Texas lets individuals, and 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations working from the home of a director or officer, make food at home and sell it as a cottage food production operation. A cottage food production operation is not a food service establishment under chapter 437, so it does not need a food service establishment permit. Since SB 541 took effect on Sept. 1, 2025, it may make any food except the excluded categories.

Sources: Tex. Health & Safety Code 437.001(2-b), (5-a); Tex. Health & Safety Code 437.0191(a); SB 541 (2025), enrolled text

License or permit

No state food permit is needed, and local governments, including local health departments, may not require a license, permit or fee to make or sell allowed foods. Operations that sell time and temperature control for safety (TCS) foods must register with the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS). Any operation may register to get a DSHS identification number to print on its labels in place of a home address. Operators must complete accredited food handler training, and DSHS accepts an accredited food manager certification in its place.

Sources: Tex. Health & Safety Code 437.0192(a); Tex. Health & Safety Code 437.01953(a); Tex. Health & Safety Code 437.0193(b-1); Tex. Health & Safety Code 437.0195(a); Texas DSHS: Texas Cottage Food Production

Sales cap

Annual gross income from cottage food sales may not exceed $150,000, an amount DSHS adjusts each year for inflation using the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U).

Sources: Tex. Health & Safety Code 437.001(2-b)(B)

What you cannot sell

Cottage food production operations may not make or sell meat, meat products, poultry or poultry products; seafood, including fish and shellfish products; ice or ice products, including shaved ice, ice cream, frozen custard, popsicles and gelato; low-acid canned goods; products containing CBD or THC; or raw milk and raw milk products.

Sources: Tex. Health & Safety Code 437.001(2-b)(A)(i)-(vi)

How you can sell

Operations may sell directly to consumers in Texas. They may also sell foods that are not TCS foods at wholesale to a cottage food vendor, a Texas business that has a contract with the operation and resells to Texas consumers at farmers markets, farm stands, food service establishments and retail stores. A vendor must register with DSHS if it buys the food at wholesale, and vendors may resell only foods that are not TCS foods. Internet sales are allowed only when the operator, an employee or a household member personally delivers the food, and the operation must post the label information on its website before it accepts payment. SB 541 removed mail order.

Sources: Tex. Health & Safety Code 437.001(2-b)(C)-(D), (3); Tex. Health & Safety Code 437.0194(a-1), (b); Tex. Health & Safety Code 437.01965(a), (d); SB 541 (2025), enrolled text

Labels

Labels must show the operation's name; its address, or its DSHS identification number if it registers; the common or usual name of the product; any major food allergens it contains; and the statement "THIS PRODUCT WAS PRODUCED IN A PRIVATE RESIDENCE THAT IS NOT SUBJECT TO GOVERNMENTAL LICENSING OR INSPECTION." Pickled fruit or vegetables, fermented vegetable products and plant-based acidified canned goods need a unique batch number. TCS foods need the date made on the label and the safe handling statement on the label or on an invoice or receipt provided with the food. Food sold through a cottage food vendor must show the date it was made.

Sources: Tex. Health & Safety Code 437.0193(b), (b-1), (e); Tex. Health & Safety Code 437.01951(c)(1); Tex. Health & Safety Code 437.01965(c); Texas DSHS: Texas Cottage Food Production

Read the full Texas cottage food law guide and FAQs

Texas cottage food makers

Counties with listings

Panhandle and South Plains (93 listings)

Bailey County

Briscoe County

Carson County

Crosby County

Dallam County

Gray County

Hale County

Hockley County

Hutchinson County

Lamb County

Lubbock County

Moore County

Motley County

Potter County

Randall County

Swisher County

Wheeler County

Yoakum County

North Texas and the Big Country (61 listings)

Archer County

Brown County

Callahan County

Clay County

Coleman County

Comanche County

Eastland County

Hardeman County

Haskell County

Jack County

Jones County

Montague County

Nolan County

Scurry County

Taylor County

Wichita County

Wilbarger County

Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex (536 listings)

Collin County

Cooke County

Dallas County

Denton County

Ellis County

Erath County

Fannin County

Grayson County

Hood County

Hunt County

Johnson County

Kaufman County

Navarro County

Palo Pinto County

Parker County

Rockwall County

Somervell County

Tarrant County

Wise County

Northeast Texas (126 listings)

Anderson County

Bowie County

Camp County

Cherokee County

Gregg County

Harrison County

Henderson County

Hopkins County

Lamar County

Marion County

Morris County

Panola County

Rains County

Red River County

Rusk County

Smith County

Titus County

Upshur County

Van Zandt County

Wood County