Cottage food rules
Cottage Food Approved List: How to Check What You Can Sell
You will know where your approved list comes from, how to check your exact bake against it, and what to keep on file.
On this page
If you sell from home, the approved list is the thing that keeps you calm. It is not a suggestion and it is not a club rule. It is the line between what you can sell and what you cannot, and it is drawn where you live.
There is not one list to memorize
Search for a cottage food approved list and you will find plenty of them. Most cover one state. Some are old. A list from another state tells you nothing about your kitchen, and neither does a post in a baking group.
The habit that works is boring and fast. Go to your own state’s page first, read what it says, then match your bake against it word for word. If you want the general shape of how these lists work, our guide to cottage food approved foods walks through it.
How to find your state’s list
Start at your state's own page
Look for the cottage food or home food section on your state’s website. That page is the one to trust. A blog post about it is not.
Find the list itself
Look for the list of allowed items, or a file you can download and keep. Read it the way it is written, not the way you hope it reads.
Match your exact bake
Put your bake next to the words on the list. If the words do not clearly cover it, stop there.
Save a copy with the date
Save the page or the file, and write down the day you checked. It takes a minute and it ends the argument later.
Check again before your season
Go back before each selling season, and any time you add a new bake to your menu.
Check the exact bake, not something close
Close is where home bakers get into trouble. A bake that sounds like something on the list is not the same as a bake that is on the list.
Write down the exact words from the list that cover your bake, and keep those words next to your recipe. If you cannot find words that cover it, treat it as a no for now. Our guide to the CA cottage food approved list shows what one state’s list looks like in practice, which makes the reading easier when you sit down with your own.
Keep your recipes and ingredients where you can find them
Part of staying on the right side of the list is being able to say what is in your bake. If your recipes live in your head, that is a hard question to answer.
Selling once your bakes are on the list
Once you know what you can sell, the next question is how to take orders and get paid without handing over a cut of every sale.
Brevl is one flat $20 a month with no cut of your sales. You can start with a 14 day free trial. It works on your phone and on a computer, and you take card payments through your own Stripe or Square account, plus Venmo, Cash App, Zelle, and cash. Your shop is yours to set up with your own photos, your own colors, and your own web address. If you already sell somewhere else, we move your products, photos, reviews, and dates over for you.
That last part matters more than it sounds. Baking is the easy part. Keeping track of who ordered what, and when, is where the day goes. If you want to see how that looks in practice, start with our guide to a home baking business app.
What to do if your bake is not on the list
Do not sell it and hope. Check with your state, or set it aside and sell the bakes you are sure about. There is no version of this where guessing works out.
What to remember
- The approved list that matters is the one your state publishes. - Check your exact bake, not something that sounds close to it. - Save a copy of the list and the date you checked it. - Keep your recipes and your ingredients written down somewhere you can find them. - Go back to the list before each season, and when you add a new bake.
The list will never be the fun part of your business. Reading it once, properly, means you stop worrying about it and get back to the part you actually like.
This is general information, not legal advice. Cottage food rules are set by your state and can change. Check your state's own page before you sell.