Cooking measurement converter: cups and spoons to grams

Table: how many grams in a cup, a tablespoon and a teaspoon

Weight of one measure for 40 common ingredients. Cups are US cups (236.6 ml), a tablespoon (tbsp) 14.8 ml and a teaspoon (tsp) 4.9 ml; the metric cup of our recipes has 250 ml. Click an ingredient to open it in the converter above.

Sticks, packages and eggs

Average weights of pieces and packages. Packages in our recipes are Central European sizes (for example baking powder 12 g, vanilla sugar 20 g, a block of butter 250 g); check the exact weight on the pack.

How big are cups, spoons and ounces

• US cup – 236.6 ml (8 fl oz). Our recipes are translated from Slovak and use a metric cup of 250 ml; the difference of 6% rarely matters in cooking, but in baking you can use the converter.
• Tablespoon (tbsp) – 14.8 ml in the US, 15 ml in metric measuring spoons. Three teaspoons make a tablespoon.
• Teaspoon (tsp) – 4.9 ml in the US, 5 ml in metric measuring spoons.
• Fluid ounce (fl oz) – 29.6 ml, a measure of volume. Ounce (oz) – 28.35 g, a measure of weight: 16 oz = 1 lb = 453.6 g.
• Stick of butter – 113 g (4 oz), which is ½ cup or 8 tablespoons.
• Pinch – what you take between your thumb and forefinger, about 0.4 g of salt.

Why a cup of flour does not weigh the same as a cup of sugar

A cup is a measure of volume, not weight. Dry ingredients have different densities and there is air between the grains, so a cup of granulated sugar weighs about 200 g, all-purpose flour 132 g, powdered sugar 120 g and cocoa only 85 g. Liquids are closer to water: a cup of milk weighs 244 g, oil 218 g (oil is lighter than water) and honey as much as 336 g. That is why a recipe in cups cannot be converted with one number – each ingredient has to be converted separately.

How to measure flour, sugar and fat

• Spoon flour and powdered sugar into the cup and level it with the back of a knife. Do not pack them and do not scoop straight from the bag – the flour compacts and the cup holds more than the recipe expects.
• Granulated sugar flows evenly, just level it. Brown sugar is usually packed lightly – if the recipe does not say so, do not pack it.
• Butter is easiest to weigh: a stick is 113 g and a tablespoon about 14 g.
• Honey and syrup slide out of a spoon or cup completely when you first brush it with a little oil.
• Measure liquids in a measuring cup on a flat surface and read the scale at eye level.

Measures in Slovak recipes

Our recipes come from Slovakia. Old Slovak recipes count in dekagrams (1 dkg = 10 g, so 25 dkg = 250 g), in a “mug” of about 250 ml and in deciliters (1 dl = 100 ml). In the translated recipes we give grams and milliliters, and for oven temperatures °C with °F.

Where the numbers come from

The weights of one measure are average values that we also use for the nutrition facts of the recipes on this website. Milliliters and fluid ounces of dry ingredients are calculated from the weight of a cup. The real weight depends on how you fill the measure, so the numbers are approximate – for doughs where precision matters (sponge cake, yeast dough, macarons) we recommend a kitchen scale.

A different pan size than in the recipe? Use the baking pan converter. The calories of your own recipe are worked out by the recipe calorie calculator.