How it works
Enter an amount, pick the unit your recipe uses, and pick the unit you want. You can type fractions the way recipes write them, like 3/4 or 1 1/2.
Every conversion goes through milliliters. The amount is turned into milliliters first, then into the unit you asked for. Each unit has an exact size in milliliters, set by law or by an official standard, so the answer is as precise as the recipe.
Cup and spoon sizes aren’t the same everywhere. A US cup is a little smaller than a metric cup, a Japanese cup is smaller again, Australian tablespoons are bigger than everyone else’s, and US and UK pints and fluid ounces are different sizes. Pick the kind your recipe was written for.
The formula
milliliters = amount × (milliliters in one “from” unit)
answer = milliliters ÷ (milliliters in one “to” unit)
The size of each unit in milliliters:
| Unit | Milliliters | Defined as |
|---|---|---|
| US teaspoon | 4.92892159375 | 1/3 US tablespoon |
| US tablespoon | 14.78676478125 | 1/2 US fluid ounce (3 teaspoons) |
| US fluid ounce | 29.5735295625 | 1/128 US gallon |
| US cup | 236.5882365 | 8 US fluid ounces |
| US pint | 473.176473 | 16 US fluid ounces (2 cups) |
| US quart | 946.352946 | 32 US fluid ounces (4 cups) |
| US gallon | 3,785.411784 | 231 cubic inches (128 fluid ounces) |
| US dry pint | 550.6104713575 | 33.6003125 cubic inches (1/64 bushel) |
| US dry quart | 1,101.220942715 | 2 US dry pints |
| US legal cup | 240 | Set for nutrition labels |
| UK fluid ounce | 28.4130625 | 1/20 UK pint |
| UK pint | 568.26125 | 1/8 UK gallon |
| UK gallon | 4,546.09 | 4.54609 liters |
| Metric teaspoon | 5 | |
| Metric tablespoon | 15 | |
| Australian tablespoon | 20 | 4 metric teaspoons |
| Metric cup | 250 | |
| Japanese cup | 200 | |
| Liter | 1,000 |
Worked example
Want this with your own numbers? See Show the work above.
A recipe calls for 2 US cups of stock, and you want to measure it with a US tablespoon.
- Turn cups into milliliters: 2 × 236.5882365 = 473.176473 mL (473.1765 mL, rounded).
- Turn milliliters into tablespoons: 473.176473 ÷ 14.78676478125 = 32 US tablespoons.
That’s 16 tablespoons for each cup. It works the same with fractions: 1 1/2 US cups is 1.5 × 236.5882365 = 354.8824 mL.
FAQ
How many tablespoons are in a cup?
A US cup holds exactly 16 US tablespoons. A metric cup (250 mL) holds 16 2/3 metric tablespoons (15 mL each), so recipes written in metric cups usually measure larger amounts in cups and smaller ones in spoons.
How many teaspoons are in a tablespoon?
Three, in US and most metric measures: a US tablespoon is 3 US teaspoons, and a metric tablespoon (15 mL) is 3 metric teaspoons (5 mL). Australia is the exception. Its tablespoon is 20 mL, which is 4 teaspoons, so an Australian recipe’s “1 tablespoon” is a third more than a US or metric one.
Is a US cup the same as a metric cup?
No. A US cup is 236.5882365 mL and a metric cup is 250 mL, so a metric cup is about 13.4 mL (roughly a tablespoon) bigger. Canada’s food guide uses the 250 mL cup, and so do recipes written in metric cups elsewhere. A Japanese recipe’s cup is 200 mL. For most cooking the difference won’t matter much, but in baking it’s worth using the size the recipe was written for.
What is a US legal cup?
It’s the cup used on US nutrition labels: exactly 240 mL, set by the FDA’s nutrition labeling rules. It’s about 3.4 mL bigger than the customary US cup in recipes and measuring cups. If a label says a serving is 1 cup, it means 240 mL.
What is a dry pint?
The US has separate pints and quarts for measuring dry goods. A US dry pint is 550.61 mL, about 16% more than a US liquid pint (473.18 mL). Recipes almost always mean liquid pints and quarts unless they say “dry”.
Why is a UK pint bigger than a US pint?
A UK pint is 20 UK fluid ounces and a US pint is 16 US fluid ounces. A UK fluid ounce is slightly smaller than a US one, but the extra four ounces more than make up for it, so a UK pint (568.26125 mL) is about 20% bigger than a US pint (473.176473 mL).
Can I convert cups to grams with this?
No. Cups and milliliters measure volume, and grams measure weight. How much a cup weighs depends on what’s in it: a cup of flour weighs much less than a cup of sugar. To go from cups to grams you need the weight of that ingredient, which this converter doesn’t use.
Are fluid ounces the same as ounces?
No. A fluid ounce measures volume, like a cup, and an ounce measures weight, like a gram. They only line up for water and liquids with a similar weight, and even then only roughly.
Sources
- US gallon, cup, tablespoon, teaspoon, and dry pint and quart: NIST Handbook 44 (2026), Appendix C, General Tables of Units of Measurement
- US cup, fluid ounce, tablespoon, teaspoon, pint, quart, and gallon in cubic meters, and the UK gallon: NIST Guide to the SI (SP 811), Appendix B.9
- How US cups, spoons, pints, quarts, and gallons relate: NIST, Metric Kitchen: Cooking Measurement Equivalencies
- UK gallon, pint, and fluid ounce: Weights and Measures Act 1985, Schedule 1 (legislation.gov.uk)
- Metric cup, tablespoon, and teaspoon: Health Canada, Measure ingredients like a pro
- US legal cup: 21 CFR 101.9(b)(5)(viii), nutrition labeling of food (Legal Information Institute)
- Australian tablespoon: Food Standards Australia New Zealand, Final Assessment Report, Application A597 (2009), page 23
- Japanese cup: Japan Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, 米の調理特性 (cooking properties of rice)
Cite this page
APA (7th edition)
Mathlark. (2026, September 30). Cooking measurement converter. https://mathlark.com/cooking/cooking-measurement-converter/
MLA (9th edition)
"Cooking Measurement Converter." Mathlark, 30 Sept. 2026, mathlark.com/cooking/cooking-measurement-converter/.