Recipe Unit Converter

Complete Guide to Cooking Measurement Conversions

Cooking recipes from different countries often use entirely different systems of measurement. A British recipe calls for grams and Celsius; an American one uses cups and Fahrenheit. Understanding how these systems relate — and knowing the most common conversions by heart — will make you a more confident cook no matter where a recipe originates.

US Customary vs. Metric: What's the Difference?

The United States uses the customary system: cups, tablespoons, teaspoons, fluid ounces, pints, quarts, and gallons for volume; ounces and pounds for weight; Fahrenheit for temperature. Most of the rest of the world uses metric: millilitres and litres for volume; grams and kilograms for weight; Celsius for temperature.

Neither system is better for cooking — they're just different conventions. What matters is converting accurately when a recipe uses a system you're not used to.

Volume Conversions: Cups, ml, and Tablespoons

The most common volume conversion in cooking is cups to millilitres. Here are the key reference points to memorize:

• 1 US cup = 240 ml (technically 236.6 ml, rounded for cooking)
• 1 tablespoon = 15 ml
• 1 teaspoon = 5 ml
• 1 fluid ounce = 30 ml
• 1 pint = 473 ml
• 1 quart = 946 ml (approximately 1 litre)
• There are 16 tablespoons in 1 cup, and 3 teaspoons in 1 tablespoon

Note: Australian tablespoons are 20 ml, not 15 ml. If you're following an Australian recipe, keep this in mind when converting tablespoon measurements.

Weight Conversions: Ounces, Grams, and Pounds

Weight is more precise than volume for cooking, especially in baking. A cup of sifted flour weighs significantly less than a cup of packed flour, but a gram is always a gram.

• 1 ounce = 28.35 grams (often rounded to 28g)
• 1 pound = 453.6 grams (approximately 454g or 0.45 kg)
• 100 grams = 3.53 ounces
• 1 kilogram = 2.2 pounds

For baking, professional recipes use grams rather than cups precisely because gram measurements are reproducible. If a recipe gives both cups and grams, always use the gram measurement.

Temperature Conversions: Fahrenheit, Celsius, and Gas Mark

Oven temperatures are where US and metric recipes diverge most dramatically. The conversion formula is: °C = (°F − 32) × 5/9 or equivalently °F = (°C × 9/5) + 32. Here are the most common baking temperatures:

• 325°F = 163°C = Gas Mark 3 — low oven (slow roasting, meringues)
• 350°F = 177°C = Gas Mark 4 — moderate oven (cakes, cookies)
• 375°F = 190°C = Gas Mark 5 — moderately hot (most baking)
• 400°F = 204°C = Gas Mark 6 — hot oven (roasting vegetables, bread)
• 425°F = 218°C = Gas Mark 7 — very hot (pizza, high-heat roasting)
• 450°F = 232°C = Gas Mark 8 — extremely hot (searing, pita bread)

Gas Mark is used primarily in UK and Irish recipes. It's a scale from 1 to 9, where Gas Mark 4 is the standard moderate baking temperature.

Why You Can't Directly Convert Cups to Grams

A cup of water, a cup of flour, and a cup of honey all have very different weights. This is because a cup is a measure of volume, not mass. The conversion depends entirely on the ingredient's density:

• 1 cup of water = 240 g
• 1 cup of all-purpose flour = 120–130 g (depending on how it's scooped)
• 1 cup of sugar = 200 g
• 1 cup of butter = 227 g
• 1 cup of honey = 340 g

For ingredient-specific cup-to-gram conversions, look up a conversion chart for the specific ingredient, or better yet, use a kitchen scale to weigh directly.

How to Use the Converter Above

Select the category (Volume, Weight, or Temperature), choose your From and To units, enter a value, and the result appears instantly. Use the swap button to reverse the conversion direction. For temperature, the converter handles all three common scales: Fahrenheit, Celsius, and Gas Mark.