Recipe Unit Converter
Paste a full recipe, ingredients and method together, and every measurement is converted at once: cups and spoons to grams using each ingredient's own density, liquids to millilitres, ounces to grams, oven °F to °C and pan sizes to centimetres. It works the other way too, from a metric recipe to US cups.
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Reads 1 1/2, 3/4, ½, 1-1/2, 2.5, ranges (2-3 cups), cups, tbsp, tsp, fl oz, oz, lb, pints, quarts, sticks, g, kg, mL, L, °F/°C and pan sizes in inches or cm.
converted volume only, ingredient not recognized Hover or tap a highlight to see the original.
Conversion details
| Original | Converted | Read as |
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How to use the Recipe Unit Converter
- Paste the recipe into the left box: the ingredient list, the method or both. A sample recipe is loaded so you can see how it works.
- Pick the direction or leave it on auto-detect, which converts US recipes to metric and metric recipes to US cups.
- Choose the options: liquids as volume or weight, whether to convert teaspoons and tablespoons, cup size and rounding.
- Check the highlights: green amounts were converted with the ingredient's density, amber ones by volume only because the ingredient was not recognized.
- Copy or download the converted recipe, and open Conversion details to see the density used for every line.
How the recipe unit converter reads a recipe
Each line of the recipe is scanned for a number followed by a unit. Numbers can be whole (2), decimal (2.5), fractions (3/4), mixed numbers (1 1/2 or 1-1/2), single characters such as ½ and ¾, or ranges (2-3 cups, 9 to 11). Amounts joined with "plus" or "+" (1 cup plus 2 tablespoons) are added together before converting. Words such as "packed", "heaping" or "sifted" between the number and the unit are recognized as part of the measurement.
For every measurement the tool then looks for the ingredient: first in the words that follow the amount on the same line ("2 cups all-purpose flour"), then in the words before it ("whisk in the milk, 1/2 cup"). Longer names win over shorter ones, so "brown sugar", "peanut butter" and "buttermilk" are not mistaken for sugar, butter or milk. Everything that is not a measurement, such as egg counts, times and headings, is left exactly as written.
- Volume of a known dry or soft ingredient (flour, sugar, butter, chocolate chips): grams = millilitres ÷ 236.6 × grams per cup.
- Volume of a liquid (water, milk, oil, cream, broth): converted to mL, or to grams if you choose "Liquids as weight".
- Weight (oz, lb, sticks of butter): converted exactly, 1 oz = 28.349 g and 1 lb = 453.59 g.
- Temperature: °C = (°F − 32) × 5/9, and °F = °C × 9/5 + 32.
- Length: 1 inch = 2.54 cm, for pan sizes, thickness and spacing.
Grams per cup used for common ingredients
Weights for one level US cup (236.6 mL), measured by spooning the ingredient into the cup and leveling it. Scale a tablespoon by 1/16 of a cup and a teaspoon by 1/48.
