Best vegan dog food: 8 plant-based foods compared, 1 to skip

Our pick for an adult dog is Wild Earth Maintenance Formula. It uses vitamin D2 and carries an AAFCO statement for maintenance, and no pulse appears in its first three ingredients. None of the eight we compared has an AAFCO statement for growth. Skip Evolution Diet, which prints no adequacy statement in AAFCO’s wording.

v-dog is the brand the research keeps choosing. Of the feeding studies we read, both that ran on a commercial vegan kibble used it. Its help page also answers the first question the World Small Animal Veterinary Association (WSAVA) tells owners to ask a pet food maker, which is whether it employs a nutritionist. “As a small company, we do not have a nutritionist on staff,” it says, adding that it consults nutritionists and works with veterinarians. WSAVA’s advice is to be cautious with a brand that cannot or will not give that kind of information. v-dog gave a straight answer, and it is still the answer the question was written to catch. Whether a dog should eat any of these at all is its own question, and our answer on whether dogs can be vegan goes through the studies, the funding behind them and where the evidence stops.

What decides it on a vegan dog food label

Three things on the bag do most of the work, and the front of the bag is not one of them.

Start with the adequacy statement. AAFCO defines complete as containing all the nutrients required and balanced as having them in the correct ratios, and a food earns that claim by being formulated to meet AAFCO’s Dog Food Nutrient Profiles, by passing feeding tests run to AAFCO’s procedures, or by being comparable to a food that did. The statement names a life stage, and AAFCO lists gestation and lactation, growth, maintenance and all life stages. Every statement on the foods below is the formulation kind and every one is for maintenance (our reading of each page).

Then look for the vitamin D. Vitamin D2 is made by UV irradiation of ergosterol in yeast, while vitamin D3 is typically made from lanolin from sheep’s wool, though a lichen version exists. A dog food that lists vitamin D3 and names no source has not told you it is vegan, whatever the front says.

Last, read what sits at the top of the ingredient list. In its June 2026 update, Tufts says diet-associated dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM, a disease of the heart muscle) appears to be associated with diets high in pulses, meaning peas, lentils, chickpeas and beans. The same update says the specific cause has not been identified and that the disease does not appear to come from a lack of taurine. The FDA says it did not see a signal for soy, although soy is a legume. It also says it has no evidence that these legume ingredients are inherently dangerous, while Tufts calls peas and other pulses the ingredients that appear to be central to diet-associated DCM. Either way, the first three ingredients deserve a look before the taurine claim on the front.

The 9 foods side by side

Food	AAFCO statement on the page	Vitamin D	First three ingredients	Protein (min)	Price listed, 24 Oct 2026
Wild Earth Maintenance Formula, Classic Roast	Maintenance, formulated	D2	Barley, brown rice, grain sorghum	23%	$125 for 28 lb, about $4.46 a pound (our arithmetic)
Open Farm Kind Earth kibble	Maintenance, formulated	D2	Whole grain barley, fava beans, oats	22%	$72.99 for 20 lb, about $3.65 a pound (our arithmetic)
Halo Holistic Plant-Based with Superfoods	Maintenance, formulated	D2	Oats, peas, chickpeas	27%	$84.99 for 21 lb, about $4.05 a pound (our arithmetic)
Natural Balance Limited Ingredient Vegetarian	Maintenance, formulated	D2	Brown rice, oatmeal, pearled barley	18%	No price on the maker’s site
v-dog kind kibble	None in AAFCO’s format	D3, source not stated	Peas, pea protein, sorghum	24%	$89.99 for 24 lb, about $3.75 a pound (our arithmetic)
Petaluma Adult	Adult maintenance, formulated	D3, source not stated	Organic chickpeas, potato protein, dried brewers yeast	27%	$98.95 for 18 lb, about $5.50 a pound (our arithmetic)
Bramble The Cowbell (fresh)	Adult maintenance, formulated	None listed	Organic pea protein, lentils, sweet potato	10.5% as fed, 34% dry	$130 for a 208 oz box
Purina Pro Plan Veterinary Diets HA Hydrolyzed	Adult maintenance, formulated	D3, source not stated	Corn starch, hydrolyzed soy protein isolate, coconut oil	18%	No price on the maker’s site
Evolution Diet Gourmet Ultra Life (skip)	None in AAFCO’s format	D3	Sunflower seed meal, pea protein, soybeans	Not used	Not used

