The scores
Rachael Ray Nutrish: B (75/100) — Chicken and chicken meal lead. Soybean meal and ground whole wheat still drag the score below the no-filler tier, and there are no probiotics or omega-3 supplements.
Nature’s Recipe Grain-Free Chicken: B (77/100) — Chicken and chicken meal up front, grain-free with sweet potatoes and tapioca starch as the carb base. Adds taurine. No soy, wheat, or corn.
How the ingredients compare
Both formulas open with dual chicken protein sources, then take very different paths on carbs and supplements:
Rachael Ray Nutrish: Chicken, Chicken Meal, Dried Peas, Brown Rice, Soybean Meal
Nature’s Recipe: Chicken, Chicken Meal, Sweet Potatoes, Tapioca Starch, Canola Meal
The protein story is the same — fresh chicken plus chicken meal in the top two spots. After that, the formulas diverge sharply. Rachael Ray leans on dried peas and brown rice for its carb base, which is reasonable, but then drops soybean meal at position five — a cheap plant protein that inflates protein percentages without delivering the amino acid profile of animal protein. Nature’s Recipe stacks sweet potatoes and tapioca starch instead, avoiding soy entirely but loading up on starchy carbs that raise the grain-free DCM question.
Where Nature’s Recipe pulls ahead
No soy, wheat, or corn: This is a meaningful structural difference, even though the 2-point gap suggests the rubric reads the two formulas as close. Rachael Ray Nutrish includes both soybean meal (#5) and ground whole wheat — two ingredients that are common allergens for dogs and serve primarily as cheap protein and carb fillers. Nature’s Recipe avoids all three of the classic filler grains.
Taurine supplementation: Added taurine supports heart health — especially important in a grain-free formula where taurine availability has been flagged as a potential factor in DCM. Rachael Ray Nutrish doesn’t supplement taurine. Shop on Amazon →
Where Rachael Ray Nutrish holds its own
Grain-inclusive formula: This is Nutrish’s one genuine advantage. Brown rice and ground whole wheat are grains, and grain-inclusive formulas are not linked to the FDA’s ongoing investigation into dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM). Nature’s Recipe’s grain-free carb stack — sweet potatoes, tapioca starch, garbanzo beans, peas — puts it squarely in the category the FDA flagged. For owners who consider the grain-free DCM link a dealbreaker, Nutrish wins by default on this single issue.
Carrots and spinach: Nutrish includes real vegetables lower on the ingredient list. While the amounts are likely minimal, they contribute trace vitamins and antioxidants. Shop on Amazon →
The bottom line
At 2 points apart, this is close. Nature’s Recipe edges ahead by avoiding soybean meal and wheat while adding taurine — a functional ingredient that Rachael Ray Nutrish simply doesn’t offer. The one legitimate concern is DCM: if the grain-free heart disease link worries you, Nutrish’s grain-inclusive formula is the safer bet on that specific issue. But on ingredient quality across the board, Nature’s Recipe is the better kibble for the money.
Corrected 2026-10-19: we removed claims we could not support; we corrected factual errors, and grades and score comparisons that did not match our current scores.