Guide

Cooking Conversion Cheat Sheet

Recipes mix cups, tablespoons, grams, ounces, and oven temperatures depending on where they were written. This cheat sheet gathers the conversions cooks look up most often, plus notes on why cooking measurements are less exact than they look.

Volume Conversions

US Volume	Millilitres
1 teaspoon (tsp)	5 ml
1 tablespoon (tbsp / 3 tsp)	15 ml
1 fluid ounce (2 tbsp)	30 ml
1/4 cup (4 tbsp)	60 ml
1/2 cup	120 ml
1 cup	240 ml
1 pint (2 cups)	≈ 473 ml
1 quart (4 cups)	≈ 946 ml

Full calculators: cups to millilitres, tablespoons to millilitres, teaspoons to millilitres.

Weight Conversions for Common Baking Ingredients

Volume-to-weight conversion depends on ingredient density, so "1 cup" means a different gram weight for flour than for sugar or butter. These are practical kitchen averages for a lightly spooned and levelled cup.

Ingredient	1 Cup ≈
All-purpose flour	120 g / 4.2 oz
Granulated sugar	200 g / 7.1 oz
Brown sugar (packed)	220 g / 7.8 oz
Butter	227 g / 8 oz
Rolled oats	90 g / 3.2 oz
Milk or water	240 g / 8.5 oz
Honey or syrup	340 g / 12 oz

Full calculators: grams to ounces, ounces to grams, or use the ingredient-aware cooking converter for density-adjusted results.

Oven Temperature Conversion

Older UK recipes often list a gas mark instead of a temperature. Gas mark does not convert with a simple formula, so use this reference table rather than calculating it.

Fahrenheit	Celsius	Gas Mark
275°F	140°C	1
300°F	150°C	2
325°F	163°C	3
350°F	177°C	4
375°F	190°C	5
400°F	200°C	6
425°F	218°C	7
450°F	232°C	8

Full calculator: Celsius to Fahrenheit.

Common Substitutions by Volume

1 tablespoon fresh herbs ≈ 1 teaspoon dried herbs.
1 cup buttermilk ≈ 1 cup milk + 1 tablespoon lemon juice or vinegar, rested 5 minutes.
1 cup self-raising flour ≈ 1 cup plain flour + 2 teaspoons baking powder + a pinch of salt.
1 cup brown sugar ≈ 1 cup white sugar + 1 tablespoon molasses.

Tips for Accurate Kitchen Measuring

Weigh dry ingredients in grams when a recipe provides weight — it is more repeatable than cup measurements.
Spoon flour into the measuring cup and level it with a straight edge instead of scooping directly from the bag, which packs it down and adds extra weight.
Use liquid measuring cups (with a pour spout) for liquids and dry measuring cups for solids; they are calibrated differently at the fill line.
Room-temperature butter is easier to measure accurately than cold butter when using a cup rather than a scale.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does a cup of flour not always weigh the same in grams?

Flour mass depends on how it is packed. A cup that is spooned lightly into the measuring cup and levelled off weighs less than a cup that is scooped directly from the bag and compacted. This is why recipes that specify grams are more reliable than recipes that specify cups alone.

What is a gas mark and how does it relate to Celsius and Fahrenheit?

Gas mark is a UK oven temperature scale still printed on many recipes and older ovens. Gas mark 4 is roughly 180°C or 350°F, and each gas mark step is approximately 25°F. It is not a precise linear formula, so a conversion table is more reliable than a calculation.

Is a US tablespoon the same as a UK tablespoon?

No. A US tablespoon is 14.79 ml, while a UK tablespoon is traditionally defined as 15 ml (close enough for cooking) but older Australian tablespoons are 20 ml. For recipes, treat 1 tablespoon as roughly 15 ml unless the recipe specifies an Australian measurement.

Where can I convert an exact amount instead of using the tables above?

Use the ingredient-aware cooking converter for density-adjusted results, or the individual volume and weight converters for a fast two-way calculation.