About the Cooking Measurement Converter
Recipes come from everywhere now — American blogs, British cookbooks, Australian magazines, a grandmother's handwritten card — and each uses its own measures. One asks for cups, another for millilitres, another for ounces. Worse, the same word does not always mean the same amount: a US cup, a metric cup and an old British cup are all different, and a UK pint is a fifth bigger than a US one.
This cooking measurement converter translates between them. It converts volumes — teaspoons, tablespoons, fluid ounces, cups, pints, quarts, gallons, millilitres, litres, metric cups and UK pints — and weights — grams, kilograms, ounces and pounds. Every volume is also shown as a practical combination of US cups and spoons, so you can measure the answer with the tools you have.
How to Use the Cooking Measurement Converter
Enter the amount.
Choose the unit you are converting from.
Choose the unit you are converting to.
Convert volume to volume, or weight to weight. Converting between volume and weight needs to know the ingredient; for that, use the cups to grams calculator.
How Kitchen Measurements Are Converted
in millilitres (or grams) = amount × size of the first unit
result = that ÷ size of the second unitEverything is converted through millilitres for volume or grams for weight, so any unit can be converted to any other of the same kind.
Step-by-Step Example
One US cup to millilitres.
1 cup × 236.588 ml = 236.588 ml ≈ 237 mlThree tablespoons to teaspoons.
3 tbsp × 14.787 ml = 44.36 ml
44.36 ml ÷ 4.929 ml = 9 tsp250 grams to ounces.
250 g ÷ 28.35 g = 8.82 ozCommon Kitchen Equivalents
| US measure | Equals | Millilitres |
|---|---|---|
| 1 teaspoon | — | 4.9 |
| 1 tablespoon | 3 teaspoons | 14.8 |
| 1 fluid ounce | 2 tablespoons | 29.6 |
| 1 cup | 16 tablespoons, 8 fl oz | 236.6 |
| 1 pint | 2 cups | 473.2 |
| 1 quart | 2 pints | 946.4 |
| 1 gallon | 4 quarts | 3,785 |
| Weight | Grams |
|---|---|
| 1 ounce | 28.35 |
| 1 pound (16 oz) | 453.6 |
| 1 kilogram | 1,000 |
US, Metric and UK Measures
Cups. A US cup is 236.6 ml. Australia, New Zealand and Canada use a metric cup of 250 ml — about 6% more. Older British recipes sometimes use a cup of about 284 ml, but modern UK recipes mostly give weights instead.
Tablespoons. The US and UK tablespoon is about 15 ml, but an Australian tablespoon is 20 ml, or four teaspoons. That difference matters in baking.
Pints. A US pint is 473 ml; a UK pint is 568 ml. US and UK fluid ounces also differ slightly.
When a recipe does not say which system it uses, the country it comes from is the best clue.
Why Weight Is More Accurate
Volume measures depend on how an ingredient is packed. A cup of flour spooned lightly into the cup can weigh a quarter less than one scooped straight from the bag. Brown sugar, cocoa and grated cheese vary in the same way. Weighing removes that uncertainty, which is why professional bakers and most modern recipes use grams. For liquids, volume and weight are much more consistent, and water weighs almost exactly one gram per millilitre.
Fluid Ounces and Weight Ounces
Ounces measure two different things. A fluid ounce is a measure of volume, about 29.6 ml in the US. An ounce of weight is 28.35 grams. For water the two are close, but for most ingredients they are not the same at all — 8 fluid ounces of honey weighs far more than 8 ounces. Check which the recipe means.
Measuring Tips for Accuracy
Use the right tools. Liquid measuring jugs are designed to be read at eye level at the marked line; dry measuring cups are meant to be filled and levelled. Using one for the other makes measurements less accurate.
Level dry ingredients. Spoon flour into the cup, then sweep a flat knife across the top. Scooping straight from the bag packs it down and adds too much.
Measure sticky ingredients carefully. A light coating of oil in the spoon helps honey and syrup slide out, so the full amount reaches the bowl.
Check your spoons. Measuring spoon sets vary slightly, and cutlery spoons are not measuring spoons at all. For small amounts of strong ingredients, such as baking powder or salt, use a proper measuring set.
Zero the scale. When weighing, place the bowl on the scale first and reset it to zero, then add the ingredient.
Temperatures and Other Conversions
Recipes also differ in how they give oven temperatures, in Fahrenheit, Celsius or gas marks, and in pan sizes given in inches or centimetres. Those conversions have their own calculators; getting all of them right together is what makes a recipe from another country turn out as intended.
Understanding Your Result
Result is the amount in the unit you chose.
In millilitres or grams shows the amount in the base unit.
As spoons and cups gives a practical US measuring combination for volumes, or ounces for weights.
Worth knowing highlights differences between measuring systems.
When Should You Use This Calculator?
Following a recipe from another country.
Converting cups to millilitres or grams to ounces.
Working out spoon measures for small amounts.
Checking nutrition labels and serving sizes.
Scaling recipes after converting units.
Common Mistakes
Mixing US and metric cups.
Confusing fluid ounces with weight ounces.
Assuming all tablespoons are 15 ml.
Converting volume to weight without knowing the ingredient.
Packing flour into a cup instead of spooning it or weighing it.