Texas Cottage Food Law (2026): $150K Cap, No Permit Needed

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In Texas, you can sell most homemade foods directly to customers with no permit, no license, and no kitchen inspection, up to $150,000 in gross annual income from your cottage food sales. Since September 1, 2025, Texas has used an "everything except a short banned list" model under Senate Bill 541, so you can sell far more than baked goods, including foods that must stay refrigerated. This guide covers exactly what you can sell, how to register if you make refrigerated foods, the food handler course every operator needs, how to label everything, how online orders and pickup work, and how to start this week.

Ready to begin? Follow our step-by-step guide to starting a cottage food business in Texas, then come back here for the rule-by-rule detail.

What Is the Texas Cottage Food Sales Limit?

The Texas cottage food limit is $150,000 in annual gross income from the sale of your cottage foods, raised from $50,000 by SB 541. The law tells the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) to adjust that figure every year for inflation, using the Consumer Price Index. On October 14, 2026, the DSHS page still listed $150,000, so that is the number to plan around until DSHS posts a new one. There is no per-product or per-month cap, only the yearly total.

The cap counts gross income, the money customers pay you before you subtract ingredients, packaging or fees. A baker who sells $2,900 a week for 52 weeks takes in $150,800 and is over the line, even if her profit is a fraction of that.

Here are the main rules on one page. Each row is explained further down.

Scroll sideways to see every column.

We read each rule in Chapter 437 of the Texas Health and Safety Code and the DSHS cottage food page on October 14, 2026. DSHS says it will adopt new rules for SB 541; check its page before you rely on any detail.

Do You Need a License to Sell Food From Home in Texas?

No: a Texas cottage food production operation does not need a permit, license, or inspection to start, and you pay $0 in city or county permit fees because the law bans them. Under SB 541, a local government authority, including a local health department, may not regulate the production of food at your home, and may not require you "to obtain any type of license or permit or pay any fee" to sell directly to a consumer or a cottage food vendor, or to give out samples (Texas Health and Safety Code Chapter 437, Section 437.0192). The law even bars a city or county from keeping on staff someone who knowingly tries to make a cottage food operation get a permit.

Registration with DSHS is a separate, lighter step, and it is not a permit. You must register if you sell TCS foods, the ones that have to stay cold for safety. If you only sell shelf-stable foods, registration is optional; its main benefit is a DSHS ID number you can print on labels instead of your home address. A cottage food vendor who buys your food at wholesale must register too; registering is that business's job, not yours.

Three things still apply even without a license:

• The food handler course (next section), required of every operator.
• The label rules, which apply to every product you sell.
• DSHS emergency powers. The DSHS page says the state or a local health authority can still act through emergency orders or recalls to stop "an immediate and serious threat to human life or health," and health departments keep a record of every complaint made against a cottage food operation.

Do You Need a Food Handler Card to Sell Cottage Food in Texas?

Yes: every person who operates a Texas cottage food business must complete "a basic food safety education or training program for food handlers accredited under Health and Safety Code, Chapter 438(D)," according to the DSHS cottage food page, checked October 14, 2026.

What that means in practice:

• Who needs it: the operator. Anyone else who makes, packs or handles your products must either have the same training, work under the direct supervision of someone who has it, or be a member of your household (Section 437.0195(b)).
• Which course: one on DSHS's list of accredited food handler programs. As one example, StateFoodSafety's Texas food handler course, which says it is approved by DSHS, was $10.99 ($10.00 plus a $0.99 processing fee), about 40 minutes long, with a certificate valid for 2 years when we checked on October 14, 2026.
• If you already hold a food manager certificate: DSHS says it recognizes an accredited Food Manager Certification in place of the food handler certificate where that applies.
• Keep proof: save the certificate as a PDF. Nobody inspects your kitchen, but if a complaint comes in, it is the first thing you will want to show.

What Foods Can You Sell Under Texas Cottage Food Law?

