Cooking Converter
This cooking converter accepts a value in US cups and converts it to tablespoons, teaspoons, fluid ounces, milliliters, and liters. It is perfect for scaling recipes, converting between US and metric measurements, and adapting foreign recipes for your kitchen.
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Formula
tablespoons = cups × 16 | mL = cups × 236.588
One US cup equals exactly 8 US fluid ounces, 16 tablespoons, 48 teaspoons, and 236.588 mL by US legal definition. Each tablespoon contains 3 teaspoons and 0.5 fluid ounces. There are 4.22675 cups in a liter. These exact relationships make scaling recipes straightforward with simple arithmetic.
How to use the Cooking Converter
- 1
Enter your volume (us cups)
Enter the volume in US cups to convert to tablespoons, teaspoons, ml, and more.
- 2
Read your results instantly
Results update in real time as you type.
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US Customary Cooking Measurements
American recipes use a hierarchy of volume units: teaspoon (tsp), tablespoon (tbsp), cup, pint, quart, and gallon. The cup is the most common recipe unit for both dry and liquid ingredients. These units have exact defined relationships: 3 teaspoons = 1 tablespoon, 16 tablespoons = 1 cup, 2 cups = 1 pint, 4 cups = 1 quart. Understanding these relationships lets you scale recipes up or down without a converter, but having precise milliliter equivalents helps when adapting US recipes to metric kitchens or vice versa.
Metric Cooking and Recipe Scaling
Most of the world uses metric measurements in cooking — grams for dry ingredients and milliliters for liquids. When converting a US recipe for a metric kitchen, liquids in cups convert simply to milliliters (1 cup = 236.588 mL, often rounded to 240 mL for convenience). Dry ingredients are trickier: one cup of flour weighs about 120–130 g, while one cup of sugar weighs about 200 g. For precision baking, always weigh dry ingredients in grams rather than measuring by volume — ingredient density varies by sifting and packing, making volume measurements unreliable for baking.
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Recipe Scaling and Halving
Scaling a recipe requires proportional changes to every ingredient. Halving a recipe that calls for 1 cup becomes 0.5 cups = 8 tablespoons. Doubling 2/3 cup gives 1 1/3 cups = 1 cup + 5 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon. These fractional cup conversions to tablespoons and teaspoons are where a cooking converter is most helpful, because most kitchens do not have measuring cups for fractions smaller than 1/4 cup. Knowing that 1/3 cup = 5 tbsp + 1 tsp and 2/3 cup = 10 tbsp + 2 tsp makes scaling any recipe manageable.
Tips & Insights
Weigh Dry Ingredients for Baking
Measuring flour by volume is notoriously inaccurate — a packed cup can hold 30% more flour than a sifted cup. For consistent baking results, use a kitchen scale and measure in grams. One US cup of all-purpose flour is about 120–130 g when properly sifted.
Rounding mL for Convenience
The exact US cup is 236.588 mL. Most recipes round this to 240 mL. For liquids, this 1.4% difference is negligible. For very precise baking or pharmaceutical applications, use the exact figure.
UK vs. US Cups
The US cup (240 mL) and the UK/Australian cup (250 mL) differ slightly. Most modern UK and Australian recipes specify mL rather than cups to avoid this ambiguity. If an Australian recipe calls for 1 cup of liquid, add an extra 10 mL over the US cup measurement.
Worked Examples
Convert 2 Cups (Standard Recipe Portion)
2 US cups equals 32 tablespoons, 96 teaspoons, 16 fluid ounces, 473.2 mL, and 0.4732 liters.
Convert 1/4 Cup (Common Recipe Fraction)
0.25 cups (1/4 cup) equals 4 tablespoons, 12 teaspoons, 2 fluid ounces, 59.1 mL, and 0.0591 liters.
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many tablespoons are in a cup?
There are exactly 16 tablespoons in one US cup. Since each tablespoon equals 3 teaspoons, there are also 48 teaspoons in one cup.
How many milliliters are in a cup?
One US legal cup equals 240 mL exactly. The US customary cup is 236.588 mL. Most cooking applications round to 240 mL, which introduces less than 1.5% error.
How do I measure 1/3 cup in tablespoons?
One third of a cup equals 5 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon (5 tbsp + 1 tsp). This is because 1/3 of 16 tablespoons is 5.333 tablespoons, and 0.333 tablespoons = 1 teaspoon.
Is a UK cup the same as a US cup?
No. A US cup is 240 mL (or 236.588 mL precisely), while a UK/Australian cup is 250 mL. The difference is small (about 4%) but can matter in precise baking. Modern UK and Australian recipes increasingly specify mL to avoid confusion.
How do I double a recipe with fractions?
Convert fractions to tablespoons or teaspoons first, then double. For example, 2/3 cup = 10 tbsp + 2 tsp; doubled gives 20 tbsp + 4 tsp = 1 cup + 4 tbsp + 4 tsp = 1 cup + 5 tbsp + 1 tsp. Alternatively, convert to mL and double the milliliter value.
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