Cooking Measurement Converter

Cooking measurements cause more kitchen mistakes than any other factor — and it's not your fault. The problem is that the world uses three different measurement systems simultaneously: US customary, metric, and Imperial (UK). A "cup" in the US is 236ml, in Australia it's 250ml, and in the UK it's 284ml. A "tablespoon" in Australia is 20ml, but everywhere else it's 15ml (or 14.8ml in the US).

Online recipes make this worse. A recipe from a British food blog, an American cookbook, and an Australian cooking show all use different measurement standards — but none of them tell you which system they're using. If you follow a British recipe using American cups, you'll have 20% less liquid than intended. That's enough to ruin a cake, a sauce, or a bread dough.

This converter solves the problem by letting you convert between 24 different cooking measurements across all three systems — US cups, metric cups, Imperial cups, Japanese cups, tablespoons (US, metric, and Australian), teaspoons, fluid ounces, pints, quarts, gallons, millilitres, centilitres, decilitres, and litres. Every conversion is precise to the ml, so you get the exact amount the recipe author intended.

Dry Ingredients (Flour, Sugar, Cocoa)

Spoon and level — don't scoop directly from the bag. Scooping compresses the ingredient and can give you up to 30% more than intended. Instead, spoon the ingredient into the cup and level off the top with a knife. This is the standard assumed by all US recipe authors.

Liquid Ingredients (Water, Milk, Oil)

Use a clear glass or plastic measuring jug with markings on the side. Place it on a flat surface and read at eye level — the liquid should be at the bottom of the meniscus (the slight curve at the top). Metal dry-measure cups are not accurate for liquids because surface tension changes the volume.

Sticky Ingredients (Honey, Syrup, Peanut Butter)

Coat the measuring cup or spoon with a thin layer of neutral oil first — the sticky ingredient will slide right out. Alternatively, weigh them: it's faster and more accurate. A digital kitchen scale that reads in both grams and ounces is the single best kitchen purchase you can make for under £20.

Brown Sugar

Unless a recipe specifically says "loosely packed", always pack brown sugar firmly into the cup. When you turn the cup upside down, it should hold its shape. Packed brown sugar weighs about 220g per US cup; loose brown sugar is only 145g — a 52% difference that will completely change your recipe.

When to Use Weight Instead

For baking, always use weight when available. Professional bakers and recipe developers weigh everything because it eliminates the variables of how tightly an ingredient is packed, how finely it's ground, or how humid the air is. If a recipe gives both cups and grams, use the grams. Our cups to grams converter can help bridge the gap.