Texas now uses an exclusion model: you can sell any food you make at home *except* 6 banned groups, per the Texas DSHS cottage food page. Before SB 541, Texas allowed only foods that did not need temperature control for safety; now the test is the banned list. Commonly sold allowed foods include:

• Breads, cookies, cakes, and pastries
• Candies, confections, and chocolates
• Jams, jellies, and fruit preserves
• Dry mixes, granola, roasted coffee, dry tea, and popcorn
• Pickles, fermented vegetables and acidified canned goods made under the recipe and batch rules below
• TCS foods allowed since SB 541, such as cheesecakes, cream or custard pies, and other chilled foods (registration required)

Prohibited foods (the six banned groups):

• Meat, meat products, poultry, or poultry products
• Seafood, fish, and shellfish products
• Ice or ice products, including shaved ice, ice cream, frozen custard, popsicles, and gelato
• Low-acid canned goods (such as home-canned green beans)
• Products containing cannabidiol (CBD) or tetrahydrocannabinol (THC)
• Raw milk and raw milk products

TCS foods cannot be sold wholesale or donated. When in doubt, the test is whether the food falls into one of the six banned groups; if it does not, it is allowed, and the only question left is whether it needs the extra TCS steps. That opened up whole categories: in our October 14, 2026 pull of the Homegrown catalog, the 6 cheesecake listings (not counting one $30 box of a dozen minis) ran $20 to $55, a product a Texas home kitchen could not sell before SB 541.

Can You Sell Tamales, Dried Peppers, Lemonade or Coffee From Home in Texas?

Some of these yes, some no, and it all comes down to the six banned groups: of the 7 groups below, 2 are a flat no for a Texas home kitchen. Here is how the law sorts the foods people ask about most.

• Tamales with pork, chicken or beef: no. Meat and poultry products are banned for a home kitchen. Our guide to selling tamales from home covers the commercial-kitchen route.
• Bean, cheese or vegetable tamales: not on the banned list. A cheese or bean tamale is moist and contains protein, which is what the law's TCS definition points to, so treat it as a TCS food: register with DSHS and follow the TCS rules below.
• Dried peppers, chile powder and dried herbs: yes. Dried fruits and vegetables were on the old allowed list and are not banned now.
• Roasted coffee beans and dry tea: yes. Brewed coffee sold by the cup is a different question; ask DSHS before you set up a coffee stand.
• Lemonade: not on the banned list. Separately, a Texas law protects kids: a city, county or local health authority may not regulate or require a permit for the occasional sale of lemonade or other nonalcoholic drinks from a stand on private property or in a public park by someone under 18 (Local Government Code 250.009).
• Cheesecake, flan, tres leches and cream pies: yes since SB 541, as TCS foods with registration. Our guide on whether you can sell homemade cheesecake goes deeper.
• Home-canned green beans, corn or other low-acid vegetables: no, low-acid canned goods are banned. Home-canned salsa is allowed only as an acidified product made under the recipe rules below.

What Are the Extra Rules for Refrigerated (TCS) Foods in Texas?

A TCS food (short for "time and temperature control for safety") is one that has to be kept cold or hot to stop germs from growing, and Texas lets home kitchens sell it only with four extra steps. The law's own examples include "baked goods that require refrigeration, including cream or custard pies or cakes" (437.001(8)). A food made with a cold ingredient is not TCS if the finished product no longer needs temperature control, so a cookie baked with butter and eggs is generally not a TCS food.

If you sell a TCS food, you must:

• Register with DSHS. Use its Online Licensing Registry before you sell.
• Store and deliver it cold or hot enough to be safe. DSHS sets that at 41°F or below for cold foods and 135°F or above for hot foods.
• Put the date the food was made on the label. Every TCS product, every time.
• Add the safe-handling statement. In at least 12-point type, on the label or on an invoice or receipt you give with the food: "SAFE HANDLING INSTRUCTIONS: To prevent illness from bacteria, keep this food refrigerated or frozen until the food is prepared for consumption."

Two more limits apply only to TCS foods: you cannot sell them wholesale to a cottage food vendor, and you cannot donate them to a bake sale or event. For the hand-off, a cooler with ice packs and a probe thermometer is a simple way to keep a cheesecake at 41°F or below between your fridge and the customer's hands.

