How Many Tablespoons in a Cup?
There are 16 tablespoons in a US cup. That holds for any ingredient, because it is a volume relationship: a cup is defined as 16 tablespoons, and one tablespoon is 3 teaspoons, so a cup is also 48 teaspoons. Need an in-between amount? The converter does the math instantly.
Quick answer: 1 cup = 16 tbsp · 3/4 cup = 12 tbsp · 1/2 cup = 8 tbsp · 1/4 cup = 4 tbsp.
Cup to tablespoon chart
| Cups | Tablespoons | Teaspoons |
|---|---|---|
| 1/8 cup | 2 tbsp | 6 tsp |
| 1/4 cup | 4 tbsp | 12 tsp |
| 1/3 cup | 5 tbsp + 1 tsp | 16 tsp |
| 1/2 cup | 8 tbsp | 24 tsp |
| 2/3 cup | 10 tbsp + 2 tsp | 32 tsp |
| 3/4 cup | 12 tbsp | 36 tsp |
| 1 cup | 16 tbsp | 48 tsp |
The two awkward fractions are the thirds. A third of a cup is 5.33 tablespoons, which no one can measure, so recipes round it to 5 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon. Two thirds is 10 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons. Both are exact once you drop down to teaspoons.
How big is a US tablespoon?
One US tablespoon is 14.79 ml, and one US cup is 236.6 ml, so 236.6 divided by 14.79 gives you the 16 tablespoons. It also equals half a fluid ounce, which is why 2 tablespoons make 1 fluid ounce. See how many ounces in a cup for the fluid-ounce side of this.
Measuring without a measuring cup
The 16-tablespoon rule is a lifesaver when your cup measures have wandered off. Need three quarters of a cup and only own measuring spoons? Count out 12 tablespoons. Half a cup is 8, a quarter cup is 4, and an eighth of a cup is 2. It works the other way too: if a recipe piles up tablespoons, you can collapse them into cups to keep the count sane. Just remember to level each spoonful with the back of a knife, since a heaped tablespoon of flour or sugar throws the total off quickly across 16 of them.
Australian tablespoons are bigger
Watch out for Australian recipes. The Australian standard tablespoon is 20 ml, not the roughly 15 ml used in the US, UK, and most of the world. That makes an Australian tablespoon equal to 4 teaspoons instead of 3. Because Australia also uses a 250 ml metric cup, an Australian cup works out to 12.5 of their 20 ml tablespoons rather than 16. If a recipe lists tablespoons of a leavener or salt and it comes from Australia or New Zealand, measure by weight or add a teaspoon to be safe. More on this in teaspoons in a tablespoon.