Cottage food quick guide · Last reviewed October 2026
Selling homemade food in North Dakota
- Sales cap
- No cap
- Permit or registration
- None
- Online & shipping
- Online, mail, and out-of-state sales (SB 2386, 2025)
- Sell through stores
- Consignment; no food stores or restaurants
- Refrigerated foods
- Yes; refrigerated items transported frozen with safe-handling labels
Allowed from a home kitchen
Sourdough bread · Cookies & brownies · Fruit pie · Pumpkin pie · Cheesecake · Cake with buttercream · Cake with cream cheese frosting · Macarons · Fruit tamales · Strawberry jam · Low-sugar or freezer jam · Pepper jelly · Shelf-stable salsa · Fresh salsa (refrigerated) · Hot sauce · Canned pickles · Sauerkraut & kimchi · Granola · Spice rubs & seasoning blends · Roasted coffee · Loose-leaf tea blends · Dried fruit & fruit leather · Freeze-dried candy · Chocolates & truffles · Toffee, fudge & caramels · Marshmallows · Nut butter · Pure honey · Infused honey · Fruit-infused vinegar · Mustard (no egg) · Home-cooked meals
Needs a commercial kitchen or other license
Meat tamales · Beef jerky
Ask the agency first
Canned tomato sauce · Vanilla extract · Garlic or herb-infused oil · Cheese & yogurt · Cold-pressed juice · Kombucha
Every product has conditions, such as registration, training, labeling, and sales limits. See the full guide for each one. ‡ General rule; not specifically addressed in this state's guidance.
How to start
- No state or local registration, license, or inspection can be required for cottage food sold directly to an informed end consumer.
- Uninspected meat is excluded. Poultry is allowed only from up to 1,000 birds you raise yourself, and not across state lines.
- Sell at your farm, ranch, home, farmers markets, farm stands, or by delivery. SB 2386 (2025) adds online, phone, mail, consignment, and out-of-state sales.
- Refrigerated items like cream pies and cheesecake must carry safe-handling instructions and be transported frozen.
- Post the required sign or label.
Key label items
Use the exact required wording shown in the full guide and on the agency's site.
- “This product is made in a home kitchen that is not inspected by the state or local health department.”
- Tell buyers the product isn't certified, labeled, licensed, packaged, regulated, or inspected
- Refrigerated items: safe-handling instructions and a note that it was transported frozen