Cottage Food Laws by State: Start Your Home Bakery the Legal Way
Last verified: October 21, 2026. Laws change — always confirm with your state’s official source before you sell.
Every state has its own cottage food law: what’s legal to sell from your home kitchen, how much you can earn, what your labels must say, and where you’re allowed to sell it. This page is your starting point — find your state below for a plain-English guide (where I’ve written one) and a link straight to your state’s official rules.
Not legal advice. I’m a home baker, not a lawyer. I research carefully and date-stamp everything, but laws change — always verify with your state’s department of agriculture or health before you sell a single cookie.
WHAT IS A COTTAGE FOOD LAW, ANYWAY?
A cottage food law lets you sell certain homemade foods — usually baked goods, candy, jams, and other shelf-stable items — from your home kitchen, without renting a commercial kitchen or getting a food establishment license. Every state sets its own rules: which foods qualify, how much you can sell per year, what your labels must include, and where you can sell (farmers markets, from home, online, and so on). A few states have recently loosened their rules a lot — Texas, for example, rewrote its law in 2025 — so if you’re reading advice from a few years ago, it may be out of date. The official source for your state, linked below, is always the final word.
WHAT GOES ON A COTTAGE FOOD LABEL?
Almost every state asks for some combination of the same ingredients — but the exact recipe is different in every state:
- Who made it: your business name and address — a few states now let you print a state ID number instead of your home address
- What it is: the common name of the product
- What’s in it: an ingredient list (required in some states, not in others)
- Allergens: any major food allergens present, by their proper names
- How much: the net weight or volume (required in some states, not in others)
- The home-kitchen statement: most states require one, and many require it word-for-word, sometimes in a minimum font size — this is the line bakers get wrong most often
Because no two states match, each state below links to its official rules, and the states I’ve fully researched show their exact label requirements in a box like the Texas one. When in doubt, the official source wins.
FIND YOUR STATE
Guides are landing state by state — Texas is complete below, and every state links to its official source today so you can check your rules right now.
Alabama — Official source: Alabama Department of Public Health · Plain-English guide in the works
Alaska — Official source: Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (Alaska’s homemade food exemption) · Plain-English guide in the works
Arizona — Official source: Arizona Department of Health Services · Plain-English guide in the works
Arkansas — Official source: Arkansas Department of Health (Homemade Food Production Guide (PDF), Food Freedom Act) · Plain-English guide in the works
California — Official source: California Department of Public Health · Plain-English guide in the works
Colorado — Official source: Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment · Read the full guide: Colorado Cottage Food Law: The 2026 Guide for Home Bakers
Connecticut — Official source: Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection (Cottage Food Operator license required) · Plain-English guide in the works
Delaware — Official source: Delaware Division of Public Health (official cottage food regulations text (PDF)) · Plain-English guide in the works
Florida — Official source: Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services · Read the full guide: Florida Cottage Food Law: The 2026 Guide for Home Bakers
Georgia — Official source: Georgia Department of Agriculture · Plain-English guide in the works
Hawaii — Official source: Hawaii State Department of Health (food safety code update — no standalone cottage food page) · Plain-English guide in the works
Idaho — Official source: Eastern Idaho Public Health (district health page — exemption for direct-to-consumer sales) · Plain-English guide in the works
Illinois — Official source: Illinois Department of Public Health · Plain-English guide in the works
Indiana — Official source: Indiana Department of Health (state Home-Based Vendor rule page) · Plain-English guide in the works
Iowa — Official source: Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals, and Licensing · Plain-English guide in the works
Kansas — Official source: Kansas Legislature (statute) (statute text — Kansas has no named cottage food law) · Plain-English guide in the works
Kentucky — Official source: Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services, Department for Public Health, Food Safety Branch · Plain-English guide in the works
Louisiana — Official source: Louisiana State Legislature (statute) (statute text (R.S. 40:4.9) — no agency guide page) · Plain-English guide in the works
Maine — Official source: Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry (licensed home-food program (not a license-free exemption)) · Plain-English guide in the works
Maryland — Official source: Maryland Department of Health (Cottage Food FAQs (PDF)) · Plain-English guide in the works
Massachusetts — Official source: Massachusetts Department of Public Health · Plain-English guide in the works
Michigan — Official source: Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development · Read the full guide: Michigan Cottage Food Law: The 2026 Guide for Home Bakers
Minnesota — Official source: Minnesota Department of Agriculture · Read the full guide: Minnesota Cottage Food Law: The 2026 Guide for Home Bakers
Mississippi — Official source: Mississippi State Department of Health · Plain-English guide in the works
Missouri — Official source: Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (home-based kitchen guidance (PDF)) · Plain-English guide in the works
Montana — Official source: Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services (guidance and registration document (PDF)) · Plain-English guide in the works
Nebraska — Official source: Nebraska Department of Agriculture · Plain-English guide in the works
Nevada — Official source: Southern Nevada Health District (registration is by health district — this page covers Clark County) · Plain-English guide in the works
New Hampshire — Official source: New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services (‘homestead food’ operations page) · Plain-English guide in the works
New Jersey — Official source: New Jersey Department of Health (Cottage Food Operator Permit program — NJ has no cottage food statute) · Plain-English guide in the works
