Has your local pet food store run out of your favorite Taste of the Wild recipe, or is the price of Taste of the Wild getting too high for you to keep up?
Well, you aren’t alone, and with the ongoing supply chain issues plaguing the world, Taste of the Wild recipes will likely be unavailable at times for the foreseeable future.
Most dog owners are painfully aware of how difficult switching a dog’s food can be, especially if they’ve been on their existing food for many years.
Finding an alternative to Taste of the Wild or any dog food brand isn’t easy, and there are many things to consider, including price, ingredients, nutrition, and availability.
What To Look For When Searching For An Alternative To Taste of the Wild Dog Food?
Price
For most looking for an alternative to Taste of the Wild, price is the most critical factor. Upgrading or switching to a more expensive brand isn’t an option.
Taste of the Wild dry dog food recipes typically cost between $55 to $60 for a 28lb bag depending on the sub-range and recipe.
This is roughly $1.9 to $2.2 per pound of dry dog food when purchased in larger bags.
You’ll want to check the weight of prospective alternatives and ensure they are a similar price per pound.
Ingredients
The ingredients found in an alternative dog food recipe are another significant factor. Many dogs have a poor reaction to new ingredients, which you’ll want to avoid if possible.
Taste of the Wild dog food recipes typically use meat ingredients like Chicken Meal, Lamb Meal, Beef, and Salmon.
Taste of the Wild also heavily uses plant-based ingredients like Peas, Chickpeas, Lentils, Sweet Potatoes, and Flaxseed.
Sorghum, Millet, Barley, and Brown Rice.
You are unlikely to be able to find an alternative dog food recipe with the same ingredient list, but instead, you may want to aim for most of the first five ingredients to be the same.
Nutrition
The nutritional value of a dog food recipe is also significant, with many dog owners picking dog food recipes because of their protein and fat content.
This is especially true for certain dogs with larger protein or fat requirements because of the high activity levels of life stages.
Taste of the Wild dry dog food recipes typically have between 25-32% protein and 15–18% fat; however, some recipes fall outside of this range.
When selecting an alternative, you may want to find a recipe with a protein and fat proportion within this range or 5% of your dog’s previous recipe.
Availability
Last but not least is the availability of the new dog food recipe. If you are switching because you can’t get your existing recipe reliably or it’s sold out, switching to another, which is challenging to get your hands on, is a bad idea.
You’ll want to check if the brand is available from multiple sources, such as at a local pet food store and online from pet food websites like Chewy.
Best Alternatives To Taste of the Wild Dog Food
Blue Buffalo
Blue Buffalo is one of the most popular pet food brands in the United States and feeds millions of dogs daily.
Along with Taste of the Wild, Blue Buffalo was one of the biggest winners from the grain-free trend in dog food, and they took advantage of that growth to expand their product range substantially.
Blue Buffalo dog food recipes are competitively priced, and a 22-30lb bag of dry food can be typically purchased for between $60-$75, depending on the recipe type.
This price range is between $2-$3.4 per pound of dry dog food which is slightly higher than most Taste of the Wild recipes.
Blue Buffalo uses an extensive range of high-quality meat and fish ingredients in their recipes, many of which are shared with Taste of the Wild.
Some examples included Salmon, Salmon Meal, Chicken, Chicken Meal, Turkey, Turkey Meal, and Lamb.
For plant-based ingredients, Blue Buffalo offers a broad range of both grain-inclusive and grain-free recipes, and they typically utilize ingredients like Brown Rice, Barley, Oatmeal Peas, Tapioca, and Potatoes.
As for nutrition, Blue Buffalo pulls ahead of Taste of the Wild, and in some cases, by an impressive margin.
Most of American Journey’s dry dog food recipes contain 22%-34% protein and 14%-16% fat which is very similar to Taste of the Wild.
The high protein proportion could benefit some dogs, especially those that are highly active.
Blue Buffalo is straightforward to purchase from physical retail pet stores across the United States.
Many larger dedicated pet stores like PetSmart or Petco will stock their recipes, although they may not have all available.
While some retail locations may have a limited selection, Blue Buffalo stocks all its recipes online at large pet food websites like Chewy and Amazon.
You can see which Blue Buffalo recipes are stocked on Chewy here and see which are stocked on Amazon here.
As for which Blue Buffalo recipe, we’d recommend you check out their Life Protection Chicken & Brown Rice recipe.
While it might not have the most meat content or impressive nutrition, it is Blue Buffalo’s most consistent recipe and is popular among thousands of dog owners.
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Purina Pro Plan
Purina Pro Plan is Purina’s premier product line and is one of the most popular and trusted brands in the industry.
Purina performs a tremendous amount of research and development for their products, especially those designed for pets with dietary or other health issues.
Purina Pro Plan typically costs between $60-$90 for a 33-50 lb-pound bag of dry dog food.
This price range works out to be anywhere from $1.75-$3 per pound of dry dog food which is in line with or higher than some Taste of the Wild recipes.
