A chocolate chip cookie recipe might be worth more than you think, and in nine states, the law agrees. Home kitchens are quietly becoming legal storefronts, shipping orders, stocking shelves, and serving hot meals without ever setting foot in a commercial kitchen. The catch is that every state writes its own rulebook, and knowing it before you take your first order could save a good recipe from becoming a legal headache.
Wyoming Sets a $250,000 Revenue Limit
Wyoming’s Food Freedom Act exempts qualifying homemade food from state licensing, permits, and inspections. A producer can have no more than $250,000 in gross revenue a year. The same producer can make no more than 250,000 food or drink products a year. Covered sales generally must stay in Wyoming.
North Dakota Expanded How You Can Sell
North Dakota loosened its cottage food rules in 2025. The new law struck bans on orders taken by internet, phone, and mail. It also struck the general ban on interstate cottage food transactions. Poultry is still different: a cottage food transaction cannot include poultry products if it crosses state lines.
Montana Focuses on Direct Sales
Montana’s Local Food Choice Act removes several state and local rules for qualifying sales. Agencies cannot require listed licenses, permits, or inspections for homemade food covered by the law. Sales must go straight to an informed end consumer. They must stay in Montana and be for home use or a traditional community social event.
Utah Gives Home Cooks Different Paths
Utah gives home cooks more than one legal route. Under the Home Consumption and Homemade Food Act, a person with a business license can sell certain homemade foods without registering with the state agriculture department. A separate microenterprise home kitchen law uses a local health permit instead. The operator must obtain that permit from the local health department.
California Allows Permitted Home-Cooked Meals
California lets certain home cooks sell prepared meals through its MEHKO program. The option exists only in jurisdictions that authorize MEHKO permitting. Sales must go directly to consumers, and food must be prepared, cooked, and served the same day.
Oklahoma Has a Bigger Cap Coming
Oklahoma’s current Homemade Food Freedom Act caps gross annual prepared-food sales at less than $75,000. That number changes soon. A 2026 law raises the cap to less than $250,000 and renames the program the Local Food Freedom Act. It takes effect Nov 1, 2026. Until then, the higher cap is not in force.
Texas Added a Route to Retail Resale
Texas raised its cottage food gross-income limit to $150,000 and added a registered vendor system. Foods that do not need time or temperature control for safety may be sold wholesale to a registered cottage food vendor. That vendor can sell directly to customers at retail stores or food service sites. TCS foods do need time or temperature control for safety. Operators who sell them must register, and those foods cannot use the wholesale route.
Florida Lets Cottage Foods Travel Within the State
Florida lets qualifying cottage food operations make up to $250,000 in annual gross sales without the state food permit required for regular food businesses. Sellers can take orders online or by mail. They can also use postal or commercial delivery. Sales must still go straight to consumers. Cottage food products cannot be sold wholesale.
Ohio Keeps the Menu Defined
Ohio lists the foods that qualify for its cottage food rules. The list includes non-potentially hazardous baked goods, jams, jellies, granola, dry mixes, and other shelf-stable foods. Properly labeled cottage foods can be sold through licensed retail food establishments or food service operations. They cannot be sold outside Ohio.
Build the Business Around the Rule
Home food laws do more than say yes or no. They influence the kind of business you can build before you buy packaging or print a menu. Checking the rules first can keep a good recipe from turning into a bad business plan. Your menu should fit the law from the start, not after the first order comes in.