From cups and spoons to exact grams
A tablespoon is about 15 ml: 14.8 g of water, 15 g of milk, 13.5 g of olive oil, 12.5 g of sugar, 7.8 g of flour and 21 g of honey. A teaspoon is a third of that (4.2 g of sugar; 6 g of salt), and a cup of flour is 125 g. All 18 ingredients are in the table below.
Convert cups, tablespoons and teaspoons to grams by ingredient. A cup of flour does not weigh the same as a cup of sugar or honey, so the conversion depends on each food. Pick the ingredient and the measure and we give you the grams, plus the equivalent of 1 cup, 1 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon to keep handy.
Approximate: the cup is the US cup (about 240 ml) and the weights are USDA FoodData Central’s; they vary with how you measure. Weighing on a scale is always the most accurate.
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Why does a cup weigh differently by ingredient?
Cups and spoons measure VOLUME, while nutrition labels and recipes work in WEIGHT — and the bridge between them is density, which changes with every ingredient. A cup of water is 237 g, a cup of flour about 125 g, and a cup of honey around 339 g (USDA FoodData Central). That is why one universal conversion factor does not exist and why this converter carries a density table per ingredient. Two more sources of error worth knowing: how you fill the cup (scooped flour can weigh 20% more than spooned flour) and which cup standard the recipe used. When the amount matters — baking, or counting calories — a scale settles all of it.
Conversion chart: cups and spoons to grams
A cup is NOT 200 grams of everything: it is 125 g of flour and 292 g of salt. That is exactly the mistake that ruins a recipe and throws off a calorie count. US cup (about 240 ml).
| Ingredient | 1 cup | 1 tablespoon | 1 teaspoon |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wheat flour | 125 g | 7.8 g | 2.6 g |
| White sugar | 200 g | 12.5 g | 4.2 g |
| Brown sugar (packed) | 220 g | 13.8 g | 4.6 g |
| Icing sugar | 120 g | 8 g | 2.5 g |
| Rice (uncooked) | 185 g | 11.6 g | 3.9 g |
| Rolled oats | 81 g | 5.1 g | 1.7 g |
| Butter | 227 g | 14.2 g | 4.7 g |
| Olive oil | 216 g | 13.5 g | 4.5 g |
| Milk | 244 g | 15 g | 5 g |
| Water | 237 g | 14.8 g | 4.9 g |
| Honey | 339 g | 21 g | 7 g |
| Cocoa powder | 86 g | 5.4 g | 1.8 g |
| Peanut butter | 258 g | 16 g | 5.3 g |
| Ground almonds | 95 g | 5.9 g | 2 g |
| Lentils (dry) | 192 g | 12 g | 4 g |
| Yoghurt | 245 g | 15.3 g | 5.1 g |
| Grated parmesan | 100 g | 5 g | 1.7 g |
| Salt | 292 g | 18 g | 6 g |
Household weights from USDA FoodData Central (SR Legacy dataset): US cup, tablespoon and teaspoon; where the entry gives no spoon, a cup is 16 tablespoons and a tablespoon 3 teaspoons. Brown sugar packed; almonds ground. How firmly you pack flour changes the weight: weighing is always more reliable.
FAQ
How many grams are in a cup?
It depends entirely on the ingredient. With USDA’s weights for a US cup: water 237 g, flour 125 g, granulated sugar 200 g, uncooked rice 185 g, honey 339 g. Anyone quoting a single number for "a cup" is quoting the one for water and hoping.
How many grams is a tablespoon?
Around 15 ml of volume: 14.8 g of water, 13.5 g of olive oil, 7.8 g of flour and 21 g of honey. The teaspoon is a third of that, at 5 ml: 4.2 g of sugar or 6 g of salt.
Is a cup 240 ml or 250 ml?
The US legal cup is 240 ml, the US customary cup 236.6 ml, and the metric cup used in Australia is 250 ml. We use 240 ml, which is what most recipes written in English assume. The difference is under 5% — negligible in a stew, noticeable in baking.
Is measuring by cups accurate?
For cooking, accurate enough. For baking and for calorie counting, no: the error from how you fill the cup alone can reach 20% with flour. A kitchen scale is the cheapest precision upgrade there is, and it saves washing the measuring cups.
Keep reading
- Count calories without weighing food →
- Weekly meal prep for beginners →
- High-protein recipes: 30 g or more →
- How to count calories without going crazy →
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