Cups to grams converter
A cup is a measure of space. A gram is a measure of weight. Some foods are heavier than others, even when they take up the same space in your cup. That is why one number does not work for everything. Pick your food and the tool will use the right weight.
Quick fill (cups)
Conversion uses 120 g per US cup for all-purpose flour. Cup size: US 236.59 ml. Weights are approximate.
Spoon and level. Scooped flour packs heavier and throws bakes off.
Quick chart: cups to grams for common foods
Here is what one US cup (about 237 ml) weighs for the foods most home cooks use:
- All-purpose flour: 120 g per cup
- Bread flour: 127 g per cup
- Cake flour: 114 g per cup
- White sugar: 200 g per cup
- Brown sugar, packed tight: 213 g per cup
- Powdered sugar: 113 g per cup
- Butter: 227 g per cup (one US stick is 113 g)
- Whole milk: 245 g per cup
- Water: 237 g per cup
- Vegetable oil: 218 g per cup
- Honey: 336 g per cup
- Cocoa powder, no sugar added: 85 g per cup
- Rolled oats: 90 g per cup
- Dry white rice: 200 g per cup
| Ingredient | 1/4 c | 1/3 c | 1/2 c | 2/3 c | 3/4 c | 1 c |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Water | 59 g | 79 g | 119 g | 158 g | 178 g | 237 g |
| Whole milk | 61 g | 82 g | 123 g | 163 g | 184 g | 245 g |
| Vegetable oil | 55 g | 73 g | 109 g | 145 g | 164 g | 218 g |
| All-purpose flour | 30 g | 40 g | 60 g | 80 g | 90 g | 120 g |
| Bread flour | 32 g | 42 g | 64 g | 85 g | 95 g | 127 g |
| Cake flour | 29 g | 38 g | 57 g | 76 g | 86 g | 114 g |
| Whole wheat flour | 28 g | 38 g | 57 g | 75 g | 85 g | 113 g |
| Almond flour | 24 g | 32 g | 48 g | 64 g | 72 g | 96 g |
| Granulated sugar | 50 g | 67 g | 100 g | 133 g | 150 g | 200 g |
| Brown sugar (packed) | 53 g | 71 g | 107 g | 142 g | 160 g | 213 g |
How the converter works
Each food has its own weight per cup. Flour is light and fluffy. Sugar packs tight. Honey is dense and thick. The tool above has the weight per cup saved for each food.
You type the cups. The tool times that number by the weight per cup. It gives you grams. You can also type grams instead, and it works backward to give you cups.
Why your cup can still be off
Even with the right number, two cups of the same food can weigh different amounts. The biggest reason is how you scoop.
Flour is the worst. If you push the cup down into the bag, the flour packs in tight. You end up with 130 to 145 grams. If you spoon the flour into the cup and level the top with a knife, you get 110 to 120 grams. That is a big jump for the same recipe.
Brown sugar works the other way. Most recipes want it packed in firm. Loose brown sugar can weigh 30 percent less.
Cocoa powder clumps. Honey sticks to the cup. Oil drips down the sides. None of this is a problem when you weigh. If a recipe matters, use a scale.
US cup, metric cup, and UK cup
This page uses the US cup of about 237 ml. The metric cup, common in Australia, is 250 ml. That is about 6 percent bigger. Old UK recipes use the imperial cup of 284 ml. If your recipe came from outside the US, check which cup it uses. The small change can matter in baking.
Common cups to grams mistakes
- Using one number, like 1 cup = 128 g, for every food. Flour, sugar, butter, and honey all weigh different amounts at the same volume.
- Mixing US cups (237 ml) with metric cups (250 ml) or UK cups (284 ml). The 6 to 20 percent gap adds up in baking.
- Scooping flour straight from the bag. That packs the flour and adds 10 to 25 grams to your cup.
- Treating brown sugar like white sugar. Brown sugar cups assume you packed it in firm.
- Using cups for butter when the wrapper already gives weight. One US stick is half a cup, 8 tablespoons, or 113 grams.
FAQ
- How many grams is 1 cup of flour?
- One US cup of all-purpose flour is about 120 grams. That is when you spoon the flour in and level the top. If you scoop the cup right into the bag, the flour packs and you get closer to 140 grams. For baking, weigh your flour for the same result every time.
- How many grams is 1 cup of sugar?
- One US cup of white sugar is about 200 grams. Powdered sugar is much lighter at 113 grams per cup. Brown sugar, packed in tight, weighs more at 213 grams per cup. Always check which sugar your recipe wants.
- Is 1 cup the same as 250 grams?
- Only for foods close to the weight of water. One cup of water is 237 grams. Milk is 245. Oil is 218. Flour is 120. Sugar is 200. Butter is 227. Honey is 336. The right answer depends on the food.
- Should I use cups or grams for baking?
- Grams. A kitchen scale gives you the same amount every time. Most modern baking recipes give weights for this reason. A simple scale costs less than a set of measuring cups and pays for itself the first time it saves a batch.
- How do I change a US recipe to metric?
- Take each food one at a time. Look up its weight per cup, then times that by the cups in the recipe. The tool above does this for you. For oven heat, subtract 32 from the Fahrenheit number, times by 5, then divide by 9 to get Celsius. One US cup is 236.59 ml.
- Why do other sites give different numbers?
- Weight per cup depends on the brand, the humidity in the air, and how the writer assumed you measured. King Arthur Baking lists flour at 120 grams per cup. Some sites say 125 or 128. The gap is small, 5 percent or less. We follow King Arthur Baking and USDA FoodData where we can.
Related tools
¿Necesitas esta herramienta en español? Ver el conversor de tazas a gramos.
Where our numbers come from
Our weight values follow King Arthur Baking, USDA FoodData Central, and the America's Test Kitchen ingredient chart. Flour values use the spoon-and-level method, not the scoop-and-pack method.
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