How to Start a Cottage Food Business in Washington (2026)

Once you have your WSDA permit and know how your customers may pay, you can set up a Homegrown storefront and try it free for 7 days.

To start a cottage food business in Washington, you get your food worker card and a Washington business license, prove your kitchen uses safe water, apply for a WSDA Cottage Food Permit, pass a home-kitchen inspection, label your products with your permit number, and start selling in person. The permit costs $355 for two years, sales are capped at $35,000 a year, and WSDA says payment and delivery happen person to person, with no shipping. This is the step-by-step playbook, with the costs worked out line by line. For the full legal detail behind each step, see our Washington cottage food law guide.

If you landed here searching for "cottage law" because of a backyard cottage or an accessory dwelling unit, that is a housing rule. This page is only about selling food you make in your own home kitchen.

How Do You Start a Cottage Food Business in Washington? (Step by Step)

You start a cottage food business in Washington in nine steps, and the first five happen before you send WSDA anything. WSDA's own page says a Cottage Food Permit "must be issued before you sell your product," so nothing goes on sale until step eight.

• Confirm your product qualifies. Washington covers low-risk foods that stay safe without refrigeration, and only the products WSDA approves on your permit. Check yours against the lists in this guide and in our Washington cottage food law guide before you spend a dollar.
• Get a food worker card for everyone who will make the food. The card costs $10, and your local health department issues it after a short course and test. WSDA asks for a signed copy for each person named on your application.
• Get a Washington business license. WSDA asks for a copy of it with your application. Opening a new business through the Department of Revenue carries a $50 processing fee.
• Prove your water source. A private well needs a passing bacteria test from within 60 days of applying, then a new test every year after. On city water, keep a recent water bill.
• Write a label for every product and every variation. Use "Permit #: _____" as a placeholder until WSDA gives you a number.
• Apply to WSDA and pay the $355 fee. Send the full application packet with your labels and plans. WSDA's page says not to send recipes with it.
• Pass the home-kitchen inspection. A failed inspection costs $125 to redo, and a second failure ends the application.
• Label every product and start selling in person. At home, at markets and fairs, or by taking the order ahead and collecting payment at pickup or an in-person delivery. No shipping.
• Track every sale toward the $35,000 cap. WSDA can ask in writing for proof of your annual gross sales.

The rest of this guide walks through each step, what it costs, and where new vendors get stuck.

What Do You Need Before You Apply for a Washington Cottage Food Permit?

You need three things before you apply: a food worker card for each person making the food, a Washington business license, and proof that your kitchen uses safe water. WSDA's 2025 overview slides list exactly those three under "Before submitting a Cottage Foods Permit Application," and its web page asks for signed copies of the cards and a copy of the license.

Here is what each one involves:

• Food worker card. The Washington Department of Health says the card costs $10, is valid anywhere in Washington, and is first issued for 2 years. Local health departments run the training and test. If you take the course online, use only foodworkercard.wa.gov; DOH says other websites offering a card "are not valid in Washington." Every person who makes your cottage food needs one.
• Business license. The Department of Revenue's business license page says online applications take about 10 business days, or longer with city endorsements, and mailed ones can take up to six weeks. DOR's processing fee page sets the fee to open a new business at $50, plus any endorsement or trade name fees that apply to you.
• Water. A private well, spring or other private supply needs a passing bacteria test within 60 days of submitting your application, under WAC 16-149-060, and WAC 16-149-030 requires a new test at least once a year after that. City or municipal water needs no test, but WSDA's slides ask for a recent water bill as proof.
• Zoning. WSDA tells applicants to check with their city and county about home business rules, and its FAQ warns that a city can ban home food production in areas not zoned for commerce. A five-minute call to your planning office now beats a denied pickup setup later.

What Goes in the WSDA Cottage Food Permit Application?

The WSDA application is a packet, not a one-page form: a completed application, a drawing of your kitchen, a label for every product and variation, your sales plan and processing dates, your food worker cards, your business license, your water proof, and pet or child plans. WAC 16-149-060 lists the required pieces, and WSDA's 2025 overview slides add the plans the current packet asks for.

