Instantly convert between grams and cups for 30+ cooking and baking ingredients — accurate, density-based results whether or not you own a kitchen scale.
Convert NowA gram is a unit of weight — it tells you how heavy something is, on a scale, no matter its shape. A cup is a unit of volume — it tells you how much space something takes up in a measuring cup, regardless of how heavy it is. Those are two different physical properties, so there's no single number that turns "grams" into "cups" the way there is for, say, feet into inches.
The missing piece is density: how much a specific volume of a specific ingredient weighs. Light, airy ingredients like flour pack a lot of volume into relatively little weight. Thick, heavy liquids like honey pack a lot of weight into very little volume. Once you know an ingredient's density, the conversion becomes simple arithmetic.
Example: a recipe calls for 250g of all-purpose flour. One cup of all-purpose flour weighs about 125g, so 250 ÷ 125 = 2 cups. Swap the ingredient and the answer changes even though the weight in grams stays the same — that's density at work, and it's exactly what the calculator above does automatically for every ingredient in the list.
A cup measures volume — the space an ingredient takes up. A gram measures weight. Those are different things, so the same 1-cup scoop of five different ingredients can weigh five different amounts, depending on how light, airy, or dense that ingredient is.
All-purpose flour weighs about 125g per cup because it's full of tiny air pockets between the flour particles. Granulated sugar is heavier at 200g because its crystals pack together more tightly, with less trapped air. Butter, a solid fat, weighs 227g per cup. Pure water — the liquid most other densities are informally compared against — comes in at 237g. And honey is the heaviest of the five at 340g, nearly 2.7× flour's weight, because it's a thick, viscous liquid with almost no trapped air and a high concentration of dissolved sugar.
This is why using one ingredient's conversion for another is the single most common source of baking measurement errors, and why a kitchen scale is more reliable than measuring cups for recipes that need precision: weight doesn't change with how loosely or tightly an ingredient is packed, but volume does. Our calculator uses each ingredient's individual density so the conversion matches how it's actually measured in a real kitchen.
Weight per 1 US cup
The six ingredients home bakers convert most, with the reasoning behind each number.
A general-purpose wheat flour used in most baking recipes, from cookies to bread.
Standard refined white sugar, the most common sweetener in baking.
A dairy fat that adds richness, flavor, and structure to baked goods and sauces.
A thick, dense liquid sweetener produced by bees, heavier than granulated sugar by volume.
Liquid dairy milk, close to water in density and used throughout baking and cooking.
Rolled oats used in oatmeal, granola, cookies, and baked goods.
Browse by Category
Ingredients behave differently by density and category — browse conversions grouped by flours, sugars, liquids, dairy, oils, and more.
All-purpose, bread, cake and specialty flours.
Granulated, brown, powdered sugar, honey and syrups.
Water and other liquid ingredients measured by weight.
Butter, milk and other dairy staples.
Olive, vegetable, coconut and other cooking oils.
Rice, oats, breadcrumbs and other grain-based staples.
Nuts and seeds for baking and snacking.
Leaveners, starches, cocoa and other pantry staples.
Fresh and dried fruits for pies, breads and batters.
Quick reference for the most frequently searched cooking measurement conversions.
| Ingredient | 50g | 100g | 200g | 250g | 500g |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🌾 All-purpose flour | 0.40 cups | 0.80 cups | 1.60 cups | 2.00 cups | 4.00 cups |
| 🍬 Granulated sugar | 0.25 cups | 0.50 cups | 1.00 cups | 1.25 cups | 2.50 cups |
| 🟤 Brown sugar (packed) | 0.23 cups | 0.45 cups | 0.91 cups | 1.14 cups | 2.27 cups |
| 🧈 Butter | 0.22 cups | 0.44 cups | 0.88 cups | 1.10 cups | 2.20 cups |
| ☁️ Powdered sugar | 0.42 cups | 0.83 cups | 1.67 cups | 2.08 cups | 4.17 cups |
| 🍫 Cocoa powder | 0.58 cups | 1.16 cups | 2.33 cups | 2.91 cups | 5.81 cups |
| 🥣 Oats (rolled) | 0.56 cups | 1.11 cups | 2.22 cups | 2.78 cups | 5.56 cups |
| 🍯 Honey | 0.15 cups | 0.29 cups | 0.59 cups | 0.74 cups | 1.47 cups |
| 🍫 Chocolate chips | 0.29 cups | 0.59 cups | 1.18 cups | 1.47 cups | 2.94 cups |
| 🍚 Rice (uncooked) | 0.27 cups | 0.54 cups | 1.08 cups | 1.35 cups | 2.70 cups |
How to use this table: find your ingredient's row, then read across to the gram amount closest to your recipe. A table like this one is faster than typing into the calculator when you're checking several common amounts at once or comparing two ingredients side by side — use the calculator above instead when your recipe lists a gram amount that isn't one of these round numbers.
These values are approximate, like any gram-to-cup conversion. See why different sources show slightly different numbers below.
A "cup" isn't a universal unit — its exact volume depends on which measuring system a recipe was written in. A US customary cup holds 236.59 mL (often rounded to 240 mL). A metric cup, used in Australia, New Zealand, and some UK recipes, holds exactly 250 mL — about 5.7% more.
