10 Best Dog Food Without Peas, Lentils, Legumes & Potatoes

If you have no idea what a legume is, you’re not alone. It’s a good idea to learn, though, if you’re a pet parent, because they are a common ingredient in dog foods and have been linked to worries about a particular heart disease.

In a nutshell (or a pod…), a legume is a type of plant that grows in a pod, such as beans, peas, and peanuts. 

They’re often found in grain-free dog foods, and although they’re generally healthy, you may choose to avoid them if your pup is predisposed to heart disease. 

Today we’ll be looking at the best legume-free dog food (that also avoids potato, as it is also a suspect in DCM, as well as the various starches and proteins derived from potatoes and legumes). 

10 Best Dog Food Without Peas, Lentils, Legumes & Potatoes

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Testing Protocol & Criteria Used For Evaluation

Criteria 1 – Carb Source Quality

Considering these legume ingredients are often added to grain-free foods, it makes sense that pet parents who are more averse to grains would be choosing these foods. 

If your pup is sensitive to grains then we understand avoiding them completely. However, most dogs are sensitive to gluten – which means grains like rice, oats, sorghum, millet, and quinoa are totally okay for them to eat, but corn, wheat, and soy are not. 

It can happen that your pooch has a problem with all grains, in which case you will be looking for fruits and veggies. In our opinion, you should be looking for fruits and vegetables even if your dog’s food contains good grains, as they add a dose of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. 

We’ve made sure that despite the avoidance of legumes (peas, beans, and sneaky alfalfa) and potatoes, these foods contain great quality carbohydrate sources that are healthy and wholesome. These may be fruits and veggies or healthy grains, or in some cases, both. 

Criteria 2 – Quality Animal Protein

Legumes often contain a good bit of protein in them, which adds to the overall protein count of the food. Protein is super important, but protein from animal sources are always preferable, even more so when there aren’t legumes included to up the protein count. 

We’ve checked these foods carefully to make sure they contain high-quality animal proteins. Some will have only one protein source (ie. turkey in various forms), while others may contain multiple proteins that add to the count. 

Even though legumes are more carbs than protein, the quality of the protein plays a huge part in how healthy the food is for your pooch, which is obviously the whole point of choosing a particular food. 

We’ve rated these foods by a mixture of the quality of their protein and the protein count, depending on what breed or age it’s aimed at. 

Criteria 3 – Helpful Supplements

A food isn’t just … Food. Just as we humans use daily vitamins and supplements separate to our food, dogs need a couple of specific things to help them live their best life. 

Most of these supplements are included in their food, which is useful as you don’t need to worry about feeding them supplements separately. 

They include things like glucosamine and chondroitin for increased joint strength and stability, DHA and EPA for eye and brain health (especially for puppies and seniors), L-carnitine which boosts metabolism and helps with energy regulation, and added vitamins (common ones are vitamin A and E). 

It’s not necessary to have all of these in every food, but their presence definitely gives the kibble a boost and will give it a higher rating. 

Criteria 4 – Omega Fatty Acids

The fat content in your dog’s kibble is what gives them the quickest, most easily accessible energy source. Carbs are helpful for longer term, sustained energy, but fats are what really get your pup through the day. 

You’ll find a crude fat count and counts for Omega 3s and Omega 6s. These are all useful for energy, and for dogs who are prone to allergies related to food (as those who can’t tolerate legumes may be), Omegas are super for keeping your dog’s skin and coat healthy, sleek, and shiny. 

They’re great for reducing skin allergies and giving your pooch that healthy glow. Dogs whose parents are paying attention to their health and are interested in feeding them the best legume-free dog food will benefit from high levels of Omegas in many ways. 

Criteria 5 – Affordability

With new info coming to light all the time about the goodness and effectiveness of certain ingredients and diets, it can sometimes feel a little overwhelming being a dog parent. How do you make sure your pooch is getting the best while still sticking to a budget? 

Thankfully, there are options out there that are well within a decent price range. Of course, there are those that are up near the higher end – and if you can afford these, then go for it! 

If, however, you’re looking for something a little less pricey but with all the goodness and health benefits that the top of the range ones have, you’ll definitely find some options on this list to suit you. We even have the Best Value For Money option which is our top pick when it comes to paying for quality. 

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Questions & Answers

Not many of us actually know what legumes are. We’ll try to keep it short and sweet – we aren’t botanists, after all. 

Legumes (also known as pulses) are plants (or the fruit or seeds of said plants) of a specific family that has a long Latin name. It can be complicated when you start looking into what legumes really are, but simply put, they are plants whose fruit grows in pods. 

It’s easier to go into what plants and fruits fall under the legume umbrella (especially those that are commonly found in dog food). They include alfalfa, beans, peas, chickpeas, lentils, and soybeans, which are often seen on dog food ingredient lists. 

Although legumes are not bad for your dog, they have gained a bit of a negative reputation due to the FDA’s investigation into grain-free foods. It was thought that they contributed to the development of a disease called Dilated Cardiomyopathy, which is a heart condition in dogs, and their reputation hasn’t recovered despite the studies coming to no definitive conclusion. 

Although research has suggested that DCM is more likely caused by “boutique” diets that contain exotic ingredients, not just grain-free foods, it can be a worry for pet parents whose dogs have to eat grain-free foods for health reasons. 

