Need the reverse conversion? Use our ingredient-specific grams to cups converter, or follow our step-by-step guide for accurate gram-to-cup measurements.
Cups to Grams Converter: Complete Conversion Chart & Guide
Following a recipe that lists ingredients in cups, but you'd rather bake by weight? Converting cups to grams is one of the most useful skills a home baker can learn, and it's simpler than it looks once you know one key fact: every ingredient has its own weight.
Use the calculator above for an instant cups to grams conversion for over 50 ingredients. Below, you'll find a full conversion chart, the formula behind every calculation, and the small mistakes that throw off even careful bakers.
How Many Grams Are in a Cup? (Quick Answer)
There's no single number that works for every ingredient, because a cup measures volume (space), not weight (mass). Here's a quick answer for the three ingredients people ask about most:
- 1 cup of flour = about 120 grams
- 1 cup of sugar = about 200 grams
- 1 cup of butter = about 227 grams
Notice that flour and butter take up the exact same space in your measuring cup, but butter weighs almost double. That's the whole idea behind this guide.
Cups to Grams Conversion Table
Here's a full cup to gram conversion chart for the three ingredients bakers convert most often flour, sugar, and butter broken down by common fractions.
| Cup Amount | Flour (120g/cup) | Sugar (200g/cup) | Butter (227g/cup) |
| 1/4 cup | 30g | 50g | 57g |
| 1/3 cup | 40g | 67g | 76g |
| 1/2 cup | 60g | 100g | 114g |
| 2/3 cup | 80g | 133g | 151g |
| 3/4 cup | 90g | 150g | 170g |
| 1 cup | 120g | 200g | 227g |
| 2 cups | 240g | 400g | 454g |
1 Cup to Grams for Common Baking Ingredients
Beyond the big three, here's what 1 cup weighs for the other ingredients people search for most:
- 1 cup brown sugar to grams: about 220g (packed)
- 1 cup powdered sugar to grams: about 120g
- 1 cup rice to grams: about 185g (uncooked)
- 1 cup oats to grams: about 80g (rolled oats)
- 1 cup cocoa powder to grams: about 100g
- 1 cup almond flour to grams: about 96g
- 1 cup water to grams: about 237g
- 1 cup milk to grams: about 237g
- 1 cup honey to grams: about 340g
Notice how wide this range is from 80 grams for oats all the way to 340 grams for honey. That's an over 4x difference, all inside the exact same measuring cup.
How to Convert Cups to Grams (The Formula)
Every cups-to-grams calculator, including ours, runs on one simple formula:
Grams = Cups × Grams-Per-Cup Value
Worked Example: 2 Cups to Grams
Let's convert 2 cups of granulated sugar to grams.
- Find the grams-per-cup value for sugar: 200 grams.
- Multiply: 2 × 200 = 400.
- Answer: 2 cups of sugar equals 400 grams.
Now try the same 2 cups with a different ingredient, like oats:
- Oats weigh about 80 grams per cup.
- Multiply: 2 × 80 = 160.
- Answer: 2 cups of oats equals 160 grams.
Same 2 cups, completely different weight. This is exactly why "how many grams is a cup of flour vs sugar" doesn't have one universal answer it always depends on what's filling the cup.
Why Doesn't 1 Cup Always Weigh the Same in Grams?
This trips up even experienced home cooks, so let's break down the two real reasons behind it.
Reason 1: Ingredient Density
Every ingredient packs together differently. Honey molecules sit close together with almost no gaps, so a cup of honey is heavy. Flour and oats are full of tiny air pockets, so the same cup holds far less actual substance by weight.
Reason 2: Sifted vs. Unsifted Flour
Here's a detail most conversion charts skip entirely: the same flour can weigh two different amounts depending on whether it's sifted.
- A recipe that says "1 cup flour, sifted" means: measure first, then sift. This gives you close to the standard 120–125 grams.
- A recipe that says "1 cup sifted flour" means: sift first, then measure. Sifting adds air, so this cup can weigh closer to 100 grams around 20% less.
