Freshpet has lived in our refrigerator on and off for years now, usually as a topper grabbed during a regular grocery run. The Delivery side of the business was new territory for us: build a plan around your dog’s specific needs, skip the store entirely, and let a box show up on a schedule instead.
We put three recipes through their paces with Freya: Shredded Chicken, Beef and Chicken, and Chicken and Turkey. All three got eaten without complaint, which on its own says something given who we’re talking about. The Shredded Chicken, though, went well past “eaten without complaint” into genuine, tail-wagging enthusiasm.
What follows is everything that came out of testing the food itself, digging into the different plan structures, and weighing delivery against just grabbing a bag at the store like we always used to.
If you already know Freshpet from the grocery store and are wondering whether the delivery version is worth the switch, this comes from someone who tested both sides.
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What Makes Freshpet Delivery Different
Freshpet the brand barely needs an introduction at this point. Those refrigerated cases have been showing up in grocery stores, pet shops, Walmart and Target for years, which means plenty of dog owners already know the product even if delivery is new to them.
Delivery takes that same base product and wraps a subscription model around it: personalized feeding guidance, a plan built around your specific dog and a box that shows up on schedule. The twist that sets it apart from most delivery-only competitors is that a lot of these same recipes still sit on store shelves too.
That overlap matters more than it sounds like it should. Run out of food two days early and there is a real chance you can grab the same recipe locally instead of scrambling for a temporary substitute. Selection swings by store though, which is worth knowing going in.
Freshpet Delivery at a Glance
Best For | Dogs who do well on fresh food, picky eaters, and owners who want delivery without losing retail backup. |
Protein Sources | Chicken, turkey, beef, lamb, eggs and other proteins depending on recipe. |
Recipes Tested | Shredded Chicken, Beef and Chicken, Chicken and Turkey. |
Standout Feature | Customizable fresh food plans shipped on a schedule. |
Plan Options | Full Plan, Half Plan or Topper Plan. |
Storage | Refrigerate or freeze according to package directions. |
Key Limitation | Chicken appears in most recipes; only one Delivery option is fully chicken-free. |
Freshpet Delivery takes a familiar fresh dog food brand and turns it into a much more personalized service. Instead of figuring out portions yourself, you get a meal plan and feeding guidelines based on your dog, with fresh, gently cooked food delivered right to your door.
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SAVE 55% OFF YOUR FIRST ORDER WITH FRESHPETPPA55
Ingredient Quality
Exact ingredients shift from recipe to recipe, which matters if a dog has specific sensitivities or your household is committed to particular proteins. The overall approach stays consistent though: fresh animal protein from USDA-inspected suppliers sits at the top of every ingredient list, backed up by produce like carrots, cranberries, pumpkin, green beans, spinach and sweet potatoes depending on which recipe you are looking at.
- Shredded Chicken. Built around U.S. farm-raised chicken with pumpkin, cranberries, carrots and green beans. No gluten, soy, fillers, added preservatives, meat meals or by-product meals.
- Beef and Chicken. S.-raised beef and chicken paired with eggs, sweet potatoes, carrots, green beans, spinach, cranberries and lentils. Grain-free, with the same no-filler standard as the Shredded Chicken recipe.
- Chicken and Turkey. Chicken and turkey alongside eggs, cranberries, carrots, sweet potatoes, green beans and spinach. Also grain-free and free of added preservatives and meat meals.
Worth flagging: not every Freshpet recipe is grain-free, and that’s genuinely fine. Grain-free isn’t automatically the healthier choice for every dog, whatever the marketing around it sometimes implies. Full ingredient lists and nutrition breakdowns are published per recipe, so checking before ordering is straightforward.
Real-World Performance
Why We Started With Shredded Chicken
Freshpet was not a new brand for us. We had bought the loaf-style refrigerated version off and on for years, usually as a topper rather than a full meal. Delivery, and these particular textures, were the new part.
The timing turned out to matter for reasons that had nothing to do with the food itself. Freya’s appetite had only recently started coming back after her heart disease diagnosis threw her whole relationship with food sideways. Getting her medications dialed in took a while, the stomach upset that came with it took even longer to settle, and even once she wanted to eat again, she had gone suspicious of foods she used to inhale without a second thought.
We picked Shredded Chicken specifically because of what had worked during the roughest stretch: plain shredded chicken, spooned out by hand, was one of the few things she would reliably eat. I wanted something that felt familiar enough not to get an automatic rejection, while still being an actual complete meal instead of another improvised workaround.
