What are the best beef cat foods?

Our top 9 picks — ranked by ingredient quality, nutritional balance, and verified recall history.

📊 9 products 🔍 Independently ranked 📅 Last reviewed May 2026
#1
Smalls (Fresh)

Smalls (Fresh)

★★★★★ 5.0 / 5.0

Smalls Fresh Smooth Cow recipe received the Cat Food Advisor’s highest rating: 5 stars. It is one of nine foods in a product range made by Smalls, a company founded by friends Matt Michaelson and Calvin Bohn in 2017. The pair started to make the food from Michaelson’s kitchen in NYC’s East Village, it is now produced with a co-manufacturer in a human-grade commercial facility near Chicago.

Main Ingredients
Beef, beef liver, green beans, water (sufficient for processing), spinach
Texture
Wet
Type
Fresh
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#2
BIXBI (Freeze-Dried)

BIXBI (Freeze-Dried)

★★★★★ 5.0 / 5.0

BIXBI Rawbble freeze-dried cat food beef recipe received the Cat Food Advisor’s highest rating: 5 stars. It is one of four foods in a product range made by BIXBI Pet, a company founded in 2008 by James Crouch.  Its headquarters are based in Colorado. All its ingredients are made from whole foods from the USA.

Main Ingredients
Beef, beef liver, beef kidney, beef bone, pumpkin
Texture
Dry
Type
Freeze-dried
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#3
pawTree Freeze-Dried Raw Cat Food

pawTree Freeze-Dried Raw Cat Food

★★★★★ 5.0 / 5.0

pawTree Freeze-Dried Raw Food Real Beef received the Cat Food Advisor’s highest rating: 5 stars. It is one of three recipes in a product range made by PawTree, an online company founded by Roger Morgan in 2012. It is based in Southlake, Texas, and the foods are all made in the U.S.

Main Ingredients
Beef, beef liver, beef hearts, garbanzo beans, dried sweet
Texture
Dry
Type
Freeze-dried
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#4
Open Farm Pate (Wet)

Open Farm Pate (Wet)

★★★★ ★ 4.0 / 5.0

Open Farm Grass-Fed Beef Rustic Blend receives the Cat Food Advisor’s second highest rating: 4 stars. It is one of six recipes in a product range made by Open Farm Pet Foods, which was founded in 2014 by Jacqueline Prehogan. The cat food arm of the operation has its headquarters in C anada, and the products are developed and formulated there too.

Main Ingredients
Humanely raised beef, beef bone broth, pumpkin, carrots, spinach
Texture
Wet
Type
Pate
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#5
Weruva Truluxe Flavors (Wet)

Weruva Truluxe Flavors (Wet)

★★★★ ★ 4.5 / 5.0

Weruva Truluxe Steak Frites Dinner with Beef & Pumpkin in Gravy received the Cat Food Advisor’s highest rating: 5 stars. It is one of ten recipes in a product range made by Weruva Inc. which was founded in 2006 by David and Stacie Forman and is still family-owned today. The company’s headquarters is in Natick, Massachusetts, but the food is manufactured in Thailand.

Main Ingredients
Beef broth, beef, pumpkin, sweet Potato, potato starch
Texture
Wet
Type
Shreds
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#6
Ziwi Peak (Air-Dried)

Ziwi Peak (Air-Dried)

★★★★★ 5.0 / 5.0

ZIWI Peak Air-Dried Beef For Cats recipe received the Cat Food Advisor’s highest rating: 5 stars. It is one of five recipes in this product range made by ZIWI Peak which was started in 2004 by Kimberly and Peter Mitchell. Most of the ingredients are sourced from sustainable New Zealand farms and ranches.

Main Ingredients
Beef, beef tripe, beef heart, beef lung, beef liver
Texture
Dry
Type
Air-dried
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#7
Purina ONE (Wet)

Purina ONE (Wet)

★★★ ★★ 3.0 / 5.0

Recommended with Reservations Purina ONE Grain Free Beef Recipe received the Cat Food Advisor’s second highest rating: 4 stars.

Main Ingredients
Beef, fish, beef broth, liver, pork lungs
Texture
Wet
Type
Pate
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#8
Health Extension (Freeze-Dried Raw)

Health Extension (Freeze-Dried Raw)

★★★★ ★ 4.0 / 5.0

Health Extension SuperBites Freeze-Dried Raw – Beef Recipe received the Cat Food Advisor’s second highest rating: 4 stars. It is one of three recipes in a product range made by Vets Choice, the company behind Health Extension, which started making pet food in 1963 but was rebranded in 2015.

Main Ingredients
Beef heart, lentils, beef liver, carrots, sweet potato
Texture
Wet
Type
Freeze-dried raw
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#9
Instinct (Freeze-Dried Raw)

Instinct (Freeze-Dried Raw)

★★★★★ 5.0 / 5.0

Instinct Raw Longevity 100% Freeze-Dried Raw Meals, Grass-Fed Beef Recipe for Adults 7+ received the Cat Food Advisor’s highest rating: 5 stars. It is one of eight recipes in this product range made by Instinct Pet Food, founded in 2002. The company produces frozen and freeze-dried raw pet food from its facilities in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Main Ingredients
Beef, beef liver, beef kidney, beef spleen, beef heart
Texture
Dry
Type
Freeze-dried
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How we ranked these: Every food on this page is scored using our transparent methodology — 40% ingredient quality, 30% independent third-party rating, 20% recall history, 10% manufacturing transparency. No partner gets favorable placement; commissions don't influence the rankings.

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