# Recipe Measurement Converter

Convert recipe ingredients between cups, tablespoons, teaspoons, fluid ounces, grams, kilograms, ounces, and pounds. Ingredient density built in for 30 common cooking and baking staples.

## What this calculates

Convert recipe ingredients between volume and weight units across 30 common cooking and baking staples. Liquids and uniform dry goods are recipe-accurate. Flour and packed ingredients sit within about 15 percent, which is standard recipe tolerance. For exact unit math like teaspoons to tablespoons or ounces to kilograms, use our Cooking Measurement Converter or Weight Converter instead.

## Inputs

- **Amount** — min 0
- **Ingredient** — options: Water, Milk (whole), Heavy cream, Plain yogurt, Cream cheese, Butter, Cooking oils (vegetable, canola, olive, etc.), All-purpose flour, Bread flour, Cake flour, Whole wheat flour, Almond flour, Cornmeal, Cornstarch, Cocoa powder, Granulated sugar, Brown sugar (packed), Powdered sugar, Honey, Maple syrup, Peanut butter, Chocolate chips, Chopped nuts, Rolled oats, Uncooked rice, Table salt, Dry spices (ground), Active dry yeast, Baking powder, Baking soda — Ingredient density is applied when converting between volume and weight. It is skipped for volume-to-volume or weight-to-weight conversions.
- **From** — options: Teaspoon (tsp), Tablespoon (tbsp), Fluid ounce (fl oz), Cup (US), Pint (US), Quart (US), Gallon (US), Milliliter (mL), Liter (L), Gram (g), Kilogram (kg), Ounce (oz), Pound (lb)
- **To** — options: Teaspoon (tsp), Tablespoon (tbsp), Fluid ounce (fl oz), Cup (US), Pint (US), Quart (US), Gallon (US), Milliliter (mL), Liter (L), Gram (g), Kilogram (kg), Ounce (oz), Pound (lb)

## Outputs

- **Result** — The converted amount.
- **Conversion** — formatted as text — What the calculator converted.
- **Note** — formatted as text — Context about the conversion.

## Details

Volume and weight are often treated the same in most home kitchens, but they're measuring different properties. A cup of flour and a cup of honey occupy the same amount of space, but the honey weighs almost three times more. That's why any conversion between a volume unit and a weight unit has to account for what you're actually working with.

This calculator covers every combination of volume and weight units across 30 common kitchen ingredients. It's useful for scaling recipes up or down. It also handles the conversion between metric European recipes and the cup-based American ones. And most honestly, it covers the nights when every measuring cup is in the dishwasher and you have to weigh the flour instead.

**Need exact unit math?** For pure volume conversions (teaspoons, tablespoons, cups, fluid ounces, milliliters, liters) use the [cooking measurement converter](/calculators/conversion/cooking-measurement-converter). For pure weight conversions (grams, kilograms, ounces, pounds, stone) use the [weight converter](/calculators/conversion/weight-converter). This tool is for bridging the two, which requires the ingredient.

### How accurate is this, really?

Liquids are within 1 to 2 percent of reality. Water, milk, cream, oil, honey, and syrup all have well-characterized densities that reproduce from one reference table to the next.

Pure unit math is exact. A tablespoon is exactly 3 teaspoons. A pound is exactly 453.59 grams. Those are not estimates.

Volume to weight for dry goods is where it gets fuzzy. One cup of all-purpose flour can be anywhere from 110 to 160 grams depending on whether you scoop, spoon, or sift. We use 125 grams (King Arthur spoon-and-level standard), which is dead center of that range. Brown sugar varies by how tightly you pack it. Chocolate chips and chopped nuts settle differently depending on piece size. Expect ±10 to 15 percent on those, which is standard recipe tolerance. No cup-based converter can do better than that, because the variance lives in the ingredient, not the math.

If you need tighter than ±15 percent, you need a scale.

### How the math works

When both units are in the same family, the conversion is a fixed factor. The ingredient doesn't change the answer whether you're going between two volume units or two weight units. A tablespoon is exactly 3 teaspoons. A pound is exactly 453.59 grams.

Mixing volume and weight is where it gets interesting. The calculator has to factor in the ingredient's density, because density is the only thing that bridges the two measurement systems. Water is the reference point at 237 g per US cup. Flour is considerably lighter at about 125 g per cup. That's mostly because it packs with air gaps unless you tamp it down. Honey runs heavy at 340 g per cup for the opposite reason: it's a dense liquid with almost no air.