That gap sounds small, but it compounds. A recipe that calls for 4 cups of flour will be off by roughly half a cup if you use the wrong standard — enough to noticeably change a cake's texture. The difference matters most in recipes with several cup measurements added together, like bread doughs or large batches.
Every gram value on this site, and everywhere this calculator quotes a "cup," is calculated using the US customary cup, since it's the standard used by the vast majority of English-language recipes online. If you're working from a recipe written in Australia, New Zealand, or the UK, check whether it specifies a metric cup before converting.
If you've compared gram-to-cup values across a few sites and noticed they don't quite match, you're not imagining it. None of them are necessarily wrong — they're usually just accounting for a different combination of these five variables.
A cup of brown sugar loosely spooned in weighs a lot less than one firmly packed down — and recipes rarely specify which they mean.
Flour and sugar absorb moisture from the air. On a humid day, the same cup can weigh several grams more than it does somewhere dry.
Different brands mill flour to different finenesses and process sugar into slightly different crystal sizes, which changes how densely each one packs into a cup.
A US cup (236.59 mL) and a metric cup (250 mL) aren't the same size, and not every site specifies which one its numbers are based on.
Scooping a measuring cup directly into a flour bag packs in more flour than spooning it in and leveling the top — the method most baking recipes assume.
Our density values use the most common convention for each ingredient — spooned and leveled for dry goods, firmly packed for brown sugar, US customary cups throughout — matching how most English-language recipes expect you to measure. They're accurate approximations for everyday cooking and baking, not laboratory-exact figures.
Small habits that make cup measurements far more consistent.
Weight doesn't change with how an ingredient is packed. For recipes that need precision, grams beat cups every time.
Spoon flour into the cup and level it off with a straight edge. Scooping directly from the bag packs in extra flour and throws off the ratio.
Unlike flour, brown sugar should be pressed down into the cup until it holds its shape when turned out.
Sifted flour traps more air and weighs less per cup than unsifted flour — sifting when a recipe expects unsifted flour will throw off the ratio.
Conversion Charts
Quick reference charts for converting between grams and cups across GramToCup's ingredient database.
Conversion Guides
Plain-English explanations behind the numbers — how conversions work and when to trust them.
Why a cup of one ingredient weighs differently from a cup of another, and how to convert accurately.
Why there's no universal grams-to-tablespoons number, and a reliable workaround using cups.
The real difference between a US customary cup and a metric cup, and why it adds up in baking.
A practical overview of weight vs. volume, measuring tools, and the concepts behind every conversion on this site.
100 grams of all-purpose flour is approximately 0.80 cups. This is based on a density of about 125 grams per cup for spooned and leveled flour.
Use our calculator! Simply select your ingredient and enter the grams. The tool uses accurate density data to give you the cup equivalent — no scale needed for the conversion itself. However, for the most precise baking, a digital kitchen scale is always recommended.
Because cups measure volume and grams measure weight. Flour is lighter and fluffier than sugar, so it takes fewer grams of flour to fill a cup compared to sugar. One cup of all-purpose flour weighs about 125g, while one cup of granulated sugar weighs about 200g.
Yes! Click the swap button (↕) at the top of the calculator to switch between Grams → Cups and Cups → Grams mode. The conversion happens instantly.
Our converter uses US customary cups (236.59 mL), which is the most commonly used cup measurement in recipes worldwide. The grams-per-cup values are calibrated for US cups with ingredients spooned and leveled. For more detail on how US and metric cups differ, see our US vs Metric Cups guide.
They're accurate approximations, not lab-exact measurements. Each ingredient's density can vary slightly with humidity, brand, and how finely it's milled or processed. For everyday baking and cooking, our density values are precise enough — but if you're weighing for a professional recipe, always weigh directly with a kitchen scale rather than converting from a volume measurement.
A cup is a fixed volume, but how much fits in that volume depends on how tightly the ingredient is packed. Sifted flour has more trapped air than scooped flour, so a cup of it weighs less. Firmly packed brown sugar weighs more than loosely spooned brown sugar. Our density values assume the standard method for each ingredient — spooned and leveled for dry goods, firmly packed for brown sugar — matching how most recipes expect you to measure.
No — if a recipe already gives you a gram amount, weigh it directly on a kitchen scale rather than converting to cups first. Converting grams to cups and then measuring by volume reintroduces the exact packing and density variation that weighing is meant to avoid.
Dry measuring cups are filled to the brim and leveled off with a straight edge, which works for flour, sugar, and other solids. Liquid measuring cups have a spout and extra headspace above the top marking, and are read at eye level — filling a liquid cup to the brim like a dry cup would spill it. Both hold the same volume at their fill line, but using the wrong type makes dry ingredients harder to level and liquids easy to overfill. See our Kitchen Measurement Guide for more on measuring tools and technique.
For home cooking and baking, yes — these density values are precise enough that the difference won't be noticeable. For commercial baking or recipe formulation at scale, small per-cup variances compound across large batches, so professional bakers should weigh every ingredient directly against a tested recipe rather than converting from volume.