You found the perfect cake recipe on a European blog: "500 ml of milk, 200 g of flour." Your kitchen measures in cups and spoons. Do you start improvising or do you know how to convert?
European recipes use grams and milliliters; Anglo-Saxon ones use cups, tablespoons (tbsp) and teaspoons (tsp). Converting volume correctly is the difference between a fluffy cake and a brick. And there's a detail almost nobody knows: a cup is not the same everywhere.
Cooking volume units
- 1 cup = 240 ml in the US (250 ml in the UK)
- 1 tablespoon (tbsp) = 15 ml
- 1 teaspoon (tsp) = 5 ml
- 1 fluid ounce (fl oz) = 29.57 ml
- 1 pint = 473 ml in the US (568 ml in the UK)
Quick volume conversion table
| From | To | Factor |
|---|---|---|
| 1 cup | ml | × 240 |
| 1 tablespoon | ml | × 15 |
| 1 teaspoon | ml | × 5 |
| 1 fl oz | ml | × 29.57 |
| 1 liter | cups | ÷ 0.24 ≈ 4.17 |
| 1 pint (US) | ml | × 473 |
Practical cooking conversion examples
- 2 cups of flour: 2 × 240 = 480 ml (but in weight that's ~240 g of flour, not 480 g: volume is not weight).
- Half a teaspoon of salt: 2.5 ml.
- 1 liter of milk in cups: 1000 ÷ 240 ≈ 4.17 cups, i.e. 4 cups plus a tablespoon.
- Cocktails: 1.5 oz of spirit → 1.5 × 29.57 ≈ 44 ml, the standard drink measure.
Common volume conversion mistakes
- Using the US cup (240 ml) in British recipes (250 ml): the difference is small but real in baking.
- Confusing the weight ounce (28.35 g) with the fluid ounce (29.57 ml): completely different units.
- Measuring dry and liquid ingredients with the same cup without leveling: flour should be leveled, not packed.
- Assuming 1 cup weighs 240 g: it depends on the ingredient (see the density table below).
Scaling recipes without breaking them
If a recipe for 4 people uses 2 cups of broth and you want it for 6, multiply everything by 1.5: 3 cups. But salt and spices don't always scale linearly: add them at the end and taste. To convert a recipe from cups to grams, use each ingredient's density:
| Ingredient | 1 cup ≈ |
|---|---|
| Flour | 120 g |
| Sugar | 200 g |
| Butter | 227 g |
| Rice | 185 g |
| Milk | 240 g |
At the bar and in cocktails
Cocktail recipes use fluid ounces and "dashes." A standard liquor measure is 1.5 oz ≈ 45 ml, and a shot is 1 oz ≈ 30 ml. Converting your jigger to ml avoids surprises with both the alcohol content and the flavor balance.
FAQ about volume and cooking measurements
How many ml are in a cup?
240 ml in the US; 250 ml in the UK and many European recipes.
How many tablespoons are in a cup?
16 tablespoons (15 ml each).
Are weight and volume interchangeable in cooking?
No: 1 cup of flour weighs ~120 g and 1 cup of sugar ~200 g. Use volume for liquids and weight for dry ingredients when you can.
How many ml are in 1.5 fluid ounces?
1.5 × 29.57 ≈ 44 ml, the standard cocktail measure.
How many liters are in 8 cups?
8 × 240 = 1920 ml ≈ 1.92 liters (almost 2 — the classic "drink 8 glasses of water a day").
Convert cups, liters and ml instantly with the unit calculator and cook without drama.
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