Fraction to grams converter
Works both ways. Choose the fraction, choose the ingredient, and read the weight. Flip to grams first if that is the number you were handed.
60 g
all-purpose flour, from 1/2 cup
In fluid ounces
4 fl oz
In tablespoons
8 tbsp
In teaspoons
24 tsp
In ounces by weight
2.12 oz
What half a cup weighs
One cup of all-purpose flour weighs 120 g, so half a cup is 60 g. That single number covers most of the baking you will do this month, and it is also the number most people get wrong when they scoop straight from the bag instead of spooning the flour into the cup. A heavy scoop can add 20 g to that half cup, which is enough to dry out a batch of cookies. The table below lists 35 ingredients at 1/2 cup, sorted from the lightest to the heaviest. The columns next to it show the other fractions so you can read across instead of running the maths each time.
| Ingredient | 1/2 cup | 2/3 cup | 1/3 cup | 1/4 cup | 1/8 cup | 1 cup |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shredded Coconut | 42.5 | 42.5 | 28.3 | 21.2 | 10.6 | 85 |
| Cocoa Powder | 43 | 43 | 28.7 | 21.5 | 10.8 | 86 |
| Rolled Oats | 45 | 45 | 30 | 22.5 | 11.2 | 90 |
| Almonds (sliced) | 46 | 46 | 30.7 | 23 | 11.5 | 92 |
| Almond Flour | 48 | 48 | 32 | 24 | 12 | 96 |
| Cake Flour | 57 | 57 | 38 | 28.5 | 14.2 | 114 |
| All-Purpose Flour | 60 | 60 | 40 | 30 | 15 | 120 |
| Whole Wheat Flour | 60 | 60 | 40 | 30 | 15 | 120 |
| Powdered Sugar | 60 | 60 | 40 | 30 | 15 | 120 |
| Coconut Flour | 60 | 60 | 40 | 30 | 15 | 120 |
| Walnuts (chopped) | 60 | 60 | 40 | 30 | 15 | 120 |
| Bread Flour | 63.5 | 63.5 | 42.3 | 31.8 | 15.9 | 127 |
| Cornstarch | 64 | 64 | 42.7 | 32 | 16 | 128 |
| Cornmeal | 75 | 75 | 50 | 37.5 | 18.8 | 150 |
| Raisins | 82.5 | 82.5 | 55 | 41.2 | 20.6 | 165 |
| Semolina | 83.5 | 83.5 | 55.7 | 41.8 | 20.9 | 167 |
| Chocolate Chips | 85 | 85 | 56.7 | 42.5 | 21.2 | 170 |
| White Rice (uncooked) | 92.5 | 92.5 | 61.7 | 46.2 | 23.1 | 185 |
| Brown Rice (uncooked) | 95 | 95 | 63.3 | 47.5 | 23.8 | 190 |
| Granulated Sugar | 100 | 100 | 66.7 | 50 | 25 | 200 |
| Olive Oil | 108 | 108 | 72 | 54 | 27 | 216 |
| Vegetable Oil | 109 | 109 | 72.7 | 54.5 | 27.2 | 218 |
| Brown Sugar (packed) | 110 | 110 | 73.3 | 55 | 27.5 | 220 |
| Butter | 113.5 | 113.5 | 75.7 | 56.8 | 28.4 | 227 |
| Baking Powder | 115 | 115 | 76.7 | 57.5 | 28.8 | 230 |
| Sour Cream | 115 | 115 | 76.7 | 57.5 | 28.8 | 230 |
| Cream Cheese | 116 | 116 | 77.3 | 58 | 29 | 232 |
| Water | 118.5 | 118.5 | 79 | 59.2 | 29.6 | 237 |
| Heavy Cream | 119 | 119 | 79.3 | 59.5 | 29.8 | 238 |
| Milk | 122 | 122 | 81.3 | 61 | 30.5 | 244 |
| Yogurt | 122.5 | 122.5 | 81.7 | 61.2 | 30.6 | 245 |
| Peanut Butter | 129 | 129 | 86 | 64.5 | 32.2 | 258 |
| Table Salt | 144 | 144 | 96 | 72 | 36 | 288 |
| Maple Syrup | 156 | 156 | 104 | 78 | 39 | 312 |
| Honey | 170 | 170 | 113.3 | 85 | 42.5 | 340 |
Notes on how each one should be filled. Flour and cocoa powder are spooned in and levelled. Sugar is scooped and levelled. Brown sugar is pressed into the cup hard enough that it holds its shape when you tip it out. Nuts and shredded coconut are poured loose and never tamped down. Liquids are poured to the line on a clear cup, read at eye level.