What to put together:

1. The application form from WSDA's Cottage Food Operation page.
2. A floor plan of your kitchen showing equipment, work surfaces, where you wash and sanitize, where you wash your hands, the bathroom, and where ingredients and finished products are stored.
3. An equipment and utensil list. Mixer, oven, bowls, pans, decorating tips. Residential equipment only.
4. A cleaning and sanitation plan, including how you clean between allergen and non-allergen batches.
5. Processing dates, such as "Mondays and Wednesdays, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m."
6. A sales plan, such as "from my home on weekdays, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m." or a named farmers market and its days.
7. Child and pet management plans. WSDA's slides say to submit both even if you have no kids or pets, and write that the section does not apply.
8. A packaging plan describing how each food is wrapped.
9. A label for every master product and every variation.
10. Copies of your food worker cards, business license, and water test or water bill.
11. A signed statement giving WSDA the right to enter your home for inspections. RCW 69.22.030(3) and WAC 16-149-030(3) require one with every application.

Two rules shape the packet. First, one permit holds at most 50 master products, and a master product can have variations: WSDA's example counts chocolate chip cookies with walnuts and with pecans as one product. Second, the recipe rules disagree. WSDA's page says the whole application is a public record, "including recipes, so do not submit recipes with your application," and its slides say a reviewer can ask for a recipe if there is a concern. The written rules (WAC 16-149-060 and 16-149-120) still list recipes as part of the application. If the form you download asks for recipes, email cottagefoods@agr.wa.gov and ask which instruction to follow. Either way, WAC 16-149-120 says your recipes stay on file at home, and WSDA can ask to see them.

How Much Does It Cost to Start a Cottage Food Business in Washington?

A solo vendor pays $415 in state fees to open a Washington cottage food business: $355 for the WSDA permit, $10 for a food worker card and $50 to open a business license. Add each helper's $10 card, any city endorsement or trade name fee, and your first labels, packaging and ingredients.

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Government fees as listed on October 8, 2026 by WSDA's Cottage Food Operation page, the Department of Health's food worker card page and the Department of Revenue's business license processing fee page. The supply ranges are our rough planning figures, not quotes; your own prices will differ. Homegrown's price is from findhomegrown.com/signup the same day.

Add it up and a solo vendor can plan on about $465 to $665: the $415 in state fees plus $20 to $100 for labels and packaging and $30 to $150 for a first batch, using our planning ranges. The permit is the big line, but it covers two years, which works out to $177.50 a year or about $14.79 a month.

What is inside the $355? WSDA publishes only the total. WAC 16-149-060 lists a $30 processing fee, a $75 public health review fee and $125 for each annual inspection, and those add up to $355 when you count two inspections, one for each year of the permit. That split is our arithmetic from the rule, not a WSDA breakdown.

How Long Does It Take to Start in Washington?

Plan on about 8 to 10 weeks from your first step to your first legal sale: roughly two weeks to collect your card, license and labels, then the 6 to 8 weeks WSDA says the permit usually takes once your packet is complete. That total is our planning math from the agency figures below, not a WSDA promise.

WSDA's own numbers vary by document. Its Cottage Food Operation page says the process averages 6 to 8 weeks "from the time a complete application is received by our office and when the permit is issued." A WSDA blog post from April 9, 2026, "Starting a Cottage Food Business in Washington State", encourages applicants to allow 4 to 6 weeks. Plan for the longer one.

A realistic calendar:

• Week 1: Take the food worker card course, apply for your business license online, and order a well test if you need one.
• Weeks 1 to 2: Write your labels, draw your floor plan, and write your sales, processing, cleaning, packaging, child and pet plans while the license processes (about 10 business days online).
• Week 2: Send WSDA the complete packet with the $355 fee. WAC 16-149-060 asks that WSDA have the packet at least six weeks before processing.
• Weeks 3 to 10: WSDA reviews your labels, contacts you with questions, and schedules the inspection.
• After you pass: WSDA's brochure says it will "email the new permit within a few days," and its slides say the passing inspection report counts as proof of licensing until the permit arrives. If you want to sell before the email lands, confirm that with your WSDA reviewer first.

