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Cups, Tablespoons and Teaspoons: Kitchen Volume Conversions
US kitchen volume is one ladder: 3 teaspoons make a tablespoon, 16 tablespoons make a cup, and everything above that doubles. Learn the ladder once and every conversion is arithmetic.
No. 12 — Volume & Liquid
Kitchen Conversions
Set an amount, pick what you have and what you need. Works both directions, gallons down to milliliters.
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The whole ladder in one table
All figures are US customary measures. Milliliters are rounded to the nearest whole number, so use the calculator above if you need more decimals.
| Amount | Tablespoons | Teaspoons | Fluid oz | Milliliters |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 tbsp | 1 | 3 | ½ fl oz | 15 ml |
| ¼ cup | 4 | 12 | 2 fl oz | 59 ml |
| ⅓ cup | 5 + 1 tsp | 16 | 2⅔ fl oz | 79 ml |
| ½ cup | 8 | 24 | 4 fl oz | 118 ml |
| ⅔ cup | 10 + 2 tsp | 32 | 5⅓ fl oz | 158 ml |
| ¾ cup | 12 | 36 | 6 fl oz | 177 ml |
| 1 cup | 16 | 48 | 8 fl oz | 237 ml |
| 1 pint (2 cups) | 32 | 96 | 16 fl oz | 473 ml |
| 1 quart (4 cups) | 64 | 192 | 32 fl oz | 946 ml |
| 1 gallon (16 cups) | 256 | 768 | 128 fl oz | 3.785 L |
Why ⅓ cup is the awkward one
Thirds don't divide evenly into tablespoons. ⅓ cup is 5 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon, and ⅔ cup is 10 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons. If a recipe calls for ⅓ cup and you only own a ½ cup and a ¼ cup, measure 5 level tablespoons and add one level teaspoon. It's accurate to within a few drops, which is more precise than most cooks' scooping anyway.
Butter: sticks, tablespoons, cups and grams
American butter comes in sticks with tablespoon markings on the wrapper, so the conversions are built into the packaging. The gram weights are what you need if a recipe comes from a country that measures butter by weight.
| Butter | Sticks | Tablespoons | Ounces | Grams |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 tbsp | ⅛ | 1 | ½ oz | 14 g |
| ¼ cup | ½ | 4 | 2 oz | 57 g |
| ½ cup | 1 | 8 | 4 oz | 113 g |
| 1 cup | 2 | 16 | 8 oz | 227 g |
Halving, doubling and tripling common amounts
Scaling a recipe is where measuring spoons earn their keep. Halving ¼ teaspoon gives you ⅛ teaspoon, which most sets include. Below that, you're into "pinch" territory, and a pinch is a judgment call rather than a measurement.
| Original | Half | Double | Triple |
|---|---|---|---|
| ¼ tsp | ⅛ tsp | ½ tsp | ¾ tsp |
| ½ tsp | ¼ tsp | 1 tsp | 1½ tsp |
| 1 tsp | ½ tsp | 2 tsp | 1 tbsp |
| 1 tbsp | 1½ tsp | 2 tbsp | 3 tbsp |
| ¼ cup | 2 tbsp | ½ cup | ¾ cup |
| ⅓ cup | 2 tbsp + 2 tsp | ⅔ cup | 1 cup |
| ½ cup | ¼ cup | 1 cup | 1½ cups |
| ⅔ cup | ⅓ cup | 1⅓ cups | 2 cups |
| ¾ cup | 6 tbsp | 1½ cups | 2¼ cups |
Worked example: halving ⅓ cup. ⅓ cup is 16 teaspoons, half of that is 8 teaspoons, and 8 teaspoons is 2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons.
A US cup is not the same cup everywhere
This is the reason a recipe from another country can come out wrong even when you convert every number correctly. The word "cup" and the word "gallon" mean different volumes depending on where the recipe was written.
| Unit | US | UK (imperial) | Metric countries |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cup | 237 ml | about 284 ml (older recipes) | 250 ml |
| Tablespoon | 14.8 ml | 15 ml | 15 ml (20 ml in Australia) |
| Teaspoon | 4.9 ml | 5 ml | 5 ml |
| Fluid ounce | 29.57 ml | 28.41 ml | — |
| Pint | 473 ml (16 fl oz) | 568 ml (20 fl oz) | — |
| Gallon | 3.785 L | 4.546 L | — |
The calculator on this site uses US customary units throughout. If you're converting a UK recipe, the pint and gallon are about 20% bigger than the US versions.
Liquid and dry measuring cups
The two kinds of cup hold the same volume but are shaped for different jobs. A dry cup is filled to the brim and leveled with a straight edge. A liquid cup has a spout and headspace above the top line so you can carry it without spilling, which means filling it to the brim is wrong. Read a liquid cup with your eye level to the line, or use an angled cup that lets you read it from above.
Four ways volume measuring goes wrong
- Using tableware. A coffee mug or dinner spoon is not a cup or a tablespoon. Real measuring spoons are made to a standard; the spoons in your cutlery drawer are not.
- Heaping instead of leveling. Recipes assume a level spoon. A heaped teaspoon of baking powder can be double the intended amount.
- Packing dry ingredients. Scooping flour straight from the bag compresses it. The cups to grams guide shows how much a cup can swing.
- Mixing up fluid ounces and ounces. A fluid ounce measures volume. An ounce measures weight. A cup holds 8 fluid ounces, but a cup of flour weighs only about 4 ounces.
Frequently asked questions
How many tablespoons are in a cup?
16 tablespoons make one cup. In teaspoons, that's 48.
How many tablespoons are in ¼ cup, ⅓ cup and ½ cup?
¼ cup is 4 tablespoons. ⅓ cup is 5 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon. ½ cup is 8 tablespoons.
How many teaspoons are in a tablespoon?
3 teaspoons. It's one of the few kitchen ratios that comes out as a clean whole number in both directions.
How many ounces are in a cup?
8 fluid ounces. If you mean weight, it depends entirely on what's in the cup: water is about 8.3 ounces, butter 8 ounces, flour about 4.2 ounces.
How many cups are in a quart, and in a gallon?
4 cups in a quart and 16 cups in a gallon. A gallon is also 4 quarts, 8 pints, or 128 fluid ounces.
How many milliliters are in a cup?
237 ml for a US cup. Recipes written for metric countries often use a 250 ml cup, which is about 5% larger.
Is a US gallon the same as a UK gallon?
No. A US gallon is 3.785 liters and a UK imperial gallon is 4.546 liters, roughly 20% bigger. The pint has the same mismatch.