We give PetPlate Dog Food a rating of 4.6 out of 5 stars.
Are you considering switching your dog to a dog food delivery service but struggling to find one that includes enough variety to suit your dog’s needs? If that’s the case, PetPlate might be the best choice for you.
This subscription service offers both gently cooked and baked recipes, both of which are made with human-grade, wholesome ingredients. PetPlate also has a huge selection of supplements and treats that you can choose from.
I had the chance to test out PetPlate with the help of some food-savvy pups. I found plenty to like about this subscription option, as well as a few things that left me hesitating to commit. Keep reading to find out all this and more in my full PetPlate review.
At a Glance: What PetPlate Offers
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FreshCooked Entrees |
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FreshBaked Entrees |
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Soft Chew Supplements |
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About PetPlate
PetPlate was created by Ronaldo Webb with the help of veterinarian, Dr. Renee Streeter, in 2017 after Ronaldo’s dog started suffering digestive issues on traditional kibble.
Who Makes PetPlate and Where Is It Produced?
Today, Ronaldo Webb still acts as PetPlate’s CPO, with investor Gertrude Allen acting as the CEO. The company is headquartered in New York with their primary kitchen located in Dallas. Additional kitchens are located across the Midwest, all in USDA-approved facilities.
Which Types of Pets is PetPlate Best Suited For?
PetPlate meals are certified for all life stages, meaning they are a good choice for puppies, adults, and seniors.The huge variety of protein options and meal types PetPlate offers makes them an especially good choice for picky dogs or for those who need rotating recipes to stay interested.
One of PetPlate’s selling points is that they are good for dogs with allergies. Their FreshCooked meals are available in so many different protein types, they are a good option for dogs with specific animal-protein allergies. And because none of the meals contain corn, soy, or wheat, they are a good choice for dogs with these types of allergies.
However, these are not limited-ingredient meals, and they contain a long list of starches, grains, vegetables, and synthetic nutrients, making them a poor choice for dogs with unknown allergies or sensitivities.
Overview
From their variety of recipe options to their great add-on products, PetPlate has a lot to offer. Below, we dive a little deeper into what sets this dog food subscription apart.
Recipe Options
When it comes to meals, PetPlate offers two options: FreshBaked and FreshCooked. When setting up your subscription, you can choose one or the other, or both.
PetPlate’s FreshCooked meals are slow-cooked at lower temperatures to help retain nutrients while offering a ready-made and safe fresh feeding option. Each recipe comes frozen in 16-ounce, labeled containers. This diet type offers the most variety, with six different recipes available, including:
- Barkin’ Beef
- Chompin’ Chicken
- Tail Waggin’ Turkey
- Lip Lickin’ Lamb
- Power Packed Pork
- Lean & Mean Venison
For an easier-feed alternative, you can opt for PetPlate’s FreshBaked option. Much like kibble, these meals come in bags and feature small, crunchy morsels. Unlike kibble, they are made by baking fresh ingredients at low heat to remove moisture while still retaining plenty of nutrients. This option is available in two flavors:
- Roost Rulin’ Chicken
- Trail Blazin’ Beef
Ingredients
Both the FreshCooked and FreshBaked options are made with human-grade ingredients and feature meat as the number one ingredient in all recipes. In most recipes, you will also find one organ meat, salmon oil, and antioxidant-rich fruits and veggies, including spinach, cranberries, and blueberries.
While these recipes do not contain “low-quality fillers” they do contain grains and starches that could be considered higher-quality fillers, given that they are not necessary for processing or to meet dog nutritional needs. Ingredients in this category include rice, potato starch, oats, white potatoes, and pasta. These ingredients add bulk to the meals but do not offer much in terms of nutritional value.
There are also some protein-heavy plant ingredients in these recipes that help up the protein percentage without offering the same optimized amino acid profiles that meat-based protein ingredients do. These ingredients include peas, pea protein, lentils, and chickpeas. While these plant proteins offer some benefits, they lack important amino acids like taurine, which is likely why these diets include added synthetic taurine.
Add-Ons
In addition to the two meal types offered by PetPlate, you also have the choice to add supplements and treats to your subscription order.
In the supplement department, PetPlate has different options to support joint health, digestive health, skin and coat health, and to help your dog relax. Each of these treat-like supplements comes in a soft chew form that dogs love, making it easy to reward your dog while supporting their health at the same time.
Many ingredients in these soft chew supplements are organic and lend to the health-supporting effects of the chews. For example, the Soothe Operator digestive health chews feature chia seeds, banana, and pumpkin – all of which deliver gut-healthy fiber, in addition to live probiotics and natural prebiotics.
