The Ultimate Nom Nom Dog Food Review (2023)
I’m a subscriber to Nom Nom (aka NomNomNow) and it’s my top pick for best fresh dog foods. They offer fresh dog food made from whole ingredients and balanced with vitamins and minerals.
Their meals are gently cooked in small batches and shipped to your door in pre-portioned packages, plus they now offer flexible feeding plans as well.
In this blog post, I’ll give you my Nom Nom dog food review to help you decide if it’s worth it. I’ll walk you through key details and benefits of their plans, Nom Nom dog food cost, what customers say, plus my experience with ordering their meal plan with my own dog.
I may earn a commission if you buy through my links, but I only recommend products that I support and you pay nothing extra.
Table of Contents
What is Nom Nom?
The inspiration for the company came from its co-founder, Alex Jarrell, whose dog, Harlee, was repeatedly becoming sick. She began making her dog’s food at home based on the recommendation of her veterinarian. Harlee’s health began to improve, which inspired Alex to quit her job and start Nom Nom.
Soon, the company hired veterinary nutritionists and scientists to help create their healthy recipes. By staying involved in every part of their food’s production, they ensure that every batch of food is made properly.
Their company offers high quality dog food made with whole food ingredients. They have three core values:
- Pets first: Every step of planning and preparing your dog’s food is done with your dog’s needs in mind.
- Better sourcing: All of Nom Nom’s ingredients are sourced from within the US and cooked in California and Nashville-based kitchens.
- Methodical cooking & mixing: All food is gently cooked to preserve nutrients. It’s then pre-portioned according to your dog’s caloric needs with their state-of-the-art portioning machine.
Nom Nom Dog Food Cost
Without obtaining an actual quote from Nom Nom, you won’t be able to get your exact monthly cost. However, I’ve tried to give you some rough estimates and factors that are considered.
Factors Affecting Your Price Per Month
As far as Nom Nom dog food cost, it varies depending on your:
- dog’s current weight,
- dog’s ideal weight (do you want them to maintain, lose, or gain weight?),
- delivery frequency (4 weeks is standard but can change to every 2 weeks for higher cost),
- activity level (normal, high, very high), and
- age (may affect price if you have a puppy).
Nom Nom does offer coupons occasionally, plus gives some discounts if you choose less frequent deliveries or have multiple pets.
Coupon: You can get 50% off your first order through my site.
Cost Estimates
So how much is Nom Nom dog food? Well, I obtained a bunch of price estimates for dogs at various weights to help my readers and created an infographic below. Otherwise, you’ll need to submit your information to them before getting an exact quote.
In the quotes above, they’re based upon a dog maintaining their current weight. However, if your dog is looking to lose or gain weight, then the price can go down or up since they’ll require less or more calories to reach that weight. A dog’s ideal weight can vary significantly between individual dogs even in the same breed.
While most customers will choose delivery every 4 weeks, there are some customers who don’t have the storage space or lifting ability to deal with that much food. Keep in mind you’ll pay more for more frequent deliveries.
Activity level also affects the price because your dog may require less or more calories depending on how much they move around.
The age of your dog may affect the price if your dog is young. Puppies need more calories, but as they get older, they don’t need as much since they’ve already hit their target weight.
Note: your cost will likely change over time since you’re supposed to adjust your dog’s weight and activity level. As a result, the recommended portion size may change.
Cost
This Nom Nom dog food review wouldn’t be complete without the details of my plan. For my subscription, the price for 4 weeks of meals is a total of $123.66 ($117.88 plus $5.78 sales tax) for a 14 year old male poodle weighing 13 lbs with a normal activity level. Initially, my cost was around $109, but I decided to increase the food size.
While I have a small dog, you can expect to pay a lot more for medium to large dogs. For example, in an article on Nom Nom’s website, they give a cost of $5.00 – $6.50 per day for a 30 lb dog, so that’s around $150-$195 per month.
By the way, shipping is free in the 48 contiguous U.S. states.
Ways to Save on Cost
If the full meal plan is out of your price range, you have some other options:
- Half-Portion Plan– With half portions, you’ll mix Nom Nom meals with your dog’s current food to complement their diet with additional nutrients from fresh food. You’ll need to contact their customer service team to adjust your account to this plan.