Our bar was low. Not rejecting it outright would have counted as a win.
Pro Tips
If you are introducing fresh food to a dog who has recently been picky or unwell, a single-protein recipe with a familiar texture tends to have better odds than jumping straight to a more processed-looking blend.
She finished a full serving and then went hunting for more.
That alone was a genuine surprise given how selective she had gotten. What mattered more to me, honestly, was finally being able to give her something she was excited about that also covered her actual nutritional needs, instead of piecing together something vaguely “complete” out of whatever human food she had decided was acceptable that particular day.
The Other Two Recipes Held Up Too
Beef and Chicken and Chicken and Turkey came next, and I was not especially optimistic. Both have a noticeably different texture than the shredded version, more like small nuggets than shredded strips, and I half expected her to clock it as obviously dog food and turn up her nose.
She ate every bite of both.
Shredded Chicken still wins by a mile, though. There’s regular enthusiasm for dinner, and then there’s Freya finishing a bowl and immediately parking herself in front of the fridge where she watched me put the rest of the bag away.
The Delivery and Retail Combination Actually Works
The convenience of the subscription itself won me over more than I expected going in. Plenty of these recipes are sold in stores that carry Freshpet, and I would count that as a genuine advantage rather than a reason to skip delivery entirely. Underestimate how much food is left and run short before the next box arrives, and I can just grab Shredded Chicken locally instead of scrambling to switch foods on short notice.
The catch is that individual stores do not stock every recipe. Our nearest grocery store carries Shredded Chicken but neither of the other two we tested, which is a fairly typical pattern based on what I have seen.
Delivery skips that hunting entirely. The box arrives on schedule, built around whatever Freya is actually eating that month, no guessing whether a specific store happens to have it in stock that week.
The Bags, the Thaw and the Plan Flexibility
Small thing, but a genuinely appreciated one: the resealable bags. Fresh food eats up freezer space no matter what, but flexible bags tuck into odd gaps far more easily than rigid tubs ever could.
Once moved to the fridge, thaw time is short. Freshpet ships fully cooked and can go straight from the fridge to the bowl, though a few seconds in the microwave works too if a dog prefers it slightly warm. Take it out of the packaging first, obviously, though apparently that is worth saying out loud anyway.
The plan structure itself deserves credit too. Full Plan, Half Plan or Topper Plan means going all-in on fresh food is not the only option if budget or feeding routine does not support it. Freshpet will recommend an amount based on a few questions about weight and activity level, or the whole thing can be customized by hand, recipe by recipe.
The Treats Earned Their Spot Too
Two extras came along with the order: Dognation Turkey Bacon Treats and Dognation Chicken Treats.
Short ingredient lists on both, which I appreciated. Chicken Treats: chicken, ground oats, chicken broth, salt, natural flavors, vinegar and celery powder. Turkey Bacon Treats: turkey, water, pea fiber, salt, potassium chloride and celery powder.
The bags themselves are small, 3 ounces for the Turkey Bacon and 6.4 ounces for the Chicken Treats, though the treats are lightweight enough that there is more volume in there than the package size suggests.
Freya approved of both, though the bacon variety edged out as her clear favorite.
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Pro Tips
These are not shelf-stable. Both varieties need to stay refrigerated once opened, with Freshpet recommending Chicken Treats get used within 10 days and Turkey Bacon Treats within 14.
What to Consider
Quality is not where my hesitation lives. Protein variety is.
Chicken shows up constantly across the lineup. Shredded Chicken is the only single-protein recipe we tested, and chicken factors into most of the broader Delivery menu. Right now, Beef, Turkey and Lamb is the sole fully chicken-free Delivery option, though we did not test that one for this review.
I would like to see both ends of that spectrum expanded: more chicken-free choices for dogs who genuinely cannot have it and more single-protein recipes for dogs on limited-ingredient diets. Single-protein beef and turkey options specifically would fill an obvious gap.
Price is the other predictable factor. Fresh food costs more than kibble or canned, especially for a larger dog, and there is no getting around that math. Freshpet Delivery sits competitively within the fresh food category though, and the Half Plan or Topper Plan option makes the cost easier to absorb if going all-in is not realistic.
Freezer space is the last consideration, and some is required regardless. The resealable bags make Freshpet noticeably easier to wedge in than rigid containers, so if freezer Tetris is already a skill you have mastered, this will not be the thing that breaks you.
