The scores
Freshpet Select Tender Chicken: B (78/100) — Above average. Fresh chicken, liver, and gizzards lead a refrigerated formula with chelated minerals and whole vegetables.
Blue Buffalo Life Protection: B (78/100) — Above average. Deboned chicken and chicken meal backed by quality whole grains like brown rice, oatmeal, and barley.
How the ingredients compare
The top five ingredients tell very different stories about how each food is made:
Freshpet: Chicken, Chicken Liver, Chicken Gizzards, Peas, Sweet Potatoes
Blue Buffalo: Deboned Chicken, Chicken Meal, Brown Rice, Oatmeal, Barley
Freshpet leads with three animal ingredients — whole chicken plus two organ meats — before any carbohydrate appears. Chicken liver and gizzards are nutrient-dense sources of iron, vitamin A, and B vitamins that arrive in their natural form rather than as synthetic supplements. Blue Buffalo leads with deboned chicken and chicken meal (a concentrated, rendered protein), then fills positions three through five with grains. Both approaches deliver adequate protein, but Freshpet’s fresh format preserves more of the original nutritional profile.
The carbohydrate strategies also diverge. Freshpet uses peas, sweet potatoes, and lentils — all grain-free options. Blue Buffalo goes with brown rice, oatmeal, and barley — quality whole grains that are well-tolerated by most dogs. Both foods include peas or pea-derived ingredients, which is worth noting for owners tracking legume intake due to the ongoing FDA investigation into grain-free diets and DCM.
Where Freshpet pulls ahead
Fresh, minimally processed protein: This is the fundamental difference. Freshpet is refrigerated, gently cooked food — not extruded kibble. The proteins aren’t subjected to the high-heat, high-pressure processing that defines traditional dry dog food. Organ meats like liver and gizzards provide naturally occurring vitamins and minerals that kibble formulas need synthetic supplements to replicate.
Chelated minerals: Freshpet uses zinc proteinate, iron proteinate, copper proteinate, and manganese proteinate — mineral forms bound to amino acids for better absorption. These chelated forms are more bioavailable than the standard mineral salts found in most kibble, meaning your dog actually uses more of what’s in the food.
Cleaner ingredient profile: The full ingredient list is shorter and more recognizable — chicken, organs, vegetables, flaxseed, and a straightforward vitamin-mineral premix. No chicken meal, no garlic, no pea protein padding. What you see on the label is close to what you’d recognize on a plate. Shop on Amazon →
Where Blue Buffalo holds its own
Cost: This is Blue Buffalo’s biggest advantage. A bag of Life Protection runs roughly half the cost per serving compared to Freshpet. Over a year of feeding a medium-sized dog, the savings add up to hundreds of dollars. For many households, that price gap is the deciding factor regardless of ingredient quality.
Convenience and shelf life: Blue Buffalo sits on a shelf at room temperature for months. Freshpet must be refrigerated, has a use-by date measured in weeks, and takes up fridge space. If you travel with your dog, stock up during sales, or simply don’t want to worry about food spoiling, kibble wins on practicality.
Availability: Blue Buffalo is sold at grocery stores, pet stores, big-box retailers, and every major online shop. Freshpet’s refrigerated bags are increasingly common but still limited to stores with dedicated Freshpet fridges. In rural areas especially, Blue Buffalo is far easier to find. Shop on Amazon →
The bottom line
Freshpet and Blue Buffalo tie at B/78 — same ingredient score, different approaches. Freshpet’s fresh, organ-rich protein with chelated minerals offers real nutrient-bioavailability advantages that our ingredient-list rubric can’t fully capture. Blue Buffalo’s heat-processed kibble with rendered chicken meal and quality whole grains matches on paper and wins on cost, convenience, and availability. If you can afford Freshpet and don’t mind the refrigeration, the fresh format is genuinely a step up from traditional dry food even at the same score. If budget and convenience come first, Blue Buffalo delivers equivalent ingredient quality at half the cost. Read our full reviews of Freshpet and Blue Buffalo for the complete breakdown.