New Mexico — Official source: New Mexico Environment Department (Homemade Food Act page) · Plain-English guide in the works
New York — Official source: New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets (Home Processor Exemption — NY has no law by the “cottage food” name) · Plain-English guide in the works
North Carolina — Official source: North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (Home Processor program — a kitchen inspection is required before selling) · Plain-English guide in the works
North Dakota — Official source: North Dakota Department of Health and Human Services · Plain-English guide in the works
Ohio — Official source: Ohio Revised Code (statute) (statute (ORC Chapter 3715) — agency guidance is a PDF fact sheet) · Plain-English guide in the works
Oklahoma — Official source: Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food, and Forestry (Homemade Food Freedom Act guidance bulletin) · Plain-English guide in the works
Oregon — Official source: Oregon Department of Agriculture · Plain-English guide in the works
Pennsylvania — Official source: Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture (Limited Food Establishment registration — no law by the ‘cottage food’ name) · Plain-English guide in the works
Rhode Island — Official source: Rhode Island Department of Health · Plain-English guide in the works
South Carolina — Official source: South Carolina Department of Agriculture (Retail Food Safety page, cottage foods section) · Plain-English guide in the works
South Dakota — Official source: South Dakota Department of Health (Farmers Markets page — no standalone cottage food page) · Plain-English guide in the works
Tennessee — Official source: Tennessee Department of Agriculture (Tennessee Food Freedom Act page) · Plain-English guide in the works
Texas — Start here: the full Texas guide is in the next section. Official source: Texas Department of State Health Services
Utah — Official source: Utah Department of Agriculture and Food · Plain-English guide in the works
Vermont — Official source: Vermont Department of Health (home-based food licenses and exemptions FAQ) · Plain-English guide in the works
Virginia — Official source: Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (home kitchen exemptions FAQ (PDF)) · Plain-English guide in the works
Washington — Official source: Washington State Department of Agriculture (Cottage Food Permit required before selling) · Plain-English guide in the works
West Virginia — Official source: West Virginia Department of Agriculture (permit page for potentially hazardous cottage foods) · Plain-English guide in the works
Wisconsin — Official source: Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (no cottage food statute — home bakers operate under court orders) · Plain-English guide in the works
Wyoming — Official source: Wyoming Department of Agriculture (general licensing page — sales are exempt under the Wyoming Food Freedom Act) · Plain-English guide in the works
TEXAS — OUR FIRST COMPLETE GUIDE
Texas rewrote its cottage food law with SB 541 (effective September 1, 2025): the sales cap tripled to $150,000 a year, the allowed-foods list got much broader, and you can register free with DSHS for a unique ID number to print on labels instead of using your home address.
Read the full guide: Texas Cottage Food Law: The 2026 Guide for Home Bakers
Official source: Texas Department of State Health Services
What Texas requires on your label (shelf-stable goods sold directly to your customer):
- Your business name and address — or your DSHS unique ID number instead
- The common name of the product (“Chocolate Chip Cookies,” not just your brand name)
- Any major allergens present, listed by their legally correct names
- This exact statement, verbatim, in all caps: THIS PRODUCT WAS PRODUCED IN A PRIVATE RESIDENCE THAT IS NOT SUBJECT TO GOVERNMENTAL LICENSING OR INSPECTION
- A production date only for refrigerated (TCS) foods or products sold through a cottage food vendor — refrigerated foods also need a safe-handling statement
Not required by Texas cottage food law: a full ingredient list or net weight. (Just the allergens actually present.) You can always add more — your website, a QR code — as long as the required elements are there.
Build your Texas label free: my Cottage Food Label Generator fills in the exact statement and allergen line for you.
FREE TOOLS FOR COTTAGE BAKERS
Label it right: the free Cottage Food Label Generator builds a print-ready label with your state’s exact required statement — no guesswork, no tiny illegal type.
Price it right: the free Recipe Cost Calculator works out what a batch really costs — ingredients, packaging, overhead, and your time — so you price for profit, not vibes.
COTTAGE FOOD QUESTIONS, ANSWERED
Do I need a license to sell cookies from home?
In most states, no license is needed for cottage food — that’s the point of these laws. But some states require a free registration, a food handler course, or a permit for certain foods (like refrigerated items). Check your state’s official source above before you sell.
What foods can I sell under cottage food laws?
Usually shelf-stable foods: baked goods, candy, jams and jellies, dried goods, and similar low-risk items. Meat, poultry, and seafood are almost never allowed. Some states now allow more — Texas even allows refrigerated foods if you register — so check your state.
Can I ship my baked goods to customers?
Many states limit cottage food to direct, in-person delivery — Texas, for example, does not allow shipping by mail. A few states allow in-state shipping. Your state’s rules decide; check the official source.
What has to be on my cottage food label?
It varies by state — see “What goes on a cottage food label?” above, then check your state’s exact requirements. The required statement is the part to get exactly right: many states demand it word-for-word.
How much can I earn selling from home?
Sales caps vary enormously — $150,000 a year in Texas, $250,000 in Florida, and some states have no cap at all. Your state guide and official source have your number.
Where do I start?
Read your state’s rules at the official source, take any food safety course your state requires, get your labels right (the free generator helps), and price your bakes with real numbers (the free calculator helps). Then sell something delicious.
STAY IN THE LOOP
New state guides are landing regularly, and I’m building a free tool or template for just about every step of starting a home bakery. Join the list and I’ll send new guides and tools straight to your inbox — no spam, just sprinkles.
This hub is for informational purposes only and isn’t legal advice. Cottage food laws change — state entries are verified against official sources and date-stamped. When in doubt, ask your state.
Just add sprinkles!