The six fractions worth memorising
Half a cup is 8 tablespoons, which is also 24 teaspoons and 4 fluid ounces. A third of a cup is 5 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon, and a quarter cup is 4 tablespoons. Those spoon equivalents are the reason a kitchen scale and a set of measuring spoons disagree so rarely once you know the density. Read the row for your ingredient, then read across.
| Ingredient | 1/8 cup | 1/4 cup | 1/3 cup | 1/2 cup | 2/3 cup | 3/4 cup | 1 cup |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All-Purpose Flour | 15 | 30 | 40 | 60 | 80 | 90 | 120 |
| Granulated Sugar | 25 | 50 | 66.7 | 100 | 133.3 | 150 | 200 |
| Brown Sugar (packed) | 27.5 | 55 | 73.3 | 110 | 146.7 | 165 | 220 |
| Butter | 28.4 | 56.8 | 75.7 | 113.5 | 151.3 | 170.2 | 227 |
| Cocoa Powder | 10.8 | 21.5 | 28.7 | 43 | 57.3 | 64.5 | 86 |
| Rolled Oats | 11.2 | 22.5 | 30 | 45 | 60 | 67.5 | 90 |
| White Rice (uncooked) | 23.1 | 46.2 | 61.7 | 92.5 | 123.3 | 138.8 | 185 |
| Honey | 42.5 | 85 | 113.3 | 170 | 226.7 | 255 | 340 |
Two things jump out of that grid. Sugar is nearly twice the weight of flour for the same volume, because a sugar crystal packs tightly and a flour particle does not. And cocoa powder is the lightest thing in a baking cupboard, so a half cup of it is 43 g while a half cup of packed brown sugar is 110 g. Swap those two by volume and you have changed the recipe by a factor of two and a half.
Spoon equivalents for the small fractions
If you have no scale and no fraction measuring cup, tablespoons and teaspoons will get you close. One US cup is 16 tablespoons. Everything below one cup divides cleanly into that grid except the thirds, which need the teaspoon.
- 1/8 cup equals 2 tablespoons, or 6 teaspoons
- 1/4 cup equals 4 tablespoons, or 12 teaspoons
- 1/3 cup equals 5 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon
- 1/2 cup equals 8 tablespoons, or 24 teaspoons
- 2/3 cup equals 10 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons
- 3/4 cup equals 12 tablespoons, or 36 teaspoons
For dense things like peanut butter and honey, a level tablespoon is worth measuring with a straight edge. Honey weighs 21 g per tablespoon and peanut butter about 16 g, so a rounded spoon is a real difference in the bowl. Butter prints its own ruler on the wrapper in the US, and half a cup is one stick, or 8 tablespoons, which is 113 g. Australian butter sticks are 250 g and are marked in 50 g steps instead, so a recipe written in Sydney will not line up with a US stick if you go by the markings alone. Weigh it and the confusion disappears.
Why the grams move around
Two cooks can measure the same half cup of flour and come out 25 percent apart without either of them doing anything wrong. That is not a rounding error, it is the nature of volume. Four things push the number around.
Aeration is the big one. Flour straight from the bag has been settled by shipping and sits at roughly 140 g a cup. Spoon it into a cup, level it, and you are near 120 g. Sift it and you can drop to 110 g before you press anything down. The same flour, three numbers, and the recipe was written against one of them.
