Raised Right Human-Grade Dog Food Review 2025: Veterinarian-Backed Dog Food

In 2016, a new dog food company emerged from one family’s desire to feed their own dogs a better food. Braeden Ruud and his family, concerned about a recent outbreak of dog food recalls, had begun cooking for their pets in their home kitchen using only human-grade ingredients. When friends with the same pet food concerns became interested in obtaining some of the Ruuds’ home-cooked dog food, this farming family got the idea to start manufacturing healthy fresh pet food on a larger scale.

As farmers and ranchers themselves, the Ruuds knew how to procure human-grade ingredients for their dog food, but they needed help to ensure the recipes would be nutritionally complete to meet AAFCO standards. That’s where world-renowned veterinary nutrition specialist Dr. Karen Becker came in. Dr. Becker – author of multiple books on dog care and creator of the Companion Animal Nutrition & Wellness Institute – collaborated with the Ruuds to formulate the recipes for what would become one of the highest-rated human-grade dog food companies on the market.

We tested Raised Right on our own dogs and found it to be not only nutritionally superior to its competitors but also packed with the flavor our dogs love.

At a Glance: Our Favorite Raised Right Adult Dog Food Recipes

About Raised Right

Who Makes Raised Right and Where is it Produced?

With headquarters in New York, Raised Right fresh dog food is manufactured right in the USA. Founded by family members Braeden, Mary Ann, and Larry Ruud, Raised Right features minimal ingredient recipes formulated with the help of Dr. Karen Becker, a veterinarian with a special interest in pet nutrition. Through the use of whole foods from human-grade sources, and a gentle cooking process performed in USDA-certified facilities, this fresh frozen dog food is not only the most biologically appropriate prepared food on the market, but also perhaps the safest due to rigorous lab testing and quality ingredients.

All recipes are meat-first with no fillers or preservatives, and each batch must pass laboratory testing before being sold to the public. Thanks to this abundance of caution, no Raised Right products have been recalled to date.

Which Types of Pets is Raised Right Best Suited For?

Because Raised Right recipes are all meat-first and low-carb, they are extremely high in protein. This is a biologically correct food for most healthy adult dogs but may not be the best choice for dogs with certain health conditions. For this reason, it is recommended to consult with a veterinarian if your dog has any health issues, particularly senior dogs that may be dealing with kidney or liver insufficiencies.

Otherwise, this is a nutritionally complete food according to AAFCO standards and contains all the vitamins and minerals your dog needs to be healthy. There is even a puppy selection with extra minerals for healthy growth, as well as an adult cat food line. And all Raised Right formulas have a soft texture that is easy for pets with missing teeth or sore mouths to swallow.

Overview

There are several key features about Raised Right dog food that set it apart from the competition. Between its USA-sourced human-grade meats, lab testing of every batch, and an intentional omission of the common fillers and preservatives prevalent in other foods, Raised Right dog and cat foods are a top-tier option for people who want the very best for their pets. And purchasing is easy thanks to their online subscription service.

Primary Ingredients

Raised Right uses four key proteins in their recipes: beef, chicken, pork, and turkey. They also incorporate organ meats, not just muscle, bringing a higher level of nutrition to their lineup. In addition to their basic four recipes, each protein option also has a paté counterpart that includes pumpkin for a softer texture and higher moisture content. Common high-carb fillers, like corn, potatoes, wheat, and soy, are never used. Instead, the brand includes a few easy-to-digest plant-based ingredients with high nutritional content like carrots, cranberries, and spearmint.

Variety

Raised Right adult dog foods come in eight recipe options to satisfy every dog’s palate. All flavor options come in only one package size – 16 oz in vacuum-sealed plastic. There are also a select few “veterinary support” recipes, formulated by Dr. Karen Becker and Dr. Barbara Royal, that are lower in protein and fat than the standard adult recipes. These recipes are designed to benefit dogs with kidney, liver, and pancreatic issues and have added vitamins and minerals as well.

In addition to the above-mentioned recipes, there are puppy foods, adult cat foods, and two treat options.

Nutritional Content

All of Raised Right’s fresh-frozen recipes meet AAFCO standards for the necessary nutrients dogs need to consume daily to live long, healthy lives. These limited-ingredient foods are all 10 ingredients or less, incorporating only the most nutritionally complete whole foods with no need for added synthetic vitamins, nutrients, or preservatives. Furthermore, Raised Right uses a gentle cooking process that effectively kills pathogens, but preserves nutritional value and moisture content, making this food a great way to support your pet’s hydration.

Lab Testing

Every single pet food batch from Raised Right undergoes independent laboratory testing to ensure it is free of harmful bacteria like salmonella, listeria, and E. coli. This brand also maintains a “hold release” policy that prevents finished products from being sold until their lab reports are complete and the batch has been deemed safe. Thanks to this policy, there are no Raised Right recalls on file to date.

In addition to lab testing, the Raised Right website facilitates full transparency by providing a source map for their ingredients. Anyone concerned about where the ingredients come from can check the map, but in general, all meat is USA-sourced, with some lesser ingredients, like cod liver oil and ginger root, for example, coming from overseas.

Purchase Options

Raised Right recipes can be found in a few quality pet food stores, but the best way to purchase this food may be through their online subscription service. For your first purchase, you can buy a 4-, 8-, or 16-count sampler box of any recipes you’d like to try. But once you know your dog’s favorites and how much to feed, you can set up recurring shipments in time intervals of your choosing (between 1 and 28 weeks). This can earn you free shipping and also ensure you always have Raised Right on hand to feed as a meal or a topper.

