How to Convert Cups to Grams for Different Ingredients
Why there is no single cups-to-grams number, what a cup of common ingredients really weighs, and how to measure so your conversions actually match.
Why There Is No Single "Cups to Grams" Number
People often search for one number that turns cups into grams, but there isn't one. A measuring cup measures volume: how much space an ingredient takes up. A gram measures weight: how much of the ingredient there actually is. Two ingredients can fill the same cup and weigh very different amounts.
Flour is light and full of air, so a cup of all-purpose flour weighs about 120 grams. Sugar crystals pack tightly, so a cup of granulated sugar weighs about 200 grams. Honey is thick and dense, and a cup weighs around 340 grams. Use one number, say 200, for everything, and a bread recipe would end up with far more flour than the author intended.
That's why every reliable conversion chart lists ingredients separately. It's also why our Cup-to-Gram converter asks you to pick the ingredient first.
How You Fill the Cup Changes the Weight
Even with the same bag of flour, the way you fill the cup makes a big difference. Flour settles in the bag. Dip the cup straight in and scoop, and the flour packs down. A "dip and sweep" cup of all-purpose flour often weighs 140 to 150 grams, as much as 25% more than intended.
Most American recipe developers and test kitchens measure with the "spoon and level" method, which gives about 120 to 125 grams per cup:
- Stir or fluff the flour in its container to loosen it.
- Spoon it into the measuring cup until it mounds over the top. Don't press it down.
- Sweep a straight edge, such as the back of a knife, across the rim to level it.
- Don't tap or shake the cup. That settles the flour and adds weight.
What a Cup of Common Ingredients Weighs
These are the figures our converters use, based on USDA FoodData Central and published test-kitchen charts. All are for one US cup (236.6 mL), measured as described in brackets:
- All-purpose flour: 120 g (spooned and leveled)
- Bread flour: 127 g. Whole wheat flour: 120 g. Cake flour: 114 g.
- Granulated sugar: 200 g
- Brown sugar: 215 g (firmly packed)
- Powdered (confectioners') sugar: 120 g (spooned, unsifted)
- Butter: 227 g (2 US sticks)
- Rolled oats: 90 g
- Unsweetened cocoa powder: 85 g
- Honey: 340 g. Maple syrup: 312 g.
- Water: about 237 g. Whole milk: about 244 g.
Liquids Are Easier, but Not All Weigh the Same
Water is the easy one: 1 milliliter of water weighs about 1 gram, so 250 mL of water is about 250 g. Most watery liquids, like broth, coffee, and juice, are close enough to treat the same way.
Other liquids aren't. Oil is lighter than water (a cup weighs about 218 g), while milk is a little heavier (about 244 g). Honey and syrups are much heavier. When a baking recipe lists liquids in grams, weigh them rather than assuming 1 mL = 1 g.
A Worked Example
Say a cookie recipe calls for 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, 3/4 cup granulated sugar, 3/4 cup packed brown sugar, and 1 cup (2 sticks) butter. In grams:
- Flour: 2.25 × 120 = 270 g
- Granulated sugar: 0.75 × 200 = 150 g
- Brown sugar: 0.75 × 215 = 161 g
- Butter: 1 × 227 = 227 g
When Should You Bother Weighing?
For soups, stews, salads, and most savory cooking, cups and spoons are fine. Small differences don't matter, and you'll adjust to taste anyway.
Baking is different, because the ratio of flour to liquid and fat decides the texture. Bread, cakes, cookies, and pastry all turn out more reliably by weight. A basic digital kitchen scale that reads in 1-gram steps is inexpensive and is the single most useful tool for consistent baking.
Common questions
How many grams is 1 cup of flour?
About 120 grams for all-purpose flour measured by spooning it into the cup and leveling it. If you scoop the cup straight into the bag, it can weigh 140-150 grams.
Is a cup of sugar the same weight as a cup of flour?
No. A cup of granulated sugar weighs about 200 grams, roughly two-thirds more than a cup of flour.