Incomplete packets stretch this out. WSDA's April 2026 post says the application "must be fully completed before it will be processed."

What Does the WSDA Kitchen Inspection Look For?

The WSDA inspection checks that your home kitchen and every area on your floor plan can produce food safely with ordinary residential equipment. WSDA's page says it covers the kitchen, the packaging area, the restroom and the storage areas for ingredients and finished products. A failed inspection costs $125 to redo, and failing twice ends the application.

What to have ready:

• Smooth, easy-to-clean food contact surfaces, and no carpet or rugs in the prep area (cleanable anti-fatigue mats are fine)
• A way to wash, rinse and sanitize: a home dishwasher works, or a tub as the third compartment
• A shelf or area set aside for cottage food ingredients and products; you don't need a second fridge
• Storage inside your home, never in a detached garage, shed or barn
• A plan that keeps kids under 6 and pets out of the work area while you produce
• Pump soap, paper towels, and gloves, bakery papers or tongs so you never touch ready-to-eat food bare-handed

WSDA's 2025 slides describe the first permitting inspection as virtual, with kitchen photos sometimes requested, while its web page says a specialist will schedule a visit, so be ready for either. Under RCW 69.22.040 your kitchen is inspected before the permit and annually after, and the slides say an inspector schedules an on-site visit around a year after permitting. Our Washington cottage food law guide has the full inspection checklist.

What Can You Sell as a Washington Cottage Food Business?

You can sell low-risk foods that stay safe at room temperature, and only the exact products WSDA approves and prints on your permit, up to 50 master products per permit. WSDA's page lists the commonly approved groups, and WAC 16-149-120 holds the full rule:

• Baked and fried goods: loaf breads, rolls, biscuits, quick breads, muffins, pastries, scones, cookies, bars, crackers, donuts, tortillas, pizzelles, krumkake and kale chips
• Cakes, including birthday, anniversary and wedding cakes, as long as every frosting or glaze has a cook step or enough sugar to stay stable at room temperature
• Sweet breads with fruit or vegetables baked in, like zucchini bread or strawberry muffins, when the produce goes into the batter and is oven-baked, with no fresh fruit garnish on top
• Pies, except pumpkin, custard-style, unbaked fresh fruit pies and any pie that needs refrigeration after baking
• Candies cooked on a stove or in a microwave with a candy thermometer: fudge, caramels, brittles, taffy, marshmallow-like candies, molded chocolates and dipped treats
• Jams, jellies, preserves and fruit butters made to FDA's standards in 21 C.F.R. 150, which means full-sugar recipes
• Dry mixes from approved sources: spice and herb blends, teas, bread mixes, soup mixes and dip mixes
• Cereals, granola, trail mix, nuts and snack mixes
• Small-batch roasted coffee beans, from a roaster that fits on a kitchen counter
• Vanilla extract that meets FDA's standard of identity, and freeze-dried versions of allowed foods such as freeze-dried candy

Frosting is where bakers most often get tripped up. WSDA's FAQ says an approved frosting has a 3 to 1 ratio of shelf-stable ingredients like sugar to perishable ones like butter, eggs or milk, by weight, or it gets a cook step. Our cottage food labeling guide covers how to list those ingredients once your recipe passes.

What Can't You Sell Under a Washington Cottage Food Permit?

