Grams to cups: 109 USDA cup weights

To convert grams to cups, divide the grams by the ingredient's weight per cup. USDA FoodData Central lists all-purpose flour at 125 g per US cup, so 250 g of flour is 250 / 125 = 2.00 cups. Granulated sugar is 200 g per cup, so the same 250 g is 1.25 cups. Water is 237 g per cup. The converter above holds the USDA cup weight for each ingredient, so you only type the grams.

Type the grams, pick the ingredient, and choose the cup your recipe uses. The US customary cup is the default, with the 240 mL labeling cup, the 250 mL metric cup and the 284 mL Imperial cup as options. The result shows two decimals and adds the nearest kitchen fraction in eighths or thirds when it lands within 3 percent.

Quick answer: how do you convert grams to cups?

Divide the grams by the ingredient's weight per cup. USDA FoodData Central lists all-purpose flour at 125 g per US cup, so 250 g is 2 cups. Granulated sugar weighs 200 g per cup, so 250 g of sugar is 1.25 cups. Each ingredient has its own cup weight, so the same grams give a different number of cups.

Key takeaways

• Cups = grams / grams per cup, with the USDA cup weight for your ingredient.
• One US cup of all-purpose flour is 125 g, granulated sugar 200 g, butter 227 g and water 237 g.
• The cup size changes the answer: 250 g of flour is 2.00 US cups, 1.89 metric cups and 1.67 Imperial cups.
• Under a cup, measure with spoons: 100 g of flour is 0.80 cups, or 12.8 tablespoons.

Worked example: 250 grams to cups

Take 250 g of all-purpose flour. The USDA cup weight is 125 g, so 250 / 125 = 2.00 cups, which is 32 tablespoons at 16 per cup. The math reverses the same way: 1.5 cups of flour is 1.5 x 125 = 187.5 g. The converter opens at 290 g of flour, which is 290 / 125 = 2.32 cups, shown as 2 1/3 because 2.333 is nearer than 2.375 and within 3 percent.

Change the ingredient and the answer changes. The same 250 g is 1.25 cups of granulated sugar (250 / 200) or 1.10 cups of butter (250 / 227). In water it is 1.05 cups (250 / 237), and in honey 0.74 cups (250 / 339).

The cup changes the answer too. A metric cup holds 250 mL against 236.588 mL for the US cup, so a metric cup of flour holds 125 x 250 / 236.588 = 132.1 g. That makes 250 g of flour 1.89 metric cups, 1.97 labeling cups and 1.67 Imperial cups.

Under a cup, spoons help. 100 g of flour is 100 / 125 = 0.80 cups. No eighth or third lands within 3 percent, since 3/4 cup is 6 percent short. Measure it as 0.80 x 16 = 12.8 tablespoons, which is 12 tablespoons plus 2.4 teaspoons.

How many grams are in a cup

It depends on what is in the cup, because a cup is a volume and a gram is a weight. From the USDA cup weights, a US cup of all-purpose flour is 125 g and a cup of granulated sugar is 200 g. Packed brown sugar is 220 g, butter 227 g, water 237 g, whole milk 244 g and honey 339 g. The spread runs from 81 g for rolled oats to 339 g for honey, so no single number covers a cup. Water is where grams and milliliters line up, at about 1 g per mL. That is why a 236.588 mL cup of water weighs 237 g. For the full list with the USDA record behind each value, see the first table above.

Is a cup of flour 120 g or 125 g

USDA FoodData Central lists both bleached (fdcId 168894) and unbleached (fdcId 168936) all-purpose flour at 125 g per cup, and the converter uses 125 g. Whole wheat flour is 120 g per cup in the same database, and bread flour is 137 g. Recipe writers set their own cup weight, so the figure in a given recipe can differ from the USDA one. The 5 g gap between 120 g and 125 g is 4 percent. So 250 g comes out as 2.08 cups at 120 g against 2.00 cups at 125 g, a difference of 1 1/3 tablespoons. When a recipe gives grams, weigh them. When a recipe states its own cup weight, convert with that weight. Use the USDA value when the recipe gives neither.

Why grams to cups changes with the ingredient

Each ingredient has its own density, and density is what links weight to volume. Divide the USDA cup weight by 236.588 mL to get it. Flour is 0.53 g/mL, butter 0.96 g/mL, water 1.00 g/mL, milk 1.03 g/mL and honey 1.43 g/mL. So 100 g of honey fills 0.29 cups while 100 g of flour fills 0.80 cups, almost three times the space. Water and whole milk sit at 1.00 and 1.03 g/mL, so for them the gram figure is close to the milliliter figure. Honey at 1.43 g/mL and flour at 0.53 g/mL are far from it, so for them the ingredient weight decides the answer. If your recipe gives milliliters instead of grams, the mL to cups page converts volume straight across without any ingredient weight.

