Rules checked against official Texas sources as of September 23, 2026.
This is general information, not legal advice. Laws change. Confirm with the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) before you sell.
The short version: Texas changed its cottage food law on September 1, 2025. You can now sell most foods from your home kitchen, including baked goods that need refrigeration. The main exceptions are meat, seafood, frozen treats, low-acid canned goods, raw milk and CBD/THC products. You can earn up to $150,000 a year in gross income. You need a food handler course, and your label has to carry one exact sentence. You can take orders online, but you have to deliver them yourself. Shipping isn't an option.
The law
Texas regulates home kitchens under Texas Health & Safety Code chapter 437, mainly § 437.001 and §§ 437.0191–437.01965 [1]. SB 541 (89th Legislature) rewrote the law, effective September 1, 2025 [2][3].
A cottage food production operation "is not a food service establishment" [1]. It can be an individual working from their home, or a 501(c)(3) nonprofit producing in the home of one of its directors or officers [1]. "Home" means "a primary residence that contains a kitchen and appliances designed for common residential usage" [1].
Cities and counties can't regulate you. A local government may not regulate cottage food production, and it may not require "any type of license or permit or pay any fee" to sell cottage foods [1]. DSHS keeps the registry and a record of complaints [1].
What you can sell
Since SB 541, you can sell "any food other than" the prohibited list below [1]. The old list of 20 allowed foods is gone [2].
Refrigerated foods ("TCS" foods) are now allowed. TCS stands for "time and temperature control for safety". It covers foods like cream or custard pies and cheesecake, and the statute names "baked goods that require refrigeration" as an example [1]. Selling them means you must [1][4]:
register with DSHS,
keep the food cold (DSHS says 41°F or below) or hot (135°F or above) until it reaches the buyer, and
add a production date and a safe-handling statement (see Labels).
Pickles, fermented foods and acidified canned goods need one of these: a recipe from a DSHS-approved source, a certified lab result showing pH 4.6 or lower, or approval from a process authority. Without one, you must test every batch with a calibrated pH meter. Each batch also needs a batch number, and you keep records for 12 months [1]. Pickled cucumbers are exempt from these rules.
Plain baked goods that don't need refrigeration, such as bread, cookies and most cakes, need no registration [1][4].
What you can't sell
The statute excludes [1]:
meat and poultry, and their products
seafood, fish and shellfish
ice and ice products, including ice cream, frozen custard, popsicles and gelato
low-acid canned goods
products containing CBD or THC
raw milk and raw milk products
Sales cap
$150,000 or less in annual gross income from cottage food sales. DSHS adjusts the figure each year for inflation using the CPI-U [1]. Before September 1, 2025, the cap was $50,000 [2]. We couldn't find a published inflation-adjusted figure; DSHS's page gives $150,000 [4].
Where and how you can sell
Directly to consumers, or to a registered "cottage food vendor" [1].
Handing it over: at the point of sale, or at "another location designated by the consumer" [1].
Online sales: allowed only if both of these are true [1]:
you, an employee or a member of your household personally delivers the food, and
all the label information is posted on the website before the buyer pays. Your address can wait until after payment, but it (or your DSHS ID number) has to be on the label.
Shipping: SB 541 deleted "or by mail order" from the law, and online sales require personal delivery [1][2]. Nothing in the statute allows shipping by carrier. Treat shipping as off the table.
Out of state: not authorized. Online sales are allowed "in this state" [1].
Wholesale: banned, with one exception. You can sell non-TCS food at wholesale to a registered cottage food vendor, and that vendor can resell it at farmers markets, farm stands, food service establishments or retail stores [1].
Farmers markets: the chapter doesn't regulate sales to consumers at a farm or farmers market [1]. Markets set their own vendor rules.
Samples are allowed anywhere in Texas under the sanitary standards. Donations of non-TCS food, for example to a charity bake sale, are allowed too [1].
Labels
Food must be packaged to prevent contamination, unless it's too large or bulky to package [1]. The statute requires [1]:
The operation's name
Its address, or the ID number DSHS issues when you register
This statement, word for word: "THIS PRODUCT WAS PRODUCED IN A PRIVATE RESIDENCE THAT IS NOT SUBJECT TO GOVERNMENTAL LICENSING OR INSPECTION."