Anything that needs refrigeration is off the list, along with meat, poultry and fish (and foods made with them), dairy products like milk, cheese and yogurt, home-canned fruits and vegetables, and beverages. WSDA's prohibited list (WAC 16-149-130, plus WSDA's cottage food page and FAQ answers) includes:

• Meat, poultry and fish, including jerky
• Home-canned fruits and vegetables, salsa, pickles, relish and sauerkraut
• Barbecue sauce, ketchup and mustard
• Low-sugar jams
• Pumpkin pie, custard and meringue pies, and cakes or pastries with cream or cream cheese fillings, fresh fruit fillings or garnishes, or low-sugar frostings
• Milk, cheese and yogurt
• Beverages of any kind, including apple cider, juice and drink syrups
• Garlic in oil, cut fresh fruit or vegetables, and raw seed sprouts
• Focaccia-style breads topped with vegetables or cheese
• Foods dried in a low-temperature dehydrator, which WSDA says lack a cook step
• Dog treats, which fall under WSDA's separate pet food rules

WSDA's 2026 brochure and the prohibited list on its own cottage food page go further than the rule. The brochure lists "any foods containing fresh fruits or vegetables" as not permitted, and the page lists "food products made from fresh fruits or vegetables," while WAC 16-149-130 says "cut" fresh fruits or vegetables and WSDA's FAQ allows produce baked into the batter. Name each product exactly on your application so the reviewer can tell you which side it falls on. If your product is not allowed, WSDA points you to a Food Processor License and a licensed kitchen; our guide to using a commissary kitchen as a cottage food vendor covers that route.

What Has to Be on Your Washington Cottage Food Labels?

Every Washington cottage food label needs your business name and permit number, the product name, the ingredients, allergens, net weight and WSDA's home-kitchen statement in at least 11-point type. RCW 69.22.020 and WAC 16-149-110 set the list:

• Your business name and WSDA permit number
• The product name, matching your permit word for word (WSDA's example: "Peach and Blueberry Pie" cannot become "Peach and Berry Pie")
• Ingredients in order from most to least by weight, with sub-ingredients, so "flour" becomes the flour's full ingredient list
• Allergens under federal rules, naming the specific tree nut
• Net weight or net volume
• Nutrition information, only if you make a claim like "low fat"
• The statement "Made in a home kitchen that has not been subject to standard inspection criteria," in at least 11-point type in a color that contrasts with the label

You don't need your home address on the label. Hand-printed labels are fine if they are legible, in permanent ink and at least 11-point size. Wedding cakes and other cakes that can't hold a sticker get a printed label sheet delivered with them, and cupcakes need their own label even when they use your cake recipe. The Big 9 allergen guide shows how to write the allergen line.

Where Can You Sell in Washington?

You can sell Washington cottage food anywhere you hand it to the customer yourself inside the state: from your home, at farmers markets, craft fairs, festivals, holiday bazaars, charitable events, your own farm stand, or a shop you run yourself. WAC 16-149-040 requires every sale to go directly to the consumer, and says a copy of your permit must be displayed wherever you sell. Every one of those sales counts toward your $35,000 yearly cap.

Washington allows these sales:

• Customer pickup at your home
• In-person delivery you make yourself, directly to the customer
• Booth sales at farmers markets, fairs and events
• Sales from your own shop, if every product is fully labeled (WSDA's example is a baker selling from their own antique shop)
• Taking orders online, under WSDA's FAQ, with payment and the hand-off in person (see the next section)

Washington rules out:

• Shipping by mail or courier, and third-party delivery companies
• Mail order
• Consignment, wholesale, brokers and distributors
• Selling to restaurants, coffee shops or grocery stores for resale
• Any sale outside Washington

Markets can add their own rules on top of the permit, such as insurance. Neither RCW 69.22 nor WSDA's cottage food page requires insurance, but a market can. Our Washington farmers market vendor permit guide covers what you need on market day.

Can You Take Orders and Payment Online in Washington?

You can take orders online under WSDA's FAQ, but the same FAQ says payment and delivery happen person to person, so do not plan on online card payment without WSDA's written OK. We read seven Washington documents on October 8, 2026, they give three different answers, and the strictest one is the law itself.

