Primal Dog Food Reviews: A Raw Revolution in Canine Nutrition

Primal is a premium raw food company that positions itself as an industry leader in the area of all-natural organic pet foods. They believe that dogs should eat in a way that closely mimics how they would if they were out in the wild.

The Primal dog food contains the highest quality ingredients and 100% edible-grade meats and certified organic produce.

The company refers to their food as “species-appropriate nutrition,” so everything they include in their food is put in there for a specific reason.

All the food gets made with fresh, antibiotic and steroid free muscle meat, organs, and bones without any added hormones.

Lastly, they do not use any pet-grade meats in any of their products. This means that you as a human would be able to eat this food and it would be considered healthy for you.

All of their protein gets naturally sourced from ranches in the United States, New Zealand, Australia and Europe.

Primal’s Quality Guarantee:

No grain, gluten, corn, wheat, soy, synthetic vitamins, steroids, hormones, antibiotics, or crates get used in the process of creating their food.

All the animals are grass fed, vegetable fed, wild caught, ethically raised, manufactured in the USA, human-edible, certified organic, and sustainably sourced.

Read on below for all the details that you need to know with our comprehensive Primal Dog Food Reviews.

Brand Quick Look

• Parent Company: None
• Founded in: 2000
• Made in: California USA
• Available at:  Local Retailers, and limited products available on Chewy, Amazon, Petsmart
• Types of Food: Raw, Freeze-Dried, Meaty Bones, Treats
• Real Meat in First 5 Ingredients? : Yes
• Recalled in Past? : Yes

Behind the Brand

The story of Primal Foods started in early 2000 when the founder Matt Koss saw that his dog was showing early signs of renal failure. He tried everything to help with this issue to no avail and decided it was time to take serious action.

He took his pup to a holistic veterinarian who recommended switching him to a diet of bones and raw food which closely mimics how his dog would eat in the wild.

It didn’t take long before he noticed Luna was not only eating better, but she showed signs of increased energy and overall quality of life. Once Matt saw these incredible results he felt like he had to share it with the world.

Matt set out to create a pet food brand focused on using only the best human-grade ingredients to feed our pets like they are a member of our family. Since then, Primal has changed the lives of pets and pet owners nationwide.

Primal Dog Food Reviews

 

1. Pork Formula Nuggets

First 5 ingredients: Pork Hearts, Ground Pork Bones, Pork Livers, Organic Kale, Organic Squash

This is one of the complete meals from Primal’s balanced bases for dogs. The ingredients in this recipe are freeze-dried raw. This shelf-stable raw food is convenient to feed to dogs. Simply break the nuggets into your desired portion sizes, shred, and rehydrate with water, broth, or goat milk.

It is a high-protein (39%) freeze-dried dog food, with pork hearts as the main ingredient, providing both quality protein and a rich flavor dogs enjoy.

Ethically sourced, crate-free pork is used, free from hormones, antibiotics, and steroids. The formula includes fresh pork bone for natural calcium and organic produce like collard greens, cranberries, and blueberries for essential nutrients and antioxidants.

It contains no grains, gluten, or artificial additives, making it ideal for sensitive dogs. Convenient to serve and rehydrate, it’s a popular choice for pet parents transitioning their dogs to a raw diet.

2. Chicken Formula Nuggets

First 5 ingredients: Chicken (with ground bone), Chicken Livers, Organic Carrots, Organic Squash, Organic Kale

This is another one of the brand’s balanced bases. They are called balanced bases as they are complete meals that can be served as a base for Primal's meal boosters like bone broths, Edible Elixirs, and raw goat’s milk. These freeze-dried nuggets are a convenient way to serve raw meals to your pup.

This is a high-protein (37%) grain-free freeze-dried dog food made from fresh chicken meat, necks, gizzards, and liver, offering a rich, meaty flavor that dogs love.

The protein helps maintain lean muscle mass, while finely ground chicken bones provide natural calcium. The recipe includes nutritious fats from salmon oil and organic coconut oil to promote healthy skin and coat.

