Basic equivalents
1 cup = 16 tbsp = 48 tsp
1 tbsp = 3 tsp
1 Canadian cup = 250 mL · 1 US cup = 236.6 mL
1 tbsp = 3 tsp
1 Canadian cup = 250 mL · 1 US cup = 236.6 mL
These ratios are exact with US measures. With Canadian metric measures (250 mL cup and 15 mL tablespoon), a cup actually holds 16.7 tablespoons, but recipes round it to 16.
Canadian cup or US cup?
In Canada, recipes and the measuring cups sold in stores use the 250 mL metric cup and the 15 mL tablespoon, the same values used in federal food labelling rules. A US cup is 236.6 mL, about 5% less. The difference doesn't matter for soup, but it can matter in baking. Older Canadian recipes sometimes used the imperial cup, which is 227 mL.
Cup fractions in millilitres
| Cup | Tbsp | Canada | US |
|---|---|---|---|
| ¼ cup | 4 | 63 mL | 59.1 mL |
| ⅓ cup | 5.3 | 83 mL | 78.9 mL |
| ½ cup | 8 | 125 mL | 118.3 mL |
| ⅔ cup | 10.7 | 167 mL | 157.7 mL |
| ¾ cup | 12 | 188 mL | 177.4 mL |
| 1 cup | 16 | 250 mL | 236.6 mL |
| 2 cups | 32 | 500 mL | 473.2 mL |
| 4 cups | 64 | 1,000 mL | 946.4 mL |
Recipe abbreviations
- tbsp, T or Tbs: tablespoon, 15 mL.
- tsp or t: teaspoon, 5 mL.
- fl oz: fluid ounce, 29.6 mL. Don't confuse it with the weight ounce (28.35 g).
More cooking conversions
To go from volume to weight, like a cup of flour in grams, use our cups to grams converter: the weight depends on the ingredient. For oven temperatures, see Fahrenheit to Celsius.