That small wording difference in a recipe can change your flour weight by 20-25 grams. When a recipe's texture keeps coming out wrong, this is often the hidden reason why.
Common Cups to Grams Conversion Mistakes
A few small habits cause most conversion errors. Here's what to watch for:
Mistake: Scooping the measuring cup straight into the bag. This compacts the ingredient and packs in 15–30% more than intended. Fix: Spoon the ingredient loosely into the cup, then level it off with the flat edge of a knife.
Mistake: Using one gram value for every ingredient. A cup does not equal 240 grams across the board. Flour, sugar, and butter all weigh differently in the same cup. Fix: Always check the specific ingredient before converting never reuse one number for everything.
Mistake: Ignoring where the recipe was written. A recipe from the UK, Australia, or Canada may use a different cup size than a US recipe, even though both just say "cup." Fix: Check the cup size in your recipe's country of origin before converting (more on this below).
Mistake: Tapping or shaking the cup to "settle" the ingredient. This has the same packing effect as scooping and quietly adds extra grams. Fix: Fill and level in one smooth motion don't tap the cup on the counter.
Cup Measurement Conversion: Imperial to Metric
Even the size of "1 cup" isn't the same everywhere, and this catches out a lot of bakers using international recipes.
| Cup Type | Volume | Flour Weight | Sugar Weight |
| US Customary (recipes) | 236.59 mL | 120g | 200g |
| US Nutrition Labels | 240 mL | 122g | 203g |
| Metric Cup (UK/AU/NZ/CA) | 250 mL | 127g | 211g |
| Old UK Imperial Cup | 284.13 mL | 144g | 240g |
Notice that even within the US, there are two slightly different cup definitions one used in recipes (236.59 mL) and a rounder one used on nutrition labels (240 mL). It's a small gap, but it explains why two "accurate" charts can disagree by a few grams.
Good news: if you're scaling an entire recipe and you consistently use the same cup for every ingredient even a mismatched one your ingredient ratios usually stay correct. The mismatch only matters when you're converting to an exact gram weight, or mixing measurements from a chart that assumes a different cup size than the one in your hand.
FAQ’s
How many grams are in a cup?
It depends on the ingredient. A cup of water or milk weighs about 237 grams, a cup of flour weighs about 120 grams, and a cup of honey weighs about 340 grams. There's no single answer always check the specific ingredient.
What is 1 cup in grams?
For the most common baking ingredients: 1 cup of flour is about 120g, 1 cup of sugar is about 200g, and 1 cup of butter is about 227g. For anything else, use the ingredient-specific chart above.
How do you convert cups to grams?
Multiply the number of cups by the ingredient's grams-per-cup value. For example, 2 cups of flour × 120 grams per cup = 240 grams. The tricky part is knowing the correct grams-per-cup number, which changes for every ingredient.
Does 1 cup always weigh the same in grams?
No. The same cup of the same ingredient can weigh differently depending on how you fill it spooned in loosely versus packed down by scooping and whether you sift before or after measuring. A cup of flour can vary by 20 grams or more depending on technique alone.
How many grams is a cup of flour vs. sugar?
A cup of all-purpose flour weighs about 120 grams, while a cup of granulated sugar weighs about 200 grams 80 grams heavier in the exact same cup. This is because sugar granules pack together more tightly than flour, which traps more air between its particles.
Sources
Ingredient densities on this page are based on standard culinary references, including USDA FoodData Central and King Arthur Baking's published ingredient weight charts. Measuring methods (spoon-and-level vs. dip-and-scoop) follow the conventions used by most professional baking schools and recipe developers.
Final Thoughts
Converting cups to grams comes down to one idea: cups measure how much space an ingredient fills, and grams measure how much it actually weighs and those two things change together only if you know the ingredient's density. Flour, sugar, butter, honey, and everything else in your pantry behaves differently in a measuring cup, which is exactly why a single "grams per cup" rule never works for every recipe.
You don't have to memorize any of these numbers. Use the calculator at the top of this page for an instant, accurate cups to grams conversion for any ingredient, or bookmark the chart above for the next time you're baking from a cup-based recipe.