Last Updated on May 14, 2024 by Kieran Beckles
Have you been thinking about giving Butternut Box a try, or you’re ready to switch to new food, but you want to know what’s the best Butternut Box alternative?
There’s been a welcome shift towards fresh dog food over the past couple of years in the UK and Europe as dog owners look to adopt a fresher approach to dog food for their pets.
If you’re familiar with the fresh dog food scene in the UK, you’ll almost certainly have heard of Butternut Box. They’re perhaps the leading fresh dog food delivery service in the UK after launching their tailor-made dog food in 2015.
However, Butternut Box is facing increased competition from other dog food brands who are also looking to provide fresh dog food.
Before we go any further, I want to point out that I believe Butternut Box is the best dog food delivery company in the UK. Long-time readers and subscribers will be aware that we’ve fed Butternut Box to Copper and Skye over the past five years.
But we’ve also had the chance to try other dog food subscription services through social media campaigns.
In this article, I’m going to highlight some of the best alternatives to Butternut Box in the UK if you’re looking to find dog food that is similar to Butternut Box.
Why We Stuck With Butternut Box
Before I highlight some alternatives to Butternut Box, I want to explain why we stuck with the dog food delivery company throughout our time in the UK.
Perfect For Picky Dogs
Copper and Skye are fussy eaters and the latter has a sensitive tummy that didn’t do well on a dry dog food or wet dog food diet.
As business owners and parents, we didn’t have time to make home cooked meals but we really wanted to feed freshly cooked meals. That’s how we found Butternut Box!
Convenience
Butternut Box has kept Copper and Skye fed for the best part of five years, and whenever we’ve dabbled with the idea of making a change to their diet, we’ve always returned to Butternut Box.
Copper and Skye love their dog food, and we like the convenience of dog food delivery. It’s super convenient for dog owners with busy lifestyles but wants their dogs to eat home-cooked meals.
Ever-Expanding Menu
Butternut Box is constantly innovating and expanding its range of recipes. Seeing as Skye can be fussy, we love having the ability to rotate the protein source she’s eating.
Butternut Box gently cooks their human-grade ingredients to lock in nutritional goodness and flavour before the meals are frozen and shipped to your door.
There’s no denying that fresh food costs more than dry food or wet food but we’ve saved a lot of money on vet bills. There’s no dash to the emergency vet on the weekend because Skye isn’t eating!
Speak To Butternut Box
If you’ve been feeding Butternut Box to your dog and you’re thinking of making a change, I’d encourage you to give Butternut Box a call to see if they can suggest any changes before you make a change to your dog’s diet.
On the other hand, if you haven’t fed Butternut Box to your dog and you’re thinking about signing up for the first time, I’d encourage you to give it a try.
Butternut Box Sign-Up Offer
If you’ve come across this article during your research and you haven’t already signed up to Butternut Box, I’ve got some good news for you.
You can save 50% on your first Butternut Box order and 50% on your second Butternut Box order when you click here or below. So you’re effectively getting a free box over the course of two orders and it gives you an opportunity to give Butternut Box for a significant amount of time to see if your dog likes their new food.
Best Alternatives To Butternut Box
Now that I’ve shared why I still rate Butternut Box as the UK’s top fresh dog food company, let’s look at the best alternatives if you’re ready to make a change.
Pure Pet Food
Pure Pet Food offer dry dog food that can cater to pet parents who want to feed their dog meals using natural ingredients but don’t want to deal with the issue of freezer space.
Based in Yorkshire, Pure Pet Food have created tailor made dog food that can meet the requirements of your dog to ensure they’re living an active and healthy lifestyle.
They only use human-grade ingredients in their recipes that are cooked at low temperatures to create their fresh dog food.
Pure Pet Food, just like Butternut Box, requires dog owners to fill out a sign-up questionnaire so they can get to know your dog and their habits.
Once they’ve got the key details about your dog, Pure Pet Food will offer a suggested meal plan, but you can still make changes before signing up to their subscription service.
How To Prepare Pure
Unlike Butternut Box, Pure sends your dog’s gently cooked dog food in a bag with a scooper for the food and a scooper for the water.
You’ll have to do some work – you need to mix the food with some water to create your dog’s meals.
Once you’ve finished mixing, you can serve the fresh dog food to your dog and store the bag in a cool, dry space such as the cupboard.