### Common reference weights

Grams and ounces for 1 US cup of common baking ingredients:

| Ingredient | Grams | Ounces |
|---|---|---|
| All-purpose flour | 125 | 4.4 |
| Bread flour | 130 | 4.6 |
| Cake flour | 114 | 4.0 |
| Granulated sugar | 200 | 7.1 |
| Brown sugar (packed) | 220 | 7.8 |
| Powdered sugar | 120 | 4.2 |
| Butter | 227 | 8.0 |
| Water | 237 | 8.3 |
| Whole milk | 244 | 8.6 |
| Honey | 340 | 12.0 |
| Maple syrup | 322 | 11.4 |
| Peanut butter | 258 | 9.1 |
| Cocoa powder | 86 | 3.0 |
| Rolled oats | 90 | 3.2 |

Per tablespoon (1/16 of a US cup):

| Ingredient | Grams |
|---|---|
| All-purpose flour | 7.8 |
| Granulated sugar | 12.5 |
| Butter | 14.2 |
| Honey | 21.3 |
| Peanut butter | 16.1 |

### When to measure by weight

Weight is more accurate than volume for baking. Scooping flour straight from the bag can pack in 20 to 30 percent more than spooning it into the cup, enough to turn cookies dry or cakes dense. If you have a kitchen scale, use it for anything that needs to rise or hold structure.

Volume is fine for wet ingredients, savory cooking, and anything measured in small amounts. A teaspoon of salt is a teaspoon of salt whether you weigh it or not.

### A note on cup sizes

This calculator uses the US customary cup of 236.6 mL. The metric cup (used in Australia and New Zealand) is 250 mL. The imperial cup (older UK recipes) is 284 mL. If your recipe specifies metric or imperial cups, convert to mL first or use our [cooking measurement converter](/calculators/conversion/cooking-measurement-converter), which supports all three cup standards.

## Frequently Asked Questions

**Q: Why does 1 cup of flour weigh less than 1 cup of sugar?**

A: Different ingredients have different densities. Sugar crystals pack tighter than flour particles, so 1 cup of granulated sugar weighs about 200 grams while the same cup of all-purpose flour weighs 125 grams. Honey is denser still at 340 grams per cup. That spread is why bakers reach for a scale once accuracy matters.

**Q: How many grams are in a tablespoon of flour?**

A: About 7.8 grams of all-purpose flour per US tablespoon, assuming you spoon it in and level it off. If you scoop straight from the bag you can pack in 9 to 10 grams, which can throw a recipe off by a noticeable amount over a full cup.

**Q: Is a US cup the same as a metric or imperial cup?**

A: No. A US cup is 236.6 mL. A metric cup (used in Australia and New Zealand) is 250 mL. An imperial cup (older UK recipes) is 284 mL. This calculator uses the US cup. If your recipe uses a different cup standard, use our [cooking measurement converter](/calculators/conversion/cooking-measurement-converter) to switch between them first.

**Q: What is the difference between fluid ounces and ounces?**

A: Fluid ounces measure volume. Ounces (oz) measure weight. A fluid ounce of honey weighs more than a fluid ounce of water because honey is denser. When a recipe lists ounces for a dry ingredient like flour, it almost always means weight, not volume.

**Q: How accurate are these conversions?**

A: Pure volume and weight conversions are exact. Volume to weight conversions depend on ingredient density, which varies a few percent by brand, humidity, and how the ingredient is packed. Our densities match standard references from King Arthur Baking, the USDA, and Joy of Cooking.

**Q: What if my ingredient is not in the list?**

A: Pick the closest match. Cornmeal behaves like flour. Shredded cheese sits somewhere between chopped nuts and brown sugar. For uncommon ingredients, look up the grams per cup for that specific ingredient and use our [density converter](/calculators/conversion/density-conversion) to work the conversion manually.

**Q: How do I convert a metric recipe to US cups?**

A: Metric recipes usually list grams. Pick the ingredient, set From to grams, set To to cups, and enter the gram amount. The calculator returns the cup equivalent using that ingredient's density. It works in reverse too, which is handy when a US recipe calls for 1 cup of peanut butter and you want to weigh it.

**Q: Can I weigh sticky ingredients like honey or peanut butter?**

A: Yes, and it is faster than measuring them by volume. Tare your mixing bowl, pour in the ingredient until you hit the target weight, and skip washing the measuring cup. 1 US cup of honey is 340 grams. 1 US cup of peanut butter is 258 grams.

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Source: https://vastcalc.com/calculators/conversion/recipe-measurement-converter
Category: Conversion
Last updated: 2026-04-08