Vital Essentials Dog Food Compared: 17 Recipes by Label

Vital Essentials's product pages in our library publish recipe name, brand, food type, life stage, protein percentage, fat percentage, a calorie density figure, a link back to the manufacturer product page for each recipe. An AAFCO nutritional adequacy statement is published for every one of the 17 recipes in this set. The manufacturer origin listed across all 17 recipes with an address published is: Vital Essentials, a brand of Carnivore Meat Company (as published on the manufacturer site). A per-recipe ingredient-sourcing claim from the manufacturer is on file for all 17 recipes. A source link to the original manufacturer page is on file for 17 of the 17 recipes, which is where each figure below was read. The pages behind these 17 recipes were recorded between Sep 18, 2026.

Across all 17 recipes, published protein runs 11% to 55% across 17 recipes with a figure published. Published fat runs 5% to 32% across 17 recipes with a figure published. Where a calorie density figure is published, it runs 1,103 kcal/kg to 4,807 kcal/kg across 17 recipes with a figure published. Within Freeze-Dried Raw (12 recipes), published protein runs 40% to 55% across 12 recipes with a figure published and published fat runs 15% to 32% across 12 recipes with a figure published. Within Raw Frozen (5 recipes), published protein runs 11% to 18% across 5 recipes with a figure published and published fat runs 5% to 8% across 5 recipes with a figure published. These are the ranges of the numbers printed on each product page, not an average, a rating, or a recommendation, and they are pulled straight from the label data we recorded for Vital Essentials. By life stage, the 17 recipes break down as: 17 All Life Stages.

The published ingredient lists we recorded for Vital Essentials run 9 to 14 ingredients long across 17 recipes. The recipe count, food type, and life stage for each entry below come from the same product page as the protein, fat, and calorie figures above, so the numbers in the list match what is printed on each label as of the date we recorded it.

To compare two Vital Essentials recipes side by side, open the recipe pages above in separate tabs and match up the protein, fat, and calorie figures each publishes, or use our comparison tool, which pulls the same published figures into one table so the numbers line up automatically. You can open all 17 Vital Essentials recipes in the comparison tool. The full brand index is at Dog Food Library by Brand, and the page explaining how we source and record these figures is at How We Compare Dog Foods.

If you want a single ingredient treat to go with any of these, our freeze dried dog treats are made in Malvern, Pennsylvania.