Cooking Converter — Cups, Tablespoons, ml, and Grams
The recipe says 2 cups of flour. Your jug reads ml. Your scale reads grams. This page gets you from one to the other without a second guess, so you can keep cooking instead of guessing.
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Result
The only thing you have to remember
1 cup = 16 tablespoons = 48 teaspoons = 237 ml (rounded from 236.6). 1 tablespoon = 3 teaspoons = about 15 ml. 1 teaspoon = about 5 ml. Pick what you are converting, volume (cups, tablespoons, ml) or weight (grams, ounces), enter the amount, choose the ingredient when it asks, and read the converted number. That is it, no second step.
The ingredient matters for cups-to-grams, and only there. A cup is a volume; a gram is a weight. A cup of flour weighs less than a cup of sugar because flour is lighter and airier. Cups to ml never needs an ingredient, because both are volume.
Cups to grams, by ingredient
Cups to grams depends on the ingredient, because density differs:
| 1 cup of… | Weighs about |
|---|---|
| All-purpose flour (spooned, not packed) | 120 g |
| Granulated sugar | 200 g |
| Butter | 227 g |
| Water or milk | 237 g |
| Cocoa powder | 85 g |
Those gram figures are the standard kitchen values. Flour is the fussiest: scooping straight from the bag packs it down and can add 20–30 g per cup. Spooning it into the cup and levelling it off is the reliable way.
One recipe, converted
A US recipe calls for 2 cups of flour, 3 tablespoons of oil, and half a cup of butter, and you want metric. Flour: 2 cups × 237 ml = 473 ml by volume. By weight, 2 × 120 g = 240 g, the number to trust for baking. Oil: 3 tablespoons × 3 = 9 teaspoons, or 3 × 14.8 ml = 44 ml. Butter: half a cup = 113 g, which is also about 8 tablespoons.
And a smaller one: ¾ cup of anything liquid is 0.75 × 237 = 177 ml, or 12 tablespoons. A quarter cup is 59 ml. Once you have those two, most recipes stop being a puzzle.
When it matters and when it doesn’t
For soups, sauces, and marinades, volume conversions are plenty accurate. A few ml either way changes nothing. For baking, weigh the flour and sugar. Baking is chemistry, and cup measurements of flour vary with how it was scooped, which is why two people following the same recipe can get different cakes. If a recipe gives both cups and grams, always use the grams. If it gives only cups, the converter’s standard weights above are your best guide, and spooning-and-levelling beats scooping.
Honest limits: cups-to-grams figures are averages. Brands and measuring styles shift them a little, most of all for flour. Packed vs unpacked brown sugar is a real difference. “Packed” can weigh 10–15% more per cup. Ounces come in two kinds: fluid ounces (volume) and weight ounces. The converter keeps them separate, as they should be.
Quick references on this page: cups to ml to litres, tablespoons to teaspoons to ml, cups to grams by ingredient (flour, sugar, butter, cocoa, water), and doubling or halving a recipe by scaling any amount.
| Conversion | Equals |
|---|---|
| 1 cup | 240 ml |
| 1 tbsp | 3 tsp = 15 ml |
| 1 tsp | 5 ml |
| 1 litre | 1000 ml (about 4.2 cups) |
Quick-reference values are rounded.
Questions
How many ml is a cup?
One US cup is 236.6 ml, rounded to 237 ml in most kitchens. A metric cup, used in some countries, is 250 ml. If your recipe comes from Australia or New Zealand, check which cup it means.
Why does a cup of flour not weigh the same as a cup of sugar?
Because a cup measures volume, not weight, and flour is less dense than sugar. A cup of flour weighs about 120 g; a cup of sugar weighs about 200 g. That is why cups-to-grams always needs the ingredient.
How many teaspoons in a tablespoon?
Three. And 16 tablespoons make a cup, so a cup holds 48 teaspoons.
Should I weigh or measure when baking?
Weigh, when you can. A scale removes the biggest source of error, how the cup was filled, and it is faster once you are used to it.
What to open next
Scaling a recipe up or down by a percentage is the Percentage Calculator. Working out daily intake once portions are measured is the Calorie Calculator. Splitting the bill after the dinner party is the Tip Calculator. And how long that roast has actually been in is the Time Duration Calculator. All Everyday Calculators · All Calculators