Orijen Tundra Freeze-Dried Medallions review

Orijen · Tundra Freeze-Dried Medallions · Freeze-dried food · All life stages

90 / 100Our label score

★★★★½4.5 of 5 stars, from the score

37%Crude protein (min)

0FDA recall events for the brand

On the facts printed on its own label, Orijen Tundra Freeze-Dried Medallions scores 90 out of 100 on our rubric: top of the range we have scored. The panel opens with Venison, and the first ingredient signal earns 20 of its 20 points. At 37% crude protein it ranks 25 of the 44 Orijen recipes we scored for protein. Crude fat reads 34%.

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 Orijen.

The panel runs to 38 ingredient lines. 15 of them are animal source lines and 7 are plant lines. Salt appears at line 24 of 38: ingredients listed after salt are present in small amounts, a standard reading aid for long panels. The vitamin and mineral pack begins around line 26; the 13 lines from there on are mostly supplements, preservatives and functional extras rather than staple foods.

Panel for panel, this is the same recipe as Tundra Epic Bites Freeze-Dried Food, sold as Freeze-dried food: the ingredient lines match. What actually differs is almost nothing on the label itself. Between the two, choose on format and on the size of dog in front of you, not on the ingredient list, because the lists are the same list.

The label facts

Maker	Champion Petfoods
Format	Freeze-dried food
Life stage	All life stages
Full ingredient list, in label order	Venison duck flounder lamb duck liver whole herring lamb liver wild boar liver wild boar goat pea fiber lamb kidney lamb tripe wild boar hearts wild boar kidney whole pumpkin collard greens whole apples whole carrots whole pears goat liver goat tripe goat kidney salt dried kelp zinc proteinate manganese proteinate copper proteinate calcium pantothenate vitamin E supplement mixed tocopherols (preservative) riboflavin folic acid thiamine mononitrate calcium pantothenate pyridoxine hydrochloride rosemary extract citric acid (preservative)
Guaranteed analysis	Crude protein (min) 37% · crude fat (min) 34% · crude fibre (max) 5% · moisture (max) 4%
Dry matter reading	With the water taken out, the same analysis reads 38.5% protein and 35.4% fat. Dry matter is how wet and dry foods can be compared fairly.
Calories	4,980 kcal/kg, as labelled
AAFCO adequacy	ORIJEN Freeze-Dried Tundra Dog Food is formulated to meet the nutritional levels established by the AAFCO Dog Food Nutrient Profiles for All Life Stages, except for growth of large size dogs (70 lb. or more as an adult).
Price	Not listed. We publish a price only when we have verified it from a dated listing, and we had not for this recipe when the label was read.

How the score breaks down

Signal	Points	What the label shows
First ingredient	20 / 20	Venison, a named whole animal protein, opens the panel.
Animal protein depth, first 10 ingredients	15 / 15	8 of the first ten ingredients are named animal ingredients.
Protein level for the life stage	15 / 15	Crude protein reads 37% as labelled, read against the all life stages stage the label claims.
Fat level fit	3 / 10	Crude fat reads 34% as labelled.
Whole foods versus filler-flagged ingredients	10 / 10	None of the rubric's flagged ingredients appears in the first ten.
Artificial colours and preservatives	10 / 10	No artificial colours, colour-retention chemicals or artificial preservatives appear in the panel.
AAFCO adequacy basis	7 / 10	Formulated to meet AAFCO profiles for all life stages, except growth of large size dogs, so it sits in the stated-stage band rather than the full all-life-stages band.
FDA recall history	10 / 10	No FDA posted dog food recall events for this brand were found in our November 2026 check.
Price tier	Not scored	Not scored in this round. We publish a price only when we have verified it from a dated listing.
Total	90 / 100	Scaled from 90 of 100 available points. Stars are the score divided by 20, rounded to the nearest half. The method is published in full on the dog food hub.

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.

Venison. Venison 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.
duck. duck 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.
flounder. flounder sits on the panel as a functional ingredient: a binder, supplement or processing aid rather than a nutrient base.
lamb. lamb 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.
duck liver. duck liver is organ tissue from a named animal. Organs are dense in vitamins, minerals and amino acids, and they are a normal part of what a dog is built to eat.
whole herring. whole herring is a named fish, bringing animal protein and, in oily species, omega 3 fats. Fish first panels suit dogs that react to land meats.
lamb liver. lamb liver is organ tissue from a named animal. Organs are dense in vitamins, minerals and amino acids, and they are a normal part of what a dog is built to eat.
wild boar liver. wild boar liver is organ tissue from a named animal. Organs are dense in vitamins, minerals and amino acids, and they are a normal part of what a dog is built to eat.
wild boar. wild boar sits on the panel as a functional ingredient: a binder, supplement or processing aid rather than a nutrient base.
goat. goat 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.

Who it suits

Active, lean dogs that burn through protein and hold weight easily
Homes that want one bag to cover a puppy and an adult dog together
Owners who want a named whole meat, not a meal or a plant, at the top of the panel

Who should skip it

Owners who specifically want a food proven in feeding trials rather than by formulation

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 Orijen recipes we scored

Recipe	Score / 100	Protein	Format
Original	98	38%	Dry food
Puppy Large	98	38%	Dry food
Small Breed	98	38%	Dry food
Amazing Grains Original	98	38%	Dry food
Amazing Grains Puppy Large	98	38%	Dry food
Wild Reserve Free-Run Chicken	98	38%	Dry food
Wild Reserve Free-Run Chicken & Grain	98	38%	Dry food
Six Fish	97	40%	Dry food
Regional Red	97	38%	Dry food
Tundra	97	40%	Dry food
Senior	97	38%	Dry food
Amazing Grains Regional Red	97	38%	Dry food

Those are the twelve highest scoring of the 43 other Orijen recipes we scored. The full comparison, flagship review included, is on the Orijen 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.

Orijen Tundra Freeze-Dried Medallions: our recipe review