ChefPaw Review: We Tested This Fresh Dog Food Maker At Home

As a dog mom, a product on my “wish list” has finally come to fruition. I happily seized the opportunity when asked to test and write a ChefPaw review. Working in the pet industry for the last two decades means my Cocker Spaniels have tried many different dog foods, from fresh to kibble, canned to dehydrated. 

The ChefPaw Fresh Dog Food Maker is an investment piece. This homemade dog food appliance lets pet parents control every ingredient in their dogs’ meals. As the unit rests on your countertop, it prepares customized, nutritious meals for a few days in about 40 minutes.

I’m a dog mom who likes to cook for her dog, but I’ve never encountered an appliance that works similarly to an at-home food processor. I’m not fond of messes, expensive ingredients, or long, complicated processes. My friends often tease me that I burn water in the kitchen (true story), so if I could use the ChefPaw Fresh Dog Food Maker, anyone can. 

In this Chefpaw review, I’ll share what’s important to most pet parents and me: functionality, meal preparation time, nutritional consistency, and overall cost. I’m a busy pet parent (not a gourmet chef) who works all day, so I don’t have time for extravagant meals for me and my family, which includes the dog.

However, if you juggle work, kids, pets, hobbies, a social life, or just want to give your dog a homemade meal with a lot of fuss and mess, here’s our honest ChefPaw review. 

What is ChefPaw? 

ChefPaw touts itself as the world’s first fresh pet food maker. Developed by Matt Terrill and Dave Louvet, the duo sought to simplify the process of preparing fresh, homemade dog food from the comfort of home. 

Officially launched in 2023, ChefPaw does it all so pet parents won’t have to. This includes mixing, chopping, cooking, and even weighing the ingredients. Instead of offering a clunky, hard-to-use kitchen appliance, they rolled out a single-unit fresh dog food maker with over 50 veterinarian-approved recipes and a nutritional analyzer. 

If your dog has special dietary needs or allergies, ChefPaw didn’t forget about you. This set-it-and-forget-it appliance’s recipes cater to all life stages, health concerns, and nutritional concerns. I like that the unit grows with your dog and is ideal for multiple-dog households. 

Unlike a traditional food processor, which primarily chops and blends, the ChefPaw chops, mixes, cooks, and weighs ingredients in one appliance. We own a traditional food processor, and the ChefPaw is a unique and convenient appliance that far exceeds the capabilities of any other item in our kitchen. 

A Closer Look at the ChefPaw Machine 

Ease of Use & Setup

The arrival of ChefPaw is like Christmas morning. Everything is neatly packed, which pet parents will appreciate. Unboxing the unit is straightforward and does not require two people, fancy screwdrivers, or the jaws of steel to remove the components from the styrofoam. 

It comes with everything you need to get started, including the main unit, stainless steel mixing bowl that connects to the main unit, blade, a lid with  built-in measuring cup, a cleaning brush, a spatula, a quick-start guide, QR codes to learn more, and access to an easy-to-navigate website. 

Hallelujah for zero calibration, long or complicated instructions, confusing setup, or anything else that might have given me pause to continue. If you tell me something is easy to use, I expect that, and ChefPaw delivers. The controls and setup are completely intuitive. 

Fun fact: Since puppyhood, I’ve been serving my Cocker Spaniel, Sir Alvin, protein and a dehydrated base mix. At three years of age, I’d like to provide homemade meals with fresh ingredients, and the ChefPaw arrived at the right time in our lives. 

We chose the Active Dog with Ground Beef and White Rice recipe for our first meal, also called Yum Yum Now. The ChefPaw website walks pet parents through everything needed to go shopping. Here’s a screenshot of the recipe and ingredients we purchased, followed by the how-to video: 

Performance & Food Quality

For this ChefPaw review, we focused on one meal. Sir Alvin has a few food sensitivities (chicken and salmon), but the ChefPaw Fresh Food Dog Food Maker offers a wide range of meal options. Did I mention you add the ingredients as directed to the stainless steel mixing bowl and let the ChefPaw unit do the rest? Yes, it’s that simple. 