To feed Pure to your dog, you won’t need to stress about freezer space. I think that’s a big pro – you can stick to dry food that uses natural ingredients and tailored to your dog.
Life With Klee Kai Verdict
Copper and Skye did enjoy their Pure meals but there’s no escaping the fact that the dry food looks less fresh than Butternut Box’s meals.
Having said that, it’s cheaper, requires less space, and Pure still has a stellar reputation with dog owners. Just check out their Trustpilot reviews to see how many dogs they’ve helped. Pure seems to be a big hit with picky dogs and dogs with sensitive tummies.
For that reason, I feel confident suggesting Pure Pet Food as an alternative to Butternut Box. You can read our Butternut Box Vs Pure dog food review here.
Where To Buy
You can only buy Pure Pet Food directly from their website. So you’ll need to sign up to their subscription plan by clicking this link and heading to their website.
New customers can get 30% off their first order and 10% off their second order when they click here or the button below.
Different Dog
If you’ve been feeding Butternut Box and you’re ready to make a change but want to stick with fresh dog food meals, Different Dog could be a great option.
Different Dog offers a truly premium dog food service with their hand-cooked dog meals that use human-grade ingredients and shipped directly to your door.
Their meals contain the highest quality ingredients and are gently cooked at just over 90 degrees before being frozen and shipped to your door. It’s important to note Different Dog creates recipes that a grain grain-free, and don’t contain fillers or legumes.
Different Dog have a wide range of fresh dog meals to choose from as well as offering a Health+ range that specifically targets health conditions.
Once you’ve answered all their questions, you can choose your Different Dog’s meals and decide on the size of the delivery and the frequency of delivery.
At this stage, it’s important to remember the majority of your Different Dog meals will need to be stored in the freezer. So make sure you’ve got sufficient freezer space before deciding upon the frequency and size of your Different Dog food delivery.
How To Prepare Different Dog
Once you receive your Different Dog meals, you’ll need to pop the majority of them in the freezer apart from three or four to defrost in the fridge before pet owners can serve them to their dogs.
Like most fresh dog food brands, Different Dog tailors your dog’s meals to meet their specific needs, but they aren’t truly pre-portioned.
You’ll need to follow their feeding guidelines to make sure you don’t overfeed their great food (which is easy to do because your dog will likely love it).
It can get a little messy serving thawed food into your dog’s bowl and having to store half-open meal pouches in your fridge.
Life With Klee Kai Verdict
In our search to find the best dog food for Copper and Skye, we gave Different Dog a try for the best part of six months before switching back to Butternut Box. Copper and Skye enjoyed eating Different Dog just as much as Butternut Box’s meals. I wouldn’t say there was a lot of difference in terms of their mealtime excitement.
So from a dog’s perspective, Different Dog is a great option and good for your dog’s health. They’ve got ample grain-free recipes, too.
However, I was slightly disappointed their meals weren’t stored in pre-portioned meal pouches. As a result, I did have to measure out Copper and Skye’s dog food.
Different Dog offers some of the best fresh dog foods in the pet food industry in the UK but most dog owners will likely find their meals quite pricey. They’re the most expensive of all the dog foods that I’ve tried and tested.
If you’ve got a big monthly budget for dog foods, I’d 100% recommend giving Different Dog a try. Of all the pet foods I’ve reviewed, they’re one of the best. Their food is certainly on a par with Butternut Box – if not better.
To learn more about how Different Dog compares to Butternut Box, you can read my comparison dog food review here.
Where To Buy
You can only buy Different Dog direct from their website. To get started, you’ll need to fill out their questionnaire before receiving your meal plan. You can start your Different Dog journey by clicking this link. You can save 40% on your first and second box when you click this link or the button below and use the coupon code “LWKKCC40”.
Naturaw
The idea of raw dog food is a controversial one. You’ll find some dog owners who swear by the benefits of a raw-fed diet, while other pet parents (or professionals) have reservations about feeding raw.
We’ve always been interested in a raw food diet but ultimately didn’t want to deal with some of the hassles associated with these meat meals.
Naturaw is a fresh dog food delivery company that offers the opportunity to feed raw in a convenient way. They use 100% British meat that is sourced from high-welfare British farms.
Naturaw offers meat-only recipes but includes balanced and complete meals that contain fruit, vegetables and other superfoods.