- Topper– You can also request even less food than a half portion and use Nom Nom as a meal topper for added nutrients to their current diet. You’ll also need to contact their customer service team to choose this option.
- Flexible Feeding Plan– This is a new option and mentioned later in this review, but you can buy bundles weighing 6 lbs and choose how little or much to feed your dog. Price starts at $49 for a bundle of meals. This option is available here.
- Sample Variety Pack– Not wanting to commit to their subscription plan yet? You can try all four of their flavors for $15 with 150 grams of each recipe. Note: they charge for shipping if under $30, so you’ll need to buy two for free shipping.
- PetSmart– At PetSmart, you can buy 1.1 lb or 3 lb packet of any of Nom Nom’s 4 recipes to try out first before committing to a full trial plan. However, you won’t be able to get coupons or multiple pet discounts like through the website.
Ingredients and Recipes
This Nom Nom dog food review wouldn’t be complete without the actual recipes that are available. Nom Nom offers four different recipes which you can pick and choose from (or pick all of them) after the initial trial period:
For each recipe, there are several minerals and vitamins added to give your dog the essential nutrients they need. However, there’s no fillers like some other dog foods.
Beef Mash
For its first 5 ingredients, the Beef Mash recipe contains beef, potatoes, eggs, carrots, and peas. As mentioned, there’s added vitamins and minerals. Here’s all of the ingredients:
Chicken Cuisine
The Chicken Cuisine recipe features chicken, sweet potatoes, squash, and spinach as its first 4 ingredients. Here’s the full list of ingredients:
Pork Potluck
For the Pork Potluck, it contains pork, potatoes, green beans, squash, kale, and mushrooms as its first 6 ingredients. Here’s the full list:
Turkey Fare
For its first 5 ingredients, the Turkey Fare features turkey, brown rice, eggs, carrots, and spinach. It’s more calorie dense than the other recipes at 1479 kcal/kg, so you’ll receive smaller packets for this particular recipe. Below is the complete ingredient list:
Where Do They Get Their Ingredients?
All of Nom Nom’s ingredients supposedly come from reliable US growers and suppliers. No meals, fillers, or byproducts are used in the creation of their food.
They work to sustainably source their ingredients and believe it matters how they treat the environment in the creation of their dog’s food.
In the sourcing, cooking, and shipping process, they work hard to have zero waste in their facilities.
The recipes at Nom Nom are formulated by a veterinary nutritionist. Their nutrient mix is formulated to ensure that all meals are completely balanced. According to them, there are less than 100 board certified veterinary nutritionists in the U.S., and they have two of them on their staff formulating their meals.
To limit the chances of contamination, they oversee all parts of food production. Their food is cooked in their California and Nashville facilities. All of their recipes are made in small batches.
Each ingredient is cooked individually at low heat to lock in nutrients. After the ingredients have been cooked, they’re carefully mixed into small batches.
Instead of freezing food for long periods of time, they continually make fresh food to be delivered directly to their customers.
All of Nom Nom’s food meets or exceeds AAFCO Dog Food Nutrient Profiles for all life stages. Although they’re pretty happy with their current recipes, they’re always working to bring the best nutrition to your dog.
What Types of Meal Plans Does They Offer?
Nom Nom offers meals that are customized and pre-portioned based on your dog’s age, weight, health, and other factors. They also just introduced a flexible feeding plan. In this section of my Nom Nom dog food review, I’ll discuss their dog food options:
Fresh Meal (Pre-portioned or Flexible Feeding Options Available)
Their fresh food comes in 4 recipes: Beef Mash, Turkey Fare, Chicken Cuisine, and Pork Potluck.
These recipes include ingredients like fresh meats, potatoes, eggs, carrots, peas, brown rice, spinach, sweet potatoes, yellow squash, mushrooms, kale, and fish oil.
Each meal has a carefully balanced nutrient blend to ensure your dog is getting a full and complete meal.
Nom Nom Dog Food Price: The cost of Nom Nom’s pre-portioned subscription plan will depend on your dog’s current and ideal weight, delivery frequency, activity level, and sometimes age (See Nom Nom Dog Food Cost section above for more specifics).
While Nom Nom provides a pre-portioned subscription option customized to your dog, they just announced a flexible feeding plan option. Now you can serve Nom Nom to your dog as a main dish, a side dish or an after-dinner treat.