Packed with organic produce like kale, carrots, and squash, it delivers fiber, antioxidants, and balanced nutrition without synthetic additives. Free from common allergens like grains, corn, wheat, and soy, it's ideal for sensitive dogs.

Pet parents report improvements in their dogs’ overall health, digestion, and coat quality, though some find it costly, especially for larger or multiple dogs. Many use it as a kibble topper to maximize its benefits while managing costs.

3. Turkey & Sardine Formula Nuggets

First 5 ingredients: Turkey (with ground bone), Turkey Livers, Whole Sardines, Organic Squash, Organic Kale

This is a convenient freeze-dried complete meal that features two sources of protein. This recipe is perfect for canine fish fans. It is rich in flavor and all the nutrients naturally found in its organic ingredients.

This product offers an easy-to-prepare, nutrient-dense raw diet option for dogs. Simply break or shred the freeze-dried nuggets and rehydrate with water.

With fresh turkey as the main protein source, along with sardines rich in omega-3 fatty acids, this 40% protein formula supports skin, coat, and joint health. Compared to other recipes, it's lower in fat (23%) and includes organic coconut oil for added skin benefits.

Organic produce like collard greens, squash, blueberries, and cranberries provide antioxidants and fiber. Free from grains, fillers, and synthetic additives, this recipe is ideal for dogs with sensitivities.

Fur parents appreciate its convenience, quality, and health benefits, though some find it expensive and use it as a kibble topper to manage costs.

4. Lamb Formula Nuggets

First 5 ingredients: Lamb Hearts, Ground Lamb Bones, Lamb Liver, Organic Carrots, Organic Squash

This is a highly nutritious raw dog food that has been freeze-dried for your convenience. It has all of the nutrients of a raw diet, without the short shelf life or risk of unwanted bacteria. This lamb recipe can be served on its own, or as a kibble-topper.

It has fresh lamb hearts and livers as the main protein source. These ingredients make up most of this recipe’s 39% protein content. They come from ethically raised lamb that is free from steroids, added hormones, and antibiotics.

The Lamb hearts and livers give this freeze-dried raw food a rich and delicious flavor that dogs love. Finely ground fresh lamb bones provide dogs with optimum levels of calcium. This lamb recipe has ideal levels of amino acids, essential fatty acids, and natural enzymes.

Featuring salmon oil and organic coconut oil for skin and coat health, it also includes fresh organic produce like kale, carrots, squash, and blueberries for fiber and natural nutrients. Free from common allergens like wheat, corn, and soy, it contains no synthetic additives.

Versatile and easy to prepare, it can be served as a full meal or a kibble topper to save costs. Primal also suggests pairing it with their bone broths, raw goat milk, or Edible Elixirs for added health benefits.

Consumers report that it is gentle on sensitive stomachs and highly palatable, though the high cost leads some to use it as a treat or topper.

5. Duck Formula Nuggets

First 5 ingredients: Duck (with ground bone), Duck Livers, Organic Pumpkin Seeds, Organic Sunflower Seeds, Organic Cranberries

This right here is a high-protein raw food that is shelf-stable and ready to serve. The freeze-dried raw nuggets are a breeze to serve. Simply shred the nuggets, rehydrate with water, and serve to your pup. It can be served on its own as a meal, or as a meal enhancer.

Made with antibiotic, hormone and steroid-free fresh duck meat and organs, it provides high-quality protein for your dog’s muscle mass maintenance. At 42% protein, it has one of the highest protein content among Prima’s freeze-dried nuggets recipes.

This is a flavorful, nutrient-dense freeze-dried raw dog food. Made from duck meat, organs, and finely ground bones, it provides high-quality protein and natural calcium.

The 30% fat content comes from healthy fats like salmon oil and organic coconut oil, which promote skin and coat health through omega and medium-chain fatty acids.

Packed with organic vegetables and superfoods like kale, carrots, apples, and blueberries, it offers antioxidants for immune support. Free from grains, fillers, and synthetic additives, it's ideal for sensitive dogs.

