The scores
Honest Kitchen Embark Grain-Free Turkey: B (78/100) — Turkey, organic flaxseed, potatoes, celery, spinach, carrots, organic coconut, apples, organic kelp, eggs.
Honest Kitchen Wholemade Whole Grain Chicken: B (78/100) — Dehydrated chicken, organic barley, potatoes, organic flax, organic oats, green peas, carrots, bananas, parsley, organic kelp.
Both brands sit at B/78 under the same Fresh Food Rubric. Neither earns the A-tier because only one animal protein appears in the top five ingredients (turkey on Embark; chicken on Wholemade) — there’s no secondary organ meat, no muscle meat of a second species, no fish up top to broaden the amino acid profile.
How the ingredients compare
Embark (Grain-Free Turkey): Turkey, organic flaxseed, potatoes, celery, spinach, carrots, organic coconut, apples, organic kelp, eggs, bananas, cranberries, then the supplement tail.
Wholemade (Whole Grain Chicken): Dehydrated chicken, organic barley, potatoes, organic flax, organic oats, green peas, carrots, bananas, parsley, organic kelp, celery, then the supplement tail.
Both are turkey-one or chicken-one, both include flax, both include potatoes, both include organic kelp. The structural difference is Embark’s organic flaxseed at position two (versus Wholemade’s organic barley) and Embark’s reliance on single-starch potato rather than Wholemade’s oat-plus-barley-plus-potato grain layer. Eggs at position ten on Embark is a complete-protein addition that doesn’t appear on Wholemade’s lineup.
Where Embark Grain-Free pulls ahead
Grain-sensitive-friendly: Dogs with documented grain allergies or food-sensitivity flare-ups on grain-inclusive diets do well on flaxseed-plus-potato as the carbohydrate base. True grain allergy in dogs is rarer than marketing suggests, but real cases do exist and Embark is the formulation that addresses them.
Organic flaxseed at position two: Flaxseed contributes omega-3 alpha-linolenic acid, lignans, and soluble fiber. While dogs convert ALA to EPA/DHA less efficiently than humans, the lignan content and fiber profile of flax provide real benefits the grain layer doesn’t replicate.
Eggs as supplementary protein: Whole dried eggs at position ten on Embark is a complete-protein source with highly bioavailable choline. This partially offsets the single-animal-protein limitation that caps both recipes at B. Shop on Amazon →
Where Wholemade Whole Grain holds its own
Oat beta-glucan fiber: Oats contribute beta-glucan soluble fiber with documented benefits for digestive health and cholesterol modulation. For dogs with no grain sensitivity, oats are arguably the cleanest carbohydrate source in the category — better than white potato on glycemic response and fiber quality.
Carbohydrate variety: Oats plus barley plus potato plus green peas is a wider carbohydrate matrix than Embark’s flaxseed plus potato. The variety can be beneficial for nutrient distribution — different carbohydrates contribute different micronutrients.
Lower-allergy protein choice: Chicken and turkey are both in the avian family, so dogs with avian-protein sensitivities would react to both. Wholemade’s chicken is the more commonly fed protein for dogs without allergies — slightly higher palatability for some dogs. Shop on Amazon →
The bottom line
This is a genuine tie on measurable ingredient quality at B/78 — the same human-grade facility, the same dehydration process, the same single-animal-protein rubric cap. The choice comes down to grain tolerance: pick Embark Grain-Free if grains cause symptoms for your dog; pick Wholemade Whole Grain if grains aren’t a concern and oat beta-glucan fiber is attractive. Neither reaches A-tier due to the single-protein top-five constraint; for an A-tier dehydrated pick, step up to Sundays (A/90) which includes beef plus beef heart plus beef liver plus beef bone in the top four.