PetPlate also has two traditional treat options, Chicken Apple Sausage Bites and Beef & Sweet Potato Bites. Both of these options are USDA Certified Organic and contain a short list of natural ingredients. They are also highly palatable and soft, making them great for picky treaters.
Subscription Service
The best way to enjoy all PetPlate has to offer is through their subscription service.
To set up your subscription, you’ll first need to go to their website and fill out a short questionnaire about your dog. You’ll then choose from their FreshCooked only plan, their FreshBaked only plan, their 50/50 plan, which includes both meal types, or their FreshCooked meal topper plan, which includes enough FreshCooked food to make up 25% of your dog’s diet.
You’ll then pick your specific recipes, select any add-ons you want, and finalize your order. The number of meals you receive and how often they will be shipped depends on your dog’s size and caloric needs. Typically, you will receive a shipment every one to three weeks.
Shipping is always free, and you can cancel anytime. You can also customize your order beyond what is available through the website by contacting customer service.
Other Ways to Buy
If you would rather not commit to a subscription service, there are ways to purchase PetPlate without going through their website.
For local pick-up, PetPlate has partnered with Kroger to make their FreshCooked meals available in stores at King Soopers, Kroger, Fred Meyer, and more.
You can also order PetPlate products through Amazon and Chewy.
Our Reviews of PetPlate Selections
1. FreshCooked Entrees
| Recipe | Chompin’ Chicken |
| Main Ingredients: | Chicken, sweet potatoes, chicken liver, apples, green beans, red lentils, ground flaxseed |
| Calories: | 39 kcal/oz |
| Protein: | 36% (dry matter) |
| Fat: | 15% (dry matter) |
| Fiber: | 2.3% (dry matter) |
For variety, PetPlate’s FreshCooked meals definitely take the cake. With six different recipes available, each with only one protein type, it is super easy to find a flavor your pet will love that won’t aggravate their animal protein allergies or sensitivities.
Each of these features human-grade meat as the first ingredient and also includes liver for added nutrition. They all also contain some great nutrient-dense, low-starch fruits and veggies, which are ideal for upping the nutrition content without driving up the price.
Where these meals fall a little short, in my opinion, is in their inclusion of starchy root vegetables, legumes, and grains.
All recipes contain potato starch, an unnecessary filler that dogs do not need in their diets. Many also contain grains, including brown rice, which is much more difficult for dogs to digest than white rice, and oats.
I also wasn’t thrilled when I noticed how many protein-heavy legumes and starchy vegetables they include. In most recipes, you’ll find peas or lentils and white potatoes. All of these ingredients have been implicated in the development of diet-related dilated cardiomyopathy in dogs (source). While having added taurine may help offset that risk, there is still a lot unknown about this disease and what specifically causes it.
Compared to typical fresh food diets, these ones have a higher than average amount of protein, average fat content, and slightly lower than average fiber content.
Overall, the FreshCooked diets from PetPlate offer some great advantages over kibble and canned food, given their fresh, human-grade ingredients, but still rely on many of the same less desirable, less expensive ingredients. On the plus side, they make feeding fresh super easy, and they come in a variety of recipes for picky eaters.
- High protein content
- Human-grade ingredients
- Meat is the first ingredient
- High-antioxidant fruits and veggies
- Easy to feed
- Many recipes available
- Many high-protein plant ingredients
- Contains potatoes and potato starch
- High in non-animal ingredients
2. FreshBaked Entrees
| Recipe | Roost Rulin’ Chicken |
| Main Ingredients | Chicken, lentils, chickpeas, pea protein, carrots, chia seeds, chicken liver |
| Calories | 370 kcal/cup |
| Protein | 29% (dry matter) |
| Fat | 10% (dry matter) |
| Fiber | 5.6% (dry matter) |
If what you’re after is a diet that’s as easy to feed as kibble but better for your dog, the FreshBaked diets from PetPlate are the way to go.
These recipes are similar to their FreshCooked options but are slow-baked into tasty morsels that can be stored and fed the same way you feed kibble. There are only two recipe options available here, chicken and beef, making your choices much more limited.
Like the FreshCooked recipes, these ones both start with a human-grade meat ingredient and contain nutrient-dense liver. They also have some great antioxidant-rich fruits and veggies and utilize salmon oil as the sole added oil.
The chicken recipe is grain-free and low-fat, while the beef recipe has an average amount of fat and contains oats. Both have an average amount of protein compared to quality kibble diets.
On the downside, these two recipes contain many of the same questionable starchy and protein-heavy plant ingredients as the fresh recipes. They also both utilize pea protein, which is a low-cost, processed additive used to up the protein content, but without the benefits of amino-acid-rich animal protein.