Pet owners love the recipe's palatability and health benefits, though many use it as a kibble topper due to its high cost.

6. Venison Nuggets

Frist 5 ingredients: Venison, Venison Hearts, Ground Venison Bones, Venison Livers, Organic Pumpkin Seeds

This is a nutritionally complete raw meal for dogs that is conveniently freeze-dried. Made of raw venison, this ultra high-protein dog food combines the nutrition of a raw diet with the convenience of ready to serve food.

It boasts the highest protein content in the brand's freeze-dried range, with 59% protein to support lean muscle mass, mimicking dogs' ancestral diets.

Made from antibiotic, hormone, and steroid-free venison meat, organs, and bones, it also includes sardine oil and organic coconut oil for a 28% fat content, promoting healthy skin and coat.

The recipe includes organic produce like collard greens, squash, blueberries, and cranberries for antioxidants and fiber. Free from grains, gluten, corn, and soy, it's ideal for sensitive dogs and retains natural nutrients without synthetic supplements.

While the freeze-dried nuggets are convenient and easy to prepare, some pet parents find them harder to break compared to other formulas. Although dogs generally enjoy the venison flavor, some prefer other proteins.

7. Kibble in the Raw Fish & Pork Recipe 

This is a premium, nutrient-rich meal designed to nourish your pup the way nature intended. Made with wild-caught fish and crate-free pork, this recipe delivers high-quality protein to support muscle development and overall health.

Organic produce provides essential vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, ensuring a balanced and wholesome diet. Each serving is carefully crafted with premium, raw ingredients that are specially prepared to retain their nutritional value and then freeze-dried to lock in maximum flavor and digestibility.

This process preserves the integrity of real, whole-food nutrition, allowing your dog to enjoy the benefits of a raw diet with the convenience of a scoop-and-serve meal.

Free from synthetic vitamins, minerals and artificial ingredients, it offers a clean, natural, and highly digestible option to keep your four-legged family member thriving.

As these are high in protein, many pet owners enjoy giving their pups more of this tasty meal. They are ideal for dogs who are on a low-carb diet, or those under weight management.

8. Let's All Get A Lung Beef Treats

These meaty dog treats boasts a unique puffy texture. Made of gently dehydrated lungs, these treats are not only packed with flavor, but also highly nutritious. It is perfect as a training reward or a light and chewy snack.

This single ingredient snack is high in protein at 66%. The treats get their appetizing flavor and texture from gentle dehydrating techniques. This also helps retain all of its natural nutrients.

These are made with USDA beef that is ethically raised without antibiotics, steroids or added hormones. It contains no grains, cor, or wheat. These tasty treats are ideal for sensitive pups as it is a limited-ingredient food product.

Dogs absolutely love these beefy treats. It has even passed the strict standards of some picky pups. However, this is another product from Primal with a shelf life that is too short for some.

It is recommended that it be kept refrigerated and consumed within 14 days from opening.

9. Peelin' Fantastic Chicken & Banana with Goat Milk Treats

These are limited ingredient treats for both dogs and cats. The treats are crunchy and packed with flavor. This high protein product is made from chicken raised in the US without antibiotics or added hormones.

With no other ingredient aside from chicken liver, banana and goat milk, it is high in protein at 31%. It is also quite low in fat at 24%. These munchies get their concentrated meaty flavor and high-density nutrition from the gentle freeze-drying technique.

This crunchy chicken treat is perfect for dogs with allergies as it has only one ingredient. It is free from grains, gluten, corn, soy, as well as artificial enhancers such as flavors, colors or preservatives.

Dogs just love munching on these freeze-dried treats. They enjoy the rich liver flavor and its crunchy texture. The pieces can be easily broken into small ones if you wish to give them as training rewards.

Pet parents love that it is made with only chicken & chicken liver and nothing else. They feel confident giving their pups this high-protein treat as it is absolutely free from any questionable ingredients.

What Types of Dog Food Do They Offer?

