How to Sell Food From Home
Everything you need to legally sell food from your kitchen — laws, setup, customers, and a system that actually scales.
Selling food from home is one of the lowest-overhead businesses you can start in the US. Cottage food laws in nearly every state let you bake, cook, or prep certain foods in your own kitchen and sell them directly to your community — no commercial lease, no franchise fee, no warehouse.
This guide walks you through the whole path: confirm your state's law, set up your menu and pricing, find your first customers, and run a weekly drop without it taking over your life.
Step 1 — Confirm your state's cottage food law
Before you sell a single cookie, check your state's cottage food rules. Some states require a food handler card or kitchen inspection, others let you start the same day. Our cottage food laws by state guide breaks down all 50 states.
Step 2 — Pick a focused menu
The home food businesses that scale don't sell 30 items. They sell 4-8 things they make exceptionally well — a tamale seller with three fillings, a baker with sourdough and one feature pastry, a meal prep cook with five rotating proteins.
Step 3 — Price for profit, not for friends
Add up your food cost, packaging, and labor. Triple your food cost as a floor. Charge what your work is worth — most home sellers under-price by 30-50% in their first year.
Step 4 — Run weekly drops, not constant chaos
The home sellers who don't burn out batch their work. Open orders Sunday through Wednesday, prep Thursday and Friday, run a single pickup window on Saturday. FoodDropr was built for exactly this — your customers preorder during your window, you get a clean prep list, and pickup happens at your scheduled time.
Frequently asked questions
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Everything home cooks need to legally sell food from home — laws, setup, customers, and payments.
Cottage Food LawsState-by-state guides to cottage food laws, permits, sales limits, allowed foods, and labeling rules for home food businesses.
Food Business PricingPrice your menu profitably — food cost, labor, packaging, and what home customers will actually pay.
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