| Ingredient | 1 cup | 1 tbsp | 1 tsp | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All-purpose flour | 120 g | 7.5 g | 2.5 g | Scooped flour can weigh 140 g or more |
| Bread flour | 127 g | 8 g | 2.6 g | Higher protein, slightly denser |
| Cake flour | 114 g | 7.1 g | 2.4 g | Finely milled, light |
| Granulated sugar | 200 g | 12.5 g | 4.2 g | Caster / superfine sugar uses the same value |
| Brown sugar, packed | 213 g | 13.3 g | 4.4 g | US recipes assume firmly packed |
| Powdered sugar | 120 g | 7.5 g | 2.5 g | Also called confectioners' or icing sugar |
| Butter | 227 g | 14.2 g | 4.7 g | 1 US stick = 1/2 cup = 113 g |
| Vegetable oil | 218 g | 13.6 g | 4.5 g | Kept as 237 mL when liquids stay in volume |
| Milk | 240 g | 15 g | 5 g | Slightly heavier than water |
| Honey | 340 g | 21 g | 7 g | Much denser than water |
| Cocoa powder | 85 g | 5.3 g | 1.8 g | Unsweetened, natural or Dutch-process |
| Rolled oats | 90 g | 5.6 g | 1.9 g | Old-fashioned oats |
| Table salt | 288 g | 18 g | 6 g | Diamond Crystal kosher salt is about 2.8 g per tsp |
| Baking soda | 221 g | 13.8 g | 4.6 g | Baking powder is about 4 g per tsp |
US and metric kitchen measures at a glance
| US measure | Metric | Oven | °C (rounded) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 teaspoon | 4.93 mL (5 mL) | 300°F | 150°C |
| 1 tablespoon (3 tsp) | 14.8 mL (15 mL) | 325°F | 160-165°C |
| 1 fluid ounce (2 tbsp) | 29.6 mL | 350°F | 175-180°C |
| 1/4 cup | 59 mL | 375°F | 190°C |
| 1/2 cup | 118 mL | 400°F | 200°C |
| 1 cup (16 tbsp) | 236.6 mL | 425°F | 220°C |
| 1 pint (2 cups) | 473 mL | 450°F | 230°C |
| 1 quart (4 cups) | 946 mL | 475°F | 245-250°C |
Tips: for baking, weigh dry ingredients after converting; a scale removes the 10-20% variation of scooping flour. Leave small amounts of leaveners and spices in teaspoons if your scale only reads whole grams. For a fan or convection oven, lower the converted temperature by about 20°C (25°F). Australian tablespoons hold 20 mL, so pick the metric cup option only for recipes that use 250 mL cups and 15 mL tablespoons.
Frequently asked questions
How does the recipe converter turn cups into grams?
Cups measure volume and grams measure weight, so the converter multiplies the volume by the density of the specific ingredient. One US cup of all-purpose flour weighs about 120 g, granulated sugar 200 g, packed brown sugar 213 g and butter 227 g. The tool finds the ingredient named on the same line and uses its own grams-per-cup value.
What happens if an ingredient is not recognized?
The amount is still converted, but by volume only (cups to millilitres) and it is highlighted in amber so you can check it. Volume is always correct; only the weight would need a density the tool does not know.
Does it convert oven temperatures?
Yes. °F is converted to °C with °C = (°F − 32) × 5/9 and, by default, rounded to the nearest 10 °C, so 350°F becomes 180°C. Metric to US uses °F = °C × 9/5 + 32 rounded to the nearest 25 °F oven setting, so 180°C becomes 350°F. Untick the rounding option to see exact values.
Is "8 oz" converted as weight or volume?
Ounces are treated as weight (1 oz = 28.35 g) unless the ingredient is a liquid such as milk, water or broth, in which case they are read as fluid ounces (1 fl oz = 29.57 mL). Amounts written as fl oz are always volume, and ounces on cans, jars and packages are always weight.
Which cup size does it use?
The default is the US customary cup of 236.6 mL, used in most American recipes. You can switch to the US legal cup of 240 mL (used on nutrition labels) or the 250 mL metric cup used in Australia, New Zealand and Canada; with the metric cup, a tablespoon is 15 mL and a teaspoon 5 mL.
How accurate is converting grams back to cups?
Weight to weight and volume to volume are exact. Grams to cups depends on how the ingredient is packed: flour scooped straight from the bag can weigh 20% more than spooned and leveled flour. The tool uses spoon-and-level values and rounds to kitchen fractions such as 1/3 or 3/4 cup, adding tablespoons when needed.
Is my recipe uploaded anywhere?
No. The parsing and conversion run in JavaScript on your device. Your last recipe and settings are saved only in your browser's local storage so they are there when you come back.
Are all the tools on FreeToolCabin tested for quality and accuracy?
Yes! Every tool on our site undergoes automated Q/A testing in real browser environments to ensure high precision, correct output, and zero errors. If you happen to spot a bug or have a suggestion, please contact us at [email protected] and our team will review it right away.