The 10 Best Puppy Foods of 2026

Best Overall

Purina Pro Plan Puppy Food

$53 at Amazon View on Chewy

$20

$20 at Petco

With their rapid growth and soaring energy levels, puppies benefit from a high-protein diet to support their muscle and bone development, and with each serving of Purina Pro Plan Puppy Formula, your developing pup will get the protein, fat, calcium, and phosphorus their body needs.

More than 50 dog parents in our survey group fill their dog's bowl with a recipe from Purina Pro Plan, crediting their vet's recommendation as the lead determining factor in their choice. Plus, all the Puppy Formula foods from Purina Pro Plan provide probiotics for digestive health, omega-6 fatty acids derived from fish oil, and a wide spectrum of minerals and vitamins.

Purina Pro Plan uses real animal-derived protein as the first ingredient in all of its recipes for puppy food. The dry food is available in two forms, Healthy Puppy or Healthy Puppy Large Breed—for dogs likely to grow over 50 pounds as an adult—and in five flavors: Shredded Blend Chicken & Rice, Chicken & Rice, Lamb & Rice, Salmon & Rice, and Lamb & Oatmeal, with the latter two formulated for puppies with sensitive skin and stomachs.

Purina Pro Plan Puppy Formula is also available as wet food in three formulations: Classic, Grain-Free, and High Protein, with beef, chicken, and turkey as the lead sources of protein. The kibble and the canned foods can be mixed if that is something your young dog enjoys. But recipes often include by-product meals, corn gluten meal, and/or pea protein. The latter (pea protein) is suitable for dogs in small doses and is primarily used in Purina Pro Plan's Sensitive Skin and Stomach recipes.

On the packaging of Purina Pro Plan Puppy Formula food, you'll find month-to-month serving size guidance based on the anticipated adult weight of your puppy.

_{Food Type: Dry, wet | Flavors: Shredded blend chicken & rice, chicken & rice, lamb & rice, salmon & rice (sensitive skin & stomach), lamb & oatmeal (sensitive skin & stomach), beef & rice (wet), chicken & brown rice (wet), turkey entree (wet), chicken entree (wet)}

Best Wet

Hill's Science Diet Puppy Wet Food

$45 at Amazon View on Chewy

$4

$4 at Petco

If you want to feed your dog a moisture-rich dog food, we recommend Hill's Science Diet Puppy Food to give your growing pup a meaty flavor they'll enjoy, along with essential vitamins and minerals to support their growth. Of the hundreds of dog parents we consulted with for our dog food evaluation, an overwhelming majority feed their dog a food from Hill's Science Diet—veterinarians recommend it, dogs love it, and dog parents find it convenient and reasonably priced.

All four recipes for puppies are made with high-quality protein (chicken or beef) to support muscle development, phosphate and calcium for strong bones, DHA omega-3 derived from fish oil for brain development, a blend of antioxidants and vitamins to support their immune system, and prebiotic fiber to keep their digestive system balanced.

If you have a small breed puppy, one 13-ounce can will provide multiple meals, but you can also opt for 5.8-ounce cans equipped with a convenient pull tab or sealed foil-top trays with 3.5 ounces of savory puppy food. With larger breed puppies—who tend to have big appetites—feeding exclusively wet food can quickly add up in price. Fortunately, you can mix your puppy's favorite can of Hill's Science Diet Puppy Food with the same formula in a dry kibble form, like Hill's Science Diet Large Breed Chicken & Rice Dry Dog Food.

_{Type: Wet | Flavors: Chicken & rice stew, chicken & barley, chicken & vegetables, beef & barley}

Best Budget

Purina ONE Plus Healthy Puppy Formula

$35

$32 at Amazon $32 at Chewy $34 at Petco

When it comes to budget-friendly dog food, Purina is a brand that offers a wide range of options for every stage of your dog's life. Purina ONE +Plus Healthy Puppy Formula food is our top recommendation for affordable puppy food that provides the proper nutrition. The kibble is made with chicken as the first ingredient and the consistency is a mix of crunchy bites and tender meaty morsels, while the canned wet food for puppies is made with ground lamb as the lead protein source, along with long-grain rice, a tasty, nutritious meal that is easy for puppies to digest.

