How many millilitres are in a US cup?

A US customary cup is about 236.6 millilitres, derived from 8 US fluid ounces. The US legal cup used on nutrition labels is rounded to 240 millilitres. A metric cup, common in Australia and parts of Europe, is exactly 250 millilitres, so a recipe's origin matters.

How many teaspoons are in a tablespoon?

In the US system there are exactly 3 teaspoons in a tablespoon. A US tablespoon is about 14.79 millilitres and a teaspoon about 4.93 millilitres. The Australian tablespoon is larger at 20 millilitres, equal to 4 teaspoons, which is a common source of recipe errors.

Is a US cup the same as a UK cup?

Not quite. The traditional UK cup is about 284 millilitres (half an imperial pint), larger than the US cup of about 237 millilitres. Most modern UK recipes use metric weights or millilitres rather than cups, so prefer those when available.

Why do dry and liquid cup measures differ?

A cup is a unit of volume, so one cup is the same volume whether it holds flour or water. The confusion is that dry ingredients are often better measured by weight, since a cup of flour can vary 20 percent or more by how it is scooped. For accuracy, weigh dry ingredients in grams.

Should I convert by volume or weight for baking?

For baking, weight is far more reliable than volume because density varies with packing and humidity. This tool converts volume to volume only. If a recipe gives grams, use a kitchen scale rather than converting to cups, especially for flour, sugar, and butter.

Cooking Measurement Conversion Reference

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Recipe units are a minefield: US, UK, and metric cups all differ, and a tablespoon is not the same size everywhere. This reference and converter work entirely in US customary volume units, showing any kitchen amount in teaspoons, tablespoons, fluid ounces, cups, and millilitres at once.

How it works

All conversions go through a single base unit, the millilitre, using the US customary definitions:

1 US cup       = 236.5882365 mL
1 US fl oz     = 29.5735296 mL
1 US tablespoon= 14.7867648 mL  (= 3 teaspoons)
1 US teaspoon  =  4.9289216 mL

Enter any amount in any unit, convert it to millilitres, then divide by each unit’s millilitre value to get all the equivalents.

Example

Half a US cup is 118.29 mL, which is 8 tablespoons, 24 teaspoons, or 4 US fluid ounces. A recipe calling for “3 tablespoons” therefore needs about 44.4 mL.

Notes

Mind the standard: a metric cup is 250 mL and a traditional UK cup about 284 mL, both larger than the US 237 mL cup. An Australian tablespoon is 20 mL (4 teaspoons), not 15 mL. For baking, weigh dry ingredients in grams rather than converting to cups — volume measures of flour vary widely with how you scoop.