The Best Dog Food for Limited Budgets: Affordable, Nutritious Eats!

 

The Best Dog Food for Limited Budgets: Affordable, Nutritious Eats!

We all want to give our dogs the best, but few among us have unlimited funds.

As circumstances will have it, many of us consider switching to a lower-priced, budget-friendly dog food when times are tight, and we need to save a bit of money.

This is a completely acceptable strategy for redirecting your funds, but it’s important that you don’t compromise your dog’s health in the process.

Fear not, though — there’s a lot of fear-mongering in the dog food marketplace that will try to upsell you on the latest and greatest human-grade, all-natural, superfood-packed eats. And while these kinds of foods are certainly fantastic, the vast majority of dogs will get on just fine with something a bit easier on the wallet.

Below, we’ll recommend some great budget-friendly dog foods while also exploring which high-quality dog food perks can be sacrificed safely when you need a budget dog food option.

5 Best Budget Dog Foods: Affordable Feeding

Below are five foods that are affordably priced yet still have enough nutritional value to make them worthwhile dietary staples. Try to select the best one for your pup and his needs when making your final selection.

1. Blue Buffalo Life Protection Chicken & Brown Rice

About: Blue Buffalo’s Chicken and Brown Rice formula provides great nutrition at a reasonably affordable price. It is made with some of the best ingredients available to help give your dog the healthiest diet possible. A solid chicken-based dog food, it’s a reliable pick that won’t break your budget.

Features:

• Deboned chicken – a great protein for dogs — is the first listed ingredient
• Made with antioxidant-rich fruits and vegetables for improved health and well-being
• Supplemented with vitamins, minerals, and probiotics to avoid deficiencies and promote healthy digestion
• Made in the USA under strict quality control standards and regulations

PROS

Blue Buffalo is thoroughly packed with great ingredients, including deboned chicken, flaxseed and several different probiotics. Additionally, it contains a number of nutritious fruits and vegetables, including three types of berries, apples, pomegranate, pumpkin and spinach.

CONS

Blue Buffalo is a great food, but it isn’t quite as affordable as the other choices in this review. However, it is probably the highest quality food among the five detailed here.

Ingredients List

Deboned Chicken, Chicken Meal, Brown Rice, Barley, Oatmeal,

Pea Starch, Flaxseed (source of Omega 3 and 6 Fatty Acids), Chicken Fat (preserved with Mixed Tocopherols), Dried Tomato Pomace, Natural Flavor, Peas, Pea Protein, Salt, Potassium Chloride, Dehydrated Alfalfa Meal, Potatoes, Dried Chicory Root, Pea Fiber, Alfalfa Nutrient Concentrate, Calcium Carbonate, Choline Chloride, DL-Methionine, Preserved with Mixed Tocopherols, Dicalcium Phosphate, Sweet Potatoes, Carrots, Garlic, Zinc Amino Acid Chelate, Zinc Sulfate, Vegetable Juice for color, Ferrous Sulfate, Vitamin E Supplement, Iron Amino Acid Chelate, Blueberries, Cranberries, Barley Grass, Parsley, Turmeric, Dried Kelp, Yucca Schidigera Extract, Niacin (Vitamin B3), Glucosamine Hydrochloride, Calcium Pantothenate (Vitamin B5), Copper Sulfate, Biotin (Vitamin B7), L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate (source of Vitamin C), L-Lysine, L-Carnitine, Vitamin A Supplement, Copper Amino Acid Chelate, Manganese Sulfate, Taurine, Manganese Amino Acid Chelate, Thiamine Mononitrate (Vitamin B1), Riboflavin (Vitamin B2), Vitamin D3 Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B6), Calcium Iodate, Dried Yeast, Dried Enterococcus faecium fermentation product, Dried Lactobacillus acidophilus fermentation product, Dried Aspergillus niger fermentation extract, Dried Trichoderma longibrachiatum fermentation extract, Dried Bacillus subtilis fermentation extract, Folic Acid (Vitamin B9), Sodium Selenite, Oil of Rosemary.

2. Purina Beyond Simply 9 Natural White Meat Chicken & Whole Barley Dog Food

About: Purina Beyond Natural Chicken and Barley is made with all of the good things you’d want for your dog, with very few of the things you wouldn’t want. You’ll love the limited ingredient list, while your dog will love the delicious taste.

Features:

• Real chicken is the first listed ingredient, as you’d expect from a high-quality dog food
• Contains no chicken byproducts, but it does include glucosamine-rich chicken meal to support joint health
• No corn, wheat or soy included in the recipe
• No artificial colors, dyes, flavors or preservatives which may trigger food allergies

• PROS

  Purina Beyond Simply 9 is a very affordably priced food that still includes all of the basic necessities you’d want in a high-quality dog food.

  CONS

  As you’d expect of a budget-friendly dog food, Purina Beyond Simply 9 includes a few inferior ingredients. For example, while not unhealthy in the strictest sense of the word, brewers rice is a relatively substandard carbohydrate source. Nevertheless, it remains a suitable choice when you need to tighten your belt.

• Ingredients List

  ”Chicken,,

  , MINERALS [Zinc Sulfate, Ferrous Sulfate, Manganese Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Calcium Iodate, Sodium Selenite], Choline Chloride, Dried Bacillus Coagulans Fermentation Product. I428019.

3. Rachael Ray Nutrish Zero Grain Natural Dog Food

About: Rachel Ray’s Zero Grain Dog Food is not only free of cereal grains but it is also made without glutens of any type.

Designed to be a simple, delicious and nutritious dog food, Rachel Ray’s Dog Food is an affordable way to ensure your dog remains healthy.

