Cooking Measurement Converter
Cups to grams (and back) for common baking ingredients.
Good to know. A cup of flour weighs much less than a cup of sugar. That’s why bakers weigh things.
Approximate. Real-world values vary.
How it works
In plain words
Cups and spoons measure volume; grams and ounces measure weight. To switch between them, you need to know how much a cup of that ingredient weighs, which is different for flour, sugar and butter.
The formula
grams = cups × grams per cup (ingredient) 1 US cup = 236.6 ml = 16 tbsp = 48 tsp
Worked example
2 cups of all-purpose flour at about 120 g per cup is 240 g.
Sources
- King Arthur Baking, Ingredient Weight Chart Grams per cup for flours, sugars, butter, oats, cocoa and honey.
- USDA FoodData Central Grams per cup for water, milk, rice and oil.
- NIST Special Publication 811, Guide for the Use of the International System of Units, Appendix B Exact conversion factors for US customary units.
Sources checked September 29, 2026. 7 automated tests check its answers on every change.
About the cooking measurement converter
American recipes measure by volume, in cups and spoons, while most of the rest of the world weighs ingredients in grams. You can’t convert between the two with a single number, because a cup of flour weighs much less than a cup of sugar, and a cup of honey weighs almost three times as much as a cup of oats. This converter uses a typical weight per cup for each ingredient.
These are approximations. How you fill the cup matters a lot, especially for flour: scooping straight from the bag packs it down and can give 150 g or more, while spooning it in and levelling it gives around 120 g. The values here assume the spoon-and-level method, which most modern recipes use. Brown sugar is packed firmly, as recipes usually specify.
For baking, where accuracy counts, a kitchen scale is the most reliable tool, and it means less washing up too. For cooking, small differences rarely matter.
Spoons and cups here are US measures: a cup is 236.6 ml, a tablespoon 14.8 ml and a teaspoon 4.9 ml. Many countries use a 250 ml metric cup and a 15 ml tablespoon, which differ by a few percent. Australia uses a 20 ml tablespoon.
Liquids like water and milk weigh roughly a gram per millilitre, so their conversions are the most dependable.
Questions people ask
How many grams is a cup of flour?
About 120 g for all-purpose flour, spooned and levelled. Scooped flour can be 150 g or more.
How many grams is a cup of sugar?
About 198 g for granulated sugar, 213 g for packed brown sugar, and 113 g for powdered sugar.
How many grams is a stick of butter?
A US stick is half a cup, about 113 g (4 oz).
Why aren’t the results exact?
Because the weight of a cup depends on how the ingredient is packed, its moisture and the brand. Weighing is always more accurate.