Guides /Grams & Cups
Milliliters to cups.
Full reference.
A US cup holds 240 ml. Here's the complete conversion table from 15 ml (1 tablespoon) to 1 litre, with cups, tablespoons, teaspoons, and fluid ounces.
| ml | Teaspoons | Tablespoons | US Cups | Fluid oz |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15 ml | 3 | 1 | — | ½ |
| 30 ml | 6 | 2 | ⅛ | 1 |
| 60 ml | 12 | 4 | ¼ | 2 |
| 80 ml | 16 | 5⅓ | ⅓ | 2⅔ |
| 120 ml | 24 | 8 | ½ | 4 |
| 160 ml | 32 | 10⅔ | ⅔ | 5⅓ |
| 180 ml | 36 | 12 | ¾ | 6 |
| 240 ml | 48 | 16 | 1 | 8 |
| 360 ml | — | 24 | 1½ | 12 |
| 480 ml | — | 32 | 2 | 16 |
| 720 ml | — | 48 | 3 | 24 |
| 960 ml | — | 64 | 4 | 32 |
| 1000 ml | — | 67⅓ | 4¼ | 33.8 |
1 US cup = 240 ml · 1 tbsp = 15 ml · 1 tsp = 5 ml
US cups vs UK/Australian cups
A US cup is 240 ml. The UK uses a 250 ml metric cup (though many older UK recipes assume 284 ml / half a UK pint). Australia standardized on 250 ml. The difference between a US and Australian cup is small (4%) but adds up over multiple ingredients. For accuracy when following international recipes, always check which cup size the recipe was developed with.
Quick reference: common ml amounts
- —250 ml ≈ 1 cup + 1 tablespoon (US) or exactly 1 metric cup (AU/UK).
- —500 ml ≈ 2 cups + 2 tablespoons (US) or exactly 2 metric cups.
- —1 litre ≈ 4¼ US cups.
- —100 ml ≈ 6 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons (US).
Why millilitres are more precise for baking
Cups are a volume measure, which means they capture different masses depending on how the ingredient is packed. A cup of sifted flour and a cup of scooped flour can differ by 30 g or more. Millilitres share this limitation for ingredients measured by volume, but they have a significant advantage for liquids: a millilitre is precisely defined (1 ml = 1 cm³ of water = 1 g), so 240 ml of water is always 240 g. For liquids in pastry recipes — milk, cream, oil — measuring in millilitres is more reliable than using cups unless your cup measure is carefully calibrated.
Home cooking vs pastry precision
For soups, stews, and sauces, a few millilitres either way makes no practical difference — a splash of cream or a glug of oil is an acceptable measure. In pastry and bread baking, the tolerance tightens considerably. A 10% variation in liquid can change dough hydration enough to affect crumb structure, rise time, and final texture. If your bread is dense and heavy, or your cake is too wet, the most common culprits are inaccurate flour measurement and liquid measurement. Switching to millilitres for the liquids in a baking recipe removes one variable entirely.
Converting between metric and US cup recipes
Many European and Australasian recipes list liquids in millilitres while US recipes use cups. The conversion isn't difficult: 1 US cup = 240 ml, ½ cup = 120 ml, ¼ cup = 60 ml. But watch out for recipes that use a 250 ml metric cup (Australia, New Zealand, Canada) instead of the US 240 ml cup. For a single cup of milk the 10 ml difference is inconsequential, but if a recipe uses 4 cups of liquid, the gap grows to 40 ml — enough to matter in a cake batter. When in doubt, default to measuring by millilitres using the original recipe's quantities.
Frequently asked questions
- How many ml is 1 US cup?
- 1 US cup = 240 ml. The Australian and UK metric cup is 250 ml — a 4% difference that adds up over multiple cups in a recipe.
- How many ml is ½ cup?
- ½ cup = 120 ml.
- How many ml is ¼ cup?
- ¼ cup = 60 ml.
- How many ml is 1 tablespoon?
- 1 US tablespoon = 15 ml. The Australian tablespoon is 20 ml — larger than the US version.
- How do I convert ml to cups without a calculator?
- Divide the ml amount by 240. For example, 360 ml ÷ 240 = 1.5 cups. For quick mental math, 120 ml = ½ cup, 60 ml = ¼ cup, and 240 ml = 1 cup.
Convert ml in a full recipe
Paste your metric recipe and switch to Imperial — every ml converts to cups, tablespoons, and teaspoons at once.