The seven statements, word for word, as each page read on October 8, 2026:

1. The statute. RCW 69.22.020(4): cottage food products "may only be sold directly to the consumer and may not be sold by internet, mail order, or for retail sale outside the state."
2. The rule. WAC 16-149-040(2): "A cottage food operation may maintain an internet website displaying available products provided any sales arising from the website are completed as in-person transactions."
3. WSDA's internet FAQ. "You can advertise your products on the Internet and take orders over the Internet." Its shipping answer adds: "Product delivery and payments must be directly from the producer to the end consumer in a person to person transaction and not delivered by mail or a courier service."
4. WSDA's sales FAQ. "Internet, mail, consignment, wholesale, & retail sales outside the state are prohibited."
5. WSDA's April 2026 blog post. "Online, wholesale, and out-of-state sales are not allowed under this permit."
6. WSDA's 2026 brochure. "You can make sales through a personal website or social media sites such as Facebook, X, or Etsy, but you cannot ship your products to customers. They must pick up the product in person."
7. WSDA's 2025 overview slides. "A cottage food operation may maintain an internet website displaying available products provided any sales from the website are delivered as in-person transactions."

Three of those (the statute, the sales FAQ and the blog post) say no internet sales. The rule, the internet FAQ and the 2025 slides allow online orders when the sale finishes in person, and the FAQ counts payment as part of that. Only the brochure reads as if an online sale with in-person pickup is fine. The setup that fits the most sources is: take the order online or by message, collect cash or a card tap when you hand over the food, and keep a record of each sale.

Which Ordering Setup Fits a New Washington Cottage Food Business?

The ordering setup that matches WSDA's FAQ most closely is one where your customer pays you in person at the hand-off. Some setups do that for free, some charge a fee even on cash orders, and online checkouts put the payment online, which puts them in the "ask WSDA first" pile.

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We checked every price on October 8, 2026: Square on its fees page (Square Free has "no monthly subscription costs") and its website payments help page, which lists cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Afterpay and Cash App Pay but no pay-at-pickup option, Hotplate on its pricing page and its help article on accepting cash, Venmo or Zelle, and Homegrown on findhomegrown.com/signup. Card fees are figured on the $20 price with one item per order, no tax, tips or delivery fee. Hotplate's own $30 example charges $1.27 in processing, more than 2.9% + $0.30 of the subtotal, so its default card row is figured on the $21.55 the customer pays. The Homegrown month is 50 card fees of $0.88 plus the $10 plan. Hotplate's cash option can only be switched on for your whole storefront, and its help article says chasing a cash customer who doesn't show up is on you.

A post on Facebook or Instagram costs nothing and keeps payment in person, but the orders scatter across message threads, and you track quantities, pickup times and who still owes you by hand. At 20 or 30 orders a week, that means dozens of threads to keep straight.

That is where an ordering page earns its keep, with one catch for Washington. Homegrown gives you one link where customers pick from your permitted products and choose a pickup window or a local delivery slot you set, for $10 a month billed annually ($12.50 billed monthly) with no percentage fees beyond standard payment processing. Every order lands in one dashboard, so you have one record to add up against the $35,000 cap instead of a phone full of messages. Compare that to Hotplate, which by default charges customers 5% + $0.55 per order even when they pay you in cash, or Square Online, which is $0 a month but charges 3.3% + 30¢ on every online card payment.

The catch: Homegrown's storefront, like most online stores, takes card payment at checkout, so it does not match WSDA's person-to-person wording for a cottage food permit. Get WSDA's answer before you charge cards online for cottage food. If WSDA tells you online payment with in-person pickup is fine for your setup, Homegrown fits that workflow. Homegrown has no pay-at-pickup option, no shipping, and it does not track the $35,000 cap for you. Customers create a Homegrown account to place their first order, and there is no drops (timed product release) feature. Your storefront is listed on the Homegrown marketplace, but plan on most orders coming from people you send to your own link.

How Much Can You Make Selling Cottage Food in Washington?

You can gross up to $35,000 a year selling cottage food in Washington, which is about $673 a week or $2,917 a month. The cap counts gross sales, every dollar customers pay you before costs, and it is counted per home, so two people baking in one kitchen share one $35,000 limit under RCW 69.22.050.

