Recipe Converter — Cooking Units
Convert a recipe quantity between explicit metric or US cooking units, keeping mass and volume separate and distinguishing cup and tablespoon sizes.
Translate one recipe quantity between clearly named cooking units. Mass converts to mass, and volume converts to volume, without assigning an unknown ingredient the density of water. The comparison table also shows equivalent quantities in the other supported units of the same dimension.
How to use this tool
- Enter a nonnegative quantity.
- Select the unit used by the original recipe.
- Choose a destination unit measuring the same quantity type.
- Check the cup, spoon or ounce qualifier before using the result.
Formula
Converted quantity = input quantity × source factor / destination factor
Mass factors are expressed in grams and volume factors in millilitres. The international avoirdupois pound is 453.59237 g, with 16 ounces per pound. A US customary cup contains 8 US fluid ounces, or 236.5882365 mL.
Example
1 US customary cup converts to 236.5882365 mL or 16 US tablespoons. A 250 mL metric cup is a different volume. Separately, 1 lb converts to 453.59237 g; that mass does not identify a cup volume until an ingredient density is supplied.
Frequently asked questions
Why are there three cup choices?
This tool distinguishes the US customary 236.5882365 mL cup, the 240 mL cup used for US nutrition labeling, and the 250 mL metric cup. A recipe’s stated convention should determine the selection.
Are all tablespoons the same?
No. The available choices are the US customary tablespoon, a 15 mL metric tablespoon and a 20 mL Australian tablespoon. Teaspoons likewise distinguish exact US customary volume from a 5 mL metric measure.
Why is cups to grams rejected?
A cup specifies volume and a gram specifies mass. Flour, sugar, rice and butter have different portion weights, affected by preparation and packing. Use an appropriate ingredient converter or a measured density.
Does this scale an entire recipe?
No. It converts one quantity and leaves the recipe yield unchanged. The separate recipe scaling tool multiplies ingredient quantities. Counts such as eggs, temperature conversions and automatic recipe-text parsing are outside this tool.
Sources
Last updated: 2026-10-30