Freeze-dried dog food takes the preparation and the work out of feeding a raw, natural diet. The freeze-drying process preserves more of the original ingredients’ nutrients and retains the natural flavor to make it more palatable for your dog. Freeze-dried dog food is more expensive because the process is more intensive, and the foods use higher-quality ingredients.

However, freeze-dried toppers can bridge that gap. When served on top of dry food, they provide greater nutritional benefits and are more palatable.

Whether you want a freeze-dried food or a topper, we have reviews of some of the best products to help you get your money’s worth.

A Quick Comparison of Our Winners (2024)

The 11 Best Freeze-Dried Dog Foods

1. Open Farm Freeze-Dried Dog Food – Best Overall

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Open Farm Freeze-Dried Dog Food is our pick for the best overall freeze-dried formula. The Open Farm brand products are superior because they use all-natural ingredients, humanely raised protein sources, and wild-caught fish. The recipes are high in quality animal proteins and healthy fats and low in carbohydrates, making them an appropriate diet for dogs.

Open Farm’s product selection is extensive, covering every single need. Their freeze-dried line has six recipes, including chicken, turkey, pork, lamb, beef, and the Surf & Turf, which is a mix of beef and salmon. Its freeze-dried raw recipes are 85% meat and bone from animal sources. The remaining 15% comes from fresh produce and supplements. The recipes include organic fruits and vegetables such as blueberries, spinach, kale, pumpkin, carrots, and other unique natural ingredients like coconut oil and turmeric for multiple health benefits.

Unfortunately, Open Farm Freeze-Dried Dog Food has a strong smell that can be unpleasant for humans, though dogs seem to enjoy it. You can serve it as a complete meal, but if your wallet does not allow that, adding it to the current diet as a topper will result in highly improved nutrition.

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2. Nature’s Diet Fresh Beef Simply Raw Freeze-Dried Dog Food – Budget Buy

Some freeze-dried food, like Nature’s Diet Fresh Beef Simply Raw Freeze-Dried Dog, is meant to be rehydrated before feeding. You add water according to the manufacturer’s instructions and wait for it to rehydrate. The manufacturer recommends 1.5 parts water to 1 part food and leaving it for 10 minutes.

It is inexpensive compared to other freeze-dried foods by dry weight, and its primary ingredients include freeze-dried raw beef, freeze-dried raw beef liver, and beef bone broth. It also contains vitamins, minerals, probiotics, and omega 3 & 6 from natural food sources. You can alter the ratio of water to food since Nature’s Diet’s recommendation produces a gravy-like consistency.

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3. Stella & Chewy’s Stella’s Super Beef Meal Mixers Freeze-Dried Raw Dog Food Topper

Stella & Chewy’s Stella’s Super Beef Meal Mixers Freeze-Dried Raw Dog Food Topper contains beef, beef liver, and beef kidney. It is 95% beef and organs, combined with organic fruit and vegetables to deliver the vitamins and minerals that your dog needs daily. The food can be rehydrated or fed as is and can be given as a topper or a complete meal.

An 18-ounce bag contains 8 scoops, but the feeding recommendations are to give between one and three scoops per day, so a single bag could only last three or four days, and Stella & Chewy’s is expensive. Although the Meal Mixers are expensive, they are made with 95% premium beef ingredients. However, some dogs with sensitive stomachs may struggle to keep it down.

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4. Vital Essentials Beef Mini Nibs Grain-Free Freeze-Dried Dog Food – Best for Puppies

Puppies need more protein, amino acids, and fatty acids than their adult counterparts. Freeze-dried food has much higher crude protein than kibble and wet food, and Vital Essentials Beef Mini Nibs Grain-Free Freeze-Dried Dog Food contains herring oil and amino acid complexes that meet a puppy’s needs. The Mini Nibs are also smaller than patties and other freeze-dried foods, which makes them suitable for puppies’ mouths.

Vital Essentials’ primary ingredients are beef, beef heart, beef liver, beef lung, and beef fat, so most of the food’s protein comes from meat. It is also grain-free and gluten-free and a limited-ingredient diet, so it is suitable for puppies with sensitive stomachs and dogs plagued with food sensitivities and allergies.

As with all freeze-dried food, the bag won’t last long if fed as a complete meal: for a large puppy, it will likely only last three or four days. It lasts longer as a topper and can be used as a tasty training treat. The nibs are hard, even when soaked, and they may not be suitable for smaller puppies.