In the flexible plan, the food is not pre-portioned, so you can choose how much or little to feed to your dog each time. Here are the prices of the bundles:
- 1 Bundle (6 lbs of food / 7 meal packs) – $49 + $15 shipping*
- 2 Bundles (12 lbs of food / 14 meal packs) – $98*
- 3 Bundles (18 lbs of food / 21 meal packs) – $132 (save $15)*
- 4 Bundles (24 lbs of food / 28 meal packs) – $171 (save $25)*
- 5 Bundles (30 lbs of food / 35 meal packs) – $205 (save $40)*
*Before taxes
Treats
Treats can be added to your regular shipments to give your dog something extra as a reward. Beef Jerky and Chicken Jerky treats are available as add-ons or for individual purchase.
Cost: A 2-ounce bag of treats is $13, while a 4-ounce bag is available for $20.
Supplements
Nom Nom offers two supplement options for dogs: Full Spectrum Probiotics or GI Targeted Probiotics. These can aid your dog’s digestion.
Cost: Both probiotic supplements cost $40 for a 30-day supply.
Key Benefits
Now let’s get to the benefits of their fresh dog food in this Nom Nom dog food review.
Improvement to Your Pup’s Health
Many customers subscribe for the potential health benefits for their dogs. According to Nom Nom, you may see the following benefits over time:
– Week 1: Excitement at meal time and more energy
– Week 2: Smaller stools and better breath
– Week 4: Softer, silkier coat and less shedding
– Month 3: Weight goals reached and increased stamina
– Month 9: All-around happier vets and pets
Fresh Whole Ingredients
Nom Nom only uses whole ingredients in their recipes, which are formulated by board certified veterinary nutritionists. This means that your dog’s food meets and exceeds most dog food standards.
They work hard to ethically source ingredients from local farms and suppliers. All ingredients are farmed and prepared in the United States.
Gluten-Free
All 4 recipes are gluten-free, and several of their recipes are grain-free. Nom Nom does not use fillers like corn, wheat, or soy to add volume to your dog’s food.
In some recipes, they use brown rice because it carries certain nutritional benefits.
Pre-portioned Bags
They send your dog’s food in pre-portioned bags, making feeding time easier than ever. You don’t have to worry about measuring out food at mealtimes.
Instead of under- or over-feeding your pet, you can rest assured knowing that one package is one meal.
Easy to Make Changes
Each month you can choose a single-recipe, multiple recipes, or to auto-rotate the recipes for your dog. You simply log in to their website and edit your selections after going to the Plan tab and clicking “Make changes.” As mentioned, they offer their 4 recipes of beef, turkey, chicken, or pork.
For my 4th month, I have decided to try all chicken packets since my dog seems to have a strong preference for that recipe. Luckily, Nom Nom sent me an email telling me that I have until the next day to make any changes before they prepare my order. Otherwise, I almost forgot. However, you can make changes anytime before that point as well.
Green Efforts
Nom Nom works to have zero waste in their kitchens. To further contribute to green efforts, all packaging and shipping materials are either recyclable or made from recycled materials.
Microbiome Kit
For $90, you can send your dog’s poop to be analyzed by Nom Nom’s experts. You’ll get a full analysis of their microbiome, a major indictor of your dog’s physical health.
From these results, they’ll offer suggestions on meal plans and probiotics for your dog.
Satisfaction Guarantee
Because their food is cooked fresh, Nom Nom does not take returns. However, if you’re unsatisfied with your dog’s food, you can get a full refund for your first 30 days of food.
My Unboxing and Experience
As part of this Nom Nom dog food review, I wanted to detail my experience with their subscription service.
I started off with a 2-week trial (they gave it to me for free since I also promote them). I then received a full 4 weeks of food after the trial ended.
By the way, they’re offering 50% off your first order at this time through my website.
Here’s my experience so far with my toy poodle:
Initial Order Placement
First, I gave Nom Nom various information about my pet to help them customize the meal plan including name, sex, breed, weight, target weight, age, body condition, health issues, and recipe selection.
They let me choose 2 out of the 4 recipe selections for the trial, so I chose turkey fare and chicken cuisine. However, you can choose all 4 recipes for the full meal plans if you want.