Primal offers a seemingly endless array of raw products for your dogs to enjoy. We are amazed by the number of offerings this company has from freeze-dried foods to bones and even goat milk. Primal displays passion for what they do and they care about sourcing and providing only the best for your pups.

Primal Nuggets

The nuggets come from their complete formula line which is meant to be as close to simple dog food as possible. Your dog's whole nutrition comes from feeding them this one type of food, so it's simple and easy for busy dog owners.

The food also comes pre-portioned, so you don’t have to think about chopping or portioning anything out. These nuggets also come in an endless amount of variety so jump aboard.

• Chicken
• Beef
• Duck
• Lamb
• Pheasant
• Pork
• Rabbit
• Turkey and Sardine
• Venison
• Quail

Let’s take a more in-depth look into the rabbit formula for example. Primal’s goal is to make sure that all of their food contains real muscle meat as the first ingredient with supplemental organs and vegetables to follow. The rabbit formula succeeds in doing that with the first five ingredients being: Rabbit, organic collard greens, organic squash, organic celery, and rabbit livers.

As you dive deeper down the list of ingredients, they do not get worse like a lot of pet foods; there is nothing that sounds like a chemical or anything unhealthy at all, and we are seriously impressed by this dog food.

 

Primal Pronto Scoop and Serve

The primal pronto line is also part of the complete formula, and it looks like dry dog food, but it’s frozen, thawed, and served. Similar to the rest of Primal foods, it contains all-natural human-grade ingredients and comes with plenty of nutritional information to make you feel good about your decision to go raw.

We like this option because it mimics dry food so if you’re trying to transition your pup away from hard food and they are giving you a tough time this might be the best option for you. The food only comes in a four-pound bag though, but if you are feeding your pup a more balanced and nutritious diet, they shouldn't have to eat as much.

Here’s a list of flavors and options:

• Beef
• Turkey and Sardine
• Pork
• Lamb
• Duck
• Chicken

Let’s take a closer look at the pork formula for example. This food provides a wholly balanced raw diet for your dog so you could feed them this food alone and they would receive all the protein, fat, fiber, and carbs they need to live a healthy life.

With every food you look at your get a guaranteed analysis breakdown of the nutrients in each food. This one contains 13% protein, 7% fat, 1% fiber, and .2% carbs. We like to see more fiber in our dog's diets because most hard food contains between 3-6% fiber, so that's a little disappointing, but you could always supplement something in or choose a different formula.

Starter Packs

There is limited information available online about what a starter pack is but mostly it's a trial pack that contains a few different flavor nuggets so your pup can try it before you buy it. The canine starter pack comes with a beef, chicken, pork, and turkey/sardine nugget to try. That is all the information we could find on the company website.

Bone Broth

Primal recommends adding bone broth to your dog's diet because it adds necessary moisture, digestion support, and joint support to their regular diet. You can add it into your commercial food or supplement it alongside some of Primals offerings. Bone broth is a great way to help ensure your pet is always hydrated and healthy .

Here are some of the flavors they offer:

• Beef
• Chicken
• Pork
• Turkey

Let’s take a look at the beef bone broth. There isn’t any information about the extracting and preparation process behind the creation of this bone broth, but we would assume it happens through boiling the boils and sifting out any imperfections.

In addition to regular beef bones, the broth contains a variety of vegetables like squash, bok choy, and celery. The bone broth gets sold frozen at local retailers, and they recommend thawing it when you are about to use it and introducing bone broth slowly to their diet. It comes in an easy to pour, resealable pouch.

Raw Goat Milk

According to Primal, goat milk is known as the “universal milk” because it’s rich in vitamins, minerals, electrolytes, trace elements, enzymes, proteins, and fatty acids. All of the milk is sourced ethically and humanely from free-range goats and can get fed to dogs in every stage of life.

They recommend adding goat milk as supplementary nutrition to your dog's already healthy diet.

