Convert grams to cups (or cups to grams) for flour, sugar, butter, oats, and 25+ more ingredients. Pick your ingredient, enter the amount, and get the result instantly.
✓Density values sourced: USDA FoodData Central & NIST culinary measurement standards — April 2026
🧪 Enter Weight & Ingredient
Pick your ingredient first — the grams-per-cup value varies significantly between them.
g
How many grams you haveEnter a weight greater than 0.
Each ingredient has a different grams-per-cup value
Quick Presets
🍵 Enter Volume & Ingredient
Works for fractions too — half a cup is 0.5, a third is 0.333.
cups
0.25 = 1/4 cup | 0.5 = 1/2 cup | 0.75 = 3/4 cupEnter a cup amount greater than 0.
Cup weight varies by ingredient density
Quick Fractions
Cups
0
💡 All conversions use the spooned-and-leveled standard for dry ingredients, which is the USDA recommended measuring method. If you scoop dry ingredients directly from the bag, actual weight may be 10–20% higher per cup.
NIST-defined cup volume (US customary = 236.6 ml) and guidance on measurement accuracy in cooking applications.
Formula: Cups = Grams ÷ (Cup Volume ml × Density g/ml). Simplified: Cups = Grams ÷ Grams-per-cup. Reverse: Grams = Cups × Grams-per-cup. All dry ingredient values use the spooned-and-leveled standard. Cup sizes: US customary = 236.6 ml, Metric = 250 ml, UK imperial = 284 ml.
Grams to Cups: Why the Conversion Is Different for Every Ingredient
If you've ever Googled "how many cups is 200 grams" and gotten a single number as an answer, that answer was wrong — or at least incomplete. There's no universal grams-to-cups conversion because cups measure volume and grams measure weight. The relationship between the two depends entirely on how dense the ingredient is.
200 grams of water fills almost exactly 0.85 cups. 200 grams of all-purpose flour fills about 1.6 cups. 200 grams of honey fills barely 0.6 cups. Same weight, completely different volumes. This is the fundamental thing most conversion tools get wrong — they give you a generic number that only applies to water.
The Grams to Cups Formula (With a Real Example)
The math itself is simple once you have the right numbers. For each ingredient, there's a grams-per-cup figure (how much a full US cup weighs). Divide your grams by that number and you've got cups.
🧮 Grams to Cups Formula
Cups = Grams ÷ Grams-per-cup
Grams = Cups × Grams-per-cup
Example: 250g flour ÷ 125 g/cup = 2.0 cups
Example: 1.5 cups sugar × 200 g/cup = 300g
Grams-per-cup values from USDA FoodData Central. US cup = 236.6 ml. All dry ingredient values use the spooned-and-leveled measuring standard.
The Spooned vs Scooped Problem — and Why It Matters for Baking
This is where most home bakers unknowingly introduce errors. There are two ways to measure a cup of flour: you can scoop the measuring cup directly into the flour bag and pack it in, or you can spoon the flour into the cup and level off the top with a knife. The first method regularly gives you 140 to 150 grams per cup. The second gives you about 120 to 125 grams.
That 20 to 25 gram difference sounds small. But in a cookie recipe calling for 2 cups of flour, it means the difference between 250g (correct) and 300g (scooped) — a 20% increase in flour. Your cookies end up drier, less spread, more cakey. Most published recipes mean "spooned and leveled" when they say "1 cup of flour." This calculator uses those standard values.
The practical fix: always spoon flour (and powdered sugar, cocoa powder, almond flour) into the measuring cup rather than scooping. Or better yet, use a kitchen scale and weigh it. You'll never have this problem again.
💡 The weight difference by measuring method:
1 cup flour, spooned & leveled: ~125g | 1 cup flour, dipped & scooped: ~145g
For a 2-cup recipe: 250g vs 290g. That 40g difference is the most common reason cookies, cakes, and quick breads come out drier or denser than expected.
Grams per Cup: Reference Table for 28 Common Ingredients
These are the values this calculator uses, sourced from USDA FoodData Central and consistent with figures used by King Arthur Baking and major culinary schools. All dry ingredient values assume spooned and leveled measuring.
Ingredient
Grams per US Cup
Notes
All-purpose flour
125 g
Spooned & leveled. Scooped: ~145g
Bread flour
130 g
Slightly denser than AP flour
Cake flour
120 g
Very fine, lightest flour type
Whole wheat flour
120 g
Can vary by brand and grind
Almond flour
100 g
Blanched, lightly packed
Granulated white sugar
200 g
Free-flowing; consistent measurement
Brown sugar (packed)
220 g
Firmly packed as recipes specify
Powdered / icing sugar
115 g
Spooned, not sifted
Butter
227 g
2 US sticks; softened or melted
Cocoa powder
100 g
Spooned; scooped = ~115g
Rolled oats
80 g
Old-fashioned or quick oats
Rice (white, uncooked)
170 g
Long-grain white rice
Honey
340 g
Very dense; weight varies by variety
Maple syrup
320 g
Grade A or B
Vegetable oil
218 g
Neutral oils (canola, sunflower)
Olive oil
216 g
Slightly lighter than vegetable oil
Water
237 g
Exact (1 US cup = 236.6 ml = 236.6g)
Whole milk
245 g
Slightly denser than water
Heavy cream
232 g
Whipping cream
Sour cream / yogurt
230 g
Full-fat; varies slightly by brand
Chocolate chips
160 g
Standard size semi-sweet chips
Salt (fine sea / table)
288 g
Fine-grained salt; coarse salt is less
Cornstarch
128 g
Spooned; very fine powder
Breadcrumbs (dry)
108 g
Fine breadcrumbs
Peanut butter
260 g
Smooth; creamy natural PB similar
Cream cheese
225 g
Regular block-style cream cheese
Desiccated coconut
75 g
Fine, unsweetened shredded coconut
Semolina
163 g
Fine semolina for pasta or pudding
US Cups vs Metric Cups: The 5% Difference That Trips Up International Recipes
Most baking recipes published in the United States use the US customary cup, which holds 236.6 ml. Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and South Africa use a metric cup of exactly 250 ml — about 5.7% larger. For most cooking that doesn't matter much. But for baking, especially cakes and pastries, using a metric cup when a recipe calls for US cups means you're adding about 7% more of every ingredient.