The 8 plant-based dog foods worth considering, and 1 to skip

Wild Earth Maintenance Formula

This is our pick, and the reason is the top of the list: barley, brown rice and grain sorghum, with dried yeast and potato protein behind them, and no pulse in the first three. The vitamin D is D2, and the guaranteed analysis puts taurine at a 0.1% minimum and L-carnitine at 75 mg/kg. Its AAFCO statement covers both flavors for maintenance. Wild Earth calls it 100% plant-based and says it is made in the USA.

The page prints an ingredient list for Classic Roast only, so buy Classic Roast until it shows the Golden Rotisserie one. At 250 kcal a cup it is also far less dense than Halo, at 422, so the scoop you are used to will not be the right scoop. The small 4 lb bag at $24.99 works out at about $6.25 a pound (our arithmetic), so the 28 lb bag is the one to buy once your dog is settled on it.

Open Farm Kind Earth Plant-Based Dog Kibble

The lowest price per pound of the bags with a price listed, and the one with the most reassuring wording on vitamin D: the ingredient table says its vitamin D2 is derived from plant sources. Open Farm says the food is formulated without the use of any animals whatsoever, and its AAFCO statement is for maintenance. Fava beans are the second ingredient, so it does not dodge the pulse question the way Wild Earth does. The same product page also carries Open Farm’s standard line about certified meat ingredients, vetted and tested, which on a plant food I read twice.

Do not take the kibble’s answer as the brand’s answer. Open Farm’s Kind Earth Plant Pâté, sold as made without meat or dairy, lists vitamin D3 with no source given. Same brand, same Kind Earth name, and only the kibble says where its vitamin D comes from.

Halo Holistic Plant-Based with Superfoods

Halo goes further than anyone else here on taurine. Its FAQ answers whether the taurine comes from vegan sources with a yes, and the page says the recipe uses 100% vegan ingredients and no animal ingredients. Vitamin D is D2 and the statement is for maintenance. Its 27% protein minimum ties Petaluma for the highest as-fed figure of the eight.

Peas and chickpeas are its second and third ingredients, and there is no L-carnitine in the list. It is dense, at 3,715 kcal/kg and 422 kcal a cup, so measure it rather than pouring by eye, especially if you are switching from a lighter food.

Natural Balance Limited Ingredient Vegetarian Recipe

Natural Balance calls this a vegan friendly recipe and the label carries a plant-based badge. Brown rice, oatmeal and pearled barley lead the list, with peas fourth, and the vitamin D is D2. It has the lowest protein of the shelf kibbles here, an 18% minimum.

One line on the label needs an answer before you buy it. The guaranteed analysis on the label image lists glucosamine at 800 mg/kg minimum, but glucosamine does not appear anywhere in the ingredient list on the same label. The label does not say what form the glucosamine takes or where it comes from, so write to Natural Balance and ask. The site sends you to retailers for prices.

v-dog kind kibble

The most studied vegan kibble in this table: 30 dogs finished a 12-week study on it, and 15 ate it for a year in another. v-dog says it is free of animal products, and the list adds taurine and L-carnitine, with algae as the DHA source.

Two things hold it back. The kibble page carries no adequacy statement in AAFCO’s format. It answers whether the kibble is AAFCO approved with a yes, says it was formulated to meet all AAFCO standards, and the help page says it meets AAFCO standards for adult dogs. The 2024 study describes the kibble as formulated to meet AAFCO nutrient profiles for adult maintenance, so the bag may print a statement the page does not; we read the page. And it lists vitamin D3 with no source. Ask v-dog where the D3 comes from before you take “free of animal products” as the whole answer. Peas and pea protein are the first two ingredients.

