Texas Cottage Food Law: What You Can Sell After SB 541

The Texas cottage food law changed a lot on September 1, 2025. Senate Bill 541 turned one of the more limited lists of allowed foods into one of the broadest in the country, raised the sales cap from $50,000 to $150,000, and for the first time allowed home producers to sell some foods that need refrigeration. If you read an older article that lists twenty allowed products, it is out of date.

This guide explains the current rules in plain language: what you can sell, the sales limit, when you must register, what goes on the label, where you can sell, and how to keep TCS foods safe in a home kitchen. Rules and DSHS guidance are still being implemented, so check the official Texas DSHS cottage food page and the enrolled text of SB 541 before you launch. This is a general guide, not legal advice.

For how cottage food works in other states, see our general guide to the cottage food license.

Texas cottage food law at a glance

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What changed with SB 541

Before SB 541, Texas allowed a defined list of non-TCS foods: baked goods without cream fillings, candy, jams, pickles, dry mixes, granola and similar products. The cap was $50,000. Sales had to be direct to the consumer.

SB 541 flipped the approach. Instead of listing what is allowed, the law now lists what is not allowed. Everything else is permitted, including TCS foods like cheesecake, cream pies, tamales without meat, salsa fresca, and cut fruit, with extra conditions. It also:

• Raised the sales cap to $150,000 with yearly inflation adjustment.
• Added nonprofits as eligible operators.
• Created "cottage food vendors": registered businesses that can buy non-TCS cottage foods wholesale and resell them to consumers.
• Let producers register and print a DSHS registration number on labels instead of a home address.
• Allowed samples at any location and donations of non-TCS foods.

Foods you still cannot sell under Texas cottage food law

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Acidified canned goods like pickles and properly acidified salsas are a different category from low-acid canned goods. If you make them, follow a tested recipe, and test the pH of each batch to make sure it is 4.6 or below.

TCS foods under the Texas cottage food law

TCS food means food that needs time and temperature control for safety. Our guide to what TCS food is has the full list, but for a home baker the common ones are cheesecake, custard and cream pies, cream cheese frosting, tres leches, flan, cut fruit, cooked rice and beans, and garlic in oil.

To sell TCS foods, the law requires you to:

1. Register with DSHS through its online licensing system.
2. Store and deliver the food at temperatures that keep it safe. DSHS guidance means 41°F or below for cold food and 135°F or above for hot food.
3. Label it with the extra TCS information, including the production date and safe handling instructions.

TCS foods cannot be sold wholesale to cottage food vendors and cannot be donated. Practically, this means a cooler with ice packs and a thermometer at every market, and a probe thermometer you have calibrated.

Texas cottage food label requirements

Every product needs a label. Under the Health and Safety Code and DSHS rules, it includes:

• The name of the product.
• Your name and physical address, or your DSHS registration number.
• The statement "THIS PRODUCT WAS PRODUCED IN A PRIVATE RESIDENCE THAT IS NOT SUBJECT TO GOVERNMENTAL LICENSING OR INSPECTION."
• Allergen information for the major food allergens.
• For TCS foods: the production date and a safe handling statement about keeping the food refrigerated or hot, in a specified minimum type size.

For online sales, the same information must be posted on your website before the customer pays.

Where and how you can sell

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Food safety for Texas cottage food producers

The law gives you room, but no inspector is watching your kitchen. That puts the safety work on you.

• Handwashing and illness. Do not cook when you or a household member preparing food is sick with vomiting or diarrhea.
• Pets and kids. Keep pets out of the kitchen during production and keep ingredients and finished products away from family food.
• Temperature. Use a fridge thermometer and keep TCS foods at 41°F or below. Cool cooked fillings quickly in shallow pans; read can you put hot food in the fridge for the two-stage cooling rule.
• Acidity. For salsas, pickles and fermented products, test pH with a calibrated meter and keep a batch log.
• Allergens. Label honestly and keep a recipe card for every product so you can answer customer questions.
• Records. Keep sales records to prove you are under the cap, plus batch records for recalls.

How to start under the Texas cottage food law, step by step

1. Pick your products. Check each one against the prohibited list. Decide whether any are TCS foods, because that decides whether you must register.
2. Take a food handler course. Choose a course accredited by DSHS. It is short, inexpensive and online. Keep the certificate with your records.
3. Register with DSHS if needed. Required for TCS foods; optional but useful if you would rather not print your home address on every label.
4. Write a recipe card for each product. List ingredients by weight, allergens, cook times and temperatures, cooling method and shelf life. This is the backbone of your labels and your answers to customers.
5. Design labels. Include the required statement, allergens and, for TCS foods, the production date and safe handling text.
6. Set up a sales record. A simple spreadsheet of date, product, quantity and price shows you are under the $150,000 cap.
7. Check local business rules. Cottage food rules stop health departments from regulating your kitchen, but city business registration, HOA rules, sales tax and market rules can still apply. Ask the Texas Comptroller whether your products are taxable.
8. Get insurance. Many farmers markets require product liability insurance, and it is inexpensive protection against a customer claim.

Examples: what a Texas home kitchen can sell now

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Common mistakes Texas cottage food producers make

• Using an old allowed-foods list from before 2025 and turning down products you could legally sell.
• Selling cheesecake or cream pies without registering for TCS sales.
• Leaving TCS foods in a warm car or on a market table without a cooler and thermometer.
• Missing the exact label statement wording, or leaving off allergens like milk in a frosting.
• Shipping products across state lines; Texas cottage food rules apply only to sales within Texas.
• Selling to a cafe or grocery store. Wholesale is limited to registered cottage food vendors and non-TCS foods.
• Forgetting to track sales against the cap.

