In this guide
Recipes written in cups are convenient but not precise. A cup measures volume, and how much an ingredient weighs in that cup depends on its density and on how you fill it. Weighing in grams removes the guesswork, so converting a cup recipe to grams is one of the most useful baking skills.
Why a cup is not a fixed weight
A cup of water weighs about 237 g, but a cup of all-purpose flour weighs around 125 g and a cup of granulated sugar about 200 g. Flour is light and airy, sugar is dense. Even the same ingredient varies: if you scoop flour straight from the bag, you compress it and can end up with 10 to 25% more than if you spoon it in and level it off. In a cake or bread recipe that difference is enough to make the result dry or dense.
Cups to grams for common ingredients
| Ingredient | 1 US cup | 1 tablespoon |
|---|---|---|
| All-purpose flour | 125 g | 7.8 g |
| Granulated sugar | 200 g | 12.5 g |
| Brown sugar (packed) | 213 g | 13.3 g |
| Powdered sugar | 120 g | 7.5 g |
| Butter | 227 g | 14.2 g |
| Honey | 340 g | 21.2 g |
| Water | 237 g | 14.8 g |
| Milk | 245 g | 15.3 g |
| Vegetable oil | 218 g | 13.6 g |
| Rolled oats | 90 g | 5.6 g |
| Cocoa powder | 85 g | 5.3 g |
| Uncooked white rice | 185 g | 11.6 g |
These are typical values for US cups, and different sources give slightly different numbers. Use them as a reliable starting point, and follow the weight in a recipe if it gives one.
How to convert a recipe from cups to grams
- List each ingredient and its amount in cups, tablespoons or teaspoons.
- Multiply the cups by the grams per cup. A tablespoon is 1/16 of a cup and a teaspoon is 1/48.
- Round to a sensible number, usually the nearest 5 g for large amounts and the nearest gram for small ones.
For example, 2 cups of all-purpose flour is 250 g, 1 cup of granulated sugar is 200 g, and 1/2 cup of butter (one US stick) is about 113 g.
If you only have measuring cups
Fluff the ingredient with a spoon, spoon it lightly into the cup, and level the top with a knife. Do not tap or press it down unless the recipe says "packed", as it does for brown sugar.
US, metric and legal cups
A US customary cup is about 237 ml, a metric cup used in Australia and New Zealand is 250 ml, and US nutrition labels use a 240 ml cup. For most home baking the difference is small, but it can matter in delicate recipes.
Ounces can mean two things
A fluid ounce measures volume (about 29.6 ml), while an ounce on a kitchen scale measures weight (28.35 g). A cup holds 8 fluid ounces, but 8 ounces by weight of flour is only about 1 3/4 cups. Check which one a recipe means.
Why a kitchen scale is worth it
A digital scale with a tare button lets you weigh everything into one bowl, which means fewer dishes as well as better accuracy. It also makes it easy to scale a recipe up or down without awkward fractions of a cup.
Try the calculators
- Cups to Grams Converter: Flour, sugar, butter and more
- Unit Converter: Length, weight, volume, temperature
General information only, not professional advice. See our editorial policy.