Recipes from different places measure the same flour in different ways. An American recipe says “2 cups,” a British or European one says “250 g,” and a nutrition label says “30 g (¼ cup).” Volume-to-volume conversions are fixed, but moving between cups and grams depends on what is in the cup. This converter does both: it converts any kitchen measure to any other and, for weight conversions, applies a typical density for the ingredient you pick.
How to use the cooking converter
- Enter the Amount from your recipe.
- Choose the unit you have in From (cups, tablespoons, sticks of butter, grams, ounces …) and the unit you want in To.
- Pick the Ingredient. It only matters when you cross between volume and weight, but it also fills in the weight columns of the table.
- The result appears on the tape, with a kitchen-friendly fraction such as “about 1 ½ cups” when one fits. The table shows the amount in every unit.
Cooking conversion formulas
Volume units convert through milliliters, using the exact US definitions: 1 cup = 236.5882365 mL, 1 tablespoon = 1/16 cup, 1 teaspoon = 1/48 cup.
Crossing between volume and weight needs the ingredient’s density, given here as grams per cup:
Worked example: flour and sugar
A cookie recipe calls for 2 cups of all-purpose flour, and you want to weigh it:
2 cups × 125 g per cup = 250 g of flour
A European cake recipe calls for 300 g of granulated sugar, and you only have measuring cups:
300 g ÷ 200 g per cup = 1.5 cups (1 ½ cups)
And a stick of butter: ½ cup × 226.8 g per cup = 113.4 g, which matches the “113 g” printed on most US butter wrappers.
Ingredient weights per cup
These are typical weights for one level US cup, based on the household-measure data in USDA FoodData Central. Tablespoon weights are one sixteenth of the cup figure.
| Ingredient | Grams per cup | Grams per tablespoon |
|---|---|---|
| Water | 237 | 14.8 |
| Milk (whole) | 244 | 15.3 |
| All-purpose flour (spooned) | 125 | 7.8 |
| Bread flour | 137 | 8.6 |
| Whole wheat flour | 120 | 7.5 |
| Granulated sugar | 200 | 12.5 |
| Brown sugar (packed) | 220 | 13.8 |
| Powdered sugar | 120 | 7.5 |
| Butter | 227 | 14.2 |
| Vegetable oil | 218 | 13.6 |
| Honey | 339 | 21.2 |
| White rice (uncooked) | 185 | 11.6 |
| Rolled oats | 81 | 5.1 |
| Cocoa powder | 86 | 5.4 |
| Table salt | 292 | 18.3 |
US kitchen volume equivalents
| Unit | Teaspoons | Tablespoons | Fluid ounces | Milliliters |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 teaspoon | 1 | ⅓ | ⅙ | 4.93 |
| 1 tablespoon | 3 | 1 | ½ | 14.79 |
| ¼ cup | 12 | 4 | 2 | 59.15 |
| ½ cup (1 stick butter) | 24 | 8 | 4 | 118.29 |
| 1 cup | 48 | 16 | 8 | 236.59 |
| 1 pint | 96 | 32 | 16 | 473.18 |
| 1 quart | 192 | 64 | 32 | 946.35 |
Tips for accurate baking
- Weigh flour when you can. The way you fill a cup changes its weight by 15–20%, more than enough to turn a tender cake dry.
- Spoon and level. If you must use cups, spoon flour into the cup and sweep the top flat with a knife.
- Pack brown sugar, not white. US recipes assume packed brown sugar and loosely filled granulated sugar.
- Fluid ounces are volume, ounces are weight. A cup holds 8 fl oz of anything, but 8 oz by weight of flour fills nearly two cups.
Weights in the table are typical values for common US products; brands and humidity cause small differences. For oven temperatures, use the temperature converter, and for larger liquid volumes, the volume converter.
Frequently asked questions
How many grams are in a cup of flour?
About 125 g of all-purpose flour when it is spooned into the cup and leveled, the method most US recipes assume. Scooping straight from the bag packs it down and can give 140–150 g, which is why bakers prefer to weigh flour.
Why does a cup of sugar weigh more than a cup of flour?
A cup measures volume, not weight. Granulated sugar crystals pack more densely than fluffy flour, so a cup of sugar weighs about 200 g while a cup of flour weighs about 125 g. Every ingredient needs its own cups-to-grams factor.
How many tablespoons are in a cup?
Sixteen. One US cup is 16 tablespoons, 48 teaspoons or 8 fluid ounces, about 236.6 mL. A tablespoon is 3 teaspoons, about 14.8 mL.
Is a US cup the same as a metric cup?
No. A US customary cup is 236.6 mL, the cup used on US nutrition labels is rounded to 240 mL, and the metric cup used in Australia, New Zealand and Canada is 250 mL. The differences are small for one cup but add up in a large batch.
How much does a stick of butter weigh?
A standard US stick is ½ cup, 8 tablespoons or 4 ounces, which is about 113 grams. Four sticks make a pound.