11 Best Puppy Foods – 2025 Reviews & Top Picks

Adopting a puppy is a life-changing event that, in many ways, is like bringing home a newborn baby. Sure, puppies mature faster, but for the first 2 years, the only difference between them and babies is that one has a lot more fur. That means you need to do everything for your puppy, and one of the most important tasks is choosing the right puppy food.

Puppies have vastly different nutritional needs than adult dogs. They need more protein, fat, and vitamins. Puppies don’t need fillers, preservatives, or other ingredients in some puppy foods. That’s why you must choose a puppy chow that will get your puppy off to a good start. To help, we have reviews of the best puppy foods of this year and a buyer’s guide to help you decide.

A Quick Look at Our Favorites of 2025

Rating	Image	Product	Details
Best Overall		ORIJEN Amazing Grains Dry Puppy Food	First five ingredients are animal protein Contains DHA and EPA Contains probiotics and prebiotics	Check Price
Best Value		Purina ONE +Plus Natural High Protein Healthy Puppy	Contains DHA Four antioxidant sources No artificial ingredients	Check Price
Premium Choice		The Farmer’s Dog Beef Recipe	Customizable plans Pre-portioned No fillers or additives	Check Price
		Hill’s Science Diet Puppy Small Paws	Single-serving tray Easy to digest High-quality protein	Check Price
		Taste of the Wild High Prairie Puppy Formula	Made in USA First two ingredients are real meat Contains probiotics	Check Price

The 11 Best Puppy Foods

1. ORIJEN Amazing Grains Puppy Dry Dog Food – Best Overall

Our best overall puppy food, Orijen Amazing Grains Puppy Dry Dog Food, has animal proteins as the first five ingredients in all of their recipes. This excellent puppy food contains nearly 40% protein puppies need for their growing bodies and bones. It also has DHA and EPA from several fish, which help support your puppy’s immunity, skin, and coat.

We also like that Orijen contains prebiotics and probiotics to support the immune system. Lastly, the ingredients in this high-quality puppy chow are nutrient-dense. It’s expensive but genuinely worth the price.

2. Purina ONE +Plus Healthy Puppy Formula Dry Food – Best Value

Even though Purina ONE + Plus is affordable, it still can claim real chicken as its first ingredient, and it’s our pick for the best puppy food for the money. It has four antioxidant sources to strengthen your puppy’s immunity and, to keep its skin healthy, omega-6 fatty acids.

You won’t find any artificial ingredients in this quality puppy food, and it’s also made in the United States. One drawback we noticed was that some of the tender bits aren’t always tender, but that’s a minor problem that might not affect your puppy.

3. The Farmer’s Dog Beef Recipe – Premium Choice

As you might guess, The Farmer’s Dog Beef Recipe, our premium choice, has a relatively high price. However, this high-quality puppy food will get your furry friend off to a fantastic start in life. For example, it has 39% protein and 29% fat, both of which a puppy needs for its growing joints, bones, and muscles.

Proportioned for convenience, The Farmer’s Dog has no fillers or additives but contains real meat and vegetables. One drawback, however, is that it must be kept in the fridge, which uses a lot of space. Besides that, this highly recommended puppy chow will give your new puppy everything it needs to grow into a strong, happy, and healthy adult dog.

4. Hill’s Science Diet Puppy Food Trays

Having a puppy in your home can be wonderful but also a bit stressful because you need to attend to them quite a bit. Hill’s Science Diet Puppy Small Paws Chicken & Vegetable Stew takes some of the stress out of feeding your puppy because it comes in single-serving trays that don’t need to be measured.

Of course, convenience is one thing, but a puppy chow must contain high-quality proteins to help your puppy build strong, lean muscles and joints. This one has plenty of those proteins, and it’s also easy to digest. Plus, it includes chicken and pork liver as the second and third ingredients. However, it’s rather expensive.

5. Taste of the Wild High Prairie Grain-Free Dry Puppy Food

One of the best things about Taste of the Wild High Prairie Puppy Formula Grain-Free Dry Dog Food Is that it uses hypoallergenic proteins, including roasted bison and venison. Also, it has water buffalo and lamb meal along with sweet potatoes and eggs in the first five ingredients.

One aspect of this puppy food we genuinely like is that its essential minerals are chelated to help your puppy absorb them and get the maximum benefit. It’s also important to note that this is a grain-free puppy food. We recommend asking your vet if your puppy needs a grain-free diet. Grains have been shown to be beneficial for most dogs unless they have a specific allergy to them. Proteins, not grains, cause most allergies.

6. Jinx Salmon, Brown Rice, Sweet Potato Dry Food

Jinx Salmon, Brown Rice, Sweet Potato Kibble Dry Dog Food has salmon as its first ingredient and contains nothing artificial. It also has several antioxidant vitamins to build your puppy’s immunity and help them fight off free radicals. The high fiber content will keep your puppy regular and encourage a healthier gut.

To help your puppy’s heart, Jinx has omega-3 fatty acids and no fillers whatsoever. It’s important to know that this puppy chow contains ground peas as one of its first five ingredients. Although there’s no concrete evidence, peas are being investigated due to their possible connection to heart disease. Still, with salmon and turkey meal as two of the first five ingredients, it’s a high-quality puppy food.

7. Wellness Complete Health Puppy Food

With deboned chicken as its first ingredient, Wellness Complete Health Puppy Food provides nearly 30% protein content for your growing puppy. It also contains premium proteins, grains, and glucosamine for your puppy’s joints and bones.