If you have a dog breed that is predisposed to DCM, it may be helpful (even if just for your peace of mind) to feed them a food that avoids these ingredients. 

Even apart from DCM, certain breeds are just more predisposed to food allergies, which can leave them feeling uncomfortable and miserable. If you have a Bulldog, Golden Retriever, German Shepherd, Spaniel, Pug, Yorkie, or Pitbull, you may want to consider putting them on a legume-free dog food from the start.

Dilated Cardiomyopathy (DCM) is a heart condition that is characterised by an enlarged heart that struggles to pump blood properly. 

The word “dilated” means wider or more open, and that’s exactly what happens to the chambers of the heart when a pup suffers from this disease. When these chambers widen, their blood-pumping action isn’t as effective, meaning your pup’s body doesn’t get supplied with oxygen as effectively as it usually would. It can also cause fluid to accumulate in tissues, which leads to various complications. 

Symptoms usually only show up quite late in the progression of the disease, and include weakness and lethargy, laboured breathing or panting for no apparent reason, unexplained coughing, and distension of the abdomen. 

The fact is, any dog can develop any disease at any time. It’s impossible to prevent diseases and disorders through diet, no matter how hard you try to avoid potentially problematic ingredients in their food. Diet isn’t the only thing that contributes to health, and sometimes things develop despite our best efforts to keep our pups eating only good stuff. 

If your dog has noticeable, debilitating signs and symptoms of a food allergy or intolerance, it’s natural to find them a food that doesn’t have the same effects. If they have a pre-diagnosed condition that can be helped by eating a certain diet (such as hypothyroidism), it may be worth it to change their diet. DCM, though, is something that may or may not happen, and it’s still up in the air as to whether diet is a deciding factor in that. 

If your pup eats grain-free and you want them to keep doing so but you’re worried about DCM, then a legume-free, grain-free food may be a good idea for you and your pooch. If, however, your fluff is doing great on their grain-free, including-legumes diet and you’re happy and they’re happy (and they’re not a breed predisposed to it) then the chances of it being something you need to worry about are small. 

If you’ve decided to give a legume-free dog food a try, then there are still certain things you should be checking for to make sure you’re getting the great quality stuff. 

You should be looking for a premium quality ingredient list that contains wholesome, real food ingredients. A high quality animal protein (or more than one) should be the first ingredient on the list. 

Carbs don’t necessarily need to include grains, unless you (or your pup) prefer it that way. Good grains include rice, oats and oatmeal, barley, millet, buckwheat, sorghum, and quinoa are perfectly healthy and should be easy on your dog’s tummy. 

Whether or not there are grains, the addition of fruits and vegetables is always a good thing. Non-legume veggies (that aren’t potatoes) include sweet potatoes, squash, carrots, and spinach. Fruits are super as well and add a dash of vitamins, so look for apples, blueberries, cranberries, papaya, and oranges. 

There should be a nice level of Omega fatty acids and added supplements such as glucosamine & chondroitin, L-carnitine, and DHA and EPA. The necessity of these will depend on your pooch, but they’re great to see in a dog food. 

Grain-free dog food has become more popular in recent years but is it really a good thing? 

Quality grain-free foods are free from grains that are considered to be indigestible to dogs, like wheat, soy, and corn. They also avoid gluten-free grains, such as barley, oats, rice, and so on. Their carbohydrates are usually made up of veggies and fruits, such as potatoes, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, and of course, legumes (peas, chickpeas, lentils). 

Some dogs just don’t react well to grains, so a grain-free diet means their tummies are happier and they get more nutrients in as they aren’t as fussy eaters as they most likely were on a grain-containing food. In this case, a grain-free diet can visibly improve the quality of a dog’s life. 

Grain-free diets are also widely considered to be more nutrient-dense, promote better digestion, reduce allergies, increase energy levels, and provide longer-lasting, slower-burning energy. 

Disadvantages are the obvious link to DCM that’s been mentioned throughout this article (although nothing has been conclusively proven), the fact that grain-free dog foods are a little more pricey than those containing grains, and the potential for weight gain due to the density of the food. 

Grain-free is also not automatically healthier than those with grains. It’s important to look at everything from the protein source and quality, types of carbs, fat content, and added supplements before assuming that a grain-free food is better than one with grains. 

We’ve avoided foods with potatoes on this list, because of their link to DCM, as well as being a common allergen for dogs. Sweet potatoes, though, are slightly nutritionally different to white potatoes, and are still appropriate for a pup who may have to avoid white potatoes due to allergies. 

White potatoes are a common ingredient in dog food as they’re cheaper than sweet potatoes. They have a higher glycemic index than sweet potatoes, which means they contain more natural sugar, so they could be a problem for pups with diabetes. 

They’re dense carbohydrates but actually offer less nutritional value than sweet potatoes. There have also been worries about certain carcinogens that are produced when white potatoes are cooked, making them a little less stable as an ingredient in dog foods.

Sweet potatoes are more nutrient-dense than their white counterparts and contain less sugar but more vitamins and antioxidants. They are high in starch, so too much of them can contribute to weight gain, but that’s just as true for white potatoes!

All in all, if your pup needs to avoid white potatoes, then you should be able to go with sweet potatoes no problem. They are highly nutritious and don’t produce the same allergies as white potatoes do.