The scores
Inception Chicken Recipe: B (78/100) — Good. Chicken and chicken meal lead, with oats, millet, and milo as the grain base. Legume-free, potato-free, corn/wheat/soy-free.
Blue Buffalo Basics Limited Ingredient Diet Salmon & Potato: B (78/100) — Good. Deboned salmon as the single novel protein, potatoes as the single starch — designed for dogs with grain or poultry sensitivities.
How the ingredients compare
The top five ingredients:
Inception: Chicken, Chicken Meal, Oats, Millet, Chicken Fat
Blue Buffalo Basics: Deboned Salmon, Potatoes, Potato Starch, Pea Protein, Salmon Meal
These are two formulations with genuinely different goals. Inception stacks two named chicken proteins plus three ancient grains — the "avoid both corn-wheat-soy and pea-lentil" formulation you rarely see executed cleanly. Blue Buffalo Basics is a deliberate limited-ingredient diet: a single novel protein (salmon) paired with a single starch source (potatoes, potato starch) so that if your dog reacts to the food, you can cleanly pinpoint the trigger. Pea protein at four is Basics's main ingredient concession — it stretches the protein-on-label number.
Further down, Inception adds flaxseed, taurine, L-carnitine, and chelated mineral proteinates — a solid functional layer but no whole-fruit or vegetable inclusions. Basics carries pumpkin, fish oil, and its signature LifeSource Bits (a cold-formed antioxidant blend) but skips taurine.
Where Inception pulls ahead
More named meat up front: Two chicken-based proteins in positions one and two (chicken + chicken meal) is a denser protein strategy than Basics's single salmon + later salmon meal. You get more total animal protein per cup with Inception.
Ancient-grain carb base: Oats, millet, and milo collectively deliver fiber, B-vitamins, and slow-release energy with real whole-food nutrition. Basics's potato and potato starch approach is hypoallergenic but nutritionally thinner — it's designed to be boring on purpose for elimination-diet reasons, not because potatoes are inherently better than oats.
Taurine and L-carnitine are in the premix: Both support cardiovascular and metabolic health. Basics doesn't list either by name. Shop on Amazon →
Where Blue Buffalo Basics holds its own
Limited-ingredient by design: This is Basics's entire point — and it can't be substituted. For a dog with an active food sensitivity, ingredient minimalism isn't a compromise, it's the feature. Inception's 30+ ingredient list is typical of mainstream kibble; Basics's short list is a diagnostic and therapeutic tool. If your dog is itching, vomiting, or having GI issues on their current food, Basics gives your vet something to work with.
Single novel protein: Salmon is "novel" in the sense that most commercial dog foods lead with chicken, beef, or lamb. A dog who's developed a poultry sensitivity after years on chicken-based kibble will tolerate salmon much better. Fish is also a robust source of EPA/DHA omega-3s for skin, coat, and joint health.
LifeSource Bits and fish oil: The cold-formed antioxidant blend plus fish oil deliver more omega-3 and whole-food antioxidant density than Inception's simpler functional layer. Shop on Amazon →
The bottom line
These are not substitutes — they're answers to different questions. Pick Inception if your dog has no sensitivities and you want legume-free, grain-inclusive, chicken-first nutrition at a reasonable price. Pick Blue Buffalo Basics if your dog has (or you suspect they have) a food sensitivity and you need a limited-ingredient elimination-friendly diet. On raw score they're identical at B (78/100); on real-world fit, they're almost never both right for the same dog. Read our full reviews of Inception and Blue Buffalo Basics for the complete breakdown.