At $20 an order, the cap is 1,750 orders a year, or about 34 a week. To get the most out of a fixed ceiling:

• Take orders ahead, collect at the hand-off: Washington's FAQ allows online ordering with payment and delivery in person at pickup or your own local delivery, and pre-orders mean you bake what is already sold.
• Price for profit: cover ingredients, packaging, your time and card fees, then add margin. Our guide to pricing breads, cakes and cookies walks through the cost-plus math.
• Focus on higher-margin items: with a capped ceiling, margin per sale matters more than volume. One custom cake order brings in more than a single loaf, for one hand-off.
• Build repeat buyers: a weekly pickup day, a short standing menu and seasonal boxes make income steady.
• Track gross sales against the $35,000 cap: WSDA can ask for written proof. If you outgrow it, WAC 16-149-040 says you stop cottage food sales for the rest of the permit period or get a food processing plant license and move to a licensed kitchen.

The cap is reviewed every four years. RCW 69.22.050 tells WSDA to raise it by the Seattle-area consumer price index, but as of October 8, 2026, WSDA's page still lists $35,000 and announces no change.

What Mistakes Should You Avoid When Starting in Washington?

The most expensive mistake is selling before WSDA issues your permit, because that is a misdemeanor under RCW 69.22.090. These are the others that cost new Washington vendors time or money:

• Selling before your permit is issued: the application and inspection come first, and WAC 16-149-060 bars preparing products for sale until you have the permit.
• Shipping products: Washington allows online orders under WSDA's FAQ but not mailing, couriers or third-party delivery apps; pickup or your own in-person delivery only.
• Taking card payment online without asking: WSDA's FAQ says payment happens person to person. Get WSDA's written answer before you use an online checkout.
• Applying late or incomplete: the WSDA clock only starts when your packet is complete, and a packet with missing pieces isn't processed.
• Leaving your permit number off the label: it is required on every label or label sheet, with the home-kitchen statement in 11-point type.
• Renaming a product at the booth: you can sell only the exact names on your permit.
• Using a dehydrator or low-sugar recipe: WSDA rejects low-temperature dehydrated foods and low-sugar jams and frostings.
• Exceeding the $35,000 cap: track every sale, and remember the cap is per home.

What Happens If You Sell Without a Permit in Washington?

Selling cottage food in Washington without a valid permit is a misdemeanor, and a second or later violation is a gross misdemeanor, under RCW 69.22.090. An offense more than five years after a previous conviction counts as a first offense again.

The same section lets WSDA impose a civil penalty of up to $1,000 per violation per day, but only for a violation "that has not been punished pursuant to subsection (1)." In plain terms, the fine is used instead of a criminal charge, not stacked on top of one. Breaking any other rule in the chapter, such as shipping or selling over the cap, falls under the same penalty section, and exceeding the cap also means no refund of your permit fees under RCW 69.22.050.

The permit itself is also at risk. Under RCW 69.22.070, WSDA can deny, suspend or revoke a permit after a hearing if a vendor fails to follow the chapter or its rules, fails to keep the required records, refuses WSDA access to the permitted kitchen, or goes over the $35,000 annual sales cap. WSDA can also suspend a permit right away, before any hearing, if it finds conditions that are an immediate danger to public health or is refused access (RCW 69.22.070(2)). That is why the records list matters: keep your food worker cards, business license, water test or water bill, recipes, ingredient receipts, a running total of gross sales, and a list of the markets and other places you sold, where you can hand them over.

Do You Need an LLC or to Worry About Taxes in Washington?

You don't need an LLC to get a Cottage Food Permit, but you do need a Washington business license, because WSDA asks for a copy with your application. If you do form an LLC, the Department of Revenue says you file with the Washington Secretary of State before you apply for the business license. See whether you need an LLC to sell food from home for the tradeoffs.

