Nulo FreeStyle Large Breed Puppy Salmon & Turkey: our recipe review

Nulo · FreeStyle Large Breed Puppy Salmon & Turkey · Dry food · All life stages

On the facts printed on its own label, Nulo FreeStyle Large Breed Puppy Salmon & Turkey scores 95 out of 100 on our rubric: top of the range we have scored. The panel opens with Deboned Salmon, and the first ingredient signal earns 20 of its 20 points. At 32% crude protein it ranks 18 of the 116 Nulo recipes we scored for protein. Crude fat reads 13%.

At 385 kcal a cup it sits mid range for energy, so standard portion math applies. Its adequacy claim rests on formulation: balanced on paper against the AAFCO nutrient profiles rather than fed to dogs in a trial. Our November 2026 check of FDA records found no posted dog food recall events for Nulo.

The panel runs to 46 ingredient lines. 5 of them are animal source lines and 9 are plant lines. The first added fat appears at line 9, so 8 lines sit ahead of it in the recipe by weight. Salt appears at line 14 of 46: ingredients listed after salt are present in small amounts, a standard reading aid for long panels. The vitamin and mineral pack begins around line 18; the 29 lines from there on are mostly supplements, preservatives and functional extras rather than staple foods.

Its closest relative in this brand is FreeStyle Small Breed Salmon & Lentils, sold as Dry food: the two panels share most of their ingredients. In the first ten, this recipe has Deboned Turkey, Natural Flavor, where its relative has Menhaden Fish Meal, Ground Miscanthus Grass. The full comparison is on the relative's own review page.

The label facts

How the score breaks down

Ingredient notes: the first ten, one by one

Definitions below are written from AAFCO's ingredient definitions in our own words. They describe what an ingredient is, never what a brand claims about it. Names that appear in our ingredient dictionary link to it; the dictionary counts how many scored recipes carry each ingredient.

• Deboned Salmon. Deboned Salmon is a named fish, bringing animal protein and, in oily species, omega 3 fats. Fish first panels suit dogs that react to land meats.
• Turkey Meal. Turkey Meal is the named animal rendered and ground, with water and most fat cooked off before it is weighed. Per kilo it carries far more protein than the fresh meat does.
• Lentils. Lentils is a legume: starch, fiber and roughly a quarter protein by weight. A block of legumes in a panel is doing protein work as well as energy work.
• Chickpeas. Chickpeas is a legume bringing starch, fiber and plant protein together. Legumes help a panel reach its protein figure without meat, which is worth knowing when you read the protein line.
• Sweet Potato. Sweet Potato is a starchy root used to bind kibble and add energy, with useful fiber and beta carotene.
• Deboned Turkey. Deboned Turkey is the named meat in fresh form. Panel order is set by weight before cooking, and fresh meat is mostly water, so its share of the finished food is smaller than its place at the top suggests.
• Salmon Meal. Salmon Meal is the named animal rendered and ground, with water and most fat cooked off before it is weighed. Per kilo it carries far more protein than the fresh meat does.
• Ground Flaxseed. Ground Flaxseed is a plant seed bringing fiber and ALA, a plant omega 3. Dogs convert ALA to the active forms poorly, so it does not do the job fish oil does.
• Chicken Fat (preserved with Mixed Tocopherols & Citric Acid). Chicken Fat (preserved with Mixed Tocopherols & Citric Acid) is rendered fat from the named source. Fat is the densest energy in the recipe and carries much of its flavor.
• Natural Flavor. Natural Flavor is a flavoring: a spray or powder added so the food tastes stronger to the dog. It is not a protein source and our rubric does not count it as one.

The brand's recall record

No FDA posted dog food recall events for this brand were found in our November 2026 check of FDA recall records. That is a statement about what we could verify, not proof of a perfect history.

See the full dog food recall tracker for recent events across all brands.

Other Nulo recipes we scored

Those are the twelve highest scoring of the 115 other Nulo recipes we scored. The full comparison, flagship review included, is on the Nulo brand review.

Feeding it

Switch foods gradually over about a week, mixing more of the new food into the old each day. Portion by calories, not by the look of the bowl: our feeding calculator works out a daily amount from your dog's weight, and this recipe's calorie line above is the number it needs.

What that means at the bowl, for a typical neutered adult (resting energy 70 times body weight to the power 0.75, times 1.6; treats come out of the same budget):

Puppies, pregnant dogs and very active dogs need more; older and weight watching dogs need less. The calculator linked above adjusts for those cases.