Shipping
I placed my initial order on December 13, 2021. The food was cooked on December 21, 2021 and arrived via Fedex on December 23, 2021 with the food kept frozen in a box with dry ice. As mentioned previously, their package materials are eco-friendly, so you can recycle the box, liner, and packs.
They had sent me an email a couple of days prior to arrival to let me know the package was on the way, along with the tracking number.
Unboxing
The package was very compact, easy to handle, and unbox. I simply opened the box and liner, and found my 2-week supply consisting of 7 packages of Turkey Fare and 7 packages of Chicken Cuisine to immediately put in the freezer. I then placed the empty box in an open area, as suggested, in order for the dry ice to evaporate.
While they say you can store the meal packs in the freezer for up to 6 months, they also mention that you can keep them in the refrigerator for up to 7 days, so I put one pack in there for the first feeding.
Transition and Preparing Meal
Nom Nom provides transition packs in order to switch your dog to fresh dog food. In this case, the Chicken Cuisine meal packs were sent as transition meals (90 g). I was instructed to mix one of the transition packs in with my dog’s current food for the first 7 days.
To prepare the food to be eaten, you’ll want to thaw a couple of packets at a time in the refrigerator for about 24 hours in order to be ready to feed. Although it’s then ready to eat, you can also warm the thawed food in a microwaveable safe dish for about 15 seconds to make the food even more appetizing. They don’t suggest any longer in order to preserve the nutrients.
Then just keep on moving packets from the freezer to the fridge to consistently have food ready to serve each day.
The first feeding was a total success and in fact, my dog only ate his transition food and disregarded his current food. He also had no issues with digesting it and his poop has looked normal for the entire 2 weeks of feeding. Keep in mind, my poodle doesn’t really have a sensitive stomach like our other dog, Zoey, who recently passed away.
I’ve read some conflicting information online about being able to submerge the frozen meal packet in a hot bowl of water to thaw. However, after several minutes, the packets were still frozen. I think this is possible but may need to be done longer. I only did that because I had ran out of thawed packets in the fridge.
Ongoing Subscription
My dog loved the food so much that he stopped eating his current food altogether. I ended up signing up for the full meal plan. I am hoping that long term the food will make a difference in my dog’s health. He has some skin and joint issues, but I’m also just wanting to give him food he enjoys.
I received 28 total packets for the next 4 weeks of food. There were 14 packets of Chicken Cuisine and 14 packets of Turkey Fare, but for next month I am going to try all 4 recipes. I had forgotten to switch to the 4 recipes on their website from the initial 2 recipes.
Since my dog is used to eating multiple times per day, I initially gave him half the packet in the morning and the other half in the afternoon. I still give him various treats throughout the day.
After about a month of feeding my dog, I noticed my dog was still slightly hungry at nighttime, so decided to increase the amount of food per packet. I changed from 175 grams to 225 grams per day, so my next shipment will contain 28 bags with 225 gram packets. Note: for their turkey packets, those are more calorie-dense, so I would only get 200 gram packets. However, they’re currently out of stock of turkey anyway.
As mentioned earlier, my Nom Nom dog food cost went from around $109 every 4 weeks to $123.66 every 4 weeks due to the increased portion size that I chose.
It’s continued to feed my dog larger 225 gram packets per day and it’s going really well. I split it up into thirds since my dog is spoiled and eats 3 times a day. So far so good. He’s not barking for more food anymore.
4 month update: Ok I’ve reached roughly 4 months of my subscription. My dog seems to have a preference toward some of the recipes over others. He seems to like the chicken recipe the most out of all of them. Previously, he ate the turkey recipe without issues, but seems to not be as eager to eat it and now waits until he gets really hungry to eat it.
For this next month’s shipment, I am going to try all chicken recipes. Luckily, Nom Nom sends a reminder to make changes to your order. Otherwise, I almost forgot to make the change.
What Do Customers Say In Their Reviews?
Customers have a lot of positive things to say about Nom Nom (Note: results will obviously vary):
- Resolved skin problems in pets
- Better poops
- Softer and shinier coat
- Improved digestion and less intestinal distress
- Picky eaters enjoy it
Are There Drawbacks?
My Nom Nom dog food review wouldn’t be complete without some drawbacks. Despite all of their good qualities, Nom Nom’s food has some drawbacks.
