Cups to Pints Converter
Type a volume in cups to see pints, or enter pints to reverse the conversion. Switch between US liquid pints and imperial (UK) pints. Every result also shows the equivalent in tablespoons, fluid ounces, quarts, and millilitres so you have every common cooking unit at a glance.
How many cups are in a pint?
There are exactly 2 US cups in 1 US liquid pint. This is because the US customary system defines 1 pint as 16 fluid ounces, and 1 cup as 8 fluid ounces, so two cups fill one pint exactly. To convert cups to pints, divide the number of cups by 2. To convert pints to cups, multiply by 2. For example, 6 cups divided by 2 equals 3 pints, and 2.5 pints multiplied by 2 equals 5 cups.
US liquid pint vs imperial pint - what is the difference?
A US liquid pint equals 16 US fluid ounces, or about 473 millilitres. An imperial pint (used in the UK, Ireland, and some Commonwealth countries) equals 20 imperial fluid ounces, or about 568 millilitres. That means an imperial pint is roughly 20% larger than a US pint. If you are following a British recipe and your measuring jug is marked in US pints, you would need 1.2 US pints to equal 1 imperial pint. The difference matters most in baking, where even small volume errors can affect rise, texture, and flavour. There is also a US dry pint (used for berries and similar produce), which equals about 551 ml, but cooking liquid measurements almost always refer to the liquid pint.
Cups, pints, quarts and gallons - the US volume ladder
US customary volume units follow a simple doubling ladder. 1 cup equals 8 fluid ounces. 2 cups make 1 pint. 2 pints make 1 quart. 4 quarts make 1 gallon. Memorising just two facts - 2 cups per pint, 2 pints per quart - lets you navigate any US recipe without a calculator. When scaling a recipe, start from the cups value, convert to pints, then check whether quarts or gallons are more convenient for large batches. For baking it also helps to know that 1 cup is 16 tablespoons, so 1 pint is 32 tablespoons.
Cups and pints in cooking and baking
In US cooking, liquid ingredients such as milk, cream, broth, and water are usually listed in cups for smaller amounts (up to 2 cups) and pints or quarts for larger amounts. A standard US recipe for a soup might call for 4 cups of broth - that is 2 pints, or half a quart. A smoothie recipe might use 1.5 cups of liquid, which is three-quarters of a pint. Professional kitchens and commercial recipes increasingly specify millilitres alongside cup measures to avoid ambiguity between US and imperial quantities, which is especially important for international recipe sharing.
Common cup-to-pint conversions
| Cups | Pints (US) | Fluid oz (US) | Tablespoons | Millilitres |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1/4 | 0.125 | 2 | 4 | 59.1 |
| 1/3 | 0.167 | 2.67 | 5.33 | 78.9 |
| 1/2 | 0.25 | 4 | 8 | 118.3 |
| 2/3 | 0.333 | 5.33 | 10.67 | 157.7 |
| 3/4 | 0.375 | 6 | 12 | 177.4 |
| 1 | 0.5 | 8 | 16 | 236.6 |
| 1.5 | 0.75 | 12 | 24 | 354.9 |
| 2 | 1 | 16 | 32 | 473.2 |
| 3 | 1.5 | 24 | 48 | 709.8 |
| 4 | 2 | 32 | 64 | 946.4 |
| 6 | 3 | 48 | 96 | 1419.5 |
| 8 | 4 | 64 | 128 | 1892.7 |
| 12 | 6 | 96 | 192 | 2839.1 |
| 16 | 8 | 128 | 256 | 3785.4 |
Standard US liquid measurements. For imperial pints, multiply the pint column by 1.201 (since 1 US pint = 0.8327 imperial pints).
Frequently asked questions
How do I convert cups to pints?
Divide the number of cups by 2. Because there are exactly 2 cups in 1 US liquid pint, the formula is simply: pints = cups / 2. For example, 5 cups divided by 2 gives 2.5 pints. To go the other way, multiply pints by 2 to get cups.
Is 2 cups equal to 1 pint?
Yes, in the US customary system, 2 cups equals exactly 1 US liquid pint (16 fluid ounces or approximately 473 millilitres). This relationship holds for US liquid measures. It does not apply to the imperial pint used in the UK, which equals approximately 2.4 US cups.
How many cups are in a UK (imperial) pint?
An imperial pint (568 ml) contains approximately 2.4 US cups (236.6 ml each). If you need to use a US cup measure for a British recipe that calls for 1 imperial pint, fill the cup twice and add about 40% of a third cup, or just use 568 ml on a metric scale for precision.
What is the difference between a dry pint and a liquid pint?
A US liquid pint is about 473 ml and is used for beverages, dairy, and cooking liquids. A US dry pint is about 551 ml and is used mainly for agricultural produce such as blueberries, strawberries, and cherry tomatoes sold at markets. Recipes almost always mean the liquid pint. If you buy a pint of berries, the container holds a dry pint, which is slightly larger than a liquid pint.
How many tablespoons are in a pint?
There are 32 US tablespoons in 1 US liquid pint. This follows from the chain: 1 pint = 2 cups = 16 fluid ounces = 32 tablespoons (at 2 tablespoons per fluid ounce). For imperial pints, there are approximately 38.4 US tablespoons because the imperial pint is about 20% larger.
How many millilitres are in a cup?
One US cup is exactly 236.588 millilitres (often rounded to 236.6 ml or simply 237 ml). One US liquid pint is exactly 473.176 ml (often rounded to 473 ml). These are the precise legal definitions used in US food labelling and pharmaceutical standards.