Cooking Equivalents and Measures

From cups to grams to eggs, in cooking and in science, numbers need units to be measurements. Different countries use different volume and mass measurements, and converting between them when you’re up to your elbows in a recipe can be a challenge—but we’re here to help.

Try the Conversion Calculator for a specific value or use the tables below.

Volume (liquid)
US Customary	Metric
1/8 teaspoon	.6 ml
1/4 teaspoon	1.2 ml
1/2 teaspoon	2.5 ml
3/4 teaspoon	3.7 ml
1 teaspoon	5 ml
1 tablespoon	15 ml
2 tablespoon or 1 fluid ounce	30 ml
1/4 cup or 2 fluid ounces	59 ml
1/3 cup	79 ml
1/2 cup	118 ml
2/3 cup	158 ml
3/4 cup	177 ml
1 cup or 8 fluid ounces	237 ml
2 cups or 1 pint	473 ml
4 cups or 1 quart	946 ml
8 cups or 1/2 gallon	1.9 liters
1 gallon	3.8 liters

Weight (mass)
US contemporary (ounces)	Metric (grams)
1/2 ounce	14 grams
1 ounce	28 grams
3 ounces	85 grams
3.53 ounces	100 grams
4 ounces	113 grams
8 ounces	227 grams
12 ounces	340 grams
16 ounces or 1 pound	454 grams

Oven Temperatures
US contemporary	Metric
250° F	121° C
300° F	149° C
350° F	177° C
400° F	204° C
450° F	232° C

Volume Equivalents (liquid)*
3 teaspoons	1 tablespoon	0.5 fluid ounce
2 tablespoons	1/8 cup	1 fluid ounce
4 tablespoons	1/4 cup	2 fluid ounces
5 1/3 tablespoons	1/3 cup	2.7 fluid ounces
8 tablespoons	1/2 cup	4 fluid ounces
12 tablespoons	3/4 cup	6 fluid ounces
16 tablespoons	1 cup	8 fluid ounces
2 cups	1 pint	16 fluid ounces
2 pints	1 quart	32 fluid ounces
4 quarts	1 gallon	128 fluid ounces

*US dry volumes are a different system than US liquid volumes. Confusingly, they are also named (dry) pints and (dry) quarts. Using the above tables for dry measures in cooking will likely work just fine. Outside the US, dry ingredients are usually measured by weight. Use the table below to convert weights.

How Many Grams Are In a Teaspoon?

If you're looking for a grams-to-teaspoons conversion chart, you won't find one here. Grams are a measure of mass, and teaspoons measure volume. The correct conversion depends on the density of the item you're measuring. Water has a density of 1 g/ml, so the conversion is 1 gram to 1 millileter, which is equivalent to 0.2 teaspoons. For other substances, the density will be different, and each teaspoon will weigh a different number of grams.

What Language Are You Measuring?

Most countries use the metric system (officially known as the International System of Units), where every unit is defined using a measurable phenomenon, such as the distance light travels in a second. Some English-speaking countries, including the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia, use measurement systems that originated from an old system called “English units”. To add to the confusion, these systems all use the same names, such as pints and quarts, to mean slightly different measurement amounts. Even within the US, there are differences between the US contemporary system and that used by the US Food and Drug Administration. These differences are small when the amounts are small, but can really add up for larger volumes. For example, a US contemporary teaspoon is 4.93 ml compared to 5 ml in the Britisth Imperial System teaspoon. The difference in a teaspoon of vanilla would be hard to measure even if you tried. But that difference becomes much more noticeable when you consider a gallon of milk, which in the US is 3,785 ml versus 4,546 ml in Britain. That’s over 3 US cups more milk when you pay in pounds instead of dollars! So pay close attention to the origin of the recipe you’re using, since the author may be speaking a different language of measurement.