Cooking Unit Converter
Convert cups, tablespoons, teaspoons, fluid ounces, milliliters, and grams — with flour, sugar, and water density presets.
This free cooking unit converter handles every conversion a recipe throws at you: cups to tablespoons, milliliters to fluid ounces, and — the tricky one — volume to grams using real ingredient densities. Pick flour (125 g/cup), sugar (200 g/cup), or water/milk/oil (1 g/ml) for accurate weight conversions.
Grams need an ingredient density — pick one above for weight conversions.
How to use this calculator
- Step 1: Enter the amount and choose the unit you are converting from.
- Step 2: Choose the unit you want to convert to.
- Step 3: If grams are involved, pick the ingredient so the density is right (flour, sugar, or water/milk/oil).
- Step 4: Click Calculate for the converted amount.
The formula
Volume: 1 cup = 16 tbsp = 48 tsp = 8 fl oz = 236.588 ml. Weight: grams = ml x ingredient density.
Worked example
1 cup converts to exactly 16 tablespoons, and 2 tablespoons is 29.57 ml. One cup of all-purpose flour weighs 125 grams, while one cup of granulated sugar weighs 200 grams.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many tablespoons are in a cup?
Sixteen. The full US chain is: 1 cup = 16 tablespoons = 48 teaspoons = 8 fluid ounces = 236.6 milliliters. Memorizing just the 16 gets you everywhere else: half a cup is 8 tbsp, a quarter cup is 4 tbsp, and 3 teaspoons always make a tablespoon.
Why do I need to pick an ingredient to convert to grams?
Because volume and weight are different things — a cup is a fixed volume, but what it weighs depends on density. A cup of water weighs 236.6 g, a cup of all-purpose flour weighs about 125 g, and a cup of granulated sugar weighs about 200 g. Without the ingredient, a volume-to-grams conversion is just a guess.
Are US cups the same as metric cups?
No. A US customary cup is 236.6 ml, while a metric cup (used in many international recipes) is 250 ml — about 6% more. An Australian tablespoon is 20 ml versus 15 ml in the US. If a foreign recipe seems off, check which cup and spoon standards it uses before adjusting anything else.
Should I weigh ingredients instead of using cups?
For baking, yes — it is the single biggest upgrade to consistency you can make. A cup of flour can weigh anywhere from 110 to 160 g depending on how you scoop it, which is a 45% swing. A $15 kitchen scale removes that variable entirely. For everyday cooking, cups are perfectly fine.