Cooking Unit Converter
American recipes work in cups and tablespoons; European and professional recipes work in grams and millilitres; British recipes are somewhere in between. This converter handles all of it — volume-to-volume (cups to ml), weight-to-weight (oz to g), and volume-to-weight for ingredients where density matters (flour, sugar, butter, honey). No more guessing whether a “cup of flour” means 120 g or 150 g.
How to convert cooking units
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1
Enter the amount and unit
2 cups, 500 g, 3 tablespoons, 8 fl oz — any standard cooking unit.
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2
Pick the target unit
The converter only offers sensible targets: volume-to-volume always, volume-to-weight only when you pick an ingredient.
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3
Select an ingredient if needed
Required for volume-to-weight. Flour, sugar, butter, milk, rice, oil each have different densities.
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4
Read the result
Converted value with the working shown and a rounded cooking-friendly number.
The two tricky conversions
1. US cup vs. metric cup vs. imperial cup
| Cup type | Volume |
|---|---|
| US legal | 240 ml |
| US customary | 236.6 ml |
| Metric | 250 ml |
| UK (imperial) | 284 ml |
Most recipe apps normalise to the US customary cup (236.6 ml). A 5% error per cup compounds — follow the cup size your recipe assumes.
2. Volume-to-weight for baking
A “cup of flour” has no universal weight because it depends on the flour type and how it is packed:
| Ingredient | 1 US cup ≈ |
|---|---|
| All-purpose flour (spooned) | 120 g |
| All-purpose flour (scooped) | 140-160 g |
| Bread flour | 130 g |
| Cake flour | 115 g |
| Granulated sugar | 200 g |
| Brown sugar (packed) | 220 g |
| Powdered sugar | 120 g |
| Butter | 227 g |
| Cocoa powder | 85 g |
| Honey | 340 g |
| Milk | 240 g |
| Rice (uncooked) | 185 g |
Serious bakers use weight, not volume — a digital kitchen scale eliminates the scoop-vs-spoon variance that ruins cakes.
Tablespoon and teaspoon — watch the country
- US tablespoon = 14.79 ml (≈ 15 ml for most purposes)
- Metric tablespoon = 15 ml
- UK tablespoon = 17.76 ml
- Australian tablespoon = 20 ml (!)
1 US tablespoon = 3 US teaspoons. A stick of US butter = 8 tablespoons = 113 g = 1/2 cup.
Liquid vs. dry measuring
For liquids, volume is reliable — 1 cup of water is always 236.6 ml weighing 236.6 g. For dry goods, weight is reliable and volume is an approximation. Use a liquid measuring cup (spouted glass) for liquids and a dry measuring cup (flat-topped set) for flour, and level off with a knife.
Frequently Asked Questions
About 120 g for all-purpose flour spooned-and-levelled, 140-160 g if dipped and scooped. Most reliable baking recipes specify 120 g per cup. Weigh it if the recipe lets you.
No. The UK imperial cup is 284 ml, the US customary cup is 236.6 ml — a 20% difference. Modern UK recipes often use metric or the US cup; check what the author specifies.
Divide the gram amount by the ingredient density. 250 g of flour ÷ 120 g/cup ≈ 2.08 cups. For mixed-ingredient recipes, it is usually easier to switch to a scale than convert each line.
Only for water-like liquids. 1 US fl oz of water weighs 1 oz; 1 fl oz of honey weighs about 1.4 oz; 1 fl oz of oil weighs about 0.91 oz. Always clarify weight vs. volume.
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