They use plastic-free packaging that is compostable, and they’re trailblazers when it comes to their sustainable practices (their factory is solar-powered!).
How To Prepare Naturaw
Naturaw’s meals are stored in recycable packaging that you’ll have to open and scoop the raw meat from the pouch into your dog’s bowls.
It’s important to be very careful when handling raw food and practice good hygiene. You’ll want to keep young children out of the way.
I’d recommend investing in some tupperware to place the rest of the raw meat if you don’t use all the raw food in one go because it can get messy.
Life With Klee Kai Verdict
As dog owners, we really believe in feeding fresh dog food, and we were inspired to give raw food a try once we read more about Naturaw.
We loved that they use human-grade ingredients in a raw food diet before your dog food is delivered directly to your door.
What makes their dog food delivery service stand out is their eco-friendly approach (by far the most sustainable of the dog food brands we’ve encountered).
While their green approach is great, Copper and Skye enjoyed their dog food which came as a surprise. Previously, our Alaskan Klee Kai dogs have been reluctant to try raw food, but Copper and Skye loved Naturaw.
Like a lot of dog food that uses human-grade ingredients tailored to your dog, their service isn’t cheap. You’ll have to pay more than regular dog food companies that offer dry dog food or wet food.
Where To Buy
If you’re interested in giving Naturaw a try, you can place an order through their website. You can click here or hit the button below to get started.
We contacted Naturaw and secured a £5 discount off your first order when you use the discount code “KLEEKAI” at the checkout.
Forthglade
When you research Butternut Box, you’ll often see their dog food pitched against Forthglade.
They’re a well-established dog food brand in the UK thanks to their range of wet dog food, dry kibble, fresh meals and other supplementary products.
Forthglade’s unique selling point is perhaps that their dog food is grain-free. So whether you opt for dry kibble or wet dog food, your dog won’t be eating grain!
Their website explains that their recipes cater to dogs of all different ages, whether you’ve got a puppy, adult or senior dog.
Dog owners who want to adopt a fresher approach will be encouraged to learn that Forthglade’s recipes don’t contain any additives or nasties.
They only use natural ingredients that are cooked in the kitchens in Devon before being sold online or in your local supermarket.
How To Prepare Forthglade
Forthglade doesn’t offer the same customization as Butternut Box, Pure Pet Food or Naturaw.
You’ll need to pay close attention to your dog’s meal and see how much they’ll need to eat based on their breed or weight.
If you don’t want to faff around with a sign-up questionnaire, you may appreciate Forthglade’s frictionless approach. You can even order Forthglade from Amazon!
Life With Klee Kai Verdict
We’ve tried Forthglade’s complete meals with mixed success. Copper liked his Forthglade meals but Skye was a bit more particular with their food.
Having said that, I’ve noticed a lot of dog owners giving Forthglade good reviews, so I wanted to include them as an option for British pet parents.
If you don’t want the hassle of filling out answers about your dog, you may like the simplicity of heading to Amazon and placing an order.
While their meals aren’t tailored to your dog, they still use quality ingredients so you can feel good about your dog’s food.
Where To Buy
You can buy Forthglade on Amazon where they have a store page. So it’s pretty simple to get their dog food if you already have an Amazon account. To place an order, click here or hit the button below.
The Best Butternut Box Alternative?
If you’ve made your decision to ditch dry food or wet food and you’re looking to find dog food similar to Butternut Box, we’ve highlighted four alternatives.
Our top picks would be Pure Pet Food and Different Dog because they offer tailored fresh dog food recipes to British dogs.
Pure is an affordable air-dried dog food option for pet parents who want to stick with dry dog food but want to feed healthy meals. You can save 30% on your first Pure order via this link.
Different Dog offers perhaps some of the best dog food in the UK and is more than a worthy rival to Butternut Box.
New Different Dog customers can save 40% on their first and second orders with our coupon code “LWKKCC40” via this link.
But ultimately, I’d encourage you to stick with Butternut Box based upon our positive experience with Copper and Skye.
Kieran runs Life With Klee Kai on social media and other online platforms alongside his wife Yasmin. With over 10 years of experience as a journalist and a passionate dog owner, Kieran loves to combine his passion for pets and writing to share useful insights and product reviews to help other dog owners.