Spoon or scoop: how the USDA cup is filled

The USDA cup weight for flour assumes you spooned the flour into the cup and leveled it off, so that is the method the converter's answer describes. Fill the cup another way and the cup holds a different weight, which the converter cannot see. Brown sugar is the USDA entry "1 cup packed" at 220 g, so press it into the cup before you level it. USDA lists powdered sugar unsifted at 120 g and cake flour "unsifted, dipped" at 137 g. Read the portion label in the table above before you measure, because the converter's result matches that label.

Our guide on how to measure flour without a scale walks through the spoon and level method step by step.

Weight or volume: which is better

Weight, when you have a scale. A scale reads 125 g of flour the same way however the flour settled in the bag. A cup reads differently depending on how you filled it. The rounding cost shows up in the 1/8 cup table above. One eighth of a cup is 15.6 g of flour and 42.4 g of honey. The same fraction step is worth almost three times the grams in honey. The converter only shows a fraction within 3 percent of the exact figure, which for 250 g is 7.5 g at most. A gram figure in a recipe is the exact one, and any cup figure derived from it carries the rounding. If you cook from gram recipes often, a scale with a tare button removes the conversion step. The converter is for the times you have the recipe in grams and only cups in the drawer.

Is 1 cup 250 g or 240 g

Neither number is a weight. The 240 mL cup is the FDA labeling cup from 21 CFR 101.9. The 250 mL cup is the metric cup used in Australian, Canadian and UK metric recipes. They only become 240 g and 250 g for water, where 1 mL weighs about 1 g. A US cup of water is 237 g, a labeling cup 240 g, a metric cup 250 g and an Imperial cup 284 g. For flour the metric cup holds 132.1 g against 125 g in the US cup, because 250 / 236.588 is 1.057. So a recipe that says 1 cup is 250 g is quoting the metric cup of water, and you should treat its gram figures as the real ones. The spread table above shows all four cups side by side for flour, sugar, butter and water.

Butter in grams, sticks and tablespoons

USDA lists butter at 227 g per cup, so half a cup is 113.5 g and a tablespoon is 227 / 16 = 14.2 g. A US stick of butter is a quarter pound, and NIST fixes the pound at 453.592 37 g. So a stick is 113.4 g, which is half a cup or 8 tablespoons. Those two figures, 113.4 and 113.5, agree within a tenth of a gram. So 100 g of butter is 100 / 227 = 0.44 cups, which is 7 tablespoons (16 x 100 / 227 = 7.05). A recipe that calls for 250 g of butter wants 1.10 cups, or two sticks plus a little under 2 tablespoons. Salted and unsalted butter carry the same 227 g in the USDA data (fdcId 173410 and 173430).

Grams to cups without a scale

Use the chart, then measure anything under a cup with spoons. One US cup is 16 tablespoons or 48 teaspoons, so multiply the cup result by 16 to get tablespoons. 50 g of flour is 0.40 cups, which is 6.4 tablespoons, or 6 tablespoons plus 1.2 teaspoons. 25 g of flour is 3.2 tablespoons. 40 g of flour is 5.1 tablespoons. 100 g of granulated sugar is exactly half a cup, which is 8 tablespoons. Spoon the flour in and level each spoon the same way you would the cup, because the USDA weight assumes that method. For the full spoon tables and the fluid ounce math, see tablespoons in a cup and ounces in a cup.

US, metric and Australian cups

An Australian cup is the 250 mL metric cup, which is 5.7 percent larger than the 236.588 mL US cup. So 250 g of flour is 2.00 US cups and 1.89 metric cups. Canadian recipes and UK metric recipes use the same 250 mL cup. UK Imperial recipes use the 284.131 mL Imperial cup, which is 20 percent larger than the US cup. Pick the cup that matches where the recipe comes from. For raw long grain white rice the USDA cup weight is 185 g. The rice to water ratio page covers how much water that cup needs.

Frequently asked questions

How many cups is 100 grams? It depends on the ingredient. In US cups, 100 g is 0.80 cups of all-purpose flour or 0.50 cups of granulated sugar. The same 100 g is 0.44 cups of butter, 0.42 cups of water and 0.29 cups of honey.

How many cups is 200 grams of flour? 200 / 125 = 1.60 US cups, which the chart shows as 1 5/8 cups. 200 g of granulated sugar is exactly 1 cup.

How many cups is 120 grams of flour? 120 / 125 = 0.96 cups, just under 1 cup. 125 g is exactly 1 cup, and 185 g is 1.48 cups, shown as 1 1/2 cups.

How many grams in a cup of water or milk? USDA lists water at 237 g per US cup and whole milk at 244 g. Skim milk is 245 g.

Is there a printable grams to cups chart? Print this page. The tables are plain text, so the 10 g to 500 g chart and the cup size spread print as they appear on screen.

Conclusion

Grams to cups is one division by the ingredient's cup weight, and the converter holds that weight for all 109 ingredients. If your recipe gives grams and you own a kitchen scale, weigh the ingredient and skip the conversion.

From our cookbooks: this converter sits beside our breakfast recipes cookbook. See Healthy Breakfast Cookbook for the recipes.