Milliliters, cups, fluid ounces, grams. Do all the measuring options have you confused? Our easy to follow guide to cooking and baking conversions will help you know what you need! Convert recipes easily from US cups to metric (ml and g).
Different Measuring Methods – US vs Metric
Here in the US we use a measurement system unlike the rest of the world. While we’re used to using cups to measure ingredients, that’s not a standard unit of measure around the world.
And, to make thing even more confusing the size of a “cup” isn’t even standard among the few countries that may use a cup measure, like the UK and Australia.
The rest of the world uses the metric system of liters (for wet) and grams (for dry).
No one would dispute that measuring ingredients by weight and volume is more precise than using the capacity of a “cup”. (Should that cup of flour be sifted, dipped and poured, or packed? Should the brown sugar be packed tight, packed loosely, or not packed at all? The way you pack your cup leads to different amounts of flour, which could really change the results in your bread recipe.)
Despite the fact that weighing ingredients is more precise, we use US customary measurements for our recipes, simply because the majority of our readers are US based and are familiar with this system.
That’s why we’ve included some basic conversions here for you to reference if you are looking to convert our recipes to metric, or if you just want a little extra precision in your cooking.
Also, you live in the US and love cooking world cuisine, you’ve probably happened up on a recipe that you wanted to make, but you didn’t understand the ingredient measurements.
Bookmark (or pin) our guide, because it can help you in those instances too!
Below, we’ve compiled some basic equivalents and conversions in a handy table to help you figure out how much you need in the measurement that is familiar to you.
Keep reading for a reference on the weight of common ingredients.
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Weight of Common Ingredients
Conversion charts are well and good. But a US customary cup of butter doesn’t weigh the same as a cup of flour.
Here are some common ingredients and their weights to help you convert from US cups to ounces or grams.
Here is a more in-depth list of ingredients and their conversions if you’re looking for an ingredient that we do not list here.
We’re always on the lookout for how we can make our site more of a helpful resource to you, so if there are conversions that you struggle with, leave a comment or send us an email, and we’ll get to work on more guides and “cheat” sheets!