Kitchen Measurement Conversions

Half the recipes online are in cups and the other half are in grams, and the one you want is always in the other one. This is the short list of conversions that come up most, plus the rice ratios, because nobody remembers those either.

Volume

Everything here stacks. Three teaspoons make a tablespoon, sixteen tablespoons make a cup, and from there it's doubling.

Measure	Equals	Metric
1 tablespoon	3 teaspoons	15 ml
1 cup	16 tablespoons (48 teaspoons)	240 ml
1 cup	8 fluid ounces	240 ml
2 cups	1 pint (16 fluid ounces)	—
4 cups	1 quart (32 fluid ounces)	—
4 quarts	1 gallon (128 fluid ounces)	—

Heads up

Fluid ounces measure volume; ounces measure weight. They only line up for water and things like it. A cup of flour is 8 fluid ounces but nowhere near 8 ounces on a scale.

Weight

Measure	Equals
1 ounce	about 28.35 grams
16 ounces	1 pound, about 454 grams
1 kilogram	about 2.2 pounds

For quick math, 28 grams to the ounce and 454 to the pound get you close enough for anything except candy.

What a cup of things weighs

This is the table that matters for baking, because a cup of flour scooped straight from the bag can weigh a lot more than one spooned in and leveled.

Ingredient	1 cup weighs
All-purpose flour	120-125 g
Granulated sugar	200 g
Packed brown sugar	220 g
Uncooked white rice	185 g
Butter (2 sticks)	about 226 g

And butter, since recipes switch between all three units without warning: 1 stick = 1/2 cup = 8 tablespoons = about 113 g. The Gram's Classic White Layer Cake calls for 3/4 cup of butter, which is a stick and a half, and 3 cups of flour, which is roughly 360 to 375 g if you'd rather weigh it.

Tip

If you don't own a scale, spoon the flour into the cup and level it with a knife instead of scooping. It gets you much closer to that 120-125 g.

Rice to water

Rice ratios are parts of rice to parts of water, by volume. One cup of rice with one and a half cups of water is 1:1.5.

Rice	Rice : water
Long grain white	1 : 1.5
Basmati	1 : 1.5
Brown	1 : 2
Jasmine	1 : 1

Brown rice needs the most water because the bran layer is still on and takes longer to soften. Jasmine needs the least; too much water and it goes sticky fast.

Cook a double batch while you're at it. A cup of rice makes enough for a few bowls, and the leftover is exactly what Shrimp Fried Rice is built on, since day-old rice fries instead of steaming. Plain white or jasmine is also the base for the Chipotle-style bowl if you're not going the cauliflower ricecauliflower riceCauliflower chopped into rice-sized bits. It cooks in a couple of minutes and stands in for rice under a saucy topping.More: Air Fryer Teriyaki Salmon Bowl route.