Purina Pro Plan uses similar ingredients in their recipes, such as poultry, red meat, and fish. Examples include ingredients like Chicken, Poultry By-Product Meal, Salmon, and Beef.
On the plant-based side, Purina Pro Plan heavily relies on grain ingredients throughout its product range, including Wheat, Corn, Corn Gluten Meal, Oat Meal, Barley, and Rice.
We compared the nutritional value of five Purina Pro Plan recipes to five Taste of the Wild recipes and found that the protein levels in their recipes varied from 26-30%, and the fat levels in their recipes varied from 12-20%.
Based on this, the nutritional profile of most Purina Pro Plan dry dog food recipes is likely to be very similar to Taste of the Wild recipes with similar levels of both protein and fat.
Purina Pro Plan should be straightforward to purchase from physical retail pet stores across the United States.
You will be sure to find their recipes at dedicated pet stores like PetSmart or Petco rather than at grocery stores like Walmart.
You will also most likely be able to purchase Purina Pro Plan from many veterinary practices which stock them.
While some retail locations may have a limited selection, Purina Pro Plan stocks all its recipes online at large pet food websites like Chewy and Amazon.
You can see which Purina Pro Plan recipes are stocked on Chewy here and see which are stocked on Amazon here.
As we briefly mentioned earlier, Purina Pro Plan’s unique selling point is having a vast range of dog food recipes for sensitive skin and stomachs and other common health issues.
These have thousands of hours of research and development behind them and can make a massive difference to the quality of life of many dogs.
However, if you are looking for a more generic recipe from Purina Pro Plan, the Complete Essentials Salmon & Rice Formula below could be an excellent choice.
Earthborn Holistic
Earthborn Holistic is a staple mid-priced pet food brand that has been a staple of the United States pet industry for many years.
Their extensive product range ensures that they’ll have a recipe to suit any dog’s preferences or needs, such as grain-free food, grain-inclusive food, and limited-ingredient food.
Earthborn Holistic is typically priced at a higher level than most Taste of the Wild recipes, with a recipe typically costing between $60-$80 for a 25 lb-pound bag of dry dog food.
This price range is anywhere from $2.4-$3.2 per pound of dry dog food, higher than many Taste of the Wild recipes.
While Earthborn Holistic uses some similar ingredients in their recipes, they also have some much less common additions.
Examples include ingredients like Chicken Meal, Turkey Meal, Herring Meal, Pollock Meal, Rabbit Meal, and Salmon.
On the plant-based side, given that Earthborn Holistic has both grain-free and grain-inclusive recipes, the range of ingredients used is broad.
For grain-free ingredients, Earthborn Holistic relies upon legumes like Peas and starches like Tapioca and Sweet Potatoes.
On the flip side, some examples of grain ingredients used include Wheat, Corn, Corn Gluten Meal, Oat Meal, Barley, and Rice.
We compared the nutritional value of five Earthborn Holistic recipes to five Taste of the Wild recipes and found that the protein levels in their recipes varied from 24-32%, and the fat levels in their recipes varied from 13-19%.
Based on this, the nutritional profile of most Earthborn Holistic dry dog food recipes is likely to be very similar to Taste of the Wild recipes with similar levels of both protein and fat.
Earthborn Holistic is generally relatively easy to purchase from physical retail pet stores across the United States, but it will vary from state to state.
Many larger dedicated pet stores like PetSmart or Petco will likely stock their recipes, although they may not have all available.
While some retail locations may have a limited selection, Earthborn Holistic stocks all its recipes online at large pet food websites like Chewy and Amazon.
You can see which Earthborn Holistic recipes are stocked on Chewy here and see which are stocked on Amazon here.
One of Earthborn Holistic’s unique selling points is that they are one of the few brands offering grain-free food that doesn’t solely depend on legumes like Peas or Lentils.
Some of their recipes exclusively use starches like Tapioca and larger quantities of Pumpkin.
However, despite this, we will recommend one of their newer grain-inclusive recipes thanks to its use of high-quality grains and impressive nutrition.
Earthborn Holistic Unrefined – Smoked Turkey Review
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If you’d like to learn more about Earthborn Holistic, check out our Earthborn Holistic Brand Review for a detailed discussion and analysis.
Acana
Another familiar brand that comes up when looking for alternatives to Taste of the Wild is Acana.
Acana and its sister brand Orijen have gained a cult following, and many dog owners alternate between their recipes or have used both in the past.
However, Acana is aimed at a price point than Taste of the Wild and is more in line with other similar premium brands, whereas Taste of the Wild is a mid-priced brand.
A typical Acana recipe costs between $65 to $90 for a 22.5-25lb bag of dry dog food.
This is roughly $2.6 to $4 per pound of dry dog food which is noticeably higher than most similar Taste of the Wild recipes.
Acana uses very similar ingredients in their dry dog food recipes, including whole meat ingredients and meat meals like Beef, Beef Meal, Chicken, Turkey, and Chicken Meal,
On the plant-based side, Acana heavily relies on the same legumes found in Taste of the Wild recipes, like Peas, Lentils, Beans, and Chickpeas.
