Major Change Coming in July 2027 — AB 352 Signed Into Law
Nevada's Governor signed Assembly Bill 352 in June 2025, significantly expanding cottage food rights. The new law raises the annual sales cap to $100,000, allows online and phone orders, permits mail and third-party delivery, and moves all oversight to the Nevada Department of Agriculture. However, AB 352 does not take effect until July 2027 while the NDA writes regulations. The 2013 law (NRS § 446.866) remains fully in effect until then. This guide reflects current law.
What Nevada Allows
Nevada's cottage food program — established under Nevada Revised Statutes § 446.866 — lets you make and sell certain shelf-stable foods from your home kitchen without operating as a licensed food establishment. To qualify, you must register with your local health district before making any sales, keep your gross revenue under $35,000 per year, and sell only in person. Home food sellers in Nevada operate under a straightforward registration system — not a permit or inspection process — and the state does not require any food handler certification.
Nevada's current law is notably more restrictive than most states on one key point: online sales, phone orders, and mail delivery are explicitly prohibited. All sales must be in-person, direct to the consumer, at locations including your home, licensed farmers markets, flea markets, swap meets, church bazaars, garage sales, and craft fairs. You cannot sell wholesale, to restaurants, or on consignment. Each product must be fully prepackaged before you leave home and labeled with the required state disclaimer.
Nevada also has a separate Craft Food program for sellers who want to make acidified foods — pickles, salsas, hot sauce, relishes, and chutneys. This is a distinct registration through the Nevada Department of Agriculture with additional training and safety testing requirements. If your product has a pH of 4.6 or lower, it goes through the Craft Food program, not the standard cottage food registration. See the Special Categories guide for the full Craft Food pathway.
One more important Nevada quirk: if you want to sell at events in multiple parts of the state, you must register separately with each health district where you sell — not just where you live. Nevada's cottage food administration is split across five local health districts until the 2027 state takeover. This guide covers both the current rules and what's coming.
✅ Currently Allowed
- Shelf-stable baked goods (cookies, breads, cakes, muffins)
- Nuts and nut mixes
- Candy: hard candy, fudge, toffee, brittles, bark
- Jams, jellies & preserves (standardized fruit recipes)
- Vinegar and flavored vinegars
- Dry herbs, spice blends & seasoning mixes
- Dried fruits
- Granola, trail mix & cereals
- Popcorn and popcorn balls
🚫 Not Allowed Under Cottage Food
- Online or phone orders (in-person only)
- Mail delivery or shipping
- Wholesale to restaurants or stores
- Home-canned foods and sauces
- Pickles, salsas, hot sauce (→ Craft Food program)
- Apple cider
- Dried/dehydrated meats or jerky
- Cream-based chocolates (ganache, truffles)
- Baked goods with cream, custard, or meringue
Everything You Need to Know
Eight in-depth guides covering every aspect of selling home-made food in Nevada.
What You Can Sell
Full allowed and prohibited food lists with three-tier status — open, restricted, and prohibited.
Read Guide →Shelf-Stable Foods
What qualifies as shelf-stable, the $35,000 sales cap, where you can sell, and storage rules.
Read Guide →Prepared Meals
TCS food definitions, what's allowed for prepared and hot food, and commercial kitchen requirements.
Read Guide →Beverages
Rules for kombucha, cold brew, juice, shrubs, specialty lemonade, and alcohol restrictions.
Read Guide →Licenses & Permits
How to register with your health district, fees by county, and a step-by-step checklist.
Read Guide →Label Requirements
Every required field, the exact state disclaimer wording, allergen rules, and net weight guidance.
Read Guide →Start Your Business
Sole proprietor vs. LLC in Nevada, DBA filing, sales tax, banking, and your full launch checklist.
Read Guide →Special Categories
Acidified foods via the Craft Food program, dairy, alcohol, cannabis edibles, and meat rules.
Read Guide →Nevada Compliance Score
Answer a few questions about your products and selling plans to get a personalized compliance score and action checklist for Nevada.
Create Free Account to Use This Tool →Nevada's Food Heritage
Indigenous Foodways of the Great Basin
Long before European settlement, the Great Basin of Nevada was home to the Western Shoshone, Northern and Southern Paiute, Washoe, and Fort Mojave peoples. These nations developed sophisticated food traditions adapted to the desert environment. Pine nuts — harvested from pinyon pines across Nevada's mountain ranges — were the cornerstone of the Great Basin diet, ground into flour, eaten whole, and stored for winter. Tribal communities also harvested wild grasses, roots, and berries; hunted rabbit, deer, and pronghorn antelope; and fished in rivers and lakes fed by Sierra snowmelt. Indigenous breads, seed cakes, and dried foods represent Nevada's oldest culinary tradition — a legacy of resourcefulness in one of North America's most demanding landscapes.
The Basque Legacy
No food tradition is more deeply woven into Nevada's identity than its Basque heritage. Beginning during the California Gold Rush of the 1850s, immigrants from the Basque region — a mountainous area on the border of Spain and France — arrived seeking fortune. When gold proved elusive, many turned to sheepherding across Nevada's vast federal grazing lands. Basque boarding houses sprung up in towns including Reno, Winnemucca, Elko, and Ely — cultural anchors where isolated herders could find their language, their people, and their food. Long communal tables were set with thick soups, cowboy beans, crusty bread, red wine, and slow-roasted lamb. Historic Basque restaurants continue to operate across Northern Nevada today, including the legendary Star Hotel in Elko (est. 1910). The National Basque Festival in Elko, held each Independence Day weekend, draws visitors for folk dancing, woodchopping competitions, and communal feasts that have continued for over 60 years.
Mining Towns, Cowboys, and Artisan Makers
Nevada's 19th-century silver and gold mining boom brought waves of settlers who needed hearty, simple food. Sourdough bread became a staple — starter cultures were kept alive for years and passed between households. The state's ranching heritage produced premium beef jerky, a product Nevada artisan makers still celebrate today. Chinese immigrants who built Nevada's railroads contributed their own traditions: pickled vegetables, dried foods, and rice became part of the territory's early multicultural pantry. Nevada's artisan food scene has grown considerably in recent years, with farmers markets in Reno, Carson City, and the Las Vegas Valley giving cottage food producers direct-to-consumer channels. The state is home to an estimated 800+ registered cottage food producers — makers who carry these traditions forward one jar, loaf, and tin at a time.