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The Honest Kitchen Wet Dog Food: Turkey Pâté Review

ByLouieRang

My Yorkie, Louie, can be a very selective eater. He may eat a food well and then suddenly decide he is not interested in it. One day when he refused his regular meal and went into his hideaway, I opened a box of The Honest Kitchen wet dog food. The smell got his attention almost immediately, and he came out to see what I was preparing.

That experience is why Turkey & Autumn Veggies Butcher Block Pâté became one of the foods I kept for days when his appetite for his usual food was low. The pâté has a strong food aroma, a soft texture, visible ingredients, and enough moisture that it feels very different from kibble or dehydrated food.

There is also one important update since I first fed and wrote about this product: the current U.S. Turkey & Autumn Veggies recipe contains brown rice and is not grain-free. Anyone buying it today should use the current ingredient label rather than an older description of the formula.

The Honest Kitchen Wet Dog Food Turkey Pâté at a Glance

The product I used with Louie is The Honest Kitchen Turkey & Autumn Veggies Butcher Block Pâté. The current U.S. recipe comes in a 10.5-ounce box and can be served as a complete meal or used as a topper. The manufacturer lists it for puppies and adult dogs.

The current ingredient list starts with turkey, turkey bone broth, and turkey liver. It also includes spinach, apples, carrots, brown rice, pumpkin, vitamins, minerals, salmon oil, and dried kelp. According to the current guaranteed analysis, the food contains 10.5% crude protein, 5.5% crude fat, 1% crude fiber, and 78% moisture as fed, with 366 kcal per box.

The high moisture content is one of the most noticeable differences when opening the box. This is a moist pâté surrounded by some liquid rather than a firm loaf that comes out as one dry block.

For Louie, that soft consistency was easy to spread across his bowl with a spoon.

What the Pâté Actually Looks and Smells Like

The first thing I noticed about The Honest Kitchen wet dog food was the aroma. It smelled much stronger than the dehydrated food from the same brand that I had also fed Louie.

The pâté itself was soft and moist. I could see pieces of vegetables in the food, including carrot. There was also liquid around the pâté, so when I portioned it I included some of that liquid instead of serving only the solid portion.

Louie’s reaction was the most useful part of the test for me. He watched the bowl while I prepared the food and started eating as soon as I put it down. I originally wanted to photograph his face while he waited for dinner, but he moved to the bowl too quickly.

That does not mean every picky dog will respond the same way. It tells me something much narrower and more useful: this particular food was highly palatable to Louie when he was refusing his usual meal.

If your dog also prefers soft foods, my review of The Honest Kitchen dehydrated dog food shows another format from the same brand that becomes soft after water is added. The preparation and texture are quite different from this ready-to-serve pâté.

How I Portioned It for My Small Yorkie

When I fed this pâté to Louie, I weighed the food rather than estimating it with a spoon.

For one meal, I used about 65 grams of the pâté plus some of the surrounding liquid, bringing the portion to about 73 grams. I then spread it across his bowl.

One box lasted about two days in our routine.

Those numbers describe how I used The Honest Kitchen wet dog food with Louie at that time. They are not a feeding recommendation for another dog.

The manufacturer’s current adult feeding guide for Turkey & Autumn Veggies lists 3/4 of a box per 10 pounds of body weight per day when it is fed as the diet. Puppies may require up to twice the adult amount. The company also notes that individual needs vary with factors such as age and activity, and calories from a topper need to be accounted for in the total diet.

That distinction matters with a small dog. Even a visually small extra portion can contribute meaningful calories when it is added on top of a complete daily diet.

I prefer weighing Louie’s portion because it gives me a repeatable amount instead of relying on how full the bowl looks.

Is The Honest Kitchen Turkey Pâté Grain-Free?

No—not the current U.S. Turkey & Autumn Veggies recipe.

This point deserves special attention because older information about The Honest Kitchen wet dog food may not match the product currently being sold.

The current official ingredient list includes brown rice, and the product page describes the recipe as free from fillers such as corn, wheat, and soy. That is different from saying the recipe is grain-free.

I originally described the food as grain-free when writing about Louie’s experience in 2024. For someone shopping for the product now, the current label should take priority.