One significant drawback is that some of the ingredients in this puppy chow come from China, which doesn’t regulate its animal food nearly as well as other countries. Also, there was one recall of Wellness Complete Health in 2012. However, it’s a well-balanced formula that’s not too expensive.

8. Blue Buffalo Life Protection Formula Puppy Food

Blue Buffalo Is one of the most well-known brands of dog food on the market today. Their Life Protection Formula, Natural Chicken & Brown Rice Flavor has deboned chicken and chicken meal as the first two ingredients, and it also contains omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids to help your puppy’s brain, heart, eyes, and teeth.

One concern was the many reports of upset tummies in puppies who had eaten this puppy chow. It also has a relatively high carbohydrate content, which most puppies don’t need. Still, Blue Buffalo has a winner on their hands with this quality puppy food.

9. Purina Pro Plan Lamb & Rice Formula Puppy Food

With real lamb as the #1 ingredient, Purina Pro Plan High Protein DHA Lamb & Rice Formula Puppy Food Is an excellent choice for your puppy. It’s balanced and has live probiotics as well as antioxidants to support your pup’s immunity and digestion. It’s also worth noting that lamb, generally speaking, is a hypoallergenic protein.

Purina Pro Plan is relatively high in protein and also excellent for your puppy’s digestion. That’s in part due to the probiotics it contains. It also has glucosamine to help your puppy’s bones and joints mature. However, the kibble is too large for some pups.

10. Royal Canin Small Puppy Dry Food

What we truly like about Royal Canin Small Puppy Dry Dog Food is that it’s naturally preserved with no artificial preservatives and has no artificial colors or flavors. It’s also high in antioxidants to build your puppy’s immune system and contains omega-3 fatty acids for brain health.

Unfortunately, Royal Canin is quite expensive and would be much higher on our list if it was more affordable. We can still recommend it since it’s more balanced than many of the other puppy foods on the market today.

11. NUTRO NATURAL CHOICE Puppy Dry Food

With no GMOs or by-products, Nutro Natural Choice Puppy Dry Dog Food Is a great puppy chow that contains plenty of protein and fat. It also contains DHA and omega-3 fatty acids and is relatively affordable compared to many other brands. Plus, Nutro Natural has antioxidants for immunity and calcium for strong puppy bones, and its primary protein source is chicken. One drawback, however, is the reports of quality issues with this brand.

Buyer’s Guide: How to Choose the Best Puppy Food for Your Pet

Feeding a puppy is different than feeding an adult dog for several reasons. Puppies grow extremely fast and need a higher amount of protein and fat for energy. Below are several other factors you must keep in mind when choosing puppy food for your new pooch.

Pick a Puppy Food and Stick With the Same One

The best way to keep a puppy healthy is not to feed it different foods but to feed it the correct amount of food every day. Remember, puppies, at least until they become picky adults, don’t need variety to be happy and healthy but instead need quality. Rather than trying to change up their meals every day, find a quality kibble your pup likes and stick to it.

Create a Feeding Routine

You might be surprised to know that the relationship your dog has with food is just as much mental as it is physical. Dogs are creatures of habit, and puppies are no different. They will figure out when feeding time is and expect to be fed at that time every day. If you get into a routine and stick to it, it’s healthier for your puppy.

Dry Food Is Easier than Wet Food

Puppies can eat wet and dry foods, but as we mentioned earlier, how much you feed them every day is critical. Measuring wet food can be a bit difficult because portion control isn’t as exact as it could be. Dry food is easier to measure, and it typically has a lot more protein than wet food.

Choose a Brand that’s as All-Natural as Possible

Puppies need high-quality puppy chow that uses as many natural ingredients as possible. You should look for food without fillers, additives, colorings, and GMOs.

Also, don’t believe the claims on the label of your puppy’s kibble, but look closely at the ingredient list.

Don’t Give Your Puppy Human Food

It can be extremely tempting to want to share your food with your puppy and create a stronger bond with them. The problem is that if your puppy gets used to eating human food, it might start ignoring its puppy food. That’s never a good thing and can cause even more problems once your puppy becomes an adult dog. It’s best to stick to puppy food and puppy treats.

Stick to Puppy Food, Not Dog Food

The reason dog food companies have separate lines for puppy food and adult dog food is that puppies have different nutritional needs than adult dogs. They’re growing faster, need higher amounts of protein and fat, and need food that’s easy to digest.

Smaller kibble pieces are also critical, and most puppy foods are smaller-sized so that puppies can easily chew the pieces. Until your puppy reaches adulthood, it’s best to stick to puppy food and stay away from adult dog food.

Final Thoughts

If you’re looking for one of the best puppy foods on the market this year, look no further than Orijen’s Amazing Grains Puppy Dry Dog Food; it’s our best overall choice, thanks to its abundance of healthy protein. Our best value, Purina ONE +Plus Natural High Protein Healthy Puppy Formula Dry Puppy Food, is well-balanced while still being affordable. Our premium choice, The Farmer’s Dog Beef Recipe, is an incredibly healthy fresh meal loaded with nutrients. Lastly, Hill’s Science Diet Puppy Small Paws Chicken & Vegetable Stew Dog Food Trays make feeding your puppy easy with their single-serving trays.

The rest of the puppy foods on our best puppy foods list are all excellent recipes. Whichever one you choose, we hope you find a puppy food that your puppy loves and helps it grow into a strong, energetic, and healthy adult dog.

Featured Image Credit: Dejan Dundjerski, Shutterstock