No Prescription Diets
They don’t offer prescription diets – meals are full and complete, but may not target specific needs
High Cost (And Transparency)
Nom Nom’s food plans can be quite expensive, especially if you add treats and probiotics to the cost of feeding your dog.
Additionally, Nom Nom is not transparent about the cost per ounce of their food.
While they indicate you can call them with questions, you cannot get an estimate on the cost to feed your dogs until you’ve entered your email address, home address, and phone number.
Some fresh dog food companies offer this information up front with only an email address.
Customer Service
As a subscriber, I’ve called customer service several times to ask questions and make changes to the amount of food in my plan. While I have been satisfied with the outcome of my calls, I’ve had a few misunderstandings by phone and online chat with representatives. I believe they likely outsource their call center outside of the country, although I will confirm.
Limited Availability
Nom Nom only ships to the 48 continental United States. They do not ship to Hawaii, Alaska, or internationally. Additionally, they only ship to home addresses. Because the food is shipped cold, it cannot be shipped to PO boxes.
Frequently Asked Questions
Before buying Nom Nom’s food for your dog, you may have questions. Below are some frequently asked questions about their products and services.
How do I prepare their fresh meal?
When you receive the meal packets, you will first store in the freezer. You can then defrost a packet in the fridge for 24 hours and it’s ready to eat. The defrosted packets can be stored in the fridge for up to 7 days. Alternatively, you can defrost by taking from the freezer and placing in a hot bowl of water for approximately 10-20 minutes.
Note: if your dog is a picky eater, you can warm up slightly in the microwave for around 15 second. You don’t want to microwave too long since it can destroy the nutrients, plus the food is already cooked.
What’s the difference between their main subscription model and the flexible feeding plan?
With their main subscription plan, you get pre-portioned meals customized for your pet. In that instance, you don’t need to measure or scoop any food because you have the exact amount needed. Nom Nom recently announced a flexible feeding plan where you order the food according to weight, but it’s not pre-portioned. As a result, you can serve as much or as little as you need whether as a main dish, side, topper, or treat.
Where to Buy It?
As far as for the best price, you can buy Nom Nom directly through their website using the coupons in this review post. You also get discounts on multiple pets.
However, PetSmart is the only brick and mortar store where customers can buy Nom Nom food packets. They offer 1.1 lb or 3 lb packets of any of Nom Nom’s recipes starting at $9.99. This option is a good option for owners who want to first try out Nom Nom before signing up to a full trial.
Is it the same as NomNomNow?
Yes, it’s the same company and used interchangeably.
Is the meal gluten free?
All of Nom Nom’s food is gluten-free. However, if you’re looking for a grain-free diet for your dog, you’ll need to read the labels. Some of their recipes include brown rice, which carries helpful nutritional benefits.
Is it organic?
Nom Nom is not organic. However, they use fresh whole foods in their recipes.
Can I get a free sample of it?
Nom Nom does not offer free samples. However, you can purchase a discounted variety pack with samples of their 4 recipes. This pack also includes samples of their jerky treats. Their sample pack is available for $15 on their website.
Have they ever had any recalls?
They’ve only had one voluntary recall since they began for their Chicken Cuisine cat food. One of their suppliers, Tyson Foods Inc., had recalled their chicken due to possible listeria contamination.
Do they offer discounts for multiple pets?
Yes, you’ll receive savings with multiple pets, which will be reflected in your quoted price.
Conclusion
Well, I hope you enjoyed this Nom Nom dog food review to help you decide if their dog food is right for your dog. I personally subscribe to their service and stand by their product for my dog.
As a reminder, you can get 50% off your first Nom Nom order through my site.
Nom Nom aka NomNomNow has been around since 2014 with over 3 million boxes served, so have perfected their subscription service. They’re a high-quality dog food brand that provides food that is ethically sourced.
They work hard to gently cook individual ingredients, preserving the nutritional value. Food is then mixed in small batches and measured into custom-portioned packaging for your dog.
Nom Nom dog food cost can be high for their meal plans depending on the size of your dog. Additionally, you must provide your email address, home address, and phone number before getting estimated pricing for their meal plans.
Despite the high cost and difficulty in finding pricing on their website, they offer a great quality dog food brand. Their quality ingredients and customized portions make them an easy option for feeding your dog great food.
If you’re looking for whole foods to improve your dog’s quality of life, Nom Nom may be one of your best options.