In a recipe calling for 3 cups of flour, the difference is 3 × 236.6 ml vs 3 × 250 ml — roughly 710 ml vs 750 ml. That's 40 ml extra, or about 20 extra grams of flour. Not catastrophic, but enough to affect the texture. When you're converting a recipe from a cookbook published in Australia and following it in the US (or vice versa), select the right cup type in the calculator above.
Frequently Asked Questions
100 grams of all-purpose flour is about 0.8 cups (four-fifths of a cup) when spooned and leveled. If you've been scooping the cup directly from the bag, 100g would be closer to 0.67 cups because scooped flour packs in more per cup. The calculator above uses the spooned standard, which is what most published recipes assume.
200 grams of granulated white sugar is exactly 1 cup. Sugar flows freely and doesn't compact, so the measurement is consistent: 100g = 0.5 cups, 400g = 2 cups, 1kg = 5 cups. For brown sugar (packed), 200g is about 0.91 cups because packed brown sugar is denser at 220g per cup.
Because dividing by 240 (or 237) only works for water and similar-density liquids. Flour is roughly half the density of water, so 1 cup of flour weighs only 125g — not 237g. Honey is denser than water at 340g per cup. Every ingredient has its own grams-per-cup value, which is why a simple gram-to-cup formula doesn't exist without knowing the ingredient.
250 grams of butter is about 1.1 cups (just over 1 cup). One US cup of butter weighs 227 grams — that's exactly 2 standard US butter sticks. So 250g is 1 cup plus roughly 1.5 tablespoons. Most European recipes written in grams use 250g of butter where American recipes might call for 1 cup or 2 sticks.
One cup of all-purpose flour weighs about 125 grams when properly measured (spooned into the cup and leveled off). Scooped directly from the bag, the same cup can weigh 140 to 150 grams. The extra weight from scooping is the single most common cause of dense, dry baked goods in home kitchens.
A US customary cup is 236.6 ml. A metric cup (used in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa) is exactly 250 ml — about 5.7% bigger. For most cooking it doesn't matter. For baking, if you're using a 250 ml metric cup with a US recipe, you're adding about 7% more of each ingredient, which can affect the final texture, especially in cakes and bread.
500 grams of all-purpose flour is 4 cups (spooned and leveled). 500 ÷ 125 = 4.0 exactly. For bread flour (130g per cup), 500g is about 3.85 cups. For whole wheat flour, also 120 to 125g per cup, so roughly 4 cups as well. Use the calculator above for any gram amount — it handles the ingredient-specific density automatically.
Yes, significantly so for baking. Grams are mass — a fixed number. Cups are volume, and volume measurements vary based on how tightly you pack the ingredient. The same recipe made with weighed ingredients is more consistent and repeatable than one made with measured cups. Most professional bakers and serious home bakers switch to weight measurement and never go back.
1 kilogram (1,000 grams) of granulated white sugar is exactly 5 cups. One cup weighs 200g, so 1000 ÷ 200 = 5. For brown sugar (packed), 1kg is about 4.5 cups at 220g per packed cup.
Memorize four numbers: flour = 125g/cup, sugar = 200g/cup, butter = 227g/cup, water = 237g/cup. Divide your grams by the right number. 300g flour = 300 ÷ 125 = 2.4 cups. 400g sugar = 400 ÷ 200 = 2 cups. Those four cover most everyday baking scenarios.
150 grams of rolled oats is about 1.875 cups — call it 2 cups minus a couple of tablespoons. One cup of rolled oats weighs around 80g (they're light and airy), so 150 ÷ 80 = 1.875. For a recipe calling for 1.5 cups of oats, that's about 120 grams.
It can, slightly. In very humid climates, flour absorbs moisture from the air and gains 2 to 5% in weight. For most home baking this is negligible. Where it matters: artisan bread baking, where humidity also affects fermentation timing. If you bake in a very humid environment, store flour in a sealed container and you'll mostly eliminate this variable.
300 grams of all-purpose flour is 2.4 cups — that's 2 cups plus roughly 6 tablespoons (since 1 cup = 16 tbsp, 0.4 cups = 6.4 tbsp). If you've been scooping rather than spooning, your 300g of scooped flour is really closer to 2 cups because scooped flour runs about 145g per cup vs 125g spooned.
100 grams of rolled oats is about 1.25 cups. Oats are light at roughly 80g per cup, so 100 ÷ 80 = 1.25. Quick-cooking oats are slightly heavier at about 90g per cup, so 100g of those is just over 1 cup.