mL to Cups Converter
Enter a volume in milliliters to get the equivalent in cups, along with the nearest kitchen measuring fraction, fluid ounces, tablespoons, and teaspoons. Switch between six cup standards including US customary, US nutrition label, metric, imperial, and Japanese. You can also reverse-convert by entering cups and reading back the milliliters.
Why cup size matters: the six standards
A "cup" is not a universal measurement. The US customary cup is defined as exactly 236.588 mL (half a US pint). The US nutrition label cup, used on packaged-food serving sizes, rounds up to 240 mL. Australian and Canadian recipes use the metric cup of exactly 250 mL, making it about 5.7% larger than the US cup. The old imperial cup, still occasionally found in British recipes, is 284.131 mL. Japanese cooking uses a 200 mL cup. When converting a recipe, check its country of origin and select the matching standard, because a seemingly small 14 mL difference per cup can add up to a meaningful error across multiple cups of an ingredient like flour or sugar.
How to read the nearest kitchen fraction
Standard measuring cup sets include 1/8, 1/4, 1/3, 1/2, 2/3, 3/4, and 1 cup measures. The nearest-fraction output finds which of these (or common multiples) is closest to your exact decimal result, and flags it only when the exact value is within 12% of that fraction. For most baking and cooking purposes the nearest fraction is accurate enough. If the fraction is not shown, the volume falls between two common measures and you should either use a liquid measuring jug marked in mL, or combine two standard cups.
Converting mL to tablespoons and teaspoons
For small amounts below about 60 mL (1/4 cup) it is often easier to measure in tablespoons or teaspoons. There are exactly 3 teaspoons in one tablespoon. One US tablespoon is 14.7868 mL and one US teaspoon is 4.92892 mL. This converter shows all three scales at once so you can pick whichever measuring tool is in reach. For amounts under 5 mL a single teaspoon is the practical limit of most kitchen measuring sets.
Practical tips for accurate liquid measurement
For liquid ingredients such as water, milk, oil, and broth, use a transparent jug with mL markings and read it at eye level to avoid parallax errors. For dry ingredients such as flour and sugar, note that volume-to-mass ratios vary widely depending on sifting and packing: a loosely spooned cup of all-purpose flour is about 120 g, while a scooped cup can be 160 g or more. When baking by volume, spoon the ingredient into the cup and level the top with a straight edge for consistent results. For critical bakes, switching to grams eliminates cup-standard ambiguity entirely.
mL to cups quick reference (US cup = 236.588 mL)
| mL | US cups (exact) | Kitchen fraction | Tablespoons | Teaspoons |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 0.0211 | 1 tsp | 0.3 tbsp | 1 tsp |
| 15 | 0.0634 | 1 tbsp | 1 tbsp | 3 tsp |
| 30 | 0.127 | 1/8 cup | 2 tbsp | 6 tsp |
| 60 | 0.254 | 1/4 cup | 4 tbsp | 12 tsp |
| 80 | 0.338 | 1/3 cup | 5.4 tbsp | 16.2 tsp |
| 120 | 0.507 | 1/2 cup | 8 tbsp | 24 tsp |
| 160 | 0.676 | 2/3 cup | 10.8 tbsp | 32.5 tsp |
| 180 | 0.761 | 3/4 cup | 12.2 tbsp | 36.5 tsp |
| 237 | 1.006 | 1 cup | 16 tbsp | 48 tsp |
| 250 | 1.057 | 1 cup | 16.9 tbsp | 50.7 tsp |
| 355 | 1.502 | 1 1/2 cups | 24 tbsp | 72 tsp |
| 473 | 2.000 | 2 cups (1 pt) | 32 tbsp | 96 tsp |
| 946 | 4.000 | 4 cups (1 qt) | 64 tbsp | 192 tsp |
| 3785 | 16.00 | 16 cups (1 gal) | 256 tbsp | 768 tsp |
Common cooking volumes converted to US cups, tablespoons, and teaspoons.
Frequently asked questions
How many mL are in a cup?
It depends on which cup standard you use. The US customary cup is 236.588 mL, often rounded to 237 mL in everyday use. The US nutrition label cup is 240 mL. The metric cup (used in Australia, Canada, and New Zealand) is 250 mL. The imperial cup is 284 mL, and the Japanese cup is 200 mL. The difference matters most when scaling recipes up: across 4 cups the US and metric cups differ by about 54 mL.
How do I convert mL to cups without a calculator?
Divide the number of mL by 237 for a quick US cup estimate, or by 250 for metric cups. For example, 500 mL / 237 is about 2.1 US cups, and 500 mL / 250 is exactly 2 metric cups. For fluid ounces, divide mL by 30 as a rough guide (the exact figure is 29.5735 mL per fl oz).
How many mL is 1/3 cup?
One third of a US cup is about 79 mL (one third of 236.588). One third of a metric cup is about 83 mL (one third of 250). For practical cooking, 80 mL is the commonly accepted value for 1/3 cup.
How many mL is 1/2 cup?
Half a US cup is 118.3 mL. Half a metric cup is 125 mL. Most recipes that list 1/2 cup water, milk, or oil are using US cups, so 118 to 120 mL is the typical target.
What is the difference between a US cup and a metric cup?
A US cup is 236.588 mL and a metric cup is 250 mL, a difference of about 13.4 mL or 5.7%. For most savory cooking this is negligible, but for baking leavening ratios and precise pastry recipes it can affect the result across multiple cups of an ingredient. Australian, New Zealand, and some Canadian recipes use the 250 mL metric cup.
How many tablespoons are in a cup?
There are 16 US tablespoons in one US cup. Each tablespoon is 14.7868 mL. So 1 cup = 16 tbsp, 1/2 cup = 8 tbsp, 1/4 cup = 4 tbsp, and 1/3 cup = approximately 5 tbsp + 1 tsp.
How many mL is 2/3 cup?
Two thirds of a US cup is about 157.7 mL. Two thirds of a metric cup is about 166.7 mL. Most American recipe uses of 2/3 cup target the US value of roughly 158 mL.