A field experiment was carried out in Mecha District, Northwestern Ethiopia, to assess the growth characteristics, dry matter yield, and chemical composition of selected grass and legume varieties under rainfed conditions. The experiment followed a randomized complete block design with treatments comprising selected grass and legume varieties: Brachiaria camello, Brachiaria cayman, Brachiaria cobra, Panicum maximum mombassa, Crotolaria junicea, Desmodium introtum, and Lablab purpureus. Each treatment had randomly assigned in three blocks/replications, resulting in a total of 21 plots, each measuring 12m² (4m x 3m). Data on morphological characteristics were collected at 120 days for grass and 50% flowering for legume of harvesting age, along with forage dry matter yield, chemical composition analysis of the forage samples was conducted. The collected data underwent analysis using one-way ANOVA procedures in SAS version 9.0. Results showed that morphological characteristics, forage dry matter yield, and chemical composition of the forages were significantly affected (P<0.05). On the grass varieties; Panicum maximum Mombasa the highest mean PH (69.8 cm), DMY (6.02 t/ha), CPY (0.77 t/ha) and low CP (12.86%) followed by Brachiaria cobra with mean PH of 50.8cm, DMY of 4.29t/ha and mean CP of 14.18%. Therefore, among tested grass varieties, Panicum maximum Mombasa grass was recommended followed by B.cobra. In terms of Legume varieties; Crotolaria junicea the highest mean PH (126.6cm), DMY (8.7 t/ha), CP (18.68%) and CPY (1.62 t/ha) followed by Lablab purpureus with mean PH of 96.8cm, DMY of 3.69t/ha and mean CP of 14.61%. Therefore, among tested legumes varieties, Crotolaria junicea was recommended followed by Lablab purpureus for on-farm evaluation in the study area. Hence, it is important to conduct similar studies on different locations with varying climatic conditions, soil types and with application of fertilizer to recommend more reliable for further production in terms of quality and quantity.