Cooking conversions
A cup of flour and a cup of honey weigh nothing like the same — 125 g against 340 g. That is why a single "cups to grams" number does not exist, and why these conversions are per ingredient.
Flour
| Ingredient | 1 cup | 1 tbsp |
|---|---|---|
| All-purpose flour (plain flour) | 125 g | 7.81 g |
| Bread flour (strong flour) | 127 g | 7.94 g |
| Cake flour | 114 g | 7.13 g |
| Whole wheat flour (wholemeal flour) | 120 g | 7.5 g |
| Almond flour | 96 g | 6 g |
| Cornstarch (cornflour) | 120 g | 7.5 g |
Sugar
| Ingredient | 1 cup | 1 tbsp |
|---|---|---|
| Granulated sugar (white sugar) | 200 g | 12.5 g |
| Brown sugar | 213 g | 13.3 g |
| Powdered sugar (icing or confectioners sugar) | 120 g | 7.5 g |
Liquid
| Ingredient | 1 cup | 1 tbsp |
|---|---|---|
| Honey | 340 g | 21.3 g |
| Maple syrup | 322 g | 20.1 g |
| Water | 237 g | 14.8 g |
| Vegetable oil | 218 g | 13.6 g |
| Olive oil | 216 g | 13.5 g |
Dairy
| Ingredient | 1 cup | 1 tbsp |
|---|---|---|
| Butter | 227 g | 14.2 g |
| Milk | 240 g | 15 g |
| Heavy cream (double cream) | 238 g | 14.9 g |
| Yogurt | 245 g | 15.3 g |
| Sour cream | 230 g | 14.4 g |
| Cream cheese | 232 g | 14.5 g |
| Shredded cheese | 113 g | 7.06 g |
| Grated parmesan | 100 g | 6.25 g |
Grain
| Ingredient | 1 cup | 1 tbsp |
|---|---|---|
| Uncooked white rice | 185 g | 11.6 g |
| Rolled oats | 90 g | 5.63 g |
| Breadcrumbs | 108 g | 6.75 g |
Baking
| Ingredient | 1 cup | 1 tbsp |
|---|---|---|
| Cocoa powder | 85 g | 5.31 g |
| Chocolate chips | 170 g | 10.6 g |
| Peanut butter | 258 g | 16.1 g |
| Table salt | 273 g | 17.1 g |
| Chopped nuts | 120 g | 7.5 g |
Cup sizes are not universal
| Cup | Volume | Where |
|---|---|---|
| US customary | 236.6 ml | United States — the default in American recipes and on this site |
| US legal | 240 ml | US nutrition labelling only |
| Metric | 250 ml | Australia, New Zealand, Canada, much of Europe |
| Imperial | 284 ml | Older British recipes |
A metric cup is about 6% larger than a US cup. For most cooking that is within tolerance; for baking it is enough to matter.
The tablespoon trap
A US tablespoon is 14.8 ml and an Australian one is 20 ml — 35% larger. If an Australian recipe calls for a tablespoon of baking powder and you use a US spoon, the result will be noticeably flat. Teaspoons, fortunately, are 5 ml almost everywhere.
Which ingredients a cup measures worst
The spread across this table is 4× — cocoa powder weighs 85 g a cup and honey weighs 340 g. That range is why "1 cup = 200 g" is wrong for almost everything, but it is not the part that ruins a recipe. The part that ruins a recipe is that one ingredient can weigh two different amounts on two different days.
Flour is the worst of them. Scooping the cup straight into the bag compacts it and can give 150 g or more where spooning it in and levelling gives 125 g — a fifth more flour than the recipe asked for, which is the difference between a tender crumb and a brick. Brown sugar has the same problem in reverse, because recipes assume it is packed and a loose cup holds noticeably less.
Liquids do not have this failure mode. Water, milk and oil settle to the same volume every time, so measuring them by cup is genuinely fine.
Measuring without scales
Spoon the ingredient into the cup and level the top with a straight edge. Do not scoop, do not tap the cup on the counter to settle it, and do not press it down unless the recipe says packed. Those three habits are the whole difference between a cup that matches the number in a recipe and one that does not.
If you have scales, use them for flour and leave the cups for liquids. A digital scale costs less than the ingredients in one failed cake.
Going the other way
Recipes give weights and kitchens have cups, which is the direction people are more often stuck in. Weights converted to cups covers 14 common quantities across every ingredient here, each one broken into the cups and spoons to measure it out — because 1.6 cups is a number and not an instruction.