Reviews of Our Favorite Raised Right Dog Food Recipes

1. Beef Recipe

The basic Beef Recipe from Raised Right uses beef, beef heart, and beef liver. Beef is a high-quality meat often used in dog food because it is rich in vitamins and minerals. It contains essential amino acids that can help dogs maintain healthy, lean muscle mass. And it contributes complex B vitamins which assist with energy and immunity.

There are also carrots in this food, which are an easily digestible fiber source packed with vitamins and great for eye health. Cranberries offer powerful antioxidants which improve immunity, fight cancer, and may reduce urinary tract infections. Spearmint contains antioxidants as well and might even help fight bad breath. The ingredient list is rounded out with anti-inflammatory flaxseed oil, eggshell powder for calcium, cod liver oil rich in omega-3 fatty acids, and dried kelp packed with iodine for healthy thyroid function. Together, all these ingredients play an important role to create a nutritionally dense food that promotes superior health in our dogs.

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2. Turkey Recipe

The basic Turkey Recipe from Raised Right utilizes most of the same ingredients as the Beef Recipe, except the protein used is turkey thigh, hearts, and livers. Like beef, turkey is also highly nutritious and contains muscle-building amino acids, but is lower in fat, making it a better choice for sedentary dogs. This recipe also swapped the cranberries for blueberries, a similar superfood which provides antioxidants for great overall health.

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3. Pork Recipe

This recipe uses pork, pork heart, and pork liver as the protein sources. Pork is considered a novel protein for many dogs, meaning they’re unlikely to have had it before in their previous dog foods. This can be a plus for dogs with food allergies, so some dogs may experience fewer allergy symptoms when fed this recipe consistently.

This recipe is also missing the flaxseed oil that is present in some of the other recipes, presumably because the use of pork allowed them to meet AAFCO’s nutritional requirements without the flaxseed oil, and the brand likes to keep their recipes as basic as possible.

For owners seeking the lowest carb options, they would want to skip this recipe as it has the highest carb percentage (3.4%) of any of the flavors.

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4. Chicken Recipe

Chicken is a common protein used in dog food, but it is uncommon to find it in the human-grade quality that Raised Right uses. There are zero by-products here, only whole chicken thigh, chicken hearts, and chicken liver. Chicken is easy to digest, making it great for sensitive stomachs, but some dogs have become sensitized to it and developed food-related allergies. If this describes your dog, you should skip this recipe and try one of the other flavors.

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Other Raised Right Adult Dog Food Recipes

Frequently Asked Questions

How long is this food good for after thawing?

Once thawed, Raised Right foods must be eaten right away or stored in the fridge. Once the package is opened, owners should feed all thawed food within 6 days. As for frozen products, the package will have a “best by” date printed on the plastic, which will usually be a year or more.

Do I have to be home when the box is delivered?

There is no signature required, and the frozen food will be shipped in an insulated box containing dry ice. However, if the box is left sitting in the sun or it’s a very warm day, the product inside could start to thaw, which might facilitate bacteria growth. It is best to be available to receive the shipment when it arrives so you can get the frozen food straight into your freezer. An emailed tracking number will help with this.

Is this food OK for pets with sensitive stomachs?

Raised Right is considered a biologically correct dog food, meaning it contains all the things your dog needs to be healthy and none of the things it doesn’t. However, many dogs are so accustomed to eating inferior foods that they can sometimes experience digestive upset when switching to something of higher quality. For this reason, you should transition your dog to Raised Right slowly over several days, gradually decreasing the portions of the old food and increasing the portions of Raised Right. If your dog has had digestive problems in the past, you will want to stretch out this transitional period to 10 days or more.

Our Experience With Raised Right

Recently, we received an 8-pack sampler box of the adult dog recipes from Raised Right. While most of the dog food consumed in our house is kibble, I do supplement all three dogs with one daily meal of home-cooked fresh food, so for our food trial, I simply swapped home-cooked food for Raised Right. Upon receiving the box, I was happy to see all the packs were still frozen solid, so I quickly put them in the freezer.

I couldn’t test this food on my senior Lab-mix, Turtle, due to previous gallbladder issues and a need for a low-fat diet, although he was really intrigued by this new food I was giving his “kid sisters,” Candy and Rooney! (I may have snuck him a bite or two.) And Candy and Rooney, both young mixed small-breed dogs, loved this food immediately. It didn’t matter what flavor, or whether I was feeding them the regular recipe or the paté version, they gobbled it all without hesitation.

The vacuum-sealed packaging was a little tricky to peel open, and even harder to reseal for fridge storage. I ended up folding over the opened end and clipping it with a clothespin. I could have used Tupperware or a Ziploc bag, but that seemed inconvenient, so I took the easy route. Because of the plastic packaging, the last bits of food could also be hard to scrape out.

Overall, I found this to be a great food made from easily identifiable ingredients and a consistency that was easy to dish out – thawing being the only preparation. Both dogs loved every flavor, with my favorite recipes being the basic beef and turkey options for their firmer texture.

Conclusion

There’s no doubt that this is a superior dog food, but when compared to other fresh pet foods on the market, it seems to outrank them all. Through Raised Right’s careful selection of ingredients, their gentle cooking process in human-grade facilities, and thorough lab testing of each and every batch, this food comes out as one of the most nutritious and safest on the market. It does have a price tag to match, which can be difficult to swallow when feeding a large-breed dog. But owners have the option to supplement their dog’s kibble with this fresh food as a topper, which can still offer great nutritional benefits while being a bit more affordable. If you’re thinking of trying Raised Right, you can visit their website, click Custom Meal Plan at the top, and find the best recipes for your dog along with feeding recommendations. Then try a sampler box and see how happy your dog is to try Raised Right!