Liters to US Cups Converter (L to cups)
1 L ≈ 4.226753 US cups. Convert liters to US cups for cartons, bottles and big-batch recipes, with a liter chart and a cups to liters chart.
US Cup (cup) = Liter (L) × 4.22675283773
Liter (L): The liter is the metric unit of volume accepted for use with the SI. Since 1964 it has been defined as exactly one cubic decimeter, which is 1,000 cubic centimeters.
US Cup (cup): The US customary cup is half a US pint: 8 US fluid ounces or 236.5882365 mL. US recipes use it; nutrition labels instead use a rounded 240 mL "legal cup".
| Liter (L) | US Cup (cup) |
|---|---|
| 1 | 4.22675283773 |
| 5 | 21.1337641887 |
| 10 | 42.2675283773 |
| 25 | 105.668820943 |
| 50 | 211.337641887 |
| 100 | 422.675283773 |
Milk, stock and juice outside the US come in liter cartons, and soda in 1.5 and 2 L bottles, while American recipes call for cups. One liter is about 4.23 US cups, so a 1 L carton covers a recipe that needs 4 cups with a little to spare. The first chart steps from 0.1 L to 10 L, enough for anything from a splash of cream to a pot of soup.
Answers are in US customary cups of 236.5882365 mL. The "cup" printed on a rice cooker is a different, smaller measure of about 180 mL, which is why a 1.8 L cooker sold as a 10-cup model holds under 8 US cups.
How to use this tool
- Type a value in the Liter box to see it in US cups, or type in the US Cup box to convert the other way.
- Press ⇄ to swap the two units, or Load example for a typical value.
- Check the charts below for common values; for other units, open the Volume converter.
Formula
US Cup (cup) = Liter (L) × 4.22675283773
Liter (L) = US Cup (cup) × 0.2365882365
Both factors come from exact definitions: 1 us cup = 0.2365882365 liters and 1 liter = 4.22675283773 US cups (shown to 12 significant digits).
Example
Two conversions worked with the same factors the converter uses:
2 L × 4.22675283773 ≈ 8.45351 cup
6 cup × 0.2365882365 ≈ 1.41953 L
Liter to US Cup chart
Common values from liters to US cups, rounded to four decimal places.
| Liter (L) | US Cup (cup) |
|---|---|
| 0.1 | 0.4227 |
| 0.2 | 0.8454 |
| 0.25 | 1.0567 |
| 0.3 | 1.268 |
| 0.4 | 1.6907 |
| 0.5 | 2.1134 |
| 0.6 | 2.5361 |
| 0.75 | 3.1701 |
| 0.8 | 3.3814 |
| 1 | 4.2268 |
| 1.2 | 5.0721 |
| 1.5 | 6.3401 |
| 2 | 8.4535 |
| 2.5 | 10.5669 |
| 3 | 12.6803 |
| 3.5 | 14.7936 |
| 4 | 16.907 |
| 5 | 21.1338 |
| 6 | 25.3605 |
| 8 | 33.814 |
| 10 | 42.2675 |
US Cup to Liter chart
The reverse direction for values people often look up.
| US Cup (cup) | Liter (L) |
|---|---|
| 0.5 | 0.1183 |
| 1.5 | 0.3549 |
| 3 | 0.7098 |
| 4.5 | 1.0646 |
| 6 | 1.4195 |
| 7 | 1.6561 |
| 9 | 2.1293 |
| 12 | 2.8391 |
| 15 | 3.5488 |
| 20 | 4.7318 |
| 30 | 7.0976 |
Liter-sized packages in cup terms
| Package | Liter (L) | US Cup (cup) |
|---|---|---|
| Half-liter bottle of water | 0.5 | 2.1134 |
| Liter carton of milk or stock | 1 | 4.2268 |
| Large bottle of sparkling water | 1.5 | 6.3401 |
| Rice cooker sold as a 10-cup model | 1.8 | 7.6082 |
| Big soda bottle for a party punch | 2 | 8.4535 |
| Soup pot, 5-liter size | 5 | 21.1338 |
Quick mental estimate
Multiply the liters by 4, then add 6% of that: 2 L → 8 + 0.48 ≈ 8.5 cups. The combined factor of 4.24 is about 0.3% above the true 4.226753.
Use the converter or the charts when the exact figure matters.
The two units
Liter (L): The liter is the metric unit of volume accepted for use with the SI. Since 1964 it has been defined as exactly one cubic decimeter, which is 1,000 cubic centimeters.
US Cup (cup): The US customary cup is half a US pint: 8 US fluid ounces or 236.5882365 mL. US recipes use it; nutrition labels instead use a rounded 240 mL "legal cup".
Frequently asked questions
Is 4 cups the same as a liter?
Not quite. Four US cups make one US quart, 946 mL, about 5% short of a liter. Four metric cups of 250 mL, used in Australia and Canada, do make exactly one liter, so the "4 cups to a liter" rule of thumb is exact only for metric cups.
How many cups is 2 liters of water?
About 8.45 US cups. Eight 8 fl oz glasses, the familiar daily water target, come to 1.89 L, so a 2 L bottle holds a little more than that.
How many cups are in a 1.5 L bottle?
About 6.34 US cups. Pouring it into 8 fl oz glasses gives six full glasses with roughly a third of a cup left over.
How precise is the result?
The converter uses the exact definitions above with browser floating-point arithmetic and shows up to 12 significant digits. The charts round to four decimal places for reading.
Sources
Last updated:
Page address with these inputs: https://kakao.mobile/tools/liter-to-us-cup-converter/
Cite or embed this tool
kakaoCalc. (2026, November 8). Liters to US Cups Converter (L to cups). https://kakao.mobile/tools/liter-to-us-cup-converter/
“Liters to US Cups Converter (L to cups).” kakaoCalc, 8 Nov. 2026, kakao.mobile/tools/liter-to-us-cup-converter/.
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