U. S. Capacity Measurement Conversion Reference

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This table provides conversions between various units of capacity measurement. Some of the smaller measures are commonly found in cooking recipes.

U. S. Liquid Capacity Measures

Convert From-> Convert To \/	Milliliter (ml)	Teaspoon (t or tsp)	Tablespoon (T, Tbl, or Tbsp)	Fluid Ounce (fl oz)	Cup (C)	Pint (pt)	Quart (qt)	Liter (l)	Gallon (gal)
Milliliter (ml) Official		4.927	14.781	29.5625	236.5	473	946	1,000	3,785
Milliliter (ml) Household (see notes)		5	15	30	240 to 250	480 to 500	960 to 1,000	1,000
Teaspoon (t or tsp)	2.02963 e-1		3	6	48	96	192	202.963	768
Tablespoon (T, Tbl, or Tbsp)	6.76544 e-2	0.33333		2	16	32	64	67.6544	256
Fluid Ounce (fl oz)	3.38266 e-2	0.16667	0.5		8	16	32	33.8266	128
Cup (C)	4.22833 e-3	2.08333 e-2	0.0625	0.125		2	4	4.22833	16
Pint (pt)	2.11416 e-3	1.04167 e-2	3.125 e-2	0.0625	0.5		2	2.11416	8
Quart (qt)	1.05708 e-3	5.20833 e-3	1.5625 e-2	3.125 e-2	0.25	0.5		1.05708	4
Liter (l)	0.001	4.927 e-3	1.4781 e-2	2.95625 e-2	2.365 e-1	4.73 e-1	9.46 e-1		3.785
Gallon (Gal)	2.64201 e-4	1.30208 e-3	3.90625 e-3	7.8125 e-3	0.0625	0.125	0.25	0.264201
U. S. Dry Capacity Measures
Convert From-> Convert To \/	Milliliter (ml)	Teaspoon (t or tsp)	Tablespoon (T, Tbl, or Tbsp)	Cup (C)	Pint (pt)	Liter (qt)	Quart (qt)	Peck (pk)	Bushel (bu)
Milliliter (ml) Official		5.7292	17.18175	275	550	1,000	1,101	8,809	35,238
Milliliter (ml) Household (see notes)		5	15	240 to 250	480 to 500	1,000	960 to 1,000
Teaspoon (t or tsp)	2.02963 e-1		3	48	96	202.963	192	1,536	6.144
Tablespoon (T, Tbl, or Tbsp)	6.76544 e-2	3.33333 e-1		16	32	67.6544	64	512	2,048
Cup (C)	4.22833 e-3	2.08333 e-2	6.25 e-2		2	4.22833	4	32	128
Pint (pt)	2.11416 e-3	1.04167 e-2	3.125 e-2	0.5		2.11416	2	16	64
Liter (l)	1.101 e-3	5.7292 e-3	1.71818 e-2	2.75 e-1	5.50 e-1		1.101	8.809	35.238
Quart (qt)	9.08265 e-4	5.20833 e-3	1.5625 e-2	0.25	0.5	9.0825 e-1		8	32
Peck (pk)	1.1352 e-4	6.51042 e-4	1.95313 e-3	3.125 e-2	6.25 e-2	1.1352 e-1	0.125		4
Bushel (bu)	2.83785 e-5	1.6276 e-4	4.88281 e-4	7.8125 e-3	1.5625 e-2	2.83785 e-2	0.03125	0.25

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How to use the table

Locate the unit of measure that you want to convert from along the top of the chart. Then look down that column until you reach the row of the unit of measure that you wish to convert to. The number at the intersection of column and row is the conversion multiplier.

For example, if you have a recipe that calls for 7 cups of water and you need to convert that to quarts, look down the "quart" column in the Liquid Capacity Measures table until you find the "cup" row, where you will find the value 0.25. Multiply 7 by 0.25 and you will find that 7 cups equals 1.75 quarts.

If the recipe called for two pecks of flour and you want to find that in cups, look down the "pecks" column in the Dry Capacity Measures table until you find the "cup" row, where you will find the value 32. Multiply 2 by 32 and you will find that 2 pecks equals 64 cups.

Conversions between capacity measurement systems

Capacity conversions are complicated because dry capacity measures are different than liquid capacity measures, and the U. S. English and British English (U. K.) Capacity measures aren't the same either.

For example, a U. S. Liquid Capacity measures for a cup equals 236.5 milliliters, while a U. S. Dry Capacity measure for a cup contains 275 milliliters.

It should be mentioned that within the U. S. English and British English (U. K.) dry or liquid capacity measures, ratios remain the same. That is, a cup contains 48 teaspoons in U. S. dry and liquid measurement systems, and in U. K. dry and liquid measurement systems. This means that if you stay within the relative confines of one of these systems, you won't encounter the ugly realities of absolute capacity measurements that are encountered when you attempt to convert between any of the capacity measuring systems, including to or from metric measures. It does mean that a recipe sent to someone living in the US from a relative in the UK may have some conversion problems if metric measures were not used.

In the metric system, the measures (Liter, Milliliter) represent the same amount of capacity regardless of whether the material being measured is dry or liquid. Subsequently, it can be easier to convert from one of the English systems to another by first converting to metric, and then converting to the desired English measurement system.

Notes:

Measuring cups and spoons that are sold today in the United States are typically really the same containers sold for measuring fractions of liters in other countries, but for the U. S. market they also have a heavily rounded U. S. English equivalent measure printed on them.
For example, a metal container for measuring one cup is probably actually a 250 ml (1/4 Liter) measuring cup, which is about 6% larger than the traditional cup for liquids, and smaller for dry materials. That error is usually small enough as to not cause problems in typical food recipes. Modern Tablespoons and Teaspoons are also typically slightly larger (or smaller) than claimed, actually holding 15 ml and 5 ml respectively. The most commonly used "rounded" values are shown in the "Household" Liters and Milliliters rows of the table.
This inaccuracy is why medical personnel do not like patients using kitchen spoons to measure out liquid medicines, because the resulting dose can vary considerably from what was prescribed.
Some values are shown in scientific notation, which is a number followed by the letter "e" and a value, which indicates the number of positions to the left or right the decimal point actually goes. If the sign following the "e" is negative, it means the decimal point must be moved to the left by the stated number of positions. For example, 2.64201e-4 really represents the value 0.000264201.
British (U. K.) Capacity measures differ from the U. S. measures shown above. For example, the Imperial Gallon contains 4.545 Liters, while the U. S. Gallon contains 3.785 Liters.

Imprecise Measurements

Barrel - 31 U. S. gallons of fermented beverage or 42 U. S. gallons of petroleum.

Keg - 30 gallons or less.

Pinch - Traditionally the amount of a powdered ingredient that can be grasped between the thumb and finger. Typically only used with dry ingredients.

Taste - An amount of salt, spice or other seasoning added to a cooking recipe that alters the taste in a desired way, as in "Season to Taste". The amount of material actually used varies based on a number of factors, including the batch size.