Cooking Conversion Calculator
Recipes cross borders faster than measuring systems do. Convert between cups, grams, millilitres and spoons, with the ingredient taken into account where it matters.
Formula
Convert both measures to millilitres, then divide
- Volume to weight needs the ingredient’s density
- This converter uses the US cup of 236.59 mL, not the 250 mL metric cup
2 cups to millilitres: 2 × 236.59 = 473 mL
Volume Is Not Weight
A cup measures space, not mass, so its weight depends entirely on what is in it:
- Water: 1 cup = 240 ml = 240 g
- Plain flour: 1 cup ≈ 125 g
- Caster sugar: 1 cup ≈ 200 g
- Butter: 1 cup ≈ 227 g
This is why a single cup-to-gram figure cannot exist, and why baking recipes that specify weight are more reliable.
Whose Cup?
Cups differ by country. The US cup is 240 ml, the metric cup used in Australia and much of Europe is 250 ml, and older UK recipes may assume an imperial cup of about 284 ml.
A 4% difference is invisible in a stew and ruinous in a cake. If a recipe does not state its origin, the ingredient list usually gives it away: "all-purpose flour" signals American, "plain flour" British.
Why Bakers Weigh
Scooping flour compacts it. The same cup can hold 110 g or 145 g depending on whether it was spooned in or pressed down — a swing of nearly 30% in the ingredient that determines the structure of the bake.
Digital scales remove that variation entirely, which is why professional recipes are written in grams. For liquids, volume is fine; for flour and sugar, weigh if you can.
Quick Reference
| Measure | Millilitres | As water | As flour | As sugar | As butter |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 teaspoon | 4.93 mL | 5 g | 3 g | 4 g | 5 g |
| 1 tablespoon | 14.79 mL | 15 g | 9 g | 13 g | 14 g |
| 1/4 cup | 59.15 mL | 59 g | 35 g | 50 g | 57 g |
| 1/2 cup | 118.29 mL | 118 g | 70 g | 101 g | 114 g |
| 1 cup | 236.59 mL | 237 g | 140 g | 201 g | 227 g |
Frequently Asked Questions
- How many grams are in a cup?
- It depends on the ingredient. Water is 240 g, plain flour about 125 g, caster sugar about 200 g. There is no single conversion.
- Is a US cup the same as a metric cup?
- No. A US cup is 240 ml and a metric cup 250 ml, roughly 4 per cent apart. Enough to matter in baking.
- Why do baking recipes use weight?
- Because scooping compacts flour unpredictably. The same cup can vary by nearly 30 per cent, which changes the structure of the finished bake.
- How many ml in a tablespoon?
- 15 ml in the UK and US, but 20 ml in Australia. Worth checking when following a recipe from abroad.