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5. Instinct Freeze Dried Raw Boost Mixers Grain-Free Gut Health Recipe Dog Food Topper

Instinct Freeze Dried Raw Boost Mixers Grain-Free Gut Health Recipe Dog Food Topper is a topper rather than a complete meal. Its main ingredients are chicken, chicken liver, and pumpkin seeds. It also contains probiotics to promote good gut health, and the ingredients do not include grain, corn, wheat, soy, or artificial ingredients.

A food topper like Instinct Freeze Dried topper can liven up dull food, so it is a good choice for picky eaters. A sudden change to a raw diet can have a detrimental effect on the digestive system, causing diarrhea or vomiting. A topper allows you to determine whether this type of diet is a good choice for your dog’s appetite and tastes before committing fully. Since it only makes up a portion of each meal, it enables a gradual introduction of the new food.

Instinct is about the average price for freeze-dried food, but it comes in a small bag. Although the 5.5-ounce packet says that it contains enough for 20 servings, there is only enough for 10 days maximum and more like four days for an average-sized dog.

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6. Stella & Chewy’s Chewy’s Chicken Dinner Patties Freeze-Dried Raw Dog Food

Stella & Chewy’s Chewy’s Chicken Dinner Patties Freeze-Dried Raw Dog Food is grain-free and gluten-free. It is made from 95% cage-free chicken and supplemented with organic fruit and vegetables and vitamin and mineral supplements. The primary ingredients are chicken with ground bone, chicken liver, and chicken gizzard.

It comes in patty and can be rehydrated, fed as is, or crumbled over food. It can be used as a topper or fed as a complete meal. To rehydrate the pucks, you simply add cold or warm water. The new formula doesn’t require you to wait 15 minutes, and the patties are ready to serve after rehydration.

However, the formula change makes the pucks harder, difficult to crumble or break up, and less palatable, especially when fed dehydrated. This is a 25-ounce bag that contains approximately 50 patties: it’s bigger than many other freeze-dried food bags, which means that it should last a week in most circumstances.

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7. Nulo Freestyle Duck Recipe With Pears Grain-Free Freeze-Dried Raw Dog Food

Duck is rich in iron and high in easily digestible protein, making it a great food for dogs. It is also recommended as a protein source for dogs with allergies. The Nulo Freestyle Duck Recipe With Pears Grain-Free Freeze-Dried Raw Dog Food contains 82% duck, which is lower than the 95% meat content of other freeze-dried products.

Its primary ingredients are duck, duck necks, duck heart, duck wings, and duck liver. One of the benefits of a natural diet is that the dog eats more of the components of the animal. In the wild, dogs get a lot of essential vitamins and minerals from organs, which are lacking in some dry kibble and wet foods.

Additional ingredients include fruit and vegetables for extra nutritional value, vitamin supplements, and probiotics added to support gut health. Overall, Nulo’s formula is nutritious, but it can be dusty. It’s still suitable as a topper for dry kibble but less so as a complete meal. Also, its 82% meat content is lower than in a lot of other freeze-dried products.

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8. Stella & Chewy’s Stella’s Solutions Skin & Coat Boost Freeze-Dried Dinner Morsels

One of the benefits of a raw diet is that it encourages a healthier coat and skin. It is not as heavily processed as dry or wet food and benefits from the use of natural ingredients. Stella & Chewy’s Stella’s Solutions Skin & Coat Boost Freeze-Dried Raw Grass-Fed Lamb & Wild-Caught Salmon Dinner Morsels take the coat and skin care even further.

The omega-3 in the salmon and the linoleic acid found in sunflower oil and other ingredients can improve the general health of your dog’s skin and coat and may help with certain dermatological and coat conditions.  The primary ingredients are lamb, salmon, lamb heart, and lamb liver and the formula is grain-free and gluten-free.

This is another of Stella & Chewy’s foods that has undergone a formula change, and while the morsels used to be soft and easy to break up, they are now more difficult to crumble.

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9. Primal Chicken Formula Nuggets Grain-Free Raw Freeze-Dried Dog Food

Primal Chicken Formula Nuggets Grain-Free Raw Freeze-Dried Dog Food contains chicken and chicken livers, fruit, and vegetables for added vitamins and minerals. The dehydrated chunks can be rehydrated easily by adding a tablespoon of water, broth, or goat milk for every nugget of food served.

The Primal recipe has a strong smell, the nuggets are hard and somewhat difficult to break up, and the feeding recommendations are high. This means that a 14-ounce bag, which rehydrates to produce 3 pounds of food, won’t last long. Although the ingredients appear to be of good quality, the 80% meat content is lower than that of other brands of similar food.

