Tablespoon to Teaspoon Calculator

About the Tablespoon to Teaspoon Calculator

Tablespoons and teaspoons are the smallest everyday kitchen measures, used for spices, salt, baking powder, vanilla, oil and sauces. Converting between them comes up constantly: when a teaspoon measure is missing from the drawer, when a recipe is halved or doubled, or when an amount like "7 teaspoons" would be much quicker to measure in tablespoons.

This tablespoon to teaspoon calculator converts tablespoons to teaspoons and teaspoons to tablespoons. It works with the standard US and UK tablespoon of three teaspoons and with the larger Australian tablespoon of four teaspoons. It shows the amount in millilitres, and — when converting teaspoons to tablespoons — how to measure it as whole tablespoons plus a few teaspoons.

How to Use the Tablespoon to Teaspoon Calculator

Choose whether to convert tablespoons to teaspoons or teaspoons to tablespoons.

Enter the amount. Decimals such as 1.5 or 0.5 work.

Choose the tablespoon size: US and UK, or Australian.

How the Conversion Works

  US / UK:        1 tablespoon  =  3 teaspoons   ≈ 14.8 ml
  Australian:     1 tablespoon  =  4 teaspoons   =  20 ml
  1 teaspoon      ≈  5 ml

  teaspoons       =  tablespoons × 3   (or × 4)
  tablespoons     =  teaspoons ÷ 3     (or ÷ 4)

Step-by-Step Example

Three US tablespoons to teaspoons.

  3 tbsp × 3              =  9 tsp
  9 tsp × 4.93 ml         =  44.4 ml

Seven teaspoons to US tablespoons.

Two Australian tablespoons to teaspoons.

  2 tbsp × 4              =  8 tsp  =  40 ml

Quick Reference

US, UK and Australian Tablespoons

The US tablespoon is defined as half a US fluid ounce, about 14.8 ml. The modern UK tablespoon is 15 ml. The difference is too small to matter in a kitchen, and both hold three teaspoons.

Australia is the exception. Its standard tablespoon is 20 ml and holds four teaspoons, a third more than a US or UK tablespoon. In most savoury cooking that hardly matters, but in baking it can: a recipe calling for two tablespoons of baking powder or cocoa gives noticeably different results depending on which spoon is used. If an Australian recipe is followed with US spoons, add a teaspoon for every tablespoon to match.

Measuring Small Amounts Accurately

Use measuring spoons, not cutlery. Table and dessert spoons vary widely in size and are not designed for measuring.

Level dry ingredients. Fill the spoon, then sweep a flat knife across the top. A heaped spoon can hold twice as much.

Measure liquids at eye level. Fill the spoon right to the brim without letting it overflow.

Keep leavening precise. Baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and yeast are powerful, and small errors change how a bake rises.

Measure strong ingredients away from the bowl, so a spill does not end up in the mixture.

Pinches, Dashes and Smidgens

Some recipes use informal measures smaller than a teaspoon. A dash is usually taken as about an eighth of a teaspoon, a pinch as a sixteenth, and a smidgen as a thirty-second. Some measuring spoon sets include these sizes, but for most dishes a small pinch between finger and thumb is close enough.

Spoon Measures in Medicine

Medicine doses are often given in millilitres, and a kitchen teaspoon or tablespoon is not a safe substitute. Household spoons vary widely, and an error of half a teaspoon matters far more for a child's medicine than for a recipe. Use the oral syringe or measuring cup supplied with the medicine, and follow the label or a pharmacist's advice rather than converting doses to kitchen spoons.

Converting Spoons to Cups

For larger amounts, spoons quickly become tedious. Sixteen tablespoons make a cup, so eight tablespoons is half a cup and four is a quarter. If a recipe scaled up calls for 12 tablespoons of something, three quarters of a cup is much quicker to measure. The cooking measurement converter handles these larger conversions, including to millilitres and metric cups.

Dry and Liquid Spoon Measures

The same measuring spoon is used for both dry and liquid ingredients, but they are filled differently. Dry ingredients are scooped and levelled flat with a knife. Liquids are poured in until they reach the brim. For sticky liquids such as honey or syrup, a light coating of oil helps the full measure slide out of the spoon.

Teaspoons Around the World

The teaspoon is the most consistent kitchen measure internationally: about 5 ml in the US, the UK and Australia alike. That is why many modern recipes and food labels give small quantities in teaspoons or millilitres rather than tablespoons. When in doubt about a tablespoon's size, converting a recipe's spoons to teaspoons and measuring those avoids the problem.

Keeping Spoons Together

Measuring spoons on a ring are easy to find but awkward to dip into narrow jars. A set of separate spoons, or narrow rectangular spoons, fits spice jars better.

Understanding Your Result

Result is the converted amount.

Millilitres shows the volume in millilitres.

To measure shows how to make up the amount from whole tablespoons and teaspoons.

Worth knowing explains the difference between tablespoon sizes.

When Should You Use This Calculator?

When a measuring spoon is missing.

Halving or doubling a recipe.

Following an Australian recipe with US spoons.

Measuring medicine or supplements given in millilitres, using kitchen spoons only when the label allows.

Converting a recipe into fewer, larger measures.

Common Mistakes

Using cutlery spoons instead of measuring spoons.

Heaping dry ingredients instead of levelling them.

Ignoring the Australian tablespoon in baking recipes.

Confusing tbsp and tsp in handwritten recipes.

Rounding leavening amounts carelessly.