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The short answer: On the current ingredient panel, Evanger's Chicken with Brown Rice Dry earns a B grade (78/100) under the KibbleIQ v15 rubric. Founded in 1935, Evanger's is one of the oldest pet food brands in the United States — and the only B-tier dry kibble we've reviewed that includes watercress, beets, parsley, and lettuce alongside the standard berry-and-carrot whole-food list. Owners should also weigh the brand's serious recall history (see below) as part of any purchase decision.

→ See the live ingredient breakdown for Evanger's

Important context — recall history: In February 2017, Evanger's recalled multiple lots of its Hunk of Beef canned dog food after the FDA confirmed pentobarbital contamination — a euthanasia drug used in veterinary practice. At least one dog died and multiple dogs were sickened. The contamination was traced to a beef supplier upstream of Evanger's, and Evanger's terminated the supplier. The dry kibble line reviewed on this page was not affected. Full incident detail and timeline at Evanger's 2017 pentobarbital recall and the broader 2017–2018 pet food pentobarbital controversy. This is a manufacturer-trust input worth weighing alongside the ingredient panel.

What's actually in Evanger's Chicken with Brown Rice?

We pulled the current panel for Evanger's Chicken with Brown Rice Dry from evangersdogfood.com (verified 2026-05-16). The first five ingredients are chicken, chicken meal, brown rice, chicken fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols), and oatmeal. Dried egg follows at #6 — one of the highest-biological-value protein sources in any pet food formula.

Three chicken-derived ingredients in the top four positions is the protein lead. Whole chicken supplies the moisture-included muscle protein; chicken meal stacks concentrated rendered protein density; chicken fat supplies the named animal-fat fraction. Brown rice and oatmeal supply digestible whole-grain carbohydrate. Dried egg at #6 adds complete-amino-acid protein with the highest digestibility coefficient of any single protein source. Shop on Amazon →

The good stuff

The whole-food vegetable list is unusually deep for a B-tier kibble. Beyond the standard carrots-and-berries lineup, Evanger's includes celery, beets, parsley, lettuce, watercress, and spinach. Watercress in particular is a nutritionally dense leafy green (vitamins A, C, K, calcium) that almost no other dry kibble formula carries. Cranberries and blueberries supply the antioxidant fraction; dried kelp contributes natural iodine and trace minerals for thyroid support.

The probiotic stack is deeper than expected at this tier. Five named bacterial fermentation products appear: Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus casei, Lactobacillus plantarum, Lactobacillus fermentum, and Enterococcus faecium. Most B-tier formulas list zero or one named probiotic strain. Five is a serious gut-microbiome commitment. Dried chicory root provides prebiotic inulin to feed the strains, and yucca schidigera extract is included for stool-odor reduction.

Minerals are heavily chelated. The panel lists zinc amino acid chelate, iron amino acid chelate, copper amino acid chelate, manganese amino acid chelate, and magnesium amino acid chelate, alongside the inorganic sulfate counterparts. Chelated mineral forms have roughly double the bioavailability of oxide/sulfate forms — the higher inclusion of chelates here is closer to A-tier formulation practice than to typical B-tier.

Taurine is added — cardiac-support insurance. L-carnitine is added — supports fat metabolism and lean muscle. Lecithin is added — supports cell membrane integrity and acts as an emulsifier. Hydrolyzed yeast (Actigen, mannan-oligosaccharide source) and selenium yeast (more bioavailable than sodium selenite) are present. Mixed tocopherols, citric acid, and rosemary extract provide natural preservation — no BHA, BHT, ethoxyquin, or artificial colors.

The not-so-good stuff

No fish-based marine omega-3 source. The formula lacks fish meal, fish oil, salmon, or krill oil — the ingredients that deliver directly usable EPA/DHA. No plant flaxseed on the panel either. The omega-3 contribution from the rest of the formula relies on whatever trace amounts come through whole chicken and chicken fat — meaningfully below the dedicated omega sources on competitors like Holistic Select (anchovy + salmon oil + flaxseed) and Open Farm (named fish oils). For dogs with skin, coat, or joint concerns, this is a meaningful gap.

The 2017 pentobarbital recall remains the brand's most significant trust input. Even though the dry kibble line wasn't part of the recall and the supplier was terminated, the incident demonstrated weak supply-chain controls on the canned-meat ingredient sourcing. The follow-on 2018–2019 ground beef supplier issues at the same facility reinforced the concern. Many owners weigh this seriously when choosing a long-term brand. The B/78 ingredient-panel score is on the panel itself; the manufacturer-trust calibration is a separate dimension owners should apply themselves.

The vitamin and mineral disclosure on the panel is less specific than competitors. Some forms (vitamin E supplement, vitamin B12 supplement, thiamine mononitrate, etc.) are named, but the formulation doesn't break out the level of micronutrient form-detail seen on Fromm Gold or Orijen.

How it compares

At B/78, Evanger's Chicken with Brown Rice Dry sits in the same B band as Wellness Complete Health, NutriSource Adult Chicken & Rice (B/78), and Merrick (B/82). The chicken-first-with-meal-second protein lead and the whole-vegetable garden put Evanger's in the upper part of the B-tier range on ingredient quality alone.

The closest stylistic comp is Holistic Select Adult Health — both pair a heavy whole-food vegetable inclusion with a deep probiotic stack. Holistic Select edges Evanger's on marine omega-3 coverage (sardine, salmon, and anchovy oil sources); Evanger's edges Holistic Select on the watercress-and-spinach leafy-green depth and on the egg inclusion at #6. Evanger's vs Holistic Select covers the head-to-head if either of those edges is decisive.

The recall-context decision is the genuine differentiator. Owners weighing Evanger's against tier peers without similar recall history (Holistic Select, NutriSource, Fromm Gold) should factor manufacturer-trust into their decision the way they would for any consumer brand with a serious safety incident on record.

The bottom line

Evanger's Chicken with Brown Rice Dry earns a B grade (78/100) from KibbleIQ on the current ingredient panel. Three chicken-derived ingredients in the top four, dried egg at #6 for high-biological-value protein, an unusually deep whole-vegetable inclusion list (watercress, spinach, parsley, lettuce, beets, celery, carrots, kelp), five named probiotic strains, heavy mineral chelation, taurine and L-carnitine, and clean natural preservation. The missing fish-based omega-3 source is the within-tier gap; the 2017 pentobarbital recall (which did not affect this dry line) is the cross-tier trust input owners should weigh themselves. Shop on Amazon →