Raw Frozen Mixes

This food blend is intended for use as a supplement you can add to your dog's diet. They come frozen in a long block similar to ground beef or sausage that you would buy at a grocery store, and they recommend mixing it in with commercial pet food to help add more nutritional value to the food. It comes in some of the following flavors:

• Lamb
• Sardine
• Chicken
• Beef

Raw Meaty Bones

Upon first glance, these bones appear to be raw pieces of meat, so they look a bit intimidating, but Primal says they are useful for tooth, gum, and jaw health in canines. They are rich in calcium and are great as an extra treat every once in a while. They come in the following options:

• Chicken Necks
• Turkey Necks
• Chicken Backs

Let’s take a more in-depth look at the turkey neck option. These necks look exactly like what you would pull out of the turkey at Thanksgiving (because they are). Primal says your dog can completely consume the bone because they are soft and they do not splinter and become sharp. They do recommend your dog only eats these when supervised though.

Recreational Bones

These bones look more like the typical dog bones you would buy from the pet store, and they are not intended to get consumed completely. Instead, your dog would chew on them and receive all the nutritional benefits from the meat on the bone, and you would discard the inner bone.

These provide necessary exercise to your dog's jaw, and they help massage their gums and clean their teeth. They come in a wide variety of different sizes, flavors, and shapes for your pup.

Treats

Primal offers nutritional treats that contain all the best ingredients as their food does. They prepare these treats using low-temperature, slow cooking techniques, so all of the nutritional value remains even when the food is freeze-dried.

They recommend using the treats as a healthy alternative to processed treats and for obedience training rewards. They come in some of the following flavors:

• Turkey Liver
• Jerky Pork Nibs
• Organic Chicken Nibs
• Beef Nibs
• Chicken Chips
• Dry Roasted Venison Lung
• Dry Roasted Buffalo Liver

Recall History

Since Primal’s founding in 2000, there have been three recalls. Here they are in reverse chronological order.

• December 2017 – Primal recalls freeze dried chicken, duck, and turkey formula for ground bone sizes being too large in the food.
• March 2015 – Primal recalls a raw turkey formula for low thiamine levels.
• May 2011 – Primal recalls chicken and salmon formula and chicken and salmon nuggets for possible salmonella contamination.

Customer Reviews

Primal products have a limited availability online, so we were only able to find reviews on Chewy.com of a specific freeze-dried nugget product. There are also many testimonials available on their website, but there is no validity to those reviews. Here are some real-life reviews of what customers think of Primal Foods.

Positive

It’s a hit!  – One of my two dogs has allergies. I've switched his food several times. This is one of the only dog foods which does not make him itch. When switching their food, I did it gradually. I would offer the kibble they were coming off of in the morning and this in the evening. It was evident that they enjoyed the taste of this food much more than their current variety. So glad to have found this product! – Chewy Customer

Premium stuff  – This is good stuff. I crush up 2 or 3 blocks and mix with kibble and add warm water. My lab likes it a lot and does well on it. I feel good about the quality. However, even using such a small quantity, a $30 bag lasts a little over a week.. which is extravagant. I will have to find an alternative and use this more sparingly. – Chewy Customer

Negative

Not what I thought it would be – I have always purchased the frozen variety and thought this would be a better option. It seems to take forever to get the nuggets to soak in the water. I'm going back to the frozen ones at my local pet store. More expensive, but less hassle. – Chewy Customer

Time-consuming and does not readily absorb liquid – My dog didn't like this as well as the frozen. It's a lot of extra work to cut it up small enough to get it to absorb the liquid. Then I had to squeeze the liquid into it and leave it overnight. Good for traveling but inferior to frozen. – Chewy Customer

Final Say

Primal Dog Food stands out for its commitment to high-quality, nutrient-dense ingredients that align with a raw diet philosophy.

Their freeze-dried recipes feature ethically sourced meats, wholesome organic produce, and no synthetic additives, making them a great option for pet owners seeking a balanced, natural diet for their dogs.

Many pet parents appreciate the convenience of their products, which are easy to prepare while retaining the nutritional benefits of raw feeding.

However, the premium pricing may be a consideration for some, particularly for households with multiple dogs. Overall, it is a reliable choice for those prioritizing quality nutrition and the well-being of their pets.