Cooking Measurement Converter
Convert between cups, tablespoons, teaspoons, milliliters, and other cooking measurements.
Results update as you type.
How it works
A cooking measurement converter is indispensable when you follow recipes from other countries, scale a dish up or down, or find yourself missing a particular measuring tool. The US customary system of cups, tablespoons, and teaspoons differs from the metric measurements used across most of the world, and a reliable cooking measurement converter removes the guesswork. The core US relationships are worth memorising: 3 teaspoons make 1 tablespoon, 16 tablespoons make 1 cup, 2 cups make 1 pint, 2 pints make 1 quart, and 4 quarts make 1 gallon. One cup equals 240 mL under the nutrition-label definition, or 236.588 mL by the precise US gallon. American recipes often list butter in sticks, where one stick equals 1/2 cup, 8 tablespoons, or 113 grams, while European recipes sell butter by weight and specify grams. For dry ingredients, weighing in grams is more accurate than measuring by volume, because density changes with packing — a cup of firmly packed brown sugar weighs far more than a cup of sifted flour. Home cooks, bakers, and anyone adapting international recipes rely on a cooking measurement converter to get consistent, repeatable results.
Convert through mL as common base. Key: 1 cup = 240 mL; 1 tbsp = 15 mL; 1 tsp = 5 mL; 1 stick butter = 8 tbsp = 120 mL
Cooking conversion works because each kitchen unit is defined as a fixed multiple of the milliliter, so the converter normalises any amount to mL and then scales to the target. The US customary chain is exact: 1 cup = 16 tbsp = 48 tsp = 8 fl oz = 240 mL, 3 tsp = 1 tbsp, and 1 stick of butter = 8 tbsp = 1/2 cup = 120 mL (about 113 g).
Source:Standard cooking measurement conversions
We review all our tools from time to time to ensure accuracy.
Worked example
How to use this calculator
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Enter your values
Enter amount, from and to.
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Adjust the options
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Frequently asked questions
How many tablespoons are in a cup?
There are exactly 16 tablespoons in 1 US cup. The full breakdown: 1 cup = 16 tablespoons = 48 teaspoons = 8 fluid ounces = 240 mL. For quick half-measures: 1/2 cup = 8 tablespoons; 1/4 cup = 4 tablespoons; 1/8 cup = 2 tablespoons. When a recipe calls for an odd fraction like 1/3 cup, that equals 5 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon (5.33 tablespoons total).
How do I convert cups to milliliters?
1 US cup = 240 mL (the standard used on nutrition labels and in most recipe contexts). So 2 cups = 480 mL, 1/2 cup = 120 mL, 1/4 cup = 60 mL. Note: Australian and Canadian metric cups are 250 mL, not 240 mL. For precise baking from international recipes, check the origin of the recipe to use the right cup size. The 10 mL difference (4%) is negligible for most recipes but can matter in very precise baking.
How many sticks of butter is 1 cup?
Two sticks of butter equal 1 cup. One stick = 1/2 cup = 8 tablespoons = 113 grams ≈ 4 oz. In the US, butter is sold in 4-stick packages (1 pound total = 2 cups). European butter is sold by weight; 1 US stick = 113 grams. If a recipe calls for 1 cup of butter, you need 2 sticks; 1/4 cup = half a stick = 4 tablespoons = 56.5 grams.
Why are dry ingredient measurements less accurate in cups?
Volume measurements for dry ingredients are inherently imprecise because density varies with how tightly the ingredient is packed. A cup of sifted all-purpose flour weighs about 120g, while a cup of packed flour can weigh up to 160g — a 33% difference that can significantly affect baking. Professional bakers weigh dry ingredients in grams or ounces for consistency. For liquid ingredients, volume measurement is fine since liquids have consistent density. When baking precision matters, use a kitchen scale for dry ingredients.
What is the difference between US and metric/Australian cups?
A US cup is 240 mL (based on the US gallon: 1 gallon / 16 = 236.588 mL, rounded to 240 for nutrition). An Australian metric cup is 250 mL. For most recipes, the 10 mL (4%) difference is negligible. However, for very precise baking or large-scale recipes, use cups from the same system as the recipe. If a recipe is from an Australian cookbook and calls for 3 cups of liquid, using 3 US cups gives 720 mL vs. the intended 750 mL — a 4% difference.