Can I sell food made in my home kitchen?

There is no national cottage food law. A private residence is not an FDA-registered facility, which is why home production sits outside federal facility registration — and into a patchwork of fifty different state programmes, each with its own list of permitted foods, sales limits, labelling wording and selling venues.

That means anyone telling you what you can make at home without asking which state you are in is guessing. The only reliable source is your own state's health department or agriculture department, and this page deliberately points you there rather than restating rules that differ everywhere and change often.

The permitted lists differ, but the logic behind them rarely does. States allow foods that do not support the growth of harmful bacteria at room temperature, and exclude the ones that do.

• Usually allowed: baked goods without cream or custard fillings, breads, cookies, dry mixes, granola, candy, and high-acid jams and jellies made to full-sugar recipes
• Usually not allowed: anything needing refrigeration, meat and poultry, dairy, low-acid canned foods, and — importantly for sauce makers — acidified products like salsas and hot sauces
• Sometimes allowed with conditions: pickles, fermented products, and dehydrated foods, depending heavily on the state

This is the part worth internalising before you build a plan around it. Cottage food programmes are almost always written around selling to the end consumer — from your property, at a farmers' market, sometimes by direct delivery or shipment.

Selling to a shop that resells your product is a different activity, and it generally falls outside the exemption. So the moment a buyer says yes, the home kitchen usually stops being an option and you are looking at a commercial kitchen, a co-packer, or a shared-use facility.

None of which is a reason not to start at home. It is a reason to know the ceiling before you hit it.

Indiana rewrote its rules in 2026. House Enrolled Act 1424 created a homestead vendor and small farm framework effective 1 July 2026, with a $1.5 million gross sales threshold, sales permitted from the vendor's own property or a farmers' market, direct shipment or delivery to a consumer allowed under conditions, and required disclosures to the consumer through signage or labelling. Under the preceding home-based vendor rules, the only home-canned food permitted was traditional high-acid jams and jellies made with full-sugar recipes.

That change happened this year. It is precisely why this page gives you one verified example and the route to your own state's current text, rather than a table of fifty states that would be wrong somewhere within months.

Cottage food products almost always carry required label wording, frequently including a statement that the food was made in a home kitchen that is not inspected. The exact sentence is prescribed by the state, and using another state's wording is a common and avoidable mistake.

Allergen declaration applies regardless. It is the highest-consequence thing on the label and no exemption covers getting it wrong.

Search for your state's health or agriculture department alongside the term they use — cottage food, home-based vendor, homestead vendor, home processor. Then confirm these six things:

• Which foods are on the permitted list
• Whether there is an annual sales cap, and what it is
• Where you are allowed to sell, and whether shipping is permitted
• Whether wholesale to retailers is permitted at all — usually it is not
• The exact label wording your state requires
• Whether registration, a permit or a food-safety course is required

This is general information for U.S. food businesses, not legal advice, and rules change. Check it against the sources below and against your own state's rules before you rely on it.

• Indiana — Home-based vendor handbook (IDOH)
• Indiana House Bill 1424 (2026) — farm and homestead food sales
• Purdue — Home-based vendors