Can I sell my hot sauce under the Texas cottage food law?
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Yes, with a recipe condition. Texas lets a cottage food production operation sell pickled, fermented and plant-based acidified canned goods from home if the recipe comes from a source the Department of State Health Services (DSHS) lists, such as the USDA Complete Guide to Home Canning (2015), or is approved through a process authority or a DSHS determination [1]. Each batch needs its own batch number on the label. Since September 1, 2025, the gross income cap has been $150,000 a year, a figure the state adjusts each year for inflation using the CPI-U, and registered cottage food vendors can carry your sauce into stores and farmers markets [1]. Hot sauce is not named, but Extension lists salsa, barbecue sauce and ketchup as acidified canned goods [2].
Three ways to get a sauce recipe accepted
The recipe rule is the gate. DSHS gives three routes through it [1].
- Use a listed source. DSHS accepts recipes from the USDA Complete Guide to Home Canning (2015 revision), University of Georgia Extension's So Easy to Preserve (6th edition), the Ball Blue Book Guide to Preserving (37th edition), The All New Ball Book of Canning and Preserving (2016) and Ball Canning Back to Basics (2017), and it recommends newer editions because recipes change as research does [1]. Follow the recipe as written, including its acid and processing steps. The canning page covers canning a hot sauce from a tested recipe.
- Have a process authority approve it. DSHS points to the Association of Food and Drug Officials (AFDO) directory of food processing authorities [1]. This is the route for a sauce you developed yourself, and the process authority page explains what the review involves.
- Ask DSHS to accept a new source. A Request for Official Determination form lets you submit a recipe source that is not on the list for pickled, fermented or plant-based acidified products; it goes by email to foodestablishments@dshs.texas.gov [1].
Your grandmother's recipe card is not a listed source. If your sauce is your own formula, route 2 is where you start.
Batch numbers and the records behind them
Every batch of pickled fruit or vegetables, fermented vegetable products or plant-based acidified canned goods needs a unique batch number on its label [1]. Texas A&M AgriLife Extension advises keeping the batch number, recipe, recipe source or test results and preparation date for 12 months [2]. The current DSHS page does not state a retention period, so treat 12 months as the minimum and keep them longer. The batch records page gives a format that works.
Where SB 541 lets your sauce go
The 2025 changes widened the channels considerably [1].
| Channel | What DSHS allows |
|---|---|
| Direct to consumers | Yes; samples may be given at any location |
| Online orders | Yes, if you, an employee or a household member personally delivers, and the label information is posted on your website before payment |
| Shipping by mail or carrier | No; SB 541 removed the mail-order language, so online orders are filled by personal delivery [3] |
| Farmers markets, farm stands, food service establishments, retail stores | Through a registered cottage food vendor selling on your behalf |
| Wholesale | Non-TCS foods to a registered cottage food vendor |
| Out of state | Not addressed; a cottage food vendor is defined as a person in Texas selling to consumers in Texas |
A shelf-stable hot sauce is a non-TCS food (it does not need time or temperature control for safety), so the wholesale line applies to it. Registration with DSHS is required if you want to print an ID number in place of your home address, if you sell TCS foods, and for any vendor who buys from you wholesale or sells on your behalf [1]. Every operator must complete a food handler course accredited under Health and Safety Code Chapter 438, Subchapter D [1]. The wholesale page covers working with store buyers once a vendor relationship is in place.
The Texas label, line by line
DSHS requires [1]:
- Your name
- Your address, or your DSHS-issued ID number in its place
- The common or usual name of the product
- Any major food allergen used
- The batch number, for pickled, fermented or acidified products
- The statement "THIS PRODUCT WAS PRODUCED IN A PRIVATE RESIDENCE THAT IS NOT SUBJECT TO GOVERNMENTAL LICENSING OR INSPECTION."
Food sold through a cottage food vendor must also show the date it was made [1]. A refrigerated fresh sauce would be a TCS food, which adds registration, the date made and a safe handling statement in at least 12-point type [1]. The federal labeling page covers net contents and ingredient order if you want a label that will also serve a licensed product later.
Older Texas guidance you may still find
Search results still surface AgriLife's October 2023 fact sheet, written before SB 541. It gives the old $50,000 cap, says products bought online cannot be shipped or mailed, and describes a third recipe option: testing each batch of an unlisted recipe with a calibrated pH meter [2]. The current DSHS page lists only the recipe sources, process authority approval and the official determination [1]. This page follows DSHS. If you planned to rely on per-batch pH testing in place of a listed recipe, ask DSHS in writing whether that option still stands.
Past $150,000, or into your own store accounts
Above the cap, or to sell to stores directly rather than through a registered vendor, you leave the cottage route for a licensed food operation. The license that applies to a commercial sauce kitchen was not confirmed for this page; ask DSHS. The federal acidified food rules apply at that stage too, and the acidified foods page explains them.
Confirm with DSHS Retail Food Establishments
DSHS's Texas Cottage Food Production page is the official source for the recipe list, registration and labels [1], and its registration is handled through the DSHS online licensing system linked from that page. AgriLife Extension offers food handler training and a cottage food business course [1] [2]. This page was last verified in October 2026. Your next step is choosing a recipe route: start with the process authority page if your sauce is your own.
References
- Texas Department of State Health Services, Texas Cottage Food Production, not dated (2025 rules; viewed October 2026). https://www.dshs.texas.gov/retail-food-establishments/permits-retail-food-establishments/texas-cottage-food-production
- Rebecca Dittmar and Julie Prouse, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension, Selling Food at Home: Texas Cottage Food Law, October 2023. https://agrilifeextension.tamu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Selling-Food-at-Home-Texas-Cottage-Food-Law.pdf
- Texas Legislature, Senate Bill 541, 89th Legislature, Regular Session, enrolled (Health and Safety Code 437.001, 437.0192, 437.0193, 437.0194), effective September 1, 2025. https://capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/89R/billtext/pdf/SB00541F.pdf
