Honest Kitchen (Zeal Recipe)
Rating: 
| Price: $$$ | Website
Honest Kitchen
They also state on their website that this food is all human grade and is made in a facility where human food is processed. I have no qualms believing that.
This manufacturer has quite a few different varieties of food. If you go to their website, you’ll see them listed with ingredients. They all appear to be just as high of quality as this one.
Where to buy?
What’s good about this food….
Top quality ingredients. Meat is first ingredient, and a quality one at that. No by-products, corn, wheat or soy. Very solid inclusion of fruits and vegetables.
….and what’s not so good.
Absolutely nothing.
Ingredients:
Dehydrated white fish (Haddock, Whiting), sweet potatoes, eggs, organic coconut, alfalfa, apples, green beans, parsley, cabbage, bananas, Salmon, cranberries, garlic, rosemary, tricalcium phosphate, choline chloride, zinc amino acid chelate, vitamin D3 supplement, vitamin E supplement, potassium iodide, potassium chloride, iron amino acid chelate, copper amino acid chelate.
I initially intended to simply agree with the other comments that this food should have more than a $$$ rating as it’s more than twice the cost pound for pound than other foods that have a $$$$ rating. Specifically, comparing the cost of a 4.4 lb. bag of Nature’s Variety Instinct Grain Free Chicken (about $18 ~ $4.09/lb.) to a 4 lb. box of Honest Kitchen’s “Force” Grain Free Chicken recipe (about $43 ~ $10.75/lb.). But then I read that the THK food is freeze-dried and intended to be rehydrated. When following the instructions, the 4 lb. box becomes about 16 lbs. of food. That would bring the THK food’s cost down to ~$2.69/lb.
I feed my 12 wk. old Standard Poodle puppy Nature’s Variety Instinct, mixing Kibble and canned. I did some calculations to figure out what I was spending per pound of food and I was greatly surprised by the results.
I feed my pup about 2/3 cup kibble per serving, 3 times/day – all together that’s about 2 cups/day. I weighed 1 cup, each cup weighs 135g (~4.76 oz.) so that equates to about 15 cups per 4.4 lb. bag. A 4.4 lb bag lasts me about 1 week. I also add a few tbsp. of warmed chicken broth and about a 1/3 of NV Instinct canned food (~1.83 oz.) at an average of around $2.57 per can, per day. So, $18 for the kibble and $18 (7x$2.57) for the canned food, means I’m spending $36/week on 7 lbs. of dog food.
2 cups kibble/day ~ 2 * 4.76oz = 9.5 oz. kibble/day
1 can/day ~ 5.5oz
9.5 oz. + 5.5 oz ~ 15 oz food/day
adding in the weight of a few tbsp. of chicken broth, I’m feeding right about 1 lb. of food/day.
7 lbs./wk. @ $36
$36/7 = $5.14 / lb. !!
So, by my calculations The Honest Kitchen costs just a little over half the cost of Nature’s Variety Instinct.
I’m switching to The Honest Kitchen!
A 10 lb box of The Honest Kitchen dehydrated food is equivalent to a 40-lb bag of dry kibble. Daniel did the math too, and it’s actually not as expensive as you would think compared to other brands that can’t even come close to the same level of quality. I’m a strong supporter of THK in interest of my two furry four-legged children.
First thanks for the site and all the work put into making it a good source of info for both dog and cat foods!
I think Sherry wasn’t arguing the value of “human grade” food, but that she wonders why, regardless of what flavor one chooses, the cost isn’t listed as a “$$$$” rather than the “$$$” it’s listed as. I, too, wondered that. We currently feed our dogs ToTW (listed as a 5*, 3-$ dog food, just like this), but I’d not find the price of TotW comparable to the price of HK.
Help me understand how this VERY expensive food gets only three $$$ for cost? Right now on Amazon a 10-lb box costs $105.83. Even adjusting for the fact that you have to add water to reconstitute it, it’s a pretty high cost-per-meal/cost-per-month compared with other quality kibbles.
Is there something I am missing? A thrifty online source for this food? Please talk to me!
Hi Sherry,
I appreciate your feedback, and yes it is an expensive food. You are, however, paying for “human grade” food so do pay a premium for that. I find with Honest Kitchen the price varies a great deal within the range, so it’s worth looking around a bit. Surely it’s better to add water at home than pay for the weight of the water on the shelf? With Honest Kitchen you know you’re paying for the important stuff!
Here’s a 10lb box on Amazon for $58, about half the price of what you said – Honest Kitchen Keen 10lb.
Thanks for the link, but this is a different mix, recommended on their website for adult and less-active senior dogs. I have a 10-week old puppy, and will soon be bringing home an 18-month old. Both are Golden Retrievers. I applaud the use of human-grade ingredients, and while I would love to feed them this food, it just doesn’t seem to be affordable.
I feed my dog honest kitchen and pay about $75 for a 10lb. box. I am not feeding a pair of Golden Retrievers however; if I were I couldn’t afford this food either but for our 15lb. terrier I think it is worth it. She if very active and fit, her fur is super shiny and her bm’s are regular and not stinky…I attribute all of this to the food.