What Are the Rules for Pickles, Fermented Foods and Canned Goods in Texas?

Pickles, fermented vegetables like sauerkraut, and plant-based acidified canned goods (a plant-based food with a finished pH of 4.6 or less that is heat-processed and sealed in an airtight container) are allowed, but only with a proven recipe and a batch record (the statute exempts pickled cucumbers, see below). Low-acid canned goods, such as plain home-canned green beans, corn or beets without added acid, are banned outright.

Before you sell pickled, fermented or acidified products, Section 437.01951 says your recipe must meet one of these:

• It comes from a DSHS-approved source. The DSHS page lists the USDA Complete Guide to Home Canning (2015 revision), the University of Georgia's *So Easy to Preserve* (6th edition), and three named Ball books.
• A certified lab tested it and confirmed a finished pH of 4.6 or less. DSHS lists six accredited Texas labs.
• A qualified process authority approved it. DSHS points to the AFDO process authority directory.
• Or you test every batch with a calibrated pH meter to confirm it reaches that same 4.6 line.

Then, for every batch, you must give it a unique batch number on the label and keep a record for at least 12 months with the batch number, the recipe, the recipe source or test results, and the date you made it. The statute says this section does not apply to pickled cucumbers, but the DSHS label list asks for a batch number on all pickled fruit or vegetables without repeating that exception, so numbering your cucumber pickles too is the simple way to stay on the right side of both.

How Do You Register With the DSHS Cottage Food Registry?

Registration is a 17-step online form on the DSHS Online Licensing Registry, and approval is automatic. DSHS's own registration guide says DSHS staff do not review it, and if you do not get approval within a few minutes, your application was missing information. Neither the DSHS cottage food page nor its registration guide lists a fee (checked October 14, 2026), so budget $0 for this step unless DSHS posts one.

The guide's steps, shortened:

• Use a desktop or laptop. DSHS says the system works best there.
• Create a new online account. If you already have a DSHS login for another license, you cannot reuse it; sign up with a different email address.
• Choose the right application. Pick Retail Food Program as the board and New Cottage Food Registration as the application.
• Enter your business and home address. Your main address must be your home, not a P.O. box, and the county field must be filled in or the application is not approved.
• Add your products. Use the ADD button for each one.
• Submit and sign the attestation. Then return to the main menu, where your registration number appears in the license table. That number is what goes on your labels.

How Do You Start Selling Cottage Food in Texas? (Step by Step)

There is no application to wait on for shelf-stable foods, so the food handler course and your labels are the only steps that take any lead time. Here is the order to do it in.

• Confirm your product is allowed. Check it against the six banned groups above, then ask whether it must stay cold or hot for safety.
• Take an accredited food handler course. Every operator needs one, and anyone helping you who is not in your household needs one or your direct supervision.
• Register if you sell TCS foods. Use the DSHS Online Licensing Registry (DSHS lists no fee); it is optional if you only sell shelf-stable foods and want an ID number instead of your address on labels.
• Set up safe production. Even without inspection, follow good food-safety and allergen practices, and keep your recipe and batch records if you make pickles or fermented foods.
• Create compliant labels. Include the required statement (below), your operation's name, your address or DSHS ID, the product name, and allergens.
• Pick your sales channels. In person, a farmers market or farm stand, online with a personal hand-off, or wholesale to a DSHS-registered cottage food vendor.
• Start selling. Track your gross sales toward the $150,000 cap.

What Must a Texas Cottage Food Label Include?

Every Texas cottage food product must be packaged to prevent contamination and labeled. Every label needs six things, and some products need more. Foods too large or bulky to package can skip the package, but the label information then goes on an invoice or receipt.

Every label needs:

• Legible writing
• The name of your cottage food operation
• Your address, or the DSHS unique ID number in place of your address
• The product's common name
• Any major food allergens it contains, such as eggs, tree nuts, soy, peanuts, milk, wheat and sesame
• This exact statement: "THIS PRODUCT WAS PRODUCED IN A PRIVATE RESIDENCE THAT IS NOT SUBJECT TO GOVERNMENTAL LICENSING OR INSPECTION."