Like many dog moms and dads, I prefer to rotate the source of my dog’s proteins. Thankfully, ChefPaw offers a wealth of recipes along with community-inspired offerings. Spoiler alert: Your dog will never be bored with their meals again. Some of the many recipes include:

• Pork Tenderloin + Sweet Potato & Quinoa
• Allergy Care with Ground Turkey & Sweet Potato (Gordon’s Grub)
• Puppy Dog with Beef & Rice
• Senior Low Oxalate Diet with Beef & Basmati Rice
• Active Dog with Ground Turkey & Macaroni (Just Food for Your Dog)

Each recipe comes with actionable steps and a nutrition guide. The food cooks thoroughly and evenly. The only mistake I made (user error, #mybad) was not mixing up the ingredients the first time halfway through, which meant I had bigger, thicker veggies at the end. 

Pro tip: If you find yourself needing to mix the batch halfway through, then increasing the speed to level 2 or 3 will usually preclude the need to mix halfway.

We love the nutritional analyzer, which is worth the unit’s price. Pet parents can evaluate ingredients and substitute less expensive or more suitable ones for their dog’s dietary needs. Since the website uses the USDA database to calculate, pet parents will be comfortable knowing the recipe is balanced correctly.

To ensure your dog receives the proper nutrition in every bite, ChefPaw offers a Nutrition Booster packet that gets added to every recipe. The unit arrived with a sample pack of the Nutrition Booster and Innovet brand omega 3 salmon oil. I like that the company thought of everything, which I plan to tell my dog’s veterinarian about during his next wellness visit. 

All ChefPaw pet food recipes require some nutritional supplementation to be considered balanced to AAFCO or NRC standards.

All fresh food recipes require some nutritional supplementation to be considered balanced to AAFCO & NRC standards. Chefpaw recipes were designed to get as close as possible to balance using only fresh ingredients, this way only a minimum amount of supplementation is needed.

Cleaning & Maintenance

My spouse jokes that I am a hot mess in the kitchen, so I worried about the cleanup. Thanks to the self-cleaning mode, the process was a snap. It loosened the food residue, making manual cleaning easier by handwashing with warm water and dish soap. The ChefPaw mixing bowl is not dishwasher safe due to the contact pins located beneath the bowl.

I tend to be messy in the kitchen, so I appreciate the lack of splatter, spills, and residue when using the ChefPaw. Of course, if you don’t follow the easy instructions and you overfill the bowl, there will be issues. 

Design & Build

The ChefPaw looks sleek, professional, and polished. It’s the type of appliance you’ll want to leave on your countertop because it genuinely looks good. It also doesn’t look like a dog food maker but more like a high-end human appliance.

It is heavy but not bulky and takes up about 9” x 12” of counter space. It operates on 110 voltage at 60 Hz, but European outlet converters can be purchased. 

We used the ChefPaw three times over the course of a month, and other family members had no idea it was in use. I give ChefPaw four paws up for creating a fresh dog food maker that is relatively quiet and produces a high-quality homemade meal for my pup.

Real-World Experience

My Cocker Spaniel is a picky eater. When he doesn’t like something, he turns his nose up and walks away. I never had to guess what he feels about something.

Because the recipe we tried was new to his digestive system, I slowly introduced the food to Sir Alvin. However, he sat near the ChefPaw unit in our kitchen during processing. The yummy smell of the recipe permeated our home like a delicious beef stew simmering.

I first mixed the concoction with his regular diet and then, after a week, allowed him to eat it as a solo meal. Without coaxing, any toppers, or extra treats, Sir Alvin dove in and never looked up. As I poured over the ingredients, I realized that every single ingredient was fresh, something my dog could eat on its own. Together in the ChefPaw, he ate the equivalent of a gourmet, fresh meal for dogs. 

