Cooking Volume Converter
Convert cooking volumes between teaspoons, tablespoons, fluid ounces, cups, pints, quarts, gallons, millilitres, and litres.
How to use this tool
- Enter volume and from unit in the fields above.
- Results update instantly as you type — or click Calculate.
- Read your millilitres and the full breakdown beneath it.
Formula
All volumes are normalised to millilitres (mL), then converted to each target unit:
mL = value × factorfrom
Key factors (US customary): 1 tsp = 4.92892 mL, 1 tbsp = 14.78676 mL, 1 fl oz = 29.57353 mL, 1 cup = 236.58824 mL, 1 pt = 473.17647 mL, 1 qt = 946.35295 mL, 1 gal = 3,785.41178 mL, 1 L = 1,000 mL.
How it works
The converter uses US customary fluid volumes, where 1 cup equals 8 fluid ounces. Every input is multiplied by its mL equivalent to get a base volume in millilitres, then divided by each output unit's mL factor to produce all results simultaneously.
Common mistake: Assuming a UK (imperial) cup or tablespoon is the same as a US one. A UK tablespoon is 17.758 mL versus the US 14.787 mL, and an imperial cup is 284 mL versus the US 237 mL — a difference large enough to noticeably affect baking recipes.
Worked example
Convert 1 cup to all cooking volume units
- Input: 1 cup. Factor for cup = 236.58824 mL.
- Base mL = 1 × 236.58824 = 236.58824 mL.
- tsp = 236.58824 / 4.92892 ≈ 48; tbsp = 236.58824 / 14.78676 ≈ 16; fl oz = 236.58824 / 29.57353 ≈ 8.
- pt = 236.58824 / 473.17647 ≈ 0.5; qt ≈ 0.25; gal ≈ 0.0625; L ≈ 0.23659.
1 cup = 48 tsp = 16 tbsp = 8 fl oz = 0.5 pt = 0.25 qt = 0.0625 gal = 236.588 mL = 0.23659 L.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Using metric teaspoons (5 mL exactly) interchangeably with US teaspoons (4.92892 mL) -- in everyday cooking the difference is negligible, but for leavening agents like baking powder the small error can compound across a batch.
- Assuming a cup is always 240 mL -- US legal cups used in nutrition labelling are exactly 240 mL, but standard US cups are 236.588 mL; recipe apps may use either value.
- Mixing Imperial pints (568 mL) with US pints (473 mL) when following British versus American recipes -- a US pint is about 83% of an Imperial pint.
Key terms
- Fluid ounce (fl oz)
- A unit of volume equal to 1/8 of a US cup, or approximately 29.57 mL. Distinct from a weight ounce — fluid ounces measure volume, not mass.
- Teaspoon (tsp)
- A small cooking measure equal to 1/3 of a tablespoon, or approximately 4.93 mL in the US system.
- Tablespoon (tbsp)
- A cooking measure equal to 3 teaspoons or 1/16 of a US cup, approximately 14.79 mL.
- Millilitre (mL)
- One thousandth of a litre. Equal to 1 cubic centimetre (cm³). The SI base unit used here to unify all cooking volume conversions.
Frequently asked questions
- How many tablespoons are in a cup?
- 16 US tablespoons equal 1 US cup (236.588 mL). Each tablespoon is 14.787 mL, or about 3 teaspoons.
- Is a UK cup the same as a US cup?
- No. The UK does not have an official cup measure in its customary system, but recipes sometimes use a 250 mL metric cup (common in Australia and Canada), which is slightly larger than the US 236.6 mL cup.
- How do I convert a recipe that lists volume of flour to grams?
- Volume-to-weight depends on the ingredient. One US cup of all-purpose flour is typically 120-130 g depending on how packed it is. For precision baking, weigh ingredients rather than relying on volume conversions.