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July 14, 2026
If you've ever been told your peach cobbler or salsa was "good enough to sell," Texas has made it a lot easier to actually do it.
Senate Bill 541, the Texas Food Freedom Act, took effect Sept. 1, 2025, and represents the biggest expansion of the state's cottage food law in years. Instead of limiting home cooks to a short list of approved items like baked goods and jams, the new law flips the approach: almost any homemade food can now be sold directly to customers, except for a handful of specific exclusions.
The change matters for plenty of ArkLaTex home cooks — the farmers-market regulars, church-bake-sale bakers, and "just a few jars" folks — though it applies on the Texas side only. A home cook selling in Texarkana, Arkansas falls under Arkansas's own cottage food rules, not this law.
The Texas exclusions are worth knowing. Meat and poultry products, seafood, ice cream and other frozen desserts, low-acid canned goods, products containing CBD or THC, and raw milk still cannot be sold under the cottage food law. That means backyard brisket and homemade jerky, despite their Texas pedigree, remain off the table.
But plenty that was previously banned is now allowed. For the first time, refrigerated foods like cheesecake, flan, cream pies, and banana pudding can be sold directly to consumers, provided the maker registers with the Texas Department of State Health Services and follows safe-handling labeling rules.
The law also triples the annual sales cap from $50,000 to $150,000, opens the door for home cooks to sell non-refrigerated goods wholesale through registered vendors like cafes and stores, and bars cities and counties from requiring permits or fees. Nonprofits such as churches and charities can now operate as cottage food producers as well.
For anyone thinking about turning a family recipe into a side income, the state's cottage food resources are available through DSHS and the advocacy group Homemade Texas.