Highly Recommended
DogFoodAdvisor is reader supported See how
All reviews are 100% impartial but if you buy using links on this page, we may earn a referral fee.
Our Verdict
Emma Lou’s Homemade Kitchen Dog Food receives the Advisor’s top rating of 5 stars.
The Emma Lou’s Homemade Kitchen product line includes 4 cooked-then-frozen dog foods.
Each recipe below includes its related AAFCO nutrient profile when available on the product’s official webpage: Growth, Maintenance, All Life Stages, Supplemental or Unspecified.
| Product line | Rating | AAFCO |
|---|---|---|
| Emma Lou's Pork and Quinoa | 5 | U |
| Emma Lou's Turkey and Quinoa | 5 | U |
| Emma Lou's Chicken and Quinoa | 5 | U |
| Emma Lou's Beef and Quinoa | 4.5 | U |
Recipe and Label Analysis
Emma Lou’s Turkey and Quinoa was selected to represent the other products in the line for this review.
Emma Lou's Turkey and Quinoa Formula
Estimated Dry Matter Nutrient Content
Protein
Fat
CarbsCarbohydrates
Ground turkey, organic quinoa, collard greens, green beans, sweet potato, carrots, chicken liver, eggs, apple, parsley, freshly ground organic flax seed, extra virgin olive oil, organic raw apple cider vinegar, organic kelp powder, organic alfalfa powder, sea salt, finely powdered eggshell, zinc gluconate, copper gluconate, vitamin D, vitamin E, sodium selenite, potassium iodide
Fiber (estimated dry matter content) = 2%
Red denotes any controversial items
| Estimated Nutrient Content | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Method | Protein | Fat | Carbs |
| Guaranteed Analysis | 15% | 7% | NA |
| Dry Matter Basis | 54% | 26% | 12% |
| Calorie Weighted Basis | 42% | 49% | 9% |
Ingredients Analysis
The first ingredient in this dog food is ground turkey. Turkey is considered “the clean combination of flesh and skin… derived from the parts or whole carcasses of turkey”.1
Turkey is naturally rich in the ten essential amino acids required by a dog to sustain life.
The second ingredient is quinoa. Quinoa (pronounced keen-wah) is not a true cereal grain but a plant prized for its gluten-free seeds.
Compared to most other grain-type ingredients, it is high in protein (about 12-18%), dietary fiber and other healthy nutrients.
The third ingredient includes collard greens. Due to their notable vitamin and mineral content, collards boast a high nutrient Completeness Score2 of 81.
The fourth ingredient lists green beans, a healthy vegetable notable for its vitamin, mineral and natural fiber content.
Next, we find sweet potato. Sweet potatoes are a gluten-free source of complex carbohydrates in a dog food. They are naturally rich in dietary fiber and beta carotene.
The sixth ingredient lists carrots. Carrots are rich in beta-carotene, minerals and dietary fiber.
The seventh ingredient is chicken liver. This is an organ meat sourced from a named animal and thus considered a beneficial component.
The eighth ingredient includes whole eggs. Eggs are easy to digest and have an exceptionally high biological value.
From here, the list goes on to include a number of other items.
But to be realistic, ingredients located this far down the list (other than nutritional supplements) are not likely to affect the overall rating of this product.
With 5 notable exceptions…
First, flaxseed is one of the best plant sources of healthy omega-3 fatty acids. Provided they’ve first been ground into a meal, flax seeds are also rich in soluble fiber.
However, flaxseed contains about 19% protein, a factor that must be considered when judging the actual meat content of this dog food.
This recipe contains sodium selenite a controversial form of the mineral selenium. Sodium selenite appears to be nutritionally inferior to the more natural source of selenium found in selenium yeast.
Next, olive oil contains oleic acid, a healthy monounsaturated fat. It’s also rich in natural antioxidants and carotenoids.
In addition, this food contains egg shell powder, used here as a natural source of dietary calcium.
And lastly, the vitamins and minerals added to this product are not detailed sufficiently here to permit us to judge their quality. However, we’re reassured to find a detailed list of naturally present nutrients on the company’s website.
Nutrient Analysis
Based on its ingredients alone, Emma Lou’s Homemade Kitchen looks like an above-average wet product.
The dashboard displays a dry matter protein reading of 54%, a fat level of 26% and estimated carbohydrates of about 12%.
As a group, the brand features an average protein content of 51% and a mean fat level of 30%. Together, these figures suggest a carbohydrate content of 11% for the overall product line.
And a fat-to-protein ratio of about 58%.
Above-average protein. Above-average fat. And below-average carbs when compared to a typical refrigerated dog food.
Even when you consider the protein-boosting effect of the flaxseed, this looks like the profile of a wet product containing a significant amount of meat.
Emma Lou's Dog Food Recall History
The following automated list (if present) includes all dog food recalls related to Emma Lou's through December 2024.
No recalls noted.
You can view a complete list of all dog food recalls since 2009 here.
Our Rating of Emma Lou's Dog Food
Emma Lou’s Homemade Kitchen is a grain-inclusive dog food that includes a significant amount of named meats as its main source of animal protein, thus earning the brand 5 stars.
Enthusiastically recommended.
Please note certain recipes are sometimes given a higher or lower rating based upon our estimate of their total meat content and (when appropriate) their fat-to-protein ratios.
Compare Emma Lou's Dog Food
How does Emma Lou's compare with The Dog Food Advisor's most recommended brands?
Sources
A Final Word
The Dog Food Advisor does not accept money, gifts, samples or other incentives in exchange for special consideration in preparing our reviews.
However, we do receive a referral fee from online retailers (like Chewy or Amazon) and from sellers of perishable pet food when readers click over to their websites from ours. This helps cover the cost of operation of our free blog. Thanks for your support.
For more information, please visit our Disclaimer and Disclosure page.