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10. Orijen Original Grain-Free Freeze-Dried Dog Food & Topper

Orijen Original Grain-Free Freeze-Dried Dog Food & Topper comes in a freeze-dried patty. It contains 90% meat, but it’s a mixture of several types of meat. It can be fed as a topper or rehydrated as a complete meal.

The main ingredients are chicken, chicken liver, turkey, and whole herring. This combination offers a good balance of amino acids, vitamins, and minerals. However, when combined with other ingredients like egg and flounder, it isn’t suitable if you’re looking for a recipe with a single or limited protein source.

The patties can be rehydrated or crumbled and crumble easily, but the bags arrive with a lot of crumbled food and dust at the bottom.

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11. Tylee’s Freeze-Dried Meals For Dogs

Tylee’s Freeze-Dried Meals For Dogs can be served as is or rehydrated, used as a topper, or fed as a complete meal. They come in a patty shape and have the primary ingredients of chicken, chicken necks, chicken heart, chicken liver, and salmon. They also contain fruits and vegetables and various vitamin and mineral supplements.

The patties are difficult to rehydrate effectively, and the ingredients would benefit from more natural sources of nutrients. Although it’s difficult to know exactly how much is in the food, salt appears high in the ingredient list, so you do have to ensure that your dog is getting enough water, especially considering Tylee’s doesn’t take on water very well with rehydration.

Buyer’s Guide: Choosing the Best Freeze-Dried Dog Food

Freeze-dried dog food enables you to feed a raw, natural diet without worrying about measuring, weighing, and preparing the food every day. The ingredients are subjected to freezing temperatures, removing up to 99% of the moisture, effectively locking in nutrients and flavor.

The kibble, nibs, or patties can usually be fed dry, crumbled on top of existing food, or rehydrated and fed as a complete meal. Freeze-dried meals are expensive compared to dry kibble and wet food, but proponents claim they provide a balanced diet.

Food type

When buying freeze-dried food, you will find a selection of toppers, complete meals, and some foods that are best given as healthy, nutritious treats:

Primary ingredients

As well as the type of food, there is a wide variety of primary ingredients used in dehydrated foods. The most common ingredients are chicken, turkey, beef, and lamb, which are suitable for most dogs. Generally, the choice of primary ingredient will come down to whether your dog is sensitive or allergic to any particular meat proteins, and the flavors they prefer.

To Rehydrate Or Not

The freeze-drying process removes up to 99% of moisture from ingredients. The food has a longer shelf life, and it also helps retain more of the nutrients, protein, vitamins, and minerals in the food. In most cases, the food can be fed as is, without rehydrating, and this can be a good option when using it as a topper on dry or especially wet food. Alternatively, it can be rehydrated.

Most manufacturers provide instructions on how to rehydrate their food, but the general principle is to add water, cold or warm, at a ratio of between 1:1 to 3:1 water to food. Adding water does not increase or decrease nutrients, so your dog is getting the same benefits from the food, but it is more appealing, yields a more substantial amount of food, and provides an improved texture. You can use bone broth or goat’s milk to rehydrate the food.

Is Frozen Or Freeze-Dried Dog Food Better?

Freeze-dried food undergoes dehydration using a blast freezer. Frozen food is simply frozen for storage.

What Is The Difference Between Freeze Dried And Dehydrated Dog Food?

Although freeze-dried food has been dehydrated and benefits from rehydration before being fed, it differs from dehydrated dog food, which is also available.

Do You Have To Add Water To Freeze Dried Dog Food?

Some freeze-dried dog foods can be served immediately. This is especially true of those that come as chunks, nibs, or small pieces. However, the freeze-drying process removes almost all moisture, which leaves a dried and potentially unappealing meal.

Rehydrating ensures your dog gets moisture and can give the meal a more appealing smell and flavor. Most picky dogs prefer the food rehydrated, although other than moisture, it doesn’t add any nutritional value to the food. Most manufacturers recommend using cold or warm water, but you can use bone broth or raw goat’s milk to rehydrate the food.

Final Thoughts

Freeze-dried food is a more convenient alternative to a raw diet and offers greater nutritional benefits compared to dry kibble or wet food. However, it is expensive, and there is an increasingly wide range of freeze-dried foods on the market, making it difficult to be sure that you’re getting the best product for your dog. Hopefully, our reviews above have helped you find the best nutritious food for your dog.

We believe that the high meat content and high-quality ingredients of Open Farm Freeze-Dried Dog Food make it the best overall freeze-dried dog food, while Nature’s Dit Fresh Beef Simply Raw offers the best value for money.

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Featured Image Credit: Jaromir Chalabala, Shutterstock