Last verified: October 22, 2026. I’m a Texas home baker, not a lawyer — laws change, so always confirm with the Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS) before you sell.

ARIZONA COTTAGE FOOD AT A GLANCE

Annual sales cap: None — Arizona sets no gross-sales limit

Permit or license: None required — just register (free) with ADHS before you sell

Registration cost: Free

Kitchen inspection: Not required for home kitchen foods

Also required: A Food Handler Card for every person making or selling the food, plus a free ADHS online food safety course

Registration term: Annual — renew your registration every year (also free)

What you can sell: Any homemade food that is not potentially hazardous, plus — unusually — some perishables like cheesecake and cream pies IF you complete the ADHS training and follow strict rules

Shipping: Allowed — you may ship by mail or courier anywhere inside Arizona

Selling somewhere else too? Compare every state in the Cottage Food Laws by State hub: https://cottagebakersupply.com/cottage-food-laws-by-state/ — and once you’re selling, price your bakes with the free tools here: https://cottagebakersupply.com/tools/

WHY ARIZONA IS ONE OF THE BOLD STATES FOR COTTAGE BAKERS

Arizona’s 2021 “tamale bill” — written to legalize street-vended tamales — rewrote the cottage food rules into some of the most permissive in the country. No sales cap. No permit. A free registration. And then the kicker most states won’t touch: Arizona lets trained home bakers sell perishable goods — cheesecake, cream pies, custard-filled items — as long as you finish ADHS’s food safety course and keep the cold chain honest.

The trade: you own the risk. Arizona Revised Statutes § 36-932 gives health officials the power to inspect or pull your product if there’s a complaint, and every label carries the full warning in plain sight. It’s freedom with a paper trail.

WHAT YOU CAN (AND CAN’T) SELL

Arizona allows any food prepared in a home kitchen that is not “potentially hazardous” — plus those famous trained-perishables. Non-potentially-hazardous means it doesn’t need time or temperature control to stay safe.

Allowed: Breads, cakes, cookies, pastries, and pies (including — if you’ve completed the ADHS training — cheesecake, cream pies, custard pies, and custard-filled pastries); jams, jellies, and preserves; honey; dry mixes; popcorn, nuts, and granola; roasted coffee; and pickled produce that is properly acidified.

Prohibited: Anything the state defines as potentially hazardous that you are NOT trained and registered for — and even trained sellers can’t sell low-acid canned foods, fresh juices, raw milk products, or anything requiring a commercial license.

The perishable rule, plainly: Without the ADHS training, stick to shelf-stable. With it, you may sell cheesecake, cream pies, custard pies, and custard-filled items — but you must keep them cold from your fridge to the customer’s hands and say so on the label. Arizona trusts you with the thermometer. Don’t make it regret that.

ARIZONA LABELING REQUIREMENTS

Arizona law (Arizona Revised Statutes § 36-932) requires five things on every cottage food label, and the wording of the big warning is exact:

  1. The name of your cottage food operation
  2. The name of the product
  3. Ingredients in descending order of predominance — including sub-ingredients (write “butter (cream, salt),” not just “butter”)
  4. This exact statement, verbatim, on every label: This product was produced in a home kitchen that may come in contact with common food allergens and pet allergens and is not subject to public health inspection.
  5. The ADHS registration number — once it’s issued

(If you sell perishable goods after the ADHS training, also include safe-handling instructions: keep refrigerated, with the date you made it.)

Packaging is part of the label here: everything must be sold in tamper-evident packaging — a sealed bag, a lidded container with a sticker seal, anything that shows if it’s been opened.

Selling online? Your website or listing needs the same allergen warning, in the same verbatim wording: To obtain additional information about cottage foods or to report a foodborne illness, go to azdhs.gov/Cottagefood

WHERE YOU CAN SELL IN ARIZONA

Farmers markets, your own home, roadside stands, bake sales, community events, grocery stores, restaurants, coffee shops — Arizona lets you sell direct AND wholesale, in person AND online, and ship by mail or courier anywhere in the state. There is no “homemade” sign requirement at the point of sale, but your labels do all the talking.

Delivery is where Arizona draws careful lines:

  • You can deliver yourself, or use a third-party delivery service like DoorDash — but only for food you’ve made and the customer ordered directly from you.
  • A delivery driver can’t stock your goods and resell them independently.
  • Out-of-state sales are not covered — Arizona’s law stops at the state line.

And the hard border: selling across state lines, or wholesaling to a distributor who resells outside Arizona, puts you under federal rules. Keep it in-state and you’re golden.

YOUR 3 STEPS TO START

  1. Get trained and carded. Finish the free ADHS food safety training online (required if you want to sell perishables; smart even if you don’t), and get a Food Handler Card for everyone making or selling the food.
  2. Register free with ADHS. File your cottage food registration online — no fee — and list every product you plan to sell. You’ll get a registration number that goes on every label. Renew it every year (also free).
  3. Label it right and sell it anywhere in-state. Print the exact allergen warning on every label in the verbatim wording, pack everything tamper-evident, add safe-handling instructions for anything perishable, and sell direct, wholesale, online, or shipped — anywhere in Arizona.

OFFICIAL ARIZONA SOURCES

This guide is for informational purposes only and isn’t legal advice. Cottage food laws change — I last verified this page on October 22, 2026. When in doubt, ask ADHS.

Just add sprinkles!