Petaluma Adult Dry Dog Food

Petaluma’s page says 0% Animal Derived and that it uses only plant-based ingredients, and the same page’s ingredient list includes vitamin D3 supplement without a source. Both can be true if the D3 is from lichen. The page does not say. It also has organic chickpeas as the first ingredient, 27% protein and an AAFCO statement for adult maintenance.

At about $5.50 a pound for the 18 lb bag (our arithmetic), it is the highest largest-bag price per pound of the kibbles with a price listed. If the vitamin D source matters to you, and on a vegan site it should, this is the one to pass on until Petaluma names it.

Bramble The Cowbell

The only fresh food here, sold frozen in boxes, with $130 buying 208 oz (13 packets). Moisture runs up to 68%, so its price per pound is not comparable with the kibbles. Bramble’s statement is for adult maintenance.

Its FAQ says it is the only vegan pet food company to have run an “independent feeding trial” at the University of Illinois. The paper from that trial, on 12 beagles, says plainly that Bramble funded it. The foods did well on digestibility, and the authors say it was impossible to separate the effect of the ingredients from the effect of the processing. The ingredient list names pea protein and lentils first, and no vitamin premix and no vitamin D, so ask Bramble for its full nutrient breakdown before you subscribe.

Purina Pro Plan Veterinary Diets HA Hydrolyzed Vegetarian

This is a veterinary diet, labeled for use only as directed by your veterinarian, and Purina describes it as a vegetarian food with a single hydrolyzed protein for dogs with food allergies. It is the only one of the eight built on soy, as hydrolyzed soy protein isolate after corn starch, which puts it on the side of the legume line where the FDA saw no signal.

Purina calls it vegetarian, not vegan, and the label lists vitamin D3 with no source. Do not buy it as a vegan food. Buy it if your vet puts your dog on it.

Evolution Diet Gourmet Ultra Life: skip it

Evolution’s page says Ultra Life is complete for all life stages “of Cats (Dogs) according to AAFCO Nutrient Profile Requirements”, which is not the wording AAFCO lays out for an adequacy statement. Its ingredient list has a message to a customer pasted into the middle of it, about releasing food at a plant in Boucherville or shipping it the following week. It is the only ingredient list I have read that includes a shipping schedule. The list also names vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol). Wild Earth, Open Farm, Halo or Natural Balance is a better place to start.

Why none of these is a puppy food

Every AAFCO statement printed on the eight is for maintenance, and v-dog’s kibble page has none in AAFCO’s format. AAFCO treats growth as its own life stage because different stages need different quantities and ratios of nutrients, so a maintenance food is not labeled to cover a puppy.

v-dog’s help page says its happy harvest cans meet AAFCO standards for both adult dogs and puppies. Evolution’s page says Ultra Life is complete for all life stages, which would include a puppy, but that claim is not in AAFCO’s format either. Neither sentence is an adequacy statement in the form AAFCO sets out, and we did not see the label on v-dog’s cans. Take both sentences, and the puppy, to your vet.

How to check a bag we haven’t covered

Find the adequacy statement first and read the life stage in it. “Formulated to meet the nutritional levels established by the AAFCO Dog Food Nutrient Profiles” followed by a life stage is the formulation kind, and “Animal feeding tests using AAFCO procedures substantiate” is the feeding-test kind. A bag marked for intermittent or supplemental feeding only does not meet the complete and balanced standard, so feed it as part of the bowl or as your vet directs.

Then find the vitamin D. D2 is made from yeast. D3 with no source is a question for the maker. Then read the first three ingredients, and send the maker the WSAVA questions: who formulates the diet, whether it employs a nutritionist, what research it has done and whether it is published.

If you only want one bag, buy the 28 lb Wild Earth Classic Roast and introduce it with your vet in the loop. If a bag you like says D3 and nothing else, our answer on whether vitamin D3 is vegan covers what the label has to say before it counts.

Best vegan dog food: 8 checked against the label, 1 to skip, and none for puppies

What decides it on a vegan dog food label

The 9 foods side by side