On taxes, WSDA's FAQ sends sales tax and filing questions to the Department of Revenue. DOR's business license page lists the triggers for a license, including selling a product that requires sales tax collection or grossing $12,000 a year or more, and your license account is how you file. Washington does not currently have an individual income tax. A new 9.9% tax on adjusted gross income over $1 million starts January 1, 2028, according to DOR's income tax page, which a business capped at $35,000 a year will not reach on its own. The state business tax is a different story. DOR's business and occupation tax page says "Most businesses in Washington are subject to a gross receipts tax known as business and occupation (B&O) tax," and it lists a Small Business B&O Tax Credit that can reduce what you owe. Federal taxes still apply: our guide to cottage food taxes on Schedule C covers reporting your income.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do you need a permit to start a cottage food business in Washington?

Yes. Washington requires a WSDA Cottage Food Permit, which costs $355 for two years and includes a review of your labels and a home-kitchen inspection, before you sell any food made at home. The permit comes from the state agriculture department, not your county health department, and selling without one is a misdemeanor.

How much does it cost to start a cottage food business in Washington?

The state fees for a solo vendor come to $415: the $355 two-year permit, a $10 food worker card and the $50 processing fee to open a business license. With labels, packaging and a first batch of ingredients, a solo vendor starting a cottage food business in Washington can plan on roughly $465 to $665, using our planning ranges for supplies.

How much can you make selling cottage food in Washington?

You can gross up to $35,000 a year, about $673 a week, counted per home rather than per person. The law tells WSDA to review the cap every four years against Seattle-area inflation, and WSDA's page still listed $35,000 on October 8, 2026.

Can you sell cottage food online in Washington?

You can take orders online under WSDA's FAQ, but you cannot ship, and WSDA says payment and delivery must happen person to person: the customer pays and picks up, or you deliver and collect payment in person. The state law itself says cottage food "may not be sold by internet," so email cottagefoods@agr.wa.gov before you use any online checkout.

What can you sell as a Washington cottage food business?

Low-risk foods that don't need refrigeration: breads, muffins, cookies, cakes with shelf-stable frosting, most baked pies, stovetop candies, full-sugar jams and fruit butters, dry spice, herb and tea mixes, granola and small-batch roasted coffee. Pumpkin pie, cream or fresh-fruit fillings, salsa, pickles, meat, dairy products like milk and cheese, and drinks are not allowed.

How long does it take to start in Washington?

WSDA says the permit takes 6 to 8 weeks on average from a complete application, and a WSDA post from April 2026 suggests allowing 4 to 6 weeks. Add about two weeks before that for your food worker card, business license and labels, so plan on about 8 to 10 weeks to your first legal sale when starting a cottage food business in Washington.

Do you need an LLC to sell food from home in Washington?

No. You can start as a sole proprietor with a Washington business license, which WSDA requires with the application. An LLC is optional and mainly about liability protection; if you form one, file with the Secretary of State before you apply for your business license.

Related Reading

More on selling homemade food in Washington and beyond:

• Washington Cottage Food Law: the full rulebook, including the fee breakdown, inspection checklist and every payment statement side by side.
• Best Platform to Sell Baked Goods in Washington: six selling options compared with every fee, against WSDA's in-person payment wording.
• Washington Farmers Market Vendor Permit: what you need on market day beyond the cottage food permit.
• Cottage Food Business Insurance: what coverage costs when a market asks for it.
• Cottage Food Laws by State: compare Washington with Oregon, Idaho and the rest.

Start Your Washington Cottage Food Business

Washington asks for a permit and an inspection up front, but the two-year term and a clear product list make it manageable once you are through. Get your food worker card and business license this week, send WSDA a complete packet, and pass your inspection. Then take orders ahead, collect payment at the hand-off, and get WSDA's answer in writing before you move payment online. If you are next door, compare the steps for starting in Oregon or starting in Idaho.

When you are ready for one link your regulars can order from, see how a Homegrown storefront handles pickup windows and local delivery for $10 a month billed annually, and check it against WSDA's payment wording first. Comparing other tools? See the best platform to sell food from home.

*This guide is general information, not legal advice. Cottage food rules change, so verify your state's current rules with WSDA's Cottage Food Operation page before you start selling. Last verified: October 8, 2026.*