Some products need more:

• Pickled, fermented or acidified canned goods: a unique batch number.
• TCS foods: the day you made it, plus the safe-handling statement in at least 12-point type, on the label or on the receipt: *"SAFE HANDLING INSTRUCTIONS: To prevent illness from bacteria, keep this food refrigerated or frozen until the food is prepared for consumption."*
• Anything sold through a cottage food vendor: the date it was made.

Selling online adds one more step. Before you take payment, all the label information has to be posted on your website for the customer to read. Your address can wait: the law lets you leave it out of the online listing, as long as your address or DSHS ID is on the label after the customer pays. See our cottage food labeling guide for templates.

Where Can You Sell Cottage Foods in Texas?

Texas lets you sell directly to consumers almost anywhere in the state, plus one wholesale path. The law defines a cottage food operation as one that sells "directly to consumers or to a cottage food vendor," and delivers "at the point of sale or another location designated by the consumer or cottage food vendor." You can sell:

• Directly to consumers in person, from your home or anywhere else in Texas, including events
• At farmers markets and farm stands, selling to customers yourself (see our Texas farmers market vendor permit guide for market-day rules)
• Online, as long as you, an employee, or a household member personally delivers the order to the customer; a customer can collect it at your home as long as someone hands it over (no shipping, even within Texas)
• Wholesale to a registered cottage food vendor (non-TCS foods only), who then sells your food to customers at a farmers market, farm stand, food service establishment (a restaurant or café), or any retail store

A store or restaurant can buy from you at wholesale only by becoming your cottage food vendor, which takes a contract between the two of you plus its own DSHS registration (non-TCS foods only). A cottage food vendor is a person in Texas who has a contract with you, sells your food directly to consumers in Texas on your behalf, and registers with DSHS. That vendor must post the "PRODUCED IN A PRIVATE RESIDENCE" sign near your food, and your label must show the make date. TCS foods cannot go through a cottage food vendor at all.

You can also give out samples at any location in Texas, and donate non-TCS food to a bake sale or charity event.

Can Customers Pick Up an Online Order at Your House in Texas?

Yes, as long as the order goes from your hands, an employee's, or a household member's straight to the customer. Texas allows an online sale "only if" the customer buys the food online from you and "the operator or operator's employee or household member personally delivers the food to the consumer" (Section 437.0194(b)). The law names who must hand the food over, not where, and its definition of a cottage food operation says delivery happens "at the point of sale or another location designated by the consumer." Your front door is a fine place for that hand-off.

The same rule is what rules out shipping. A carrier like USPS or a courier app is none of those three people, so an online order cannot be shipped, even to a customer in the next town. SB 541 also struck the words "or by mail order" from this section. The old law required the personal hand-off too, so shipping an online order was never allowed; for any other kind of shipped order, ask DSHS first.

Swipe left to see each delivery method.

Our reading of Health and Safety Code 437.0194(b) and 437.001(2-b)(D) and the DSHS "Distribution" section, checked October 14, 2026. The porch-cooler row is our cautious reading, not a DSHS ruling.

How Do You Take Texas Cottage Food Orders Online?

The simplest legal setup is an online ordering page that shows your label information before checkout and gives customers a pickup time at your house or a delivery slot you drive yourself. That matches the two things Texas asks of every online sale: label information posted on your website before payment, and a personal hand-off.

That is the job Homegrown does for Texas cottage food operators. It costs $10 a month billed annually ($12.50 billed monthly) with a 7-day trial (no charge until day 8), no commission, and no fee added to your customer's total; the only other cost is standard card processing of 2.9% + $0.30 per order, which you pay. Every listing has a place for allergens and ingredients, so those details sit on the product page before the customer pays; add your operation's name and the "PRODUCED IN A PRIVATE RESIDENCE" statement to each product description too. You choose which days customers can pick up, or offer local delivery inside a radius you set (1 to 25 miles) on the days you drive. Hotplate, a pre-order app, charges no subscription but by default adds 5% + $0.55 to your customer's subtotal. Etsy is built around shipping, which Texas rules out for online orders, and its help page says Etsy "doesn't have a built-in tool for offering local pickup or delivery."

