The scores
Nutro Wholesome Essentials Indoor: B (78/100)
Natural Balance Green Pea & Chicken: B (76/100)
A 2-point gap within the same letter grade. Both land comfortably in B territory — well above the vet-brand C grades and far ahead of grocery-shelf options like Meow Mix or Friskies. The gap here isn’t about one being good and the other bad. It’s about two different formulation philosophies producing nearly identical overall quality.
Read our full reviews of Nutro and Natural Balance for the complete ingredient breakdowns.
How the ingredients compare
Here are the key ingredients side by side:
Nutro: Chicken, Chicken Meal, Whole Brown Rice, Brewers Rice, Rice Bran, Pea Protein, Dried Plain Beet Pulp, Chicken Fat, Natural Flavor
Natural Balance: Green Peas, Chicken Meal, Chicken Fat, Pea Protein, Natural Flavor, Dried Egg Product, Flaxseed
The difference is immediately visible. Nutro leads with real chicken followed by chicken meal — two animal proteins before any carbohydrate. Natural Balance leads with green peas, a legume starch, before getting to chicken meal in position two. Nutro builds its carbohydrate base around grains; Natural Balance strips the formula down to the fewest possible ingredients for allergy management. Both include pea protein as a plant-based booster and chicken fat for essential fatty acids, but the foundation underneath is completely different.
Where Nutro pulls ahead
Real chicken first. Nutro leads with whole chicken — a named animal protein in the top spot — followed by chicken meal for concentrated protein. That’s two animal-based proteins before any carbohydrate appears. Natural Balance starts with green peas, meaning the most abundant ingredient by weight is a plant starch. For obligate carnivores, the protein source order matters.
Grain-inclusive carbs with no corn, wheat, or soy. Whole brown rice is a digestible, nutritious grain that provides steady energy without the common allergen concerns of corn or wheat. Nutro’s non-GMO focus and clean label approach give it an edge in carbohydrate quality — even though the triple rice splitting (brown rice, brewers rice, rice bran) inflates how far down rice actually sits in the ingredient list.
Fuller overall nutrition. Nutro includes beet pulp for prebiotic fiber and a broader base of whole-food ingredients. Natural Balance’s limited ingredient approach intentionally strips the formula down, which means fewer supplementary ingredients and a thinner nutrient profile overall. For a healthy cat with no sensitivities, Nutro’s more complete formulation delivers more nutritional variety. Shop on Amazon →
Where Natural Balance holds its own
Built for sensitive cats. The entire point of Natural Balance’s limited ingredient diet is fewer potential triggers. If your cat has itchy skin, digestive upset, or chronic vomiting tied to food, a shorter ingredient list makes it far easier to identify and eliminate problem ingredients. This isn’t a limitation — it’s the product’s core feature.
Flaxseed omega-3s. Natural Balance includes flaxseed as a dedicated plant-based omega-3 source for skin and coat support. It’s a smart inclusion in a formula that can’t rely on a long list of supplementary oils and fats. Nutro gets its omega profile primarily from chicken fat, which is heavier on omega-6 than omega-3.
Dried egg product for amino acid completeness. Eggs are one of the most bioavailable protein sources available, with a near-perfect amino acid profile. Natural Balance uses dried egg product to round out its protein quality despite having fewer total ingredients — a deliberate choice that keeps the formula simple without sacrificing amino acid balance. Shop on Amazon →
The bottom line
Nutro earns the narrow win with real chicken first, grain-inclusive carbs, and a more complete ingredient list. The 2-point gap reflects a slight edge in overall formulation quality for healthy cats. But this comparison is less about which food is better in a vacuum and more about which approach fits your cat. If your cat eats normally with no allergy or sensitivity issues, Nutro’s fuller nutrition is the stronger pick. If your cat has food sensitivities or you’re doing an elimination diet, Natural Balance’s limited ingredient formula is specifically designed for that job — and being 2 points behind a solid B-grade food while doing it is a testament to how well it’s formulated.