Which Blue Buffalo Delights Recipes Get Our Best Ratings?

Blue Buffalo Delights receives the Advisor’s second-highest rating of 4.5 stars.

The Blue Buffalo Delights product line includes 9 recipe cups designed for small breeds.

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.

Recipe and Label Analysis

Blue Buffalo Delights Prime Rib Flavor in Gravy was selected to represent the other products in the line for detailed recipe and nutrient analysis.

Label and nutrient data below are calculated using dry matter basis.

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Ingredient Analysis

The first ingredient in this dog food is beef. Beef is defined as “the clean flesh derived from slaughtered cattle” and includes skeletal muscle or the muscle tissues of the tongue, diaphragm, heart or esophagus.¹

Beef is naturally rich in all ten essential amino acids required by a dog to sustain life.

The second ingredient is beef broth. Broths are of only modest nutritional value. Yet because they add both flavor and moisture to a dog food, they are a common addition component in many canned products.

The third ingredient is water, which adds nothing but moisture to this food. Water is a routine finding in most wet dog foods.

The fourth ingredient is chicken liver. This is an organ meat sourced from a named animal and thus considered a beneficial component.

The fifth ingredient includes carrots. Carrots are rich in beta-carotene, minerals and dietary fiber.

The sixth ingredient is chicken. Chicken is considered “the clean combination of flesh and skin… derived from the parts or whole carcasses of chicken”.²

Chicken is naturally rich in the ten essential amino acids required by a dog to sustain life.

The seventh ingredient is potato. Potatoes can be considered a gluten-free source of digestible carbohydrates. Yet with the exception of perhaps their caloric content, potatoes are of only modest nutritional value to a dog.

The eighth ingredient is dried egg, a dehydrated powder made from shell-free eggs. Eggs are easy to digest and have an exceptionally high biological value.

The ninth ingredient lists peas. Peas are a quality source of carbohydrates. And like all legumes, they’re rich in natural fiber.

However, peas contain about 25% protein, a factor that must be considered when judging the meat content of this dog food.

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 Blue product.

With 4 notable exceptions…

First, we find pea flour, a powder made from roasted yellow peas. Pea flour contains as much as 25% protein, a factor that must be considered when judging the meat content of this dog food.

Next, although molasses can be rich in minerals, it’s also a less refined form of sugar with a glycemic index in humans similar to maple syrup.

Like table sugar (and in excessive amounts), molasses has the potential to raise a dog’s blood sugar.

In addition, this food contains chelated minerals, minerals that have been chemically attached to protein. This makes them easier to absorb. Chelated minerals are usually found in better dog foods.

And lastly, this recipe includes 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.

Nutrient Analysis

Based on its ingredients alone, Blue Buffalo Delights looks like an above-average moist product.

The dashboard displays a dry matter protein reading of 44%, a fat level of 17% and estimated carbohydrates of about 31%.

As a group, the brand features an average protein content of 39% and a mean fat level of 24%. Together, these figures suggest a carbohydrate content of 29% for the overall product line.

And a fat-to-protein ratio of about 64%.

Which means this Blue Buffalo product line contains…

Near-average protein. Near-average fat. And near-average carbs when compared to other wet dog foods.

Even when you consider the protein-boosting effect of the peas and pea flour, this looks like the profile of a wet product containing a notable amount of meat.

Our Rating of Blue Buffalo Delights Dog Food

Blue Buffalo Delights is a grain-free moisture-rich dog food using a notable amount of named meats as its dominant source of animal protein, thus earning the brand 4.5 stars.

Highly recommended.

Blue Buffalo Delights Dog Food Recall History

The following automated list (if present) includes all dog food recalls related to Blue Buffalo through April.

• Blue Buffalo Dog Food Recall Event Number 2 of March 2017 (3/18/2017)
• Blue Buffalo Dog Food Recall of March 2017 (3/3/2017)
• Blue Buffalo Dog Food Recall of February 2017 (2/14/2017)
• Blue Buffalo Dog Food Recall of May 2016 (5/31/2016)
• Blue Buffalo Dog Chews Recall of November 2015 (11/25/2015)
• Blue Buffalo Dog Food Recall (10/8/2010)

You can view a complete list of all dog food recalls since 2009 here.

Get Free Recall Alerts

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More Blue Buffalo Brand Reviews

The following Blue Buffalo dog food reviews are also posted on this website:

• Blue Buffalo Basics Dog Food Review (Dry)
• Blue Buffalo Basics Grain Free Dog Food Review (Canned)
• Blue Buffalo Basics Grain Free Dog Food Review (Dry)
• Blue Buffalo Blue’s Stew Dog Food Review (Canned)
• Blue Buffalo Dog Food Review
• Blue Buffalo Family Favorites Dog Food Review (Canned)
• Blue Buffalo Freedom Grain Free Dog Food Review (Canned)
• Blue Buffalo Freedom Grain Free Dog Food Review (Dry)
• Blue Buffalo Homestyle Recipes Dog Food Review (Wet)
• Blue Buffalo Wilderness Dog Food Review (Canned)
• Blue Buffalo Wilderness Dog Food Review (Dry)
• Blue Buffalo Wilderness Rocky Mountain Recipe Dog Food Review (Canned)
• Blue Buffalo Wilderness Rocky Mountain Recipe Dog Food Review (Dry)