Nutro Pate Dog Food Review (Cups)

Nutro Pate Dog Food product range consists of two recipes which each receive the Dog Food Advisor’s rating, 4.5 stars.

A wet food made with real protein as the #1 ingredient, plus vitamins & minerals and no grains.

The table below shows each recipe in this range including our rating and the AAFCO nutrient profile: Growth (puppy), Maintenance (adult), All Life Stages, Supplemental or Unspecified.

Recipe and Label Analysis

Nutro Pate Tender Beef Recipe Grain Free was selected to represent both products in the line for detailed recipe and nutrient analysis.

Ingredients 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 10 essential amino acids required by a dog to sustain life.

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

The third 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 also naturally rich in the 10 essential amino acids required by canines to sustain life.

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

The fifth ingredient is dried egg product, a dehydrated form of shell-free eggs. Quality can vary significantly. Lower-grade egg product can even come from commercial hatcheries – from eggs that have failed to hatch.

In any case, eggs are easy to digest and have an exceptionally high biological value.

The sixth ingredient is potassium chloride, a nutritional supplement sometimes used as a replacement for the sodium found in table salt.

The seventh ingredient is tomato meal, a dried by-product of tomato processing similar to tomato pomace. This item is of only limited nutritional value to a dog and more typically associated with commercial poultry feeds.

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 Nutro product.

With one notable exception…

Sodium hexametaphosphate, a man-made industrial polymer with no known nutritive value.

HMP is used in making soap, detergents, water treatment, metal finishing and most likely here to decrease tartar build-up on the teeth.

Although some might disagree, we’re of the opinion that food is not the place for tartar control chemicals or any other non-nutritive substances.

Nutrient Analysis

Based on its ingredients alone, Nutro Pate Dog Food looks like an above-average wet product.

The dashboard displays a dry matter protein reading of 50%, a fat level of 26.9% and estimated carbohydrates of about 13.5%.

As a group, the brand features an average protein content of 47.1% and a mean fat level of 28.8%. Together, these figures suggest a carbohydrate content of 14.4% for the overall product line.

And a fat-to-protein ratio of about 62%.

Which means this Nutro product line contains…

Above-average protein. Above-average fat. And below-average carbs when compared to a typical wet dog food.

Nutro Dog Food Recall History

The following automated list (if present) includes all dog food recalls related to Nutro through November 2026.

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

Our Rating of Nutro Pate Dog Food

Nutro Pate in cups is a grain-free moisture-rich dog food using a significant amount of named meats as its dominant source of animal protein, thus earning the brand 4.5 stars.

Highly Recommended

About

Nutro has operated for over 90 years, making it one of the oldest pet food brands. John, Herman, and Albert Saleen founded Nutro in 1933.

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