CUPSTO GRAMS
Convert cups to grams (and back) for common baking ingredients. Because a cup of flour and a cup of honey are very different things.
Convert
Quick Reference
Plain Flour
| Cups | Grams |
|---|---|
| ¼ cup | 31 g |
| ⅓ cup | 42 g |
| ½ cup | 63 g |
| ¾ cup | 94 g |
| 1 cup | 125 g |
Why cups are a terrible way to measure baking ingredients
A cup is a volume measurement — 236.6 ml in the US standard. The problem is that baking ingredients have wildly different densities. One cup of plain flour weighs about 125 grams, but one cup of honey weighs 340 grams. Even worse, how you fill the cup matters: scooping flour directly from the bag compresses it, giving you up to 30 grams more than if you spoon it in and level it off. That is a big enough difference to ruin a cake. American recipes use cups because measuring cups were cheap and ubiquitous. British and European recipes mostly use grams because digital scales are more precise. If you are following a US recipe in a UK kitchen, this converter bridges the gap.
How to convert cups to grams
Each ingredient has a known weight per cup, based on standard density measurements.
Pick your ingredient
Different ingredients have different densities. A cup of butter (227 g) weighs nearly twice as much as a cup of flour (125 g). You need the right conversion factor for each one.
Multiply or divide
To go from cups to grams, multiply the number of cups by the grams-per-cup value. To go from grams to cups, divide the grams by the same value. For example, 2 cups of plain flour = 2 x 125 = 250 g.
Check the reference table
The quick reference table below the converter shows common fractional cup amounts for your selected ingredient. Handy when a recipe calls for three-quarters of a cup and you just want the number.
The conversion formula
There is no single cups-to-grams formula because it depends entirely on what you are measuring. Water is 237 g per cup. Flour is 125 g. Honey is 340 g. The converter stores the correct density for each ingredient and does the maths for you. All values are based on US standard cup measurements (236.6 ml). The old imperial UK cup is 284 ml — about 20% larger — but modern UK recipes that use cups almost always mean the US cup.
Tips & Best Practices
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If you are serious about baking, buy a digital kitchen scale — they cost under ten pounds and they are more accurate than any cup measurement
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When a US recipe says 'cup', it means a US standard cup (236.6 ml), not the mug sitting on your desk
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Scooping flour directly from the bag packs it down — spoon it into the cup and level with a knife for a closer match to the standard 125 g
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Sticky ingredients like honey are easier to weigh than to measure in cups — you lose a lot stuck to the sides of the measuring cup
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The butter conversion (227 g per cup) matches exactly two standard US sticks of butter, which makes US butter recipes easier to follow in the UK
Frequently Asked Questions
Mandeep Singh · 25+ Years UK Financial Services
Important Information
This calculator is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice or a personal recommendation.
Results are estimates based on the information you provide and may not reflect your actual financial position.
You should consider seeking independent professional advice tailored to your specific circumstances before making any financial decision.