Packing is next. Brown sugar is the clearest case, since a loosely filled cup is around 180 g and a properly packed cup is 220 g. Cocoa powder behaves the same way, less dramatically. If a recipe says packed, press until the sugar stops yielding and it holds the shape of the cup. If it does not say packed, assume it is loose and do not press.
Humidity and age matter at the edges. Flour picked up on a damp day weighs a little more, and old flour that has dried out weighs a little less. Sugar that has clumped is denser than sugar that has not. These are small effects, a couple of grams a cup, but they add up in a recipe that leans on precision.
Then there is the cup itself. A US customary cup is 236.6 ml, a US legal cup used on nutrition labels is 240 ml, an Australian metric cup is 250 ml, and a Japanese cup is 200 ml. Half a US legal cup holds four more millilitres than half a customary cup, and half an Australian cup holds thirteen more. For water that is 6.5 g. For flour it is nearer 3 g, but the point holds that the word cup is doing different work in different kitchens.
Finally, whatever the ingredient is, the shape of the piece decides how much empty air rides along. Whole almonds leave gaps, sliced almonds leave fewer, and almond flour leaves almost none. Shredded coconut at 85 g a cup is mostly air. That is why the reference tables here are per ingredient rather than one universal conversion for everything solid.
Frequently asked questions
How many grams is half a cup of flour
Sixty grams for all-purpose flour measured the way bakers normally measure it, which means spooned into the cup and levelled with a straight edge. Bread flour is a touch heavier at 63.5 g, and cake flour is a touch lighter at 57 g, because the grind differs. If you scoop the flour directly from the bag and shake off the excess, expect 70 g or more for the same half cup.
Is half a cup of sugar the same weight as half a cup of flour
No, and this is the mistake that ruins more cakes than any other. Half a cup of granulated sugar weighs 100 g, about 40 g more than the same half cup of flour. The crystals are dense and sit closely together while flour fluffs up. If you swap one for the other by volume in a recipe that depends on structure, you have changed the ratio of everything else around it.
How do I measure half a cup without a half cup measure
Use eight level tablespoons, or a quarter cup twice. For a scale, weigh the ingredient against the table above. Failing both, a coffee mug is roughly 1 cup in most kitchens, so half of one is close enough for soup and stews, though not close enough for a sponge cake. Eyeballing the middle of a cup is fine for liquids and risky for anything that fluffs.
How many grams is half a cup of butter
113 g, which is one US stick, or four ounces by weight. Butter is the easiest thing in the kitchen to convert because its wrapper already tells you. Cut the stick in half for a quarter cup at 57 g, or use the tablespoon markings, where each one is 14 g. Do not confuse the 4 ounces printed on a US stick with fluid ounces. It is an ounce of weight, and half a stick is 2 oz of butter, not 2 fl oz.
Why does half a cup of oats weigh so little
Rolled oats are flakes with a lot of space between them, so a half cup is only 45 g. Pack them into a measuring cup and you can push that toward 60 g. For porridge the difference hardly matters, since you are adding liquid by feel. For granola or flapjacks, where oats are the bulk of the dry mix, weigh them. A half cup that is 15 g heavy will throw off the syrup-to-oats ratio on the tray.
Does half a cup mean the same thing in every country
No. The US customary cup is 236.6 ml, the US legal cup on food labels is 240 ml, Australia uses 250 ml, and Japan uses 200 ml. Half a cup therefore ranges from 100 ml to 125 ml, which is a 25 percent spread before you even get to the ingredient. Recipes from a US blog assume 236.6 ml. If you are baking from one on the other side of an ocean, trust the grams when the writer gave them, and convert the fluid ones with the country in mind.
Where these numbers come from
The gram weights are USDA FoodData Central values, checked against manufacturer labels where a brand measures differently, in line with 21 CFR 101.9 for what a cup means on a nutrition panel. Rounding is to one decimal place and never more precise than the underlying figures deserve.
Related converters
These use the same density set, so the numbers agree whichever one you land on.