- Fresh animal protein leads every list. Recognizable meat first, not a mystery blend.
- Real fruits and vegetables. Ingredients you can actually name, not filler.
- No rendered meat meals or by-product meals. Across every recipe we checked.
- Multiple textures and protein combos. Options for dogs who get bored or picky.
- Overlaps with retail availability. Many recipes sold locally too, so running short doesn't mean an emergency food switch.
- Resealable bags. Easier to wedge into a packed freezer than rigid tubs.
- Costs more than kibble or canned. Standard for the fresh food category.
- Needs real fridge and freezer space. No way around it.
- Thin on chicken-free options. Only one fully chicken-free Delivery recipe exists right now.
- Could use more single-protein recipes. Useful for dogs on limited-ingredient diets.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Freshpet considered human-grade dog food?
No, and it is worth understanding the distinction. Freshpet markets its food as fresh and gently cooked, but a 2026 advertising standards review found that some of the brand’s marketing implied human-grade status more strongly than could be supported, and recommended those specific claims be discontinued. Freshpet agreed to comply. If human-grade certification specifically matters to you, look for brands that make that claim explicitly and can back it up, rather than assuming every fresh dog food brand qualifies.
How is Freshpet Delivery different from buying Freshpet at the store?
The food itself is largely the same. Delivery adds a personalized feeding plan, scheduled shipments and the option to build an order around specific recipes and quantities, rather than grabbing whatever a given store happens to stock that week. Many Delivery recipes are also sold at retail, so the two options can work as a backup for each other.
Can I switch between Freshpet Delivery and store-bought recipes?
In most cases, yes, since a lot of Delivery recipes overlap with what is sold in stores carrying Freshpet. Selection varies significantly by location, so it is worth checking what a nearby store actually carries before counting on it as a reliable backup.
Does Freshpet Delivery work for dogs with chicken sensitivities?
Options are limited right now. Most Delivery recipes include chicken in some form, and Beef, Turkey and Lamb is currently the only fully chicken-free choice in the Delivery lineup. Dogs with a confirmed chicken sensitivity may find better variety with a brand built specifically around limited-ingredient or novel-protein recipes.
How long does Freshpet food last once it is thawed or opened?
Follow the specific guidance printed on the package, since it varies by recipe and format. As a general rule, fresh dog food should be used within about a week of opening if refrigerated, and treats specifically should be watched even more closely since some are recommended for use within 10 to 14 days of opening.
Is fresh food like Freshpet worth it for a picky eater?
Often yes, particularly for a dog who has gone off kibble or is recovering from an illness that affected appetite. Fresh food tends to be more aromatic and palatable than dry food, which can make a real difference for a dog who needs encouragement to eat consistently. It is not a guarantee for every picky eater, but it is a reasonable place to start.
What plan size should I choose for my dog?
Freshpet’s questionnaire will estimate an amount based on weight and activity level, and that is a solid starting point for most owners. The Half Plan or Topper Plan works well for dogs transitioning gradually or for owners easing fresh food into a mixed diet, while the Full Plan suits dogs eating fresh food as their primary diet.
Final Thoughts
For us, the answer is yes. Freshpet Delivery delivers most of what I actually want from a fresh food subscription without locking me entirely into home delivery. The order is customizable, the amount of fresh food is up to me, it shows up at the house on schedule and I have still got a local backup for at least some recipes if timing goes sideways.
What matters most, though, is that Freya genuinely wants to eat it. After weeks of coaxing her through meals while her appetite slowly came back, watching her finish a bowl of Shredded Chicken and go looking for more was enough on its own to earn that recipe a permanent spot in the rotation.
I would still like to see more chicken-free and single-protein options, and fresh food will always cost more in both money and freezer space than a scoop of kibble. But for anyone who wants fresh, recognizable ingredients with the flexibility to shop locally when needed, Freshpet Delivery lands in a genuinely useful middle ground.
Freya, for her part, would prefer we just have the Shredded Chicken delivered by the truckload.
Freshpet Delivery takes a familiar fresh dog food brand and turns it into a much more personalized service. Instead of figuring out portions yourself, you get a meal plan and feeding guidelines based on your dog, with fresh, gently cooked food delivered right to your door.
BEST PRICE GUARANTEED
SAVE 55% OFF YOUR FIRST ORDER WITH FRESHPETPPA55
