Measurements and Conversions

Submitted by editor on August 12, 2009 - 6:58am

If you're going to follow and prepare recipes, sooner or later, you're going to have to deal with measurements and conversions. Here's a handy guide that covers most of the common units of measure.

Cooking Measurement Equivalents

  • 1 tbsp = 1/16 cup
  • 1 tbsp = 3 tsp
  • 1 tbsp = 1/2 ounce
  • 2 tbsp = 1/8 cup
  • 2 tbsp = 1 ounce
  • 4 tbsp = 1/4 cup
  • 6 tbsp = 3/8 cup
  • 8 tbsp = 1/2 cup
  • 12 tbsp = 3/4 cup
  • 16 tbsp = 1 cup

  • 1 cup = 8 fluid ounces
  • 1 pint = 2 cups
  • 4 cups = 1 quart
  • 1 quart = 2 pints
  • 4 cups = 1 quart
  • 1 gallon = 4 quarts
  • 16 ounces = 1 pound

Weight to Volume

Pound, cups, tablespoon and teaspoon conversions assume the base weight-volume of water

  • 1 pound = 2 cups
  • 1 ounce = 2 tablespoons
  • 1/2 ounce = 1 tablespoon

Metric to English Conversion

  • 1 cup = 2 decilitre (dl), 1/5 liter
  • 1/2 cup = 1 decilitre (dl), 1/10 liter

Measure

  • 1 tablespoon = 3 teaspoons = 0.5 oz = 15 grams
  • 1 teaspoon = 0.17 oz = 5 grams
  • pinch is less than 1/8 teaspoon

Metric Conversion Chart

US Canadian Australian
1/4 tsp 1 mL 1 ml
1/2 tsp 2 mL 2 ml
1 tsp 5 mL 5 ml
1 tbsp 15 mL 20 ml
1 tbsp 15 mL 20 ml
1/4 cup 50 mL 60 ml
1/3 cup 75 mL 80 ml
1/2 cup 125 mL 125 ml
2/3 cup 150 mL 170 ml
3/4 cup 175 mL 190 ml
1 cup 250 mL 250 ml
1 quart 1 liter 1 litre