US cups to US tablespoons converter

How many tablespoons are in a cup?

Sixteen. Multiply US cups by 16: tbsp = cups × 16, so ¼ cup = 4 tbsp, ½ cup = 8 tbsp and ¾ cup = 12 tbsp. This uses the US customary cup (236.59 mL) and tablespoon (14.79 mL). A 250 mL metric cup holds about 16.9 US tablespoons.

Why a cup is 16 tablespoons

A US cup is 8 US fluid ounces and a US tablespoon is half a fluid ounce, so a cup holds 8 ÷ ½ = 16 tablespoons (NIST Handbook 44, Appendix C). In milliliters, 236.5882365 ÷ 14.78676478125 is exactly 16.

Cups to tablespoons chart

Thirds of a cup need a teaspoon

Thirds leave a remainder. Since 1 tbsp is 3 tsp, the leftover third of a tablespoon is 1 tsp:

• ⅓ cup = 5⅓ tbsp = 5 tbsp + 1 tsp
• ⅔ cup = 10⅔ tbsp = 10 tbsp + 2 tsp

Halving a recipe and measuring butter

Tablespoons make awkward cup fractions measurable: half of ¾ cup is ⅜ cup, which is exactly 6 tbsp.

A US stick of butter is ½ cup: 8 tbsp, or 113 g (4 oz), the figures the cooking converter uses. So ¼ cup of butter is 4 tbsp, half a stick.

Metric and Australian cups

The 250 mL metric cup used in Australia, New Zealand and Canada holds more than a US cup:

• about 16.9 US tablespoons
• 16⅔ metric tablespoons of 15 mL
• exactly 12.5 Australian tablespoons of 20 mL (NSW cooking-measure reference)

In an Australian recipe, ¼ cup is 62.5 mL: just over 3 tablespoons, not 4.

Common mistakes

• Leaving out the teaspoon on thirds. 5 tbsp alone is about 6% short of ⅓ cup.
• Expecting a different count for dry ingredients. A cup is 16 tbsp of flour, sugar or milk alike; only the weight changes.
• Scooping flour. Flour scooped from the bag packs down and weighs more than flour spooned in and leveled, so spoon it into the measure and level it.

Related conversions

For the reverse, use the tablespoons to cups converter. Cups to mL gives milliliters, and cups to ounces gives US fluid ounces.