Homegrown customers create an account to place their first order, there is no drops or countdown release feature, and while your storefront is listed on the Homegrown marketplace, plan on most orders coming from people you send to your own link. Homegrown does not register you with DSHS, check your recipes, or make your labels for you. And on delivery days, hand the bag to the customer rather than leaving it at the door.

Swipe to compare all five options.

Fees checked October 14, 2026 on findhomegrown.com/signup, Hotplate's pricing page and its post "What Hotplate does" (which says "80% of Hotplate chefs keep the default as-is"), Etsy's Fees and Payments Policy and payment processing help page, and Venmo's business profile fee page. Hotplate's range depends on whether card processing is figured on the $20 alone or on the total with Hotplate's fee. Venmo says customers who pay a business profile by credit card are exempt from its standard 3% credit card fee. Sales tax and tips are left out.

What Mistakes Should You Avoid Selling Cottage Food in Texas?

Most Texas cottage food problems come from a handful of mistakes, and every one is avoidable with the rules above:

• Shipping orders. Texas cottage food sold online cannot be shipped, even inside Texas; the hand-off has to be personal. Pickup at your home is fine when you or someone in your home gives the customer the order.
• Skipping the food handler course. No license does not mean no training: every operator needs an accredited course.
• Selling a prohibited food. Meat, poultry, seafood, ice cream and other ice products, low-acid canned goods, CBD/THC, and raw milk are off-limits.
• Skipping registration for TCS foods. Cheesecakes, cream pies and other must-stay-cold foods require DSHS registration first.
• Missing the exact label statement. The all-caps "private residence" disclaimer is mandatory, word for word.
• Wholesaling TCS foods, or wholesaling to the wrong buyer. TCS foods can't be sold wholesale or donated, and non-TCS wholesale goes only to a vendor registered with DSHS under the cottage food law.
• Taking payment before posting label information online. The law wants it on your website before the customer pays.
• Leaving online orders unattended. A porch cooler with nobody home does not clearly meet the hand-off rule; ask DSHS first.

What Happens If You Sell Food Without a Permit in Texas?

If you follow the cottage food rules, nothing: a home kitchen inside the law needs no food permit at all. The penalty question matters when an operator goes outside those rules, for example by selling meat tamales from home or passing the $150,000 cap, because the business is then no longer a cottage food operation and falls under the permit rules for food businesses in Chapter 437. Breaking one of the cottage food rules themselves, such as shipping an online order or leaving the required statement off a label, also violates Chapter 437, and Section 437.018 lets DSHS penalize anyone regulated under the chapter.

Chapter 437 sets these penalties:

• DSHS: an administrative penalty of up to $10,000 per violation against a person regulated under the chapter, with each day counted as a separate violation (Section 437.018).
• A county or public health district: up to $500 a day against a business it requires to hold a permit (Section 437.0185).
• How the amount is set: both sections base it on how serious the violation is, the history of past violations, the amount needed to deter more, and efforts to fix it. We found no fixed fine for a home baker, so treat these as upper limits, not typical amounts.
• Criminal: running a food business without a permit the county or public health district requires is a Class C misdemeanor, and running one without a permit DSHS requires is a Class A misdemeanor, with each day a separate offense (Sections 437.016 and 437.0165).
• Court orders: a city, county or district attorney can sue to stop a food business that runs without a required permit, and DSHS can sue to stop any violation of the chapter (Sections 437.015 and 437.0155).

Your city may also have its own rules on things like home businesses and signs. Those are separate from food permits, which a city cannot require of a cottage food operation.

What Recently Changed in Texas's Cottage Food Law?

Senate Bill 541 took effect September 1, 2025, tripled the sales cap from $50,000 to $150,000, and swapped the old food list for six banned groups. Homemade Texas, the advocacy group that pushed for it, called it "the biggest expansion of the Texas Cottage Food Law yet." Here is the before and after.

Swipe left for the before and after.

From the enrolled text of SB 541, which shows the struck and added words, read October 14, 2026.

