Cooking Measurement Converter

About this Cooking Measurement Converter

The Cooking Measurement Converter translates common kitchen volume measurements. It is useful when adapting recipes between metric and US customary units, but ingredient weight can vary because volume and mass are different measurements.

Recipe measurement systems vary by country, cookbook publisher, and even the specific ingredient being measured, so converting cooking volumes accurately is one of the more frequent small headaches when following a recipe from a different region or an older cookbook.

For related tasks, try Volume Converter, Weight Converter or Length Converter.

How the calculation works

Conversions use milliliters as the internal base volume. US customary cup, tablespoon, teaspoon, fluid ounce and pint factors are used.

How to use it

1. Enter the quantity.
2. Choose the original and target volume units.
3. Convert to see the equivalent amount.

Practical example

1 US cup is approximately 236.588 milliliters.

1 US tablespoon equals exactly 3 US teaspoons and about 14.79 milliliters, while a US cup equals 16 tablespoons or about 236.6 milliliters, which is why doubling a recipe measured in cups is usually far simpler than doubling one measured in tablespoons and teaspoons mixed together.

Things to double-check

Volume-to-weight conversions for cooking ingredients (like converting cups of flour to grams) depend heavily on the specific ingredient's density and how tightly it is packed, so a general volume converter like this one is most reliable for volume-to-volume conversions rather than converting to a weight-based unit.

Kitchen volume units

In the US system, one cup is about 236.6 mL, one tablespoon is about 14.8 mL and one teaspoon is about 4.9 mL, with 16 tablespoons in a cup and 3 teaspoons in a tablespoon. A US fluid ounce is about 29.57 mL. Many countries use a 250 mL metric cup and a 15 mL tablespoon, and in Australia a tablespoon is 20 mL. Check which system a recipe uses before converting, because a small difference per spoon adds up in a large batch.

Volume is not weight

Cups and spoons measure volume, but ingredients differ in density, so a cup of one ingredient does not weigh the same as a cup of another. As a rough guide, a cup of flour is about 120 to 125 g, sugar about 200 g, butter about 227 g and water about 237 g, though how firmly you pack a cup changes the result. For baking, weighing on a scale is more reliable than measuring by volume. Use this converter for liquids and for converting between volume units.

Scaling and substituting

When you double or halve a recipe, convert awkward amounts to smaller units: half of 1 tablespoon is 1.5 teaspoons, and a third of a cup is about 5 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon. If a recipe from another country lists millilitres, convert them to the cups you own or use a measuring jug marked in mL. Liquids such as milk, oil and water convert well, but sticky ingredients such as honey are hard to measure and may need levelling or oiling the spoon.

Get consistent results

Use proper measuring cups and spoons rather than tableware, level dry ingredients with a knife and read liquids at eye level on a flat surface. Check the oven temperature too, since many recipes use Celsius or Fahrenheit and fan ovens run hotter. Small errors in leavening agents or salt change the outcome more than errors in flour, so measure those carefully. Write the conversions you use on the recipe card so you can repeat a good result.

Common ingredient equivalents

As a rough guide, one cup of butter is about 227 g, which is two US sticks of 113 g each, and one tablespoon of butter is about 14 g. A cup of uncooked rice is about 185 g and a cup of honey about 340 g. These numbers vary with how the ingredient is packed and with brand, so treat them as approximations and use a scale for baking. When a recipe lists both cups and grams, trust the grams. If you cook often from a particular source, write the weights you measure on your own recipe cards.

Worked example: converting a recipe

A recipe from the United States asks for 1.5 cups of milk, 3 tablespoons of oil and 1 teaspoon of vanilla. Using US measures, 1.5 cups is about 355 millilitres, 3 tablespoons is about 44 millilitres and 1 teaspoon is about 4.9 millilitres. If you cook with a metric cup of 250 millilitres, 1.5 US cups is about 1.4 metric cups, which you would round to 1.4 or measure in millilitres. Measuring liquids in millilitres removes the guesswork, and a jug marked in both cups and millilitres makes conversion easy. Write the metric equivalents on the recipe card so that you do not have to repeat the sums.

Cups and spoons around the world

A US cup is about 236.6 millilitres, a metric cup is 250, and an old imperial cup is about 284. A tablespoon is about 14.8 millilitres in the United States, 15 in the United Kingdom and most metric countries, and 20 in Australia. The teaspoon is nearly the same everywhere, about 5 millilitres. The differences are small for a teaspoon but add up for a big recipe, and they matter most in baking, where the ratio of flour to liquid affects the result. If a recipe does not say where it comes from, use the metric cup and tablespoon as a reasonable default and adjust by sight.

Scaling and substituting

Halving or doubling a recipe is easy for most ingredients but awkward for eggs and small amounts. To use half an egg, beat a large egg and use about 25 millilitres. When you change the size of a baking pan, match the area: a 9 inch round pan has an area of about 64 square inches, almost the same as an 8 inch square pan, so batters can be moved between them with a similar baking time. A deeper layer takes longer to bake, so check with a skewer. Keep notes when you substitute, so that you can repeat a good result.

Getting accurate results

For baking, a kitchen scale is the most reliable tool. If you measure by volume, spoon flour into the cup and level it with a knife, because scooping packs the flour and adds up to 20 percent extra. Measure liquids in a jug at eye level on a flat surface. Check the temperature of your oven with a thermometer, since many ovens run hotter or cooler than the dial. High altitude, humidity and the type of flour can change results, so adjust a trusted recipe slowly and make one change at a time.

Key terms explained

A teaspoon is about 5 millilitres, a tablespoon about 15, and a cup about 240 to 250 in most systems. A fluid ounce measures volume, while an ounce of weight measures mass, which are not the same. A dash and a pinch are informal small amounts. The US customary system, the imperial system and the metric system differ in cup and spoon sizes. Density is the weight of a given volume, which is why a cup of flour weighs less than a cup of sugar.

Rules of thumb and quick checks

A tablespoon is three teaspoons, a quarter cup is four tablespoons and a cup is sixteen tablespoons. A US cup is about 237 millilitres and a pint is two cups. One stick of butter is about 113 grams or half a cup. For baking, convert to weight whenever you can: a cup of flour is about 120 grams and a cup of sugar about 200. Keep a short table of your most used ingredients beside the recipe.

Frequently asked questions