Our Conversion Methodology
How we turn grams into cups — and why the ingredient matters.
Last reviewed: August 2026
The core formula
Grams to cups
cups = grams ÷ grams per cup
Example: 100g all-purpose flour ÷ 120g per cup = 0.83 cups
Cups to grams
grams = cups × grams per cup
Example: 1 cup all-purpose flour × 120g per cup = 120 grams
Why ingredient density matters
A cup measures volume — how much space an ingredient takes up. Grams measure weight. Those two things line up differently for every ingredient, because density (how tightly packed the ingredient is) differs by ingredient. Flour is light and airy; sugar is granular and settles more densely; butter is a solid fat packed into the cup. That's why a single "1 cup = X grams" rule breaks down the moment you switch ingredients — and why every ingredient on this site has its own grams-per-cup value.
Same cup, different weight
1 cup All-purpose flour
= 120g
1 cup Granulated sugar
= 198g
1 cup Butter
= 227g
All measured using US cup / 240 ml
How we source grams-per-cup values
Start from reviewed baking references
Initial grams-per-cup values come from reviewed baking references and kitchen measurement guides, not guesswork.
Check against standard kitchen conventions
We match values to common measuring practice — spoon-and-level or packed, depending on the ingredient.
Cross-check within ingredient families
Similar ingredients (different sugars, different flours) are compared against each other to catch numbers that don't add up.
When a reference says “1 cup” without declaring an exact milliliter volume, we preserve the published value and adopt it as an approximate 240 ml recipe reference; we do not describe it as volume-normalized. Formula-based normalization is allowed only when the source volume is explicit.
The 236.588 ml and 250 ml columns are proportional projections from the same canonical reference, rounded consistently to one decimal place, and cannot be edited independently.
Cup standards we use
This calculator uses US cup / 240 ml by default, but you can switch cup types whenever your recipe calls for a different standard.
US cup / 240 ml
240 ml
US customary cup / 236.6 ml
236.6 ml
Metric cup / 250 ml
250 ml
Rounding & approximation
Cup results are rounded to two decimal places (or the nearest common kitchen fraction, like ⅓ or ¾, when you choose that display mode). Because ingredient weight can vary by brand, grind, packing, and humidity, every conversion on this site is an approximation — a close, practical estimate for baking, not a laboratory measurement.
Approximate by design: if a recipe depends on precise ratios (bread hydration, macarons, laminated dough), weigh ingredients with a kitchen scale rather than relying on cup measurements alone.
How we keep data current
Every ingredient entry carries a "last checked" date and a confidence rating. When we find a better source, a reported discrepancy, or a reason to revisit an ingredient's grams-per-cup value, we update the entry and its last-checked date rather than leaving stale data in place.
Data across this site was last checked: August 2026.
See the numbers for yourself
Browse the full ingredient weight data table, or jump straight into the calculator.