Cooking Converter

Convert an amount

Grams per cup — the density table used here

These are standard published reference weights (the same figures used by major baking references). Real weights vary: a cup of flour can run 100–140 g depending on whether it is sifted, spooned, or scooped, and brands differ. Treat grams here as the standard reference, not a lab measurement — a kitchen scale is the authority when a recipe is finicky.

How it works

Volume conversions are fixed ratios: 1 cup = 236.588 ml = 16 tablespoons = 48 teaspoons = 8 fluid ounces. Weight is different: grams = milliliters × the ingredient's density, and density is what the table above supplies — grams per cup divided by 236.588 ml per cup. That is why a cup of honey (340 g) weighs nearly three times a cup of flour (120 g) even though the cups hold the same volume. Converting from grams runs the same density in reverse to get back to volume.

Worked example: ½ cup of butter. Volume: ½ × 236.588 = 118.3 ml. Weight: butter at 227 g per cup, so ½ cup = 113.5 g — the familiar "one stick" figure, since a US stick of butter is ½ cup.

Frequently asked questions

How many tablespoons in a cup? 16 tablespoons in a cup, and 3 teaspoons in a tablespoon — so 48 teaspoons in a cup.

Is a fluid ounce the same as an ounce of weight? Only for water, roughly. A fluid ounce is volume (29.57 ml); an ounce is weight (28.35 g). For honey, 8 fl oz weighs about 340 g (12 oz); for flour, about 120 g (4¼ oz). The ingredient selection above exists precisely because of this gap.

Why did my flour come out different on a scale? Scooping the cup straight from the bag packs flour in and can add 20% or more versus spooning it in loosely. The 120 g figure assumes the standard spoon-and-level method used by most modern references.