Cooking Unit Converter

Recipe “cups” are not universal. US customary cups are about 236.6 mL; metric and many UK/Australian recipes use 250 mL cups. Tablespoons differ too — US (~14.8 mL), UK/metric (15 mL), and Australian (20 mL). Select your recipe standard above, then convert through a shared milliliter base.

Within each standard, the ratios are fixed: 3 teaspoons make 1 tablespoon, and 16 tablespoons make 1 cup (US) or the equivalent counts for metric/UK/AU sizes. If a recipe does not say which cup it uses, check where it was published or weigh ingredients on a scale when precision matters.

Example (US): 1 cup of liquid equals 16 tablespoons or about 236.6 mL. Example (metric): 1 cup equals 250 mL — about 6% more volume than a US cup, which adds up in baking.

Australian tablespoons (20 mL) are larger than US tablespoons (~14.8 mL) — picking the wrong standard throws off baking.

Metric 250 mL cups vs US 236.6 mL cups differ by ~6% — significant in bread and cake flour weights downstream.

Worked example (US): 1 cup → 16 tbsp → ~236.6 mL.

UK recipes listing milliliters alongside imperial spoons still differ from US volumes — a UK tablespoon is 15 mL while US is ~14.79 mL. When a European blogger writes 15 mL of vanilla, US cooks should not assume one US tablespoon is exact. Australian tablespoons are 20 mL versus ~14.8 mL US — picking the wrong standard throws off baking where spoon errors compound.

Fluid ounces versus weight ounces confuse baking imports: 8 fl oz of water ≈ 240 g, but 8 oz of flour by weight is ~227 g and occupies more volume. This converter handles kitchen volume units only, not ounce-weight conversions. Weight ounces differ from fluid ounces — eight fl oz water ≈ 240 g but eight oz flour by weight is ~227 g and fills more volume.

Batch converting for meal prep: 3 US cups of broth equals 48 tablespoons or about 709.8 mL — useful when your pressure cooker manual lists maximum liquid in cups but your measuring jug is marked in milliliters. Three US cups of broth equals ~709.8 mL — handy when a pressure cooker max line is in cups but your jug shows milliliters only.