Kitchen Unit Converter
Pick an ingredient, a starting unit, and a target unit to instantly convert your quantities between cups, grams, milliliters, tablespoons, teaspoons, and ounces.
Measurement & Ingredient
Select an ingredient to automatically calibrate volume-to-weight conversions.
Quick Presets
Precision Reminder
Volume-to-weight conversions are indicative as density varies based on brands and packing methods.
Why aren't kitchen conversions universal?
Unlike converting length or distance, converting between volume and weight in cooking doesn't rely on a single fixed rule. A cup of flour doesn't weigh the same as a cup of sugar or a cup of butter, because every ingredient has its own density: sugar is more compact and heavier by volume than flour, while butter, being denser still, weighs even more for the same volume. That's why this converter asks you to choose an ingredient before calculating a conversion between volume (cup, ml, tablespoon) and weight (gram, ounce) — without that information, the result would be wrong.
Another source of confusion is the difference between measuring systems. The "cup" used in North American recipes is about 236.6 ml, while some tea cups or measuring cups from other countries can have a slightly different volume. Similarly, the tablespoon and teaspoon vary very slightly depending on the standard used (US, UK, Australian). This converter uses the standard North American values most commonly found in online recipes.
Weigh instead of measuring by volume: the baker's tip
In baking, precision matters a lot: a small error in the amount of flour or sugar can change the texture of a cake or how well a dough holds together. The problem with measuring by volume (cups, spoons) is that it depends heavily on how the container is filled: flour packed into a cup can weigh up to 20% more than the same flour spooned in loosely. That's why most professional bakers recommend using a kitchen scale and weighing ingredients in grams rather than measuring by volume. A scale removes the variability caused by packing and container shape, letting you reproduce a recipe reliably every time.
Even so, this converter remains very useful for quickly adapting an American recipe (often written in cups) to metric units, or for estimating a quantity when you don't have a scale on hand. Just keep in mind that the result is an estimate, not an exact scientific value.
Frequently asked questions
Why does the result change depending on the ingredient I pick?
Because every ingredient has a different density. A cup of flour weighs about 125 g, while a cup of butter weighs about 227 g for the same volume. The converter applies the approximate density of the selected ingredient to go from volume to weight, or the other way around.
Are these conversions 100% accurate?
No, they are approximate. They're based on average values commonly used in cooking, but the actual density of an ingredient can vary slightly depending on its brand, moisture content, or how it was measured (packed or loose). For maximum accuracy, always weigh your ingredients with a kitchen scale.
What's the difference between a tablespoon and a teaspoon?
A tablespoon is about 14.8 ml, roughly three times the volume of a teaspoon, which is about 4.9 ml. Both units are mainly used for small quantities such as spices, baking powder, or flavorings.
Can I use this converter for liquids like milk or oil?
This converter offers water as a reference for liquids, whose density is close to 1 g/ml. Milk or oil have slightly different densities, so the result obtained with water remains a good approximation but not an exact value for those liquids.