If your dog must avoid a particular ingredient because of a diagnosed condition, suspected food reaction, or veterinary diet trial, read the complete ingredient list each time you purchase food. Formula changes can make an older review unreliable for that purpose.

A dog undergoing a controlled elimination diet also needs a different level of ingredient control than an ordinary healthy dog trying a new food. My guide to hydrolyzed dog food and elimination diets explains why an over-the-counter food should not be substituted for a veterinary diet simply because the front label sounds suitable.

What “Human Grade” Means on This Food

Human grade was one of the reasons The Honest Kitchen originally interested me, but the term is worth understanding correctly.

The Honest Kitchen states that its human-grade foods use ingredients from the human food supply chain and are produced in facilities that meet human-food production requirements.

That describes sourcing and manufacturing standards. It does not mean that a food is automatically the best formula for every dog, nor does it replace checking nutritional adequacy, calories, ingredients, and life-stage suitability.

For a food intended to serve as the main diet, I also look for whether it is labeled as complete and balanced for the appropriate life stage.

The Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) explains that “complete” means the food provides all required nutrients, while “balanced” means those nutrients are present in appropriate ratios. The nutritional adequacy statement on a pet food label identifies the species and life stage for which the diet is intended.

So I would not choose The Honest Kitchen wet dog food on the words “human grade” alone. I would check the full label and decide whether the particular recipe fits the dog and the way I plan to feed it.

What I Liked After Feeding It

The biggest advantage for Louie was simple: he wanted to eat it.

That mattered on a day when his usual food did not interest him. The aroma was strong enough to get his attention, and the soft, moist texture was very different from dry food.

I also liked being able to see some of the food ingredients instead of getting a completely uniform paste. The pâté was easy to weigh, scoop, and spread in a small bowl.

Another practical benefit for a small dog is that an opened box does not have to be used in one meal. The manufacturer says opened Butcher Block Pâté should be refrigerated, and its current product Q&A states that it can be kept refrigerated for up to three days after opening.

That worked with the way I fed Louie because one package covered more than one meal.

What I Would Check Before Buying It

My experience with The Honest Kitchen wet dog food was positive, but I would not choose it solely because Louie liked it.

First, check the current ingredient list. The Turkey & Autumn Veggies recipe now includes brown rice, and it also contains salmon oil. A dog that needs to avoid specific ingredients requires more careful label checking.

Second, decide whether you want a full meal or a topper. The same food can add a significant number of calories when it is placed on top of an already complete daily ration.

Third, consider storage. If you have a very small dog, make sure you can use the opened food within the manufacturer’s refrigerated storage period.

Finally, do not copy Louie’s 73-gram meal portion. The right amount depends on the dog’s total daily calories, body condition, age, activity, other foods, and whether the pâté is being used as a complete meal or only as an addition.

Is The Honest Kitchen Wet Dog Food Good for Picky Dogs?

For Louie, The Honest Kitchen wet dog food was one of the foods that could get his attention when he was being unusually selective about dinner.

The Turkey & Autumn Veggies pâté had three characteristics that worked particularly well for him: a noticeable aroma, a soft moist texture, and a ready-to-serve format.

I would consider it for a dog that enjoys pâté-style wet food or for an owner who wants a complete wet food that can also be portioned as a topper. I would be less interested in it for a dog that needs a tightly controlled veterinary diet or must avoid one of the ingredients in the current formula.

There is also an important limit to any “picky eater” recommendation. A dog that suddenly stops eating, repeatedly refuses meals, loses weight, vomits, develops diarrhea, appears painful, or shows other unusual symptoms should not simply be encouraged to eat by rotating increasingly tempting foods. A change in appetite can require veterinary evaluation.

For an otherwise well dog that simply has strong food preferences, palatability still matters. In Louie’s case, this pâté passed that test very quickly.

Final Verdict

I would use The Honest Kitchen wet dog food Turkey & Autumn Veggies Pâté again for Louie because he accepted it enthusiastically and the soft texture was convenient to portion for a small dog.

My main caution is to buy it based on the current formula, not an older review. The present Turkey & Autumn Veggies recipe contains brown rice, so I would not describe the current product as grain-free.

For me, its strongest selling point is not a marketing term on the box. It is the combination of a complete wet-food format, easy portioning, and a texture and aroma that Louie genuinely wanted to eat.

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