How do I sell homemade hot sauce in Nevada as a craft food operation?

Yes, through a separate program. Nevada puts home acidified foods in the craft food operation, created in 2015 by the bill known as the "pickle bill" [1] [3]. You register with the Nevada Department of Agriculture, pass an approved course and exam on canning acidified foods, use only canning recipes the department has approved, check every batch with a pH meter, and keep a batch log for 5 years [1] [2]. Sales are capped at $35,000 a year, in person only [1]. The recipe rule is the one that decides most hot sauce plans: your own formula does not qualify unless the department has approved it. This page walks through each requirement and the 2027 changes.

The craft food requirements, step by step

1. Confirm your sauce is the right kind of food. A craft food operation makes "acidified foods": foods containing fruits, vegetables or both, with a finished equilibrium pH of no more than 4.6, and no milk, eggs, meat, poultry, fish or shellfish [1]. A pepper and vinegar sauce fits that definition. One with fish sauce, butter or bacon does not.
2. Take the course and pass the exam. You must complete "a course of training in basic food safety and the preparation and canning of acidified foods" approved by the Department, then pass an exam on acidified food preparation that the Department approves [1].
3. Register with the Nevada Department of Agriculture. Registration lasts 3 years and is renewable [1]. Ask the department for the current fee.
4. Use an approved recipe. You may use only canning recipes approved by the Department or included in publications it has approved [2]. Ask the department which publications are on its list and whether it will review a hot sauce recipe that is not.
5. Test every batch. Use a pH meter that meets the Department's regulations [1] [2]. Test strips are not a meter, so they do not satisfy this step. The pH measuring page covers calibration and sampling.
6. Keep the log for 5 years. For each acidified food: its name, the recipe with ingredients and process, the canning date of each batch, and each batch's pH results, with supporting documents [2]. The batch record template is a starting point.
7. Label each jar or bottle with the date it was produced and this statement [1]:

MADE IN A CRAFT FOOD OPERATION THAT IS NOT SUBJECT TO GOVERNMENT FOOD SAFETY INSPECTION

Add the federal label elements covered on the federal labeling page.

In person, under $35,000 a year

The 2015 law sets these limits [1]:

• Cap: gross sales of acidified foods of no more than $35,000 a calendar year.
• Venues: on your own property, or where you sell directly to consumers, such as a farmers market, flea market, swap meet, church bazaar, garage sale or craft fair.
• In person only: the sale must be "an in-person transaction that does not involve selling the food item by telephone or via the Internet."
• No resale: you sell to a person for their own consumption, so stores, restaurants and wholesale are out.

The law does not mention shipping or out-of-state sales [1]; with in-person transactions required, neither fits.

Fermented sauce and the approved recipe rule

Nevada's craft food law covers acidified foods and says nothing about fermented ones [1] [2]. The cottage food route does not help either. The Southern Nevada Health District's cottage food FAQ, dated September 24, 2026, caps cottage food sales at $100,000 a calendar year under NRS 580.600, but it says "Acidified vegetables (such as jalapeño peppers) must be commercially manufactured," points acidified and pickled home foods to the craft food law, and does not mention fermented foods or hot sauce [3]. For hot sauce, the limit that applies is the craft food cap of $35,000 [1]. This book treats a ferment finished with vinegar as an acidified food unless a process authority classifies it otherwise in writing, but under Nevada's rules it would still need a department-approved recipe, so ask whether any approved recipe or publication covers a fermented sauce. Whether a fermented sauce can be sold from a Nevada home is not confirmed. Ask the Nevada Department of Agriculture.

What changes in July 2027

Assembly Bill 352 (2025) moves Nevada's cottage food program to the Nevada Department of Agriculture, which becomes the registering authority for the whole state on July 1, 2027, under NRS 585.700 to 585.770. Until then, local authorities such as the Southern Nevada Health District register cottage food operations under NRS 580.600, which the district notes is in effect until June 30, 2027 [3], and craft food operations stay with the Department of Agriculture. The department will write new regulations over the two years before the change [4].

Some secondary sources report that AB 352 also raises sales limits and allows phone, online or in-state shipping sales. That could not be confirmed from a state source for this page. Until the department publishes its rules, plan on the $35,000 cap and in-person sales.

Selling hot sauce beyond a craft food operation

Over the cap, through stores, online or with your own unapproved recipe, you need a licensed commercial kitchen or a copacker, and the federal acidified food rules apply, starting with a scheduled process from a process authority (an expert qualified to set the safe process for an acidified food). See the process authority page and the licensing page.

Confirm with the Nevada Department of Agriculture

• Nevada Department of Agriculture, which registers craft food operations and approves the course, exam, recipes and pH meters [1] [2].
• Southern Nevada Health District (Clark County) or your local health authority, for cottage food registration until June 30, 2027 [4].

This page was last verified October 2026 against the sources below.

Before your first Nevada batch

The approved recipe and the canning process go together. The canning page covers water bath processing of a tested hot sauce recipe; check that any recipe you use is on the department's approved list.

References

1. Nevada Legislature, SB 441 (2015), enrolled, 2015. https://archive.leg.state.nv.us/Session/78th2015/Bills/SB/SB441_EN.pdf
2. Nevada Revised Statutes, NRS 587.695 (Craft food operation: acidified food producer requirements), via nevada.public.law, accessed May 26, 2025 version. https://nevada.public.law/statutes/nrs_587.695
3. Southern Nevada Health District, Cottage Food FAQ, dated September 24, 2026. https://www.southernnevadahealthdistrict.org/permits-and-regulations/cottage-food-operations/cottage-food-faq/
4. Southern Nevada Health District, Cottage Food Operations (Assembly Bill 352), updated September 2, 2026. https://www.southernnevadahealthdistrict.org/permits-and-regulations/facility-design-assessment-permitting/cottage-food-operations/