Cups, grams, ml, tbsp, oz — density-aware. Flour ≠ sugar ≠ butter at the same volume.
| Ingredient | 1 cup = | 1 tbsp = |
|---|
Volume measures how much space something takes up. Weight measures how heavy it is. The same cup-shaped hole holds 125 grams of all-purpose flour but 200 grams of granulated sugar — because sugar is denser. Density (mass per unit volume) is the only thing that connects the two, and it's specific to each ingredient.
That's why a generic cup-to-gram converter — the kind that treats every ingredient as if it were water — gives you wrong numbers most of the time. This tool stores a density value for 30+ common kitchen ingredients (flour, sugar, butter, honey, oats, salt, etc.) so the math is correct for what you're actually weighing.
Quick reference for the ingredients that come up most often in baking and cooking. All values are for one US cup (236.6 ml). Tablespoon values are 1/16 of the cup value.
| Ingredient | 1 cup | 1 tbsp | 1 tsp |
|---|---|---|---|
| All-purpose flour | 125 g | 7.8 g | 2.6 g |
| Granulated sugar | 200 g | 12.5 g | 4.2 g |
| Brown sugar (packed) | 213 g | 13.3 g | 4.4 g |
| Butter | 227 g | 14.2 g | 4.7 g |
| Vegetable oil | 218 g | 13.6 g | 4.5 g |
| Honey | 340 g | 21.3 g | 7.1 g |
| Water / milk | 237 g | 14.8 g | 4.9 g |
| Rolled oats | 81 g | 5.1 g | 1.7 g |
For everyday cooking — soups, stews, marinades — volume is fine. A tablespoon more or less of olive oil isn't going to ruin dinner.
For baking, switch to weight. The reason is that flour is compressible: a "cup" of flour can weigh anywhere from 110 g to 155 g depending on whether you scooped it out of the bag (which packs the flour as you scoop) or spooned it into the cup and leveled with a knife (the gentler, lighter method). That 30 % swing is the difference between a tender muffin and a brick.
Professional bakeries and most cookbook recipe testers use grams for exactly this reason. A digital kitchen scale costs about $15 and pays for itself the first time you nail a sourdough boule.
Yes, slightly. A US cup is 236.588 ml. An Australian or "metric" cup is exactly 250 ml — about 5 % larger. UK and Canadian recipes vary; most modern UK cookbooks use the 250 ml metric cup, but older ones may reference the imperial cup (284 ml). This converter uses the US cup as the default. For a recipe written in metric cups, multiply by 1.057 to convert to US cups, or just measure in grams and skip the cup entirely.
Tap any question to expand.
Two reasons. First, the method matters: scooping flour straight out of the bag with the cup compresses it and adds 15 – 25 % weight. The 125 g standard assumes the spoon-and-level method (spoon flour into cup, sweep top flat).
Second, flour type matters: bread flour is denser than cake flour. The tool lets you pick the exact flour you're using. If you don't see your specific flour, all-purpose is the safe default.
US cups (236.588 ml). If your recipe uses 250 ml metric cups, multiply the gram value by 1.057. Or set the From unit to ml and enter 250 — that bypasses the cup question entirely.
Brown sugar contains molasses, which is denser than the air gaps between dry sugar crystals, and recipes always call for it packed — meaning pressed firmly into the cup. Together those make brown sugar weigh about 213 g per packed cup vs. 200 g for granulated white sugar.
For most ingredients, no — and especially not for flour. Use this tool (or a scale) to convert. The exception is liquids: 1 ml of water weighs almost exactly 1 g, so for water, milk, and most thin liquids you can swap volume and weight one-to-one. Heavy syrups (honey, maple, molasses) are denser than water and need the conversion.
In US recipes: 1 stick = 1/2 cup = 8 tablespoons = 113 g (4 oz). A pound of butter (454 g) is 4 sticks. The wrapper on each stick is pre-printed with tablespoon markings, which is the easiest way to portion butter without a scale. European butter is sold in 250 g blocks, which doesn't divide neatly into US measures — for European butter, weigh it.
Not the conversion itself — a gram is a gram regardless of elevation. What altitude does affect is how much of an ingredient your recipe needs (less leavening, slightly more flour above 3 000 ft / 900 m), but that's a recipe-adjustment question, not a conversion question. Convert first, then apply your high-altitude tweaks.
Density data is reliable for common pantry staples; for more obscure ingredients (specific brands of nut butter, freshly grated cheese, pre-soaked legumes) the density swings widely depending on prep, brand, and moisture. Rather than ship a wrong number, we left those out. If you have density-by-cup data from a manufacturer or USDA source you'd like to see added, mail leolee@lynnx.ai.