# Cups to grams converter for cooking and baking

> Convert cups to grams, and grams to cups, for 27 baking ingredients including flour, sugar and butter, using King Arthur Baking and USDA weight charts.

Interactive version: https://www.calcopenly.com/conversion/cooking-converter
Subject: Unit converters

A cup, spoon or millilitre measure of an ingredient becomes grams or ounces when multiplied by the ingredient's density in grams per millilitre, and a weight becomes a volume by dividing. Each density is worked out from a published chart entry: all-purpose flour at 120 g per US cup is 0.507 g/mL, while water is 1 g/mL.

Use it to weigh a cup-based recipe on a kitchen scale, or to measure a gram recipe with cups. The default, 1 US cup of all-purpose flour, gives 120 g; the same cup holds 198 g of granulated sugar and 336 g of honey. Converting cups to tablespoons or millilitres needs no density, because both sides are volumes.

Results are typical values, not guarantees. Flour scooped straight from the bag packs down and weighs more than flour spooned in and levelled, so weigh whenever a recipe already gives grams.

## Inputs

- **Ingredient** (options: All-purpose flour, Bread flour, Whole wheat flour, Cake flour, Almond flour, Cornmeal (whole), Cornstarch, Granulated sugar, Brown sugar (packed), Confectioners' (icing) sugar, Butter, Long-grain rice (dry), Rolled oats, Honey, Maple syrup, Molasses, Table salt, Cocoa powder (unsweetened), Peanut butter, Chocolate chips, Walnuts (chopped), Raisins, Shredded coconut (sweetened), Baking powder, Baking soda, Whole milk, Water)
- **Amount**: Fractions work: 1 1/2, 3/4
- **From** (options: US cup (cup), metric cup (cup (metric)), US tablespoon (tbsp), US teaspoon (tsp), US fluid ounce (fl oz), millilitre (mL), litre (L), gram (g), kilogram (kg), ounce (oz), pound (lb))
- **To** (options: US cup (cup), metric cup (cup (metric)), US tablespoon (tbsp), US teaspoon (tsp), US fluid ounce (fl oz), millilitre (mL), litre (L), gram (g), kilogram (kg), ounce (oz), pound (lb))

## Results

- Converted amount — main result
- Conversion
- Weight (g)
- Volume (mL)
- Density used (g/mL)

## Formula

$$
\begin{gathered} \text{grams} = \text{volume (mL)} \times \rho \\ \rho = \frac{\text{chart grams}}{\text{chart volume (mL)}} \end{gathered}
$$

## Worked examples

### 1 cup all-purpose flour in grams

- Ingredient: All-purpose flour
- Amount: 1
- From: US cup (cup)
- To: gram (g)
- **Converted amount: 120 g**
- Checked against: King Arthur chart: all-purpose flour, 1 cup = 120 g

### 100 g sugar in cups

- Ingredient: Granulated sugar
- Amount: 100
- From: gram (g)
- To: US cup (cup)
- **Converted amount: 0.5051 cup**
- Checked against: King Arthur chart: 1 cup granulated sugar = 198 g; 100/198 = 0.50505

### 1 tablespoon butter in grams

- Ingredient: Butter
- Amount: 1
- From: US tablespoon (tbsp)
- To: gram (g)
- **Converted amount: 14.13 g**
- Checked against: King Arthur chart: 8 tbsp butter = 113 g; 113/8 = 14.125

### 1 cup whole milk in grams

- Ingredient: Whole milk
- Amount: 1
- From: US cup (cup)
- To: gram (g)
- **Converted amount: 244 g**
- Checked against: USDA FoodData Central 171265: 1 cup = 244 g

### Metric cup (250 mL) of packed brown sugar

- Ingredient: Brown sugar (packed)
- Amount: 1
- From: metric cup (cup (metric))
- To: gram (g)
- **Converted amount: 225.1 g**
- Checked against: King Arthur: 1 US cup (236.5882365 mL, NIST HB 44) = 213 g; 250 × 213 / 236.5882365 = 225.0746 (Python fractions)

### Volume to volume needs no density: 3 tsp honey in tbsp

- Ingredient: Honey
- Amount: 3
- From: US teaspoon (tsp)
- To: US tablespoon (tbsp)
- **Converted amount: 1 tbsp**
- Checked against: NIST HB 44 App. C: 1 tablespoon = 3 teaspoons

## Questions

### How many grams are in a cup of flour?

About 120 g for all-purpose or bread flour, according to King Arthur Baking's ingredient weight chart. Whole wheat flour is lighter at 113 g per US cup and almond flour lighter still at 96 g. Flour compresses, so a cup scooped straight from the bag can weigh noticeably more than one spooned in and levelled; when a recipe gives grams, weigh instead of converting back to cups.

### How many grams of sugar are in a cup?

198 g of granulated sugar fill one US cup (King Arthur Baking chart). Packed brown sugar is heavier at 213 g, and confectioners' (icing) sugar is lighter at 113 g because its fine powder holds more air. Going the other way, 100 g of granulated sugar is 0.505 cup, just over half a cup.

### Is a cup 236.6 mL, 240 mL or 250 mL?

All three are in use. The US customary cup is exactly 236.5882365 mL, half a US liquid pint (NIST Handbook 44). US nutrition labels use a rounded 240 mL cup (21 CFR 101.9). Australia, Canada and New Zealand use a 250 mL metric cup, 5.7% larger, so a metric cup of packed brown sugar weighs 225 g instead of 213 g.

### How many grams is a tablespoon of butter?

About 14 g. A US stick of butter is 8 tablespoons, half a cup or 113 g (4 oz), so each tablespoon weighs 113 ÷ 8 = 14.1 g (King Arthur Baking chart). The US tablespoon is 14.8 mL; an Australian tablespoon is 20 mL, so for Australian recipes enter 20 mL per tablespoon instead.

### How accurate is the cups to grams converter?

Accuracy depends on your inputs and the method's assumptions. Decimal arithmetic uses 50 significant digits, but estimates, numerical methods and source data can be less precise; the displayed rounding does not remove those limits. It is checked against 7 worked examples whose answers come from independent sources; for example, “1 cup all-purpose flour in grams” is checked against King Arthur chart: all-purpose flour, 1 cup = 120 g.

### Where does the method come from?

King Arthur Baking — Ingredient weight chart; USDA FoodData Central — Milk, whole, 3.25% (FDC 171265); Water, tap, drinking (FDC 173647); NIST Handbook 44, Appendix C — US cup, tablespoon and teaspoon.

## Sources

- [King Arthur Baking — Ingredient weight chart](https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/learn/ingredient-weight-chart)
- [USDA FoodData Central — Milk, whole, 3.25% (FDC 171265); Water, tap, drinking (FDC 173647)](https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/)
- [NIST Handbook 44, Appendix C — US cup, tablespoon and teaspoon](https://www.nist.gov/pml/owm/nist-handbook-44-current-edition)