The Honest Kitchen markets itself as the world’s first human-grade pet food company. This dog food brand produces high-quality, thoughtfully sourced pet foods using only human-grade ingredients and non-GMO produce. 

According to customer surveys, over 70% of customers who switched their pets to The Honest Kitchen saw improvements in their pet’s digestion, skin and coat health, and energy levels. For its industry-leading pet food products, The Honest Kitchen has won several awards, including Pet Supplies Plus’ Best Innovation Award in 2019.

Wag! considers The Honest Kitchen to be an outstanding dog food brand due to its use of 100% human-grade animal protein and produce in its recipes. Plus, it comes personally recommended by one of Wag!’s veterinary consultants, Dr. Georgia Jeremiah.

The Honest Kitchen is well worth considering if you’re looking to switch up your fur-baby’s diet. In this Honest Kitchen dog food review, we’ll examine the brand’s recipes, pros and cons, recalls, and much more. Let’s dig in!

The Honest Kitchen offers over 65 varieties of dry food, wet food, toppers, and treats.

All The Honest Kitchen dog foods meet the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) nutrient profile guidelines for all life stages, maintenance (adults), or growth (puppies). Toppers, base mixes, and treats are for supplemental feeding only. 

The Honest Kitchen's Cluster range of dry dog food is made with human-grade ingredients only, with a quality named meat source as the top ingredient. Every flavor is gently slow-cooked to preserve nutrients.  

Ingredients are carefully chosen to ensure high nutritional value. The Honest Kitchen adds taurine to support heart health and probiotics to promote healthy digestion. Oats in its Whole Grain range are rich in vitamin B6 and iron. Common nutritious secondary ingredients across the range include eggs, pumpkin, apples, flaxseed, and carrots. 

The Honest Kitchen dry dog foods consist of 28.8% protein as dry matter on average, which is slightly above average for dry dog food. 

One of Wag!'s top picks for the best wet dog food overall, The Honest Kitchen wet dog foods are cooked with high-quality meats, bone broth, non-GMO produce, and no artificial preservatives. There are two different sub-ranges and 10 products available. The main differences between these sub-ranges is their textures as well as their fat and calorie contents. 

The Honest Kitchen wet dog foods contain an average of 48.7% protein as dry matter, which is above average for wet dog food. 

One Pot Stews are generally lower in fat and calories than Butcher Block Pâtés. For example, Slow Cooked Chicken One Pot Stew contains 11.1% fat as dry matter and 194 calories per box compared to Chicken & Super Greens Butcher Block Pâté, which contains 31.8% fat as dry matter and 369 calories per box. 

The Honest Kitchen's dehydrated range is among the brand's most unique products. Simply add water to this dehydrated food and get a bowl of delicious human-grade wet food for your pup. The dehydrated range is one of The Honest Kitchen's most cost-effective — a 10-pound bag makes 40 pounds of dog food. There are four sub-ranges and 20 products across the dehydrated range.

The Honest Kitchen dehydrated dog food recipes contain an average of 29.4% protein as dry matter, which is average for dehydrated dog food. 

The Honest Kitchen range of pour-overs and toppers add flavor and nutritional value to your dog's food, with two sub-ranges and 18 products available. 

The Honest Kitchen has an extensive dog treat range, with 20 products available across seven primary sub-ranges. Like The Honest Kitchen's dog foods, all its treats are made with 100% human-grade ingredients. 

Here are some reasons why Wag! considers The Honest Kitchen to be an exceptional dog food brand. 

Dr. Georgia Jeremiah BSc (Hons) BvetMed (Hons), veterinary surgeon and Head of Veterinary & Retail Partnerships at Wag!, personally recommends The Honest Kitchen dog food to her own clients: "The Honest Kitchen offers convenient dry, dehydrated and wet-food options that use high protein meat sources and are fortified with fish oils and essential nutrients such as taurine."

The Honest Kitchen is the world's first human-grade dog food, with many other brands following in the brand's footsteps to create the best quality food pawssible for pups. 

All its dog food variations, including its kibble clusters, are made with 100% human-grade ingredients, including quality meats and whole, real produce. Low-temp cooking and slow dehydration ensure The Honest Kitchen's foods have high nutritional value. 

The Honest Kitchen lives up to its name by being transparent about its business practices. The Honest Kitchen has a B Corp Certification, which lets consumers know the brand meets high environmental, social, legal, and transparency standards. 

For example, over 60% of The Honest Kitchen's packaging is recyclable or made from renewable materials. The Honest Kitchen sources 100% of its virgin paperboard from Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) compliant sources. The brand is also transparent about where it cooks and sources its ingredients, with 87% of its ingredients coming from North America. 

The Honest Kitchen has an excellent returns policy, ensuring customer satisfaction. Products purchased through its website can be returned for a full refund within 90 days if at least half a bag of food is left. Simply contact The Honest Kitchen for a refund to receive a free shipping label for your return.

There are some concerns and considerations to think about before purchasing The Honest Kitchen dog food.

The Honest Kitchen produces premium human-grade dog food, which means it's more expensive than many competitors. At the time of writing, a six-pack of 10.5-ounce Slow Cooked Chicken One Pot Stew costs $25.74 on The Honest Kitchen's website. A one-pound bag of Grain Free Chicken Clusters currently costs $7.99.

The Honest Kitchen only offers a few puppy food options. Only two of the brand's 55 variations are specifically formulated for puppies. That said, many of The Honest Kitchen's foods are suitable for all life stages, meaning you can feed them to puppies, adults, and senior dogs.

"Our 15 yr old Yorkie had quit eating almost anything, including people food. She lost over 2 lbs in one month (weighed 10 lbs in December). A friend gave me 2 of these meals & Daisy loved them. Found them on sale at a local pet supply store so I stocked up."

"We have two very picky german shepherds that will not eat kibble without a topper of some sort. This dehydrated chicken meal and also the grain free version were a hit! They love mealtimes now."

Read more reviews on Chewy.

Lucy Postins founded The Honest Kitchen in San Diego in 2002. Lucy began experimenting with recipes for her Rhodesian Ridgeback, Mosi, who had recurring skin issues and ear infections. She believed Mosi's health issues were related to his diet. 

Lucy noticed there were no human-grade whole-ingredient dog foods on the market, so she decided to cook up her own. After feeding Mosi dehydrated human-grade food, his skin and ear health improved significantly. 

Realizing other pets could benefit from a similar diet, Lucy founded The Honest Kitchen. As the first human-grade pet food brand, The Honest Kitchen overcame many hurdles for recognition, including winning a court battle against the Ohio Department of Agriculture for the right to commercial free speech. 

Over 20 years later, The Honest Kitchen has offices across the US and still uses the same human-grade ingredients from trusted sources in all its products. The Honest Kitchen's headquarters are in San Diego.

The Honest Kitchen has had one recall in its history.

On February 21, 2013, The Honest Kitchen voluntarily recalled five lots of Verve, Zeal, and Thrive pet products due to potential Salmonella contamination. 

This recall affected products made between August and November 2012 and those sold online after August 2012. The Honest Kitchen issued the recall after learning one of its suppliers was recalling parsley due to possible Salmonella contamination. 

The Honest Kitchen's recall was precautionary to ensure product quality and the safety of its customers. There were no reports of illness in relation to this recall.

All product images sourced from The Honest Kitchen's website. Copyright The Honest Kitchen.