Features:

• Made with US-raised turkey (the first listed ingredient)
• Grain, gluten and filler free recipe ensures your dog’s calories come from nutritious ingredients
• Contains no artificial dyes, colors, flavors are preservatives
• Fortified with vitamins, minerals and flaxseeds to provide a balanced diet with plenty of omega-3s

• PROS

  If you are a budget-minded owner, who’d like to feed your dog a grain-free diet that features real turkey as the first ingredient, Rachel Ray’s Nutrish is an excellent option. Additionally, because it’s made without the artificial dyes and additives of many low-cost foods, it is less likely to trigger food allergies.

  CONS

  While Nutrish is made with several high-quality ingredients, it lacks the bounty of fruits and vegetables that some others in the same price range have.

Ingredients List

Turkey, Turkey Meal, Chicken Meal, Dried Peas, Tapioca Starch,

Whole Dry Potatoes, Poultry Fat (Preserved with Mixed Tocopherols), Dried Plain Beet Pulp, Whole Flaxseed, Natural Chicken Flavor, Salt, Calcium Carbonate, Potassium Chloride, Zinc Sulfate, Choline Chloride, Zinc Proteinate, Vitamin E Supplement, Iron Proteinate, L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate (Source of Vitamin C), Manganese Proteinate, Copper Proteinate, Niacin Supplement, Calcium Pantothenate, Biotin, Sodium Selenite, Vitamin A Supplement, Riboflavin Supplement, Thiamine Mononitrate, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Calcium Iodate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Folic Acid.

4. Iams ProActive Health

About: While Iams isn’t often classified as high-quality dog food, it’s extremely affordable and offers a fairly decent ingredient list with no extra bells and whistles.

Features:

• Lamb is the first listed ingredient to ensure your meat eater gets the nutrition he deserves
• Includes prebiotics for healthy digestion, along with flaxseed and other ingredients with omega fatty acids
• No artificial preservatives

PROS

Iams is an incredibly affordable option – at the time of writing this, it’s the cheapest dog food on this list. Despite its low cost, it’s not terrible quality, with real meat listed as the #1 ingredient, contains a reasonable amount of protein, and no mystery meat ingredients.

CONS

There are a few ingredients that aren’t very desirable, such as whole grain corn, chicken by-product meal, and caramel coloring. Corn is not a very nutritious grain, but it comes behind heartier grains like brewers rice and barley on the ingredient list.

Ingredients List

Lamb, Chicken By-Product Meal, Brewers Rice, Ground Whole Grain Barley, Ground Whole Grain Corn,

Ground Whole Grain Sorghum, Chicken Fat (preserved with mixed Tocopherols), Corn Gluten Meal, Chicken Meal, Dried Beet Pulp, Natural Flavor, Brewers Dried Yeast, Dried Egg Product, Caramel Color, Potassium Chloride, Carrots, Flaxseed, Choline Chloride, L-Lysine Monohydrochloride, Fructooligosaccharides, Calcium Carbonate, L-Tryptophan, Vitamin E Supplement, Ferrous Sulfate, L-Carnitine, Mixed Tocopherols (a preservative), Zinc Oxide, Ascorbic Acid, Sodium Selenite, Calcium Pantothenate, Biotin, Manganese Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Thiamine Mononitrate (source of vitamin B1), Vitamin B-12 Supplement, Vitamin A Acetate, Niacin Supplement, Riboflavin Supplement (source of vitamin B2), Inositol, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (source of vitamin B6), Vitamin D3 Supplement, Rosemary Extract, Manganous Oxide, Folic Acid, Potassium Iodide.

5. Diamond Naturals

About: Diamond Naturals is another affordable, yet fairly decent-quality dry dog food. It’s formulated to contain all of the healthy ingredients you’d want, while keeping out of the artificial junk you’d rather not feed your dog.

Features:

• Beef meal listed as the #1 ingredient
• Contains real fruits and vegetables including peas, kale, blueberries and coconut
• Includes proprietary probiotic blend to help support digestive health.
• Made without corn, wheat, filler, artificial flavors, colors or preservatives.

PROS

Diamond Naturals is a great option for owners on a budget, and this is an affordable option for owners who want a beef-based recipe (although it should be noted – chicken fat is an ingredient)

CONS

The inclusion of chicken fat may be a problem for owners who are looking for an affordable beef dry food devoid of any other proteins.

Ingredients List

Beef Meal, Grain Sorghum, Ground White Rice, Dried Yeast, Egg Product,

Rice Bran, Cracked Pearled Barley, Chicken Fat (Preserved With Mixed Tocopherols), Dried Beet Pulp, Natural Flavor, Flaxseed, Potassium Chloride, Salt, Dl-Methionine, Choline Chloride, Taurine, Dried Chicory Root, Glucosamine Hydrochloride, Kale, Chia Seed, Pumpkin, Blueberries, Oranges, Quinoa, Dried Kelp, Coconut, Spinach, Carrots, Papaya, Yucca Schidigera Extract, Dried Lactobacillus Plantarum Fermentation Product, Dried Bacillus Subtilis Fermentation Product, Dried Lactobacillus Acidophilus Fermentation Product, Dried Enterococcus Faecium Fermentation Product, Dried Bifidobacterium Animalis Fermentation Product, Vitamin E Supplement, Beta Carotene, Chondroitin Sulfate, Iron Proteinate, Zinc Proteinate, Copper Proteinate, Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Potassium Iodide, Thiamine Mononitrate, Manganese Proteinate, Manganous Oxide, Ascorbic Acid, Vitamin A Supplement, Biotin, Niacin, Calcium Pantothenate, Manganese Sulfate, Sodium Selenite, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Riboflavin, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Folic Acid. Contains A Source Of Live (Viable), Naturally Occurring Microorganisms.