dried food and I couldn't be happier with the ingredient list, and while I obviously won't be eating, all of our kitties come running at the first shake of the bag. This is their first time really trying a freeze dried food and I highly recommend it, especially if any of your beasties are picky."

Read more reviews on Chewy.

The family-owned company, which would eventually become Smallbatch Pet Food, launched in 2003 as a small-scale operation out of local kitchens in San Fransisco. What set the operation apart from other pet food manufacturers at the time was that they used only humanely raised animal products and organic fruits and vegetables. 

Within two years, Smallbatch began hand-delivering its products to locals, and by 2007, it had its first storefront. Business was booming, and they opened a second production facility in Santa Clara to help meet the demands. 

The company still produces its foods in California and acquired another facility in Aumsville, Oregon, in 2014. Over the last two decades, Smallbatch has expanded its operations and is available at pet retailers all over the US.

Smallbatch pet food has been recalled twice as of March 2025. 

The first incident was a voluntary recall in March 2016 after a batch of their frozen duck recipe sliders tested positive for Salmonella. However, further testing revealed that the product was negative for contamination. 

The second recall was in May 2017, once again, for possible Salmonella contamination.