The nine major food allergens

FDA identifies nine major food allergens:

1. Milk
2. Eggs
3. Fish, such as bass, flounder and cod
4. Crustacean shellfish, such as crab, lobster and shrimp
5. Tree nuts, such as almonds, walnuts and pecans
6. Peanuts
7. Wheat
8. Soybeans
9. Sesame

Sesame was added as the ninth major allergen by the FASTER Act, effective January 1, 2023. Many people are also allergic to other foods, such as mustard or celery, and some guests will ask about them. Your plan should focus on the nine but allow for other requests.

Allergen control in baking

Allergens are one of the biggest risks in a bakery. Wheat, milk, egg, soy, tree nuts, peanuts and sesame are in almost everything, and flour dust travels. FDA's page on food allergies lists the major food allergens, including sesame, which was added by the FASTER Act.

A practical program includes:

• Separate storage. Nuts and peanut products on low shelves or in sealed bins.
• Scheduling. Make nut-free products first, nut-containing products last, then clean.
• Dedicated tools for nut and sesame products, color coded if you can.
• Label checks on every packaged item against the recipe, especially after a recipe or supplier change.
• Staff answers. Counter staff should know which items contain which allergens and should never guess.

Many bakeries treat allergens as a prerequisite program. Some make the final label check a CCP for packaged goods. Either approach can work if it is written and followed. Our full food allergen control plan goes deeper.

Sort your bakery products by risk

Start with a product list. Then sort each item by whether it is a TCS food once finished.

Usually not TCS

• Plain breads, rolls and baguettes.
• Dry cookies, biscotti and crackers.
• Most fruit pies made with high-sugar fillings.
• Cakes with buttercream made mostly of sugar and fat, depending on the recipe.

The Food Code defines TCS food using tables of pH and water activity, plus a product assessment option. Whether a frosting or fruit filling is TCS can depend on the recipe. If you are relying on a product being non-TCS to leave it out at room temperature, keep the basis for that decision with the plan. Some health departments ask for a lab test of pH and water activity.

Usually TCS

• Custards, pastry cream, crème brûlée, flan.
• Whipped cream and cream fillings.
• Cheesecake and cream cheese frostings.
• Quiche and savory pies with eggs, meat or vegetables.
• Meat or cheese filled pastries, empanadas and sausage rolls.
• Cooked rice or vegetable fillings.
• Cut melons or cut tomatoes used as toppings.

These items need temperature control or time control. They are where your critical control points go.

Worked example: cheesecake for a Texas market

Cheesecake shows how the pieces connect. Cream cheese, eggs and sugar are mixed and baked in a water bath. The eggs are the main biological hazard at the cooking step, so baking is a CCP. A baked cheesecake is dense and holds heat for a long time, which makes cooling the step most likely to go wrong.

A realistic procedure:

1. Bake until the center reaches the temperature in your plan. Probe the center, not the edge.
2. Cool on a rack at room temperature only as long as needed to handle the pan safely, then move to a walk-in on an open rack, not stacked.
3. Check the center temperature at 2 hours. It must be at 70°F or below.
4. Check again before 6 hours total. It must be at 41°F or below.
5. Date mark if held more than 24 hours, and use within 7 days at 41°F.

If the 2-hour check fails often, the fix is usually smaller pans, a blast chiller, or cutting the cake into portions earlier. Write the fix into the plan so the next person does it the same way.

Thermometers and equipment for a home kitchen

Bakeries rely on oven settings and timers more than probes. That works for bread, but TCS products need actual product temperatures. The Food Code requires food temperature measuring devices to be accurate to plus or minus 2°F in the range of use (4-203.11). A thin-tip digital probe works well for custards and cheesecake centers.

Useful equipment for a bakery plan:

• A calibrated digital probe thermometer, plus a spare.
• Shallow hotel pans or sheet pans for cooling creams.
• An ice bath setup or a blast chiller.
• An appliance thermometer in each refrigerator and display case.
• Labels for date marking and allergen identification.

Calibrate probes with the ice point method and log it. FSIS describes the ice water method on its kitchen thermometers page.

When you outgrow the Texas cottage food law

Signs it is time for a licensed kitchen: you want to sell to restaurants or grocery stores, add meat or seafood, ship across state lines, or you are close to the sales cap. At that point you need a food manufacturer license from DSHS or a retail food permit from your local health department, usually in a commercial or shared kitchen. You may also need a written HACCP or food safety plan, especially for products like sous vide meals, vacuum packed foods or acidified sauces. Our food safety plan guide explains what goes into one.

Keep records even when the law does not ask

Texas does not inspect cottage food kitchens, but a short batch record protects you. Write the date, product, batch size and any temperature or pH readings for each batch. If a customer reports a problem, you can show what you did and identify which other customers bought from the same batch.

Build a simple food safety plan

Texas does not require a HACCP plan for cottage food, but a short written plan makes TCS sales safer and gives you something to show customers and markets. The HACCP plan builder can draft one for a process such as a cheesecake or salsa, with temperature and pH logs. The first process is free. Treat it as a draft, and check DSHS guidance for any rules issued after this article.

Frequently asked questions

What can I sell under the Texas cottage food law?

Since September 1, 2025, almost any food except meat and poultry, seafood, ice and frozen desserts like ice cream, low-acid canned goods, CBD or THC products, and raw milk products.

What is the sales limit for cottage food in Texas?

$150,000 in annual gross income from cottage food sales, adjusted each year for inflation by DSHS.

Do I need to register my Texas cottage food business?

Registration with DSHS is required if you sell TCS foods, and optional otherwise; registering lets you put a registration number on your label instead of your home address.

Can Texas cottage food producers sell online?

Yes, within Texas, if the operator or a household member or employee delivers the food personally and the label information is posted before payment.

Do I need a food handler card?

Yes. Texas requires cottage food operators to complete an accredited food handler course.