DSHS's page also lists [4]:
the product's common or usual name
major allergens (eggs, tree nuts, soy, peanuts, milk, wheat, sesame)
legible writing
batch numbers for pickled, fermented and acidified goods
TCS foods also need [1]:
the date the food was made, on the label
this statement, on the label or on the invoice or receipt, in at least 12-point type: "SAFE HANDLING INSTRUCTIONS: To prevent illness from bacteria, keep this food refrigerated or frozen until the food is prepared for consumption."
If an item isn't packaged, the label information goes on an invoice or receipt [1].
Permits, registration and training
Local permits or fees: none are allowed [1].
Food handler course: required. The operator must complete an accredited food handler course. Anyone else who prepares the food must be trained, be directly supervised by someone trained, or live in the household [1]. DSHS accepts a Food Manager certification in place of the food handler course [4].
DSHS registration is required only if you sell TCS foods, or if you want an ID number on your label instead of your home address [1][4]. DSHS's registration guide describes approval as automatic and doesn't mention a fee [5].
Zoning and HOAs aren't addressed by chapter 437. Check your city's home-business rules and any HOA covenants.
Eggs, meat and dairy
Meat, poultry, seafood and raw milk are excluded from the cottage food law [1].
Pasteurized dairy isn't on the prohibited list. Using it in a food that needs refrigeration makes that food TCS, which means registering [1].
Shell eggs fall under the Texas Department of Agriculture, not the cottage food law [6][7]. TDA says selling un-graded eggs from your own flock to the end user needs no license, but "If you sell graded eggs from a personal flock, then you DO need an Egg License" [7].
Where official sources disagree
The DSHS rule is out of date. The official Texas Register history for 25 TAC § 229.661, DSHS's cottage food rule, shows its last change in October 2022, before SB 541 [8]. Copies of that rule still describe a $50,000 cap, the old 20-item food list, mail-order sales and an older label sentence. The statute controls, and DSHS says it "will adopt rules" [4]. This guide follows the statute.
What we couldn't confirm from an official source
The current inflation-adjusted cap (DSHS shows $150,000).
Whether registration carries a fee. The DSHS guide mentions none, and we found no official statement either way.
Shipping isn't expressly banned. It's ruled out by inference, since mail order was struck and online sales need personal delivery.
The text of 25 TAC § 229.661 could only be read on a mirror site, since the official portal doesn't render the text.
A small drafting error: SB 541 cross-references "§ 437.002(2-b)" where it plainly means § 437.001(2-b).
Selling on Coop
Coop is a marketplace for homemade and homegrown goods from sellers near you. Here is how its tools line up with Texas's rules.
Local buyers, your own delivery. Coop orders are handed to the buyer by you, at pickup or on your own delivery, and Coop has no shipping option. That matches Texas's rule that online orders are personally delivered. Delivery needs card payments turned on. Lesson: Pickup, delivery, cash and trades.
Label details on the listing before checkout. Texas wants the label information posted before the buyer pays. In the listing wizard, turn on "Ingredients & allergens" and "Cottage food". Your listing then shows the ingredients, the allergens and Texas's statement, and your shop name is on every listing. Lesson: Ingredients, allergens and meat details.
A storefront. Lesson: Open your storefront.
Labels. With Coop+ or Coop Pro, the Label maker prints labels from a saved recipe, including the product name, ingredients, allergens, net weight, your shop and your state's line. Lesson: Print labels with the Label maker.
Pre-orders. A weekly pickup rhythm lets buyers reserve from your next bake. Made-to-order listings suit custom cakes and cookies. Lessons: Set a weekly pickup rhythm · Made to order: when the card actually charges.
See what Texas bakers are selling: Dallas baked goods · Dallas cookies · Houston baked goods · Houston cookies · San Antonio · Austin
Coop's tools don't make a seller compliant. You're responsible for following Texas's rules.
Not legal advice. This guide summarizes Texas law as we read it on September 23, 2026. For a decision that matters, confirm with DSHS or an attorney.
Sources
All opened on 2026-09-23.
Tex. Health & Safety Code ch. 437, current text. Cite https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/HS/htm/HS.437.htm (the page renders with JavaScript; the same official text was read from https://tcss.legis.texas.gov/resources/HS/htm/HS.437.htm)