Purina ONE +Plus Healthy Puppy Formula food is from the same parent company (Nestlé Purina PetCare) as our pick for Best Overall, Purina Pro Plan High Protein Puppy Food, and the puppy foods from each brand share many of the same benefits—enriched with DHA for vision and brain development, excellent source of calcium and glucosamine for strong bones, muscles, and joints, and fortified with vitamins, minerals, and nutrients that a puppy needs. But Purina ONE products, including puppy foods, are more widely available and at a lower price than Purina Pro Plan.

But within the Healthy Puppy line from Purina ONE, there are only three food products: the aforementioned kibble and wet food, plus a dry food formula for large breeds optimized to meet the unique needs of puppies destined to be big dogs with a slightly different ratio of protein, fat, and fiber.

_{Type: Dry, wet | Flavors: Chicken (dry), lamb & rice (wet)}

Best for Allergies

Blue Buffalo Skin & Stomach Care Puppy Food

$70 at Amazon $70 at Chewy

$26

$21 at Petco

The recipe for Blue Buffalo Basics Skin & Stomach Care Puppy Food is formulated to be gentle going in and coming out of a puppy. It's made with turkey as the single protein source and paired with potatoes, peas, and pumpkin to support gentle digestion. Each serving of this high-in-protein kibble provides a blend of antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals to bolster your puppy's growth, along with omega fatty acids DHA and ARA to help support cognitive and retinal development.

If your puppy is experiencing any symptoms after eating, including but not limited to diarrhea, constipation, excessive itchiness, or hives, you should first consult with your veterinarian to determine your course of action. It's likely that your dog has allergies and/or food sensitivities, and finding the right food that is made without the source of their discomfort will help your little pup thrive.

We recommend Blue Buffalo Basics Skin & Stomach Care Puppy Food because it's made without chicken, beef, corn, wheat, soy, dairy, or eggs—all of which are common allergens. Plus, this puppy food, and all dog food from Blue Buffalo, is free of poultry by-product meals, artificial flavors, and preservatives.

_{Type: Dry | Flavors: Turkey and potato}

Best for Large Breeds

Iams Proactive Health Large Breed Puppy

$47 at Amazon $42 at Chewy $30 at Target

Large-breed puppies tend to have big appetites, so we recommend feeding them Iams Proactive Health Large Breed Puppy Food, which provides the balanced nutrition a growing pup needs at a reasonable price.

The kibble is made with real chicken as the first ingredient, along with eggs, for a high serving of protein in each meal. The formula also contains omega-3 DHA, calcium, and antioxidants to keep a puppy healthy and strong as they grow into their adult size.

Iams Proactive Health Puppy Food also offers dry food formulations for small and medium breeds, as well as a canned wet food for puppies of all sizes, made with the same high-quality ingredients that puppies need.

_{Type: Dry, wet | Flavors: Chicken}

Best Refrigerated

Freshpet Vital Puppy Food

$15

$14 at Petco View on PetSmart

Freshpet Vital Grain Free Puppy Food is made without preservatives and is high in protein to nourish a growing puppy.

Each serving contains a mix of non-GMO ingredients, including chicken, beef, salmon, and eggs for protein and other nutrients, along with antioxidant-rich spinach and sweet potatoes. The recipe includes essential building block vitamins and minerals that a puppy would typically get from their mother's milk to keep them healthy as they grow—calcium for bone and joint strength, DHA for brain development, omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids for skin and coat health.

Plus, Freshpet dog food received high marks from our testing panel of over 400 real dog parents who choose fresh food options from the brand for dogs of all shapes and sizes. The puppy formula is grain-free (made without wheat, barley, oats, quinoa, rye, or rice), which might not be necessary for your puppy unless they have an allergy, but this puppy food is fortified with taurine, an essential amino acid, to make sure puppies get the nutrition they need.

Since 2018, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has been investigating reports of a possible link between grain-free diets (high in peas, lentils, other legume seeds and/or potatoes in various forms) and a canine heart disease called dilated cardiomyopathy. As of 2022, the FDA has stated that there is not yet enough data to confirm a connection between a grain-free diet and the disease, but it is continuing to monitor with scientific research on the subject by academics, veterinarians, and those in the pet food industry. 