Read a plain-English breakdown from the advocacy group Homemade Texas, which pushed for the bill.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much can you make selling cottage food in Texas?

Up to $150,000 in gross annual income from cottage food sales under SB 541, a figure the law tells DSHS to adjust each year for inflation. The DSHS page still listed $150,000 on October 14, 2026. There is no monthly or per-product limit under the Texas cottage food law.

Do you need a license to sell food from home in Texas?

No. Texas requires no permit, license, or kitchen inspection for a cottage food operation, and local governments are prohibited from requiring one or charging a fee. You do need an accredited food handler course, correct labels, and a DSHS registration if you sell refrigerated TCS foods.

Can you sell TCS foods like cream pies in Texas?

Yes, since September 1, 2025. You must register with DSHS, store and deliver cold foods at 41°F or below, put the make date on the label, and add the 12-point safe-handling statement on the label or receipt. TCS foods cannot be sold wholesale or donated.

Can you sell cottage food online in Texas?

Yes. You can take orders online as long as the order is delivered in person by you, an employee, or a household member, and customers can pick up at your home when one of you hands the order over. You cannot ship an online order, even to a customer inside Texas, and your label information must be on your website before the customer pays.

What foods are banned under Texas cottage food law?

Meat and poultry, seafood and fish, ice products and ice cream, low-acid canned goods, CBD/THC products, and raw milk products. Almost everything else made in a home kitchen is allowed under the Texas cottage food law, though chilled foods need the extra TCS steps.

Do you have to register your Texas cottage food business?

Only if you sell TCS (must-stay-cold) foods. Registration is optional for everyone else; it gives you a DSHS ID number to print on labels instead of your home address. Registration runs through the DSHS Online Licensing Registry, approval is automatic, and DSHS lists no fee.

Do local cities in Texas require a cottage food permit?

No. SB 541 bars any local government authority, including a local health department, from requiring a license, permit, or fee for cottage food sold directly to consumers or to a cottage food vendor, or for giving out samples. If a city asks you for one, Section 437.0192 of the Health and Safety Code is the rule to point to.

Can you sell wholesale to stores in Texas?

Only if the store becomes your cottage food vendor by contracting with you and registering with DSHS. You can sell non-TCS foods at wholesale only to a registered cottage food vendor, a person in Texas with a contract with you who registers with DSHS and then sells your food to customers at a farmers market, farm stand, restaurant or retail store. TCS foods cannot be wholesaled at all.

Related Reading

These 7 guides pick up where this one stops, each on a question Texas readers of this page ask next.

• How to start a cottage food business in Texas: the setup checklist, step by step.
• Best platform to sell sourdough in Texas: ordering tools compared for Texas bakers, with the same hand-off rule applied.
• Can you sell homemade cheesecake?: the must-stay-cold rules state by state.
• Cottage food labeling requirements: label templates you can adapt.
• Best platform to sell jam in Texas: ordering tools for Texas jam and preserves, compared with the same fee math used here.
• Can you ship cottage food?: where shipping is and is not allowed, state by state, since Texas is one of the states that rules it out for online orders.
• Cottage food laws by state: compare Texas with every other state, useful if you live near the Oklahoma, Louisiana, Arkansas or New Mexico line and want to sell on both sides.

Start Selling Cottage Food in Texas

Texas keeps the rules for home cooks and bakers short: a $150,000 cap, no permit, and a banned list of just six food groups. The work that remains is small and mostly one-time: a food handler course, a label template, a DSHS registration if you sell chilled foods, and a plan for handing orders over in person. Once your food handler course is done, your labels are right and (if needed) your DSHS registration is in, set up an easy way for customers to order and pay. Set up a Homegrown storefront to take Texas cottage food orders online for pickup at your house or delivery you handle yourself, then compare the rules in nearby states like Oklahoma, Louisiana, Arkansas, and New Mexico.

*This guide is general information, not legal advice. Cottage food rules change, so verify current requirements with Texas DSHS before you start selling. Last verified: October 14, 2026.*

Planning to sell at a farmers market? See our Texas farmers market vendor permit guide for the permits you will need on market day.