However, just as Taste of the Wild has expanded into grain-inclusive food, so has Acana, and their recipes use grains like Oats, Sorghum, and Millet.
We compared the nutritional value of five Acana recipes to five Taste of the Wild recipes and found that the protein levels in their recipes varied from 27-31%, and the fat levels in their recipes are consistently 17%.
Based on this, the nutritional profile of most Acana dry dog food recipes is likely to be very similar to Taste of the Wild, with similar protein and fat proportions.
Acana should be relatively easy to purchase from physical retail pet stores across the United States.
However, you are more likely to find their recipes at dedicated pet stores than at large grocery stores like Walmart.
While some retail locations may have a limited selection, Acana stocks all its recipes online at large pet food websites like Chewy and Amazon.
You can see which Acana recipes are stocked on Chewy and which are stocked on Amazon here.
One of our favorite traits of Acana is that its recipes are consistent and have similar nutritional values and ingredient quality.
For this reason, we would suggest that you select your Acana recipe based on your dog’s preference for meat and fish ingredients.
For example, if your dog enjoys red meat, you should consider the Red Meat Recipe, or if your dog enjoys fish, consider the Freshwater Fish recipe.
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Rachael Ray Nutrish
Rachael Ray Nutrish is an extremely popular pet food brand and is one of Taste of the Wild’s biggest competitors.
Rachael Ray Nutrish is priced below or in line with Taste of the Wild, with their recipes typically costing between $1.5 per pound to $2 per pound when purchased in larger bags.
However, the ingredients found in Rachael Ray Nutrish’s recipes are very similar to Taste of the Wild, with the inclusion and widespread use of Chicken, Chicken Meal, Brown Rice, and Peas.
However, Rachael Ray Nutrish includes some ingredients not commonly found in Taste of the Wild recipes, like Soybean Meal, Brewers Rice, and Corn.
We compared the nutritional value of five Rachael Ray Nutrish recipes to five Taste of the Wild recipes and found that they had similar nutritional profiles, with most of the recipes having a proportion of protein between 20-30% and a fat proportion between 12-15%.
Rachael Ray Nutrish is one of the most widely sold brands in the United States and is available for purchase from retail pet food locations such as PetSmart and large grocery stores like Walmart.
You can also purchase Rachael Ray Nutrish from several online pet food websites like Amazon and Chewy, which often stock more recipes or offer discounts.
You can see which Rachael Ray Nutrish recipes are stocked on Chewy here and see which are stocked on Amazon here.
We recommend you purchase one of Rachael Ray Nutrish’s Peak recipes, as we believe these are the most comparable to Taste of the Wild.
Their Peak Open Prairie recipe below is one of their most popular and includes impressive nutrition from high-quality ingredients like Beef and Chicken Meal.
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American Journey
American Journey is not a dog food brand that dog owners will be familiar with seeing on the shelves of their local pet food store.
This is because American Journey is the private-label brand of the vast online pet food website Chewy.
Despite this limitation, American Journey has seen substantial growth thanks to the success of Chewy and is an option you should consider.
Due to it being associated with Chewy, American Journey dog food recipes are competitively priced, and a 28lb or 24lb bag of dry food can be typically purchased for between $40-$50, depending on the recipe type.
This is roughly $1.5 to $2 per pound of dry dog food which is lower than most similar Taste of the Wild recipes.
However, Chewy does offer 35% off your first purchase of American Journey using their Autoship service, which is a tempting offer for many.
American Journey uses an extensive range of high-quality meat and fish ingredients in their recipes, many of which are shared with Taste of the Wild.
Some examples included Salmon, Chicken, Chicken Meal, Turkey Meal, Lamb, and Beef.
For plant-based ingredients, American Journey offers a broad range of both grain-inclusive and grain-free recipes, and they typically utilize ingredients like Brown Rice, Barley, Peas, Chickpeas, and Sweet Potatoes.
As for nutrition, American Journey sometimes pulls ahead of Taste of the Wild, which is impressive given its price point.
Most of American Journey’s dry dog food recipes contain 25%-35% protein and 14%-16% fat which in some cases is slightly above Taste of the Wild.
This higher protein proportion could benefit some dogs, especially those that are highly active.
As we touched on when first discussing American Journey, they are the private label brand of Chewy, which means they are only available to purchase online from their website.
You can see American Journey’s full range of dog food recipes here.
Thankfully Chewy has a huge supply chain to rely on for the delivery and production of its American Journey, and you can be confident that their food will typically be available.
However, if you want to purchase an alternative to Taste of the Wild that is also available from retail pet food stores, American Journey may not be the brand for you.
As for which American Journey recipe, we’d recommend you check out their Active Life Salmon, Brown Rice, & Vegetables recipe thanks to its competitive pricing and the large portion of Salmon present, which provides an impressive level of beneficial Omega Fatty Acids.
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