Free template
Food label template for cottage food bakers
A food label for a home bakery has to follow your state's cottage food law, and cottage food labels in most US states need the same core fields: the product name, your business name and address (or registration number where allowed), the ingredients in descending order by weight, the major allergens, the net weight, and a statement that the food was made in a home kitchen that is not inspected by the health department. This free food label template puts those fields in one sheet, with example rows for common bakes, so you fill in one row per product and print. Your state sets the exact wording, so check it before you print a batch.
| Product name | Ingredients (heaviest first) | Contains | Net weight | Business name and address | Home kitchen statement |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chocolate chip cookies | Wheat flour, butter (milk), chocolate chips (sugar, chocolate, cocoa butter, milk fat, soy lecithin), brown sugar, sugar, eggs, vanilla extract, baking soda, salt | Wheat, milk, eggs, soy | 6 oz (170 g) | Example Bakes, 123 Main St, Austin, TX | Copy your state's required wording here |
| Banana bread loaf | Bananas, wheat flour, sugar, eggs, vegetable oil, walnuts, baking soda, salt, cinnamon | Wheat, eggs, tree nuts (walnuts) | 16 oz (454 g) | Example Bakes, 123 Main St, Austin, TX | Copy your state's required wording here |
| Vanilla cupcakes, box of 6 | Sugar, wheat flour, butter (milk), eggs, milk, powdered sugar, vanilla extract, baking powder, salt | Wheat, milk, eggs | 14 oz (397 g) | Example Bakes, 123 Main St, Austin, TX | Copy your state's required wording here |
| Peanut butter cookies | Peanut butter (peanuts, salt), sugar, wheat flour, brown sugar, butter (milk), eggs, baking soda | Peanuts, wheat, milk, eggs | 6 oz (170 g) | Example Bakes, 123 Main St, Austin, TX | Copy your state's required wording here |
| Sourdough loaf | Wheat flour, water, sourdough starter (wheat flour, water), salt | Wheat | 24 oz (680 g) | Example Bakes, 123 Main St, Austin, TX | Copy your state's required wording here |
| Sesame bagels, bag of 4 | Wheat flour, water, sesame seeds, sugar, yeast, salt, malt syrup (barley) | Wheat, sesame | 16 oz (454 g) | Example Bakes, 123 Main St, Austin, TX | Copy your state's required wording here |
Cottage food label requirements: the fields to fill in
Every state writes its own cottage food rules, but the label fields overlap a lot. The template has one column for each field that shows up in most state laws. If your state asks for something extra, such as a permit number or the date the item was made, add it to the last column.
- Product name: what the buyer would call it, such as Chocolate chip cookies.
- Business name and address: the name you sell under and the address your state requires, or your registration number where the law allows it instead.
- Ingredients: every ingredient, heaviest first, including what goes into fillings, frostings and glazes.
- Contains: the major food allergens in the product. The US list is milk, eggs, fish, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soybeans and sesame.
- Net weight: the weight of the food without the packaging, in ounces and grams.
- Home kitchen statement: the sentence your state requires, word for word.
Read next: Cottage food laws by state, Free allergen chart and ingredient label template for bakers
How to sort ingredients by weight
The ingredient list goes from heaviest to lightest in the batch, which is the step most bakers get wrong when they write labels from memory. Start from the recipe weights, not the order you mix things in.
Example: a batch of 24 chocolate chip cookies uses 280 g flour, 225 g butter, 200 g chocolate chips, 150 g brown sugar, 100 g white sugar, 100 g eggs, 5 g vanilla, 5 g baking soda and 3 g salt. The list reads: wheat flour, butter (milk), chocolate chips (sugar, chocolate, cocoa butter, milk fat, soy lecithin), brown sugar, sugar, eggs, vanilla extract, baking soda, salt. Contains: wheat, milk, eggs, soy.
Texas cottage food law label
Texas changed its cottage food law with SB 541, in effect since September 1, 2025. A Texas label carries the name of the operation and either its physical address or, if you registered with the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS), your registration number; the product name; allergen information; and a statement that the food was produced in a private residence that is not subject to government licensing or inspection. Foods that need time and temperature control, such as some cream fillings, also need the production date and safe handling instructions. Copy the exact current wording from DSHS before you print.
Read next: Texas cottage food law for home bakers
Printing your labels
Download the sheet as CSV and open it in Google Sheets, Excel or Numbers. Most label printing tools, and the mail merge in Word or Google Docs, can read a CSV and fill one label per row, so you can print a whole sheet of stickers for a market day at once.
Keep labels and recipes in step with Farinu
A label is only right while the recipe behind it is. Farinu keeps every recipe with its ingredients and weights, including sub-recipes like a frosting used across several cakes, so the weights you sort by are always the current ones. It also costs each recipe, suggests a price from the markup you set over cost, and warns you when an ingredient price rise pushes a product below that markup.
Printing labels straight from your recipes is planned in Farinu, not live yet. Until then, use your recipe weights in Farinu to fill in this template. The free plan covers costing for up to 10 recipes.
Questions
- What has to be on a cottage food label?
- In most states: the product name, your business name and address or registration number, the ingredients by weight, the major allergens, the net weight, and a statement that the food was made in a home kitchen that is not inspected. Your state agency publishes the exact list.
- Is this food label template really free?
- Yes. Download the sheet as CSV, edit it in any spreadsheet and print it. No account needed.
- Do I need to list allergens if they are already in the ingredient list?
- Many states expect the major allergens to be clear, as federal labeling rules do, either named inside the list, such as butter (milk), or in a separate Contains line. Doing both is the safe choice.
- Can Farinu print my labels?
- Not yet. Labels from your recipes are planned. Today Farinu holds your recipes with their weights and costs, which is what you need to fill in this template correctly.
Related pages
Know what each labeled product earns you
Add your recipes to Farinu and see the cost and a suggested price for every product you label. Free for up to 10 recipes.