Going forward, I plan to use the ChefPaw because it is convenient and cost-effective, and I will never worry about running out of dog food. Other than stirring it once about halfway through the process, I didn’t have to babysit or hover over the ChefPaw. I worked while my dog’s meals were cooking for several days. 

App & Recipe Support

To make life easier for busy dog moms and dog dads, ChefPaw offers a comprehensive web-based app designed to enhance your cooking experience. It is available through any web browser on an Android or iPhone device by visiting app.chefpaw.com. I like the app because I can pull up the ingredients while shopping or traveling. 

Within the ChewPaw app/website, pet parents have access to:

• Recipe options
• Nutritional analyses
• Customization if desired 
• Pet profiles (up to five pets) to store their dietary information
• ChefPaw community access for questions, insights, and to learn more from other ChefPaw pet parents.

If you are new to the world of fresh dog food or homemade dog food, ChefPaw takes the guesswork out of everything. I’d be remiss not to mention the weight feature. 

After clicking the weight button to enter scale mode, you’ll add each ingredient one at a time. After adding each ingredient, click the weight button to zero before adding the next ingredient. The ChefPaw weighs each ingredient for you, which is a dream come true! There’s something very empowering about knowing each ingredient going into your dog’s meal and cooking it fresh.

Price & Value 

The ChefPaw is an investment piece for a fresh dog food maker. It is a premium product that costs around $599. However, the payoff is in the finished product and your happy dogs, like any investment.

ChefPaw offers dietary supplements, and we used both the Nutrition Booster and Innovet Wild Alaskan Salmon Oil that arrived in the box. I recommend talking to your veterinarian or veterinary nutritionist before starting new supplements or meals. I take comfort in knowing the supplements from ChefPaw are beneficial and nutritionally complete.

From a time perspective, ChefPaw makes approximately six pounds of food in about 40 minutes, which you then refrigerate. I reheated the meals for Sir Alvin in a microwave. 

From a cost perspective, pet parents can make fresh dog food home for approximately $1.81 per pound. The savings are outstanding when you compare this to $4 to $15 per pound for fresh store-bought dog food. Pet parents are encouraged to use the dog food savings calculator for more information. 

I’ve frequently been asked about pet food delivery services in my pet industry career. Over time, the cumulative cost of subscription-based services can surpass the one-time investment in the ChefPaw unit, especially if you have larger dogs or a house full of pups. 

Each unit has a two-year warranty, so the company stands by its product. If you prefer hands-on videos and access to QR codes to guide you through, there are many of both on the ChefPaw website. I never felt baffled, confused, or alone in this fresh dog food journey. 

The ChefPaw is an investment piece that pays for itself when you see your dog happily enjoying their meals and don’t have to wonder if any recalls exist. 

Final Verdict: Is ChefPaw Worth It?

The ChefPaw is worth it, and this dog mama wholeheartedly recommends it. If only this type of technology had been available when I fell in love with dogs decades ago, it could have made a difference.

My first Cocker Spaniel, a puppy mill rescue named Brandy Noel, suffered from digestive issues and irritable bowel syndrome. We forever searched for the right protein and combination of ingredients to settle her tummy. The ChefPaw would have been a dog-send back then, as it is now. 

If you are a dog parent who wants the benefits of homemade food without daily cooking, prefers to know what goes in your dog’s bowl and tummy, and cares about nutrition, the ChefPaw is for you. This is the first step-up for anyone who feeds their dogs kibble or a diet they just don’t feel good about. 

I ask myself if my dog really needs fillers and ingredients I cannot pronounce, and if I would be happy eating those things. ChefPaw is peace of mind for modern dog parents who know better and deserve better. I remember the adages, garbage in, garbage out, and that we are what we eat. The same holds true for dogs. Let them eat healthy and be happy. 

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