Recipe Converter
Pick an ingredient, enter an amount and choose the units to convert between. Weights and volumes are linked using each ingredient's density, and the answer updates as you type.
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Created by the Reeliy Editorial Team. Last updated: Oct 19, 2026
Recipe unit conversions
Recipes are written in two languages. American and some Canadian recipes measure by volume, in cups and spoons, while most of the rest of the world measures by weight, in grams and kilograms. A cup of flour and a cup of honey fill the same space but weigh very different amounts, so crossing from one system to the other requires knowing the ingredient.
This converter does that for you. Choose the ingredient, type an amount, and pick the starting and finishing units. When both units are volumes (cups to millilitres, pints to tablespoons) the ingredient makes no difference. When one side is a weight (grams, ounces, pounds), the ingredient's bulk density is used to link the two.
How the conversion works
weight = volume × density
volume = weight ÷ density
Densities are stored in kilograms per cubic metre; water is 1,000, which is the familiar 1 g per millilitre. The cup used is the US legal cup of 240 ml, the size printed on nutrition labels, not the slightly smaller customary cup of 236.6 ml. That is why one cup comes to 16.23 US tablespoons rather than exactly 16.
The table shows what one US legal cup of each ingredient weighs, which is simply 240 ml times its density. Use it as a quick reference or to sanity-check a result.
| Ingredient | Density (kg/m³) | Grams per cup | Ounces per cup |
|---|---|---|---|
| Water | 1,000 | 240 | 8.466 |
| Flour | 520 | 125 | 4.402 |
| Caster sugar | 840 | 202 | 7.111 |
| Granulated sugar | 895 | 215 | 7.577 |
| Icing / powdered sugar | 620 | 149 | 5.249 |
| Brown sugar | 845 | 203 | 7.154 |
| Salt | 1,200 | 288 | 10.159 |
| Butter | 959 | 230 | 8.119 |
| Vegetable oil | 918 | 220 | 7.772 |
| Milk | 1,030 | 247 | 8.72 |
| Peanut butter | 1,090 | 262 | 9.228 |
| Runny honey | 1,420 | 341 | 12.021 |
| Maple syrup | 1,333 | 320 | 11.285 |
| Creams | 1,000 | 240 | 8.466 |
| Rice | 800 | 192 | 6.773 |
| Ground almonds | 480 | 115 | 4.064 |
| Chia seeds | 710 | 170 | 6.011 |
| Cocoa powder | 465 | 112 | 3.937 |
| Chocolate chips | 750 | 180 | 6.349 |
| Custard | 1,100 | 264 | 9.312 |
Useful volume conversions
US and imperial units share names but not sizes. The converter offers both so you can read an old British recipe or an American one. Sizes in millilitres:
| Unit | US (ml) | Imperial (ml) |
|---|---|---|
| Cup | 240 (legal cup) | 284.131 |
| Tablespoon | 14.787 | 17.758 |
| Teaspoon | 4.929 | 5.919 |
| Fluid ounce | 29.574 | 28.413 |
| Pint | 473.176 | 568.261 |
| Quart | 946.353 | 1,136.523 |
| Gallon | 3,785.412 | 4,546.09 |
Handy relationships: 1 tablespoon = 3 teaspoons in either system; 1 US pint = 16 US fluid ounces; 1 imperial pint = 20 imperial fluid ounces. An imperial cup is about 1.18 US legal cups.
Recipe conversion examples
Four typical questions, each answered with the same arithmetic the converter performs. Type the same numbers into the form to check them.
Tablespoons to grams
A recipe asks for 2 tablespoons of runny honey. Two US tablespoons are 29.574 ml; honey is 1.42 g per ml, so the weight is 29.574 × 1.42 = 41.99, which the converter shows as 42 g.
Grams to cups
A British recipe uses 250 g of butter. Butter is 0.959 g per ml, so the volume is 250 ÷ 0.959 = 260.7 ml, or 260.7 ÷ 240 = 1.086 US cups of butter. The same 500 g of flour is 4.006 US cups, or 3.384 imperial cups.
Ounces and pounds to grams
Eight ounces of flour is 8 × 28.35 = 226.8 g, and one pound of caster sugar (453.6 g) fills 2.25 US cups. Weight-to-weight conversions do not depend on the ingredient.
Cups to millilitres
One US legal cup is exactly 240 ml. One imperial cup is 284.131 ml, shown as 284 ml. If a recipe calls for 500 ml of milk, that is 500 ÷ 240 = 2.083 US cups.
How answers are rounded
Kitchen measurements are rarely precise to the milligram, so the converter rounds according to the units involved. Results in grams, milligrams or millilitres are whole numbers, because a spare gram does not change a recipe, with two exceptions: if you start from milligrams or millilitres you get extra decimals (four for grams, three for the others), and if you start from ounces you get two. Every other unit is shown to three decimal places. Large answers are grouped with commas, for example 240,000 g for 1,000 cups of water.
Densities are typical values. Flour packs differently depending on whether it was sifted, scooped or spooned, and brands vary, so a cup of flour can easily differ by 10% or more. For baking where accuracy matters, weigh the ingredients.
Related kitchen conversions
- Need one specific pair? Try cups to grams, cups to ounces or tablespoons to grams.
- To make a recipe bigger or smaller, use the recipe scaler.
- For butter, oil and yeast substitutions see the oil to butter converter, the butter to oil converter and the yeast converter.
Frequently asked questions
How many grams are in a cup?
It depends on the ingredient. One US legal cup (240 ml) is 240 g of water, about 125 g of flour, 215 g of granulated sugar and 230 g of butter.
Why does the ingredient matter for some conversions only?
Cups, spoons and millilitres measure volume, while grams and ounces measure weight. Going between a volume and a weight needs the ingredient's density; volume to volume and weight to weight do not.
Which cup size does this converter use?
The US legal cup of 240 ml. The imperial cup of 284.131 ml is also available, and the older US customary cup of 236.6 ml is not.
How accurate are the results for flour and sugar?
They are good estimates based on typical densities. Real flour varies with how it is packed, so weighing is always more reliable than measuring by volume.
References
Cite this converter and page
If you use this page in your work, you can cite it as:
Reeliy Editorial Team. (2026). Recipe Converter. Reeliy. https://reeliy.com/converters/recipe-converter“Recipe Converter.” Reeliy, 2026, https://reeliy.com/converters/recipe-converter.