Despite the added pea protein, these recipes contain less protein per serving than the fresh meals. So, while they are a much better alternative to kibble while being just as easy to feed, they do not offer as many benefits as the FreshCooked meals or as other premium subscription meal options.
- Easy to store
- Super easy to feed
- Feature human-grade ingredients
- Quality meats and oils
- Antioxidant rich
- Contains pea protein
- High in plant ingredients
- Lower protein content
3. Soft Chew Supplements
One area where PetPlate really shines is with their soft chew supplements. Here, they offer four different options:
- Up to Fluff Soft Chews – contains biotin and salmon oil for skin and coat health
- Hip Hopping Soft Chews – made with glucosamine and chondroitin for joint health
- Chill Out Soft Chews – features ashwagandha and L-theanine for relaxation
- Soothe Operator Soft Chews – made with prebiotics and probiotics for digestive health
Each of these is made with a simple base of organic ingredients, including cane molasses, coconut oil, and/or oats. This mix gives them a unique texture that is chewy while allowing each disc-shaped treat to keep its form. They are easy to break apart and great for older dogs and puppies who struggle with hard treats.
In addition to the active ingredients in each chew, these treats contain mostly USDA-certified organic ingredients. In fact, both the Up to Fluff and Soothe Operator supplements are completely organic and feature the seal to prove it.
Both my dogs really enjoy these treats and I feel they have already made a difference in their health. I like how big the bags are (9.8 ounces with 28 chews in each) and believe they are well-priced for what you get. I also love that they are supplements, but can be fed like treats to make your dog feel extra special.
- Quality ingredients
- Mostly organic
- Functional chews that support health
- Four different options
- Soft and palatable
- Only two are certified organic
- Our Experience With PetPlate
Our Experience With PetPlate
To fully test all that PetPlate has to offer, I had to call in some backup. While my Dalmatian mix, Ragz, was happy to accept the challenge, and my Chihuahua, Papyrus, even got in on the action, both of them have kidney disease and could not eat the PetPlate meals full-time. So, I had my parents’ Labradors help us out as well.
I received a big box of samples from PetPlate to test, including all of their FreshCooked, FreshBaked, soft chew supplements, and treat options.
As soon as I got the box unloaded, it was time to start tasting and researching.
What I Liked
Surprisingly, my favorite products from PetPlate were their supplements and their treats.
Both of these options are made with quality, mostly organic ingredients. They all have a soft, chewy texture that my old dogs really appreciate, and they are highly palatable. The supplements, specifically, made it easier than ever to give my dogs the extra support they need.
As far as my dogs and my parents’ dogs were concerned, the meals were pretty tasty. My parents’ labs woofed down both the FreshCooked and FreshBaked options without looking back.
My dogs, while they definitely enjoyed the meals, were a little more discerning. Papyrus, especially, took the time to pick out all the meat and soft veggies, while leaving behind the lentils and rice every time.
For my part, I liked how easy both these meal options were to feed. The FreshCooked meals come in individually labeled plastic tubs that are much easier to deal with than the flimsy packs most subscription companies use. And the FreshBaked option was super easy to feed and could be stored in the pantry like traditional kibble.
Where I Saw Room for Improvement
As you can guess from the sections above, I was not swept off my feet by the ingredients in the FreshBaked and FreshCooked recipes. While I love that they both contain meat-first ingredients and utilize liver and salmon oil, I was disappointed by how many unnecessary plant ingredients they contain, specifically all the high-starch and high-protein additives.
I would have loved to see more meat ingredients in these recipes. It is fairly obvious just by looking at the fresh food—the benefit of using fresh, whole ingredients. Visually, it is clear that more than 50% of each diet is made of fruits, vegetables, and grains or starches.
Papyrus helped emphasize this issue by leaving behind a shocking amount of lentils or rice after each meal. For me, personally, these meals contain too little meat to feed daily. However, my parents really like what they offer, and compared to the kibble they normally feed, these meals represent a huge upgrade for their dogs.
Overall, despite some shortcomings, PetPlate checks a lot of boxes. They use mostly whole-food ingredients, quality meat, and gentle cooking techniques that help retain nutrients and create a much healthier product than traditional kibble. They also have many options to meet different needs and tastes, and their subscription service includes access to some wonderful soft-chew supplements and treats.
Conclusion
If you’re looking for a subscription service with options that make feeding better food easier than ever, PetPlate may be just what you need.
This subscription dog food service offers fresh, gently cooked, then frozen meals in six flavors, easy-feed baked diets, soft chew supplements, and more. Best of all, the combination of meals is tailor-made to order and delivered straight to your door as often as you need them. For picky dogs and those with dietary restrictions, you won’t find more tasty options in one place anywhere else.