_{Type: Refrigerated | Flavors: Chicken, beef, salmon, and egg}

Best for Small Breeds

Hill’s Science Diet Small Puppy Food

$24 at Amazon $22 at Chewy View on PetMeds

Hill's Science Diet Small & Mini Puppy Food is formulated for the nutritional needs of little pups who are likely to need foods for small dogs (up to 25 pounds) as adults. With natural chicken or beef as the lead source of protein, each serving provides complete and balanced nutrition, including DHA from fish oil for brain and eye development and an antioxidant blend for immune system support.

The size of the kibble is smaller than regular-sized kibble, so it's easier for small mouths to ingest and their connected digestive systems to process. This formulation of puppy food for small and mini pups from Hill's Science Diet is also available in wet form in three recipes that are packaged in smaller cans (5.8 ounces) and trays (3.5 ounces), which helps minimize food waste.

All recipes within the small and mini puppy food product line from Hill's Science Diet are manufactured in the United States, and this food is also suitable for dogs who are pregnant or nursing.

_{Type: Dry, wet | Flavors: Chicken & brown rice (dry), chicken & barley entree (wet), chicken & vegetables (wet), beef & barley entree (wet)}

Best Subscription

The Farmer’s Dog Fresh Dog Food

View on Thefarmersdog.com

It should come as no surprise that The Farmer's Dog is our choice for best subscription puppy food. It topped the ranks in our survey of the best dog food delivery service, winning us over with its focus on fresh, human-grade ingredients, customizable meal plans, and free shipping. Given a puppy's specific nutritional requirements, it's all the more important that the food they eat is formulated by board-certified nutritionists to be complete and balanced for growing puppies.

The Farmer's Dog is ideal for puppies because the food is gently cooked to be easily digestible, making it ideal for transitioning puppies from milk to solid food with less risk of stomach issues. The brand recommends starting them off with a "gruel" to stimulate food intake starting at three to four weeks of age by mixing equal parts of their food and warm water, then gradually to solid food by five to six weeks.

Because the meal plans are customizable, you can adjust the plan to fit your puppy's growing needs and appetite. The pricing is fairly reasonable for high-quality fresh dog food, starting at around $2 per day. But keep in mind that larger breed puppies will eventually grow into large adult dogs with even bigger appetites, so this can get pricey.

_{Type: Frozen | Flavors: Turkey, chicken, beef, pork}

Best Sustainable

Open Farm Puppy Dry Dog Food

View on Amazon View on Openfarmpet.com

Open Farm's Ancient Grain High-Protein Puppy Food features a blend of humanely raised primal cuts of chicken and pork and wild-caught salmon to help curtail the development of allergies in puppies. Instead of the legumes, peas, potatoes, corn, wheat, or soy often found in other dog food recipes, this formula uses gluten-free ancient grains such as steel-cut oats, millet, brown rice, quinoa, and chia seeds, which are rich in omega-3 fatty acids, iron, vitamins, and fiber. Superfoods such as pumpkin, chicory root, and coconut oil round out the diet.

In addition to being free of antibiotics, GMOs, artificial flavors, colors, or preservatives, you can trace the source of the ingredients in the puppy food. The brand is committed to 100% transparency when it comes to its sourcing practices, as well as its packaging and carbon footprint.

We like that the high-protein formula taps into the canine's natural wild cravings. However, not all puppies may warm to the taste and smell of the dry kibble.

_{Type: Dry | Flavors: Chicken, pork, wild-caught salmon}

Best for Animal Protein

Orijen High Protein Puppy Dry Dog Food

$36 at Amazon $35 at Chewy View on Petco

As part of a complete and balanced diet, your growing puppy will thrive on protein and minerals from animal ingredients, which help support their bones and muscle development. Protein-rich Orijen puppy food is made up of 85% animal ingredients, such as meat, poultry, and fish, along with prebiotics and probiotics to help support digestive health.

Orijen works with trusted farmers and fisheries around the world to ensure high-quality ingredients, sourcing lamb from New Zealand and fish from Scandinavia. The first five listed ingredients are fresh or raw chicken, turkey, chicken liver, salmon, and whole herring. This puppy food meets nutritional levels set by the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO).

Although Orijen’s puppy food was not part of our survey, it’s a top-rated pick at Amazon, so it’s worth including in our list.

_{Type: Dry | Flavors: Chicken, turkey, chicken liver, salmon, and whole herring}