Ask Dr. Math

Equivalent Measurements

Equivalent measurements: teaspoon, ounce, pint, pound

You will find a table of equivalent measurements in the back of many cookbooks:

1 tablespoon = 3 teaspoons 
       1 cup = 16 tablespoon = 8 ounces 
     1/4 cup = 4 tablespoons 
     1/3 cup = 5 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon 
      1 pint = 2 cups = 16 ounces 
     1 quart = 4 cups (2 pints) = 32 ounces 
    1 gallon = 4 quarts
     1 pound = 16 ounces
   1/2 pound = 8 ounces
   1/4 pound = 4 ounces

Note that a pint is 16 ounces of volume, while a pound is 16 ounces of weight. The popular rhyme "A pint's a pound, the world around" can help you remember this, but keep in mind that they're not really equivalent.

Doubling a recipe can be easy (just put in two of each measurement), but what if you need to divide a recipe in half? Here are some measurements that may help:

Measurement    1/2 Measurement

1/8 teaspoon   just a dash
1 tablespoon   1 1/2 teaspoons
1/4 cup        2 tablespoons
1/3 cup        2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons
3/4 cup        6 tablespoons

Here are some measurement equivalents on the Web:

Cooking Conversions - Gourmet Sleuth

Converts drops, dash, pinch, milliliters/cc, deciliter, fluid dram, teaspoon (US), teaspoon (UK), tablespoon (US), tablespoon (UK), fluid ounce (US), fluid ounce (imperial), cups, cubic inch, gill (US), gill (UK), pint (US), pint (UK), quarts (US), liters, gallons (US), gallons (UK).

Gram Calculator - Gourmet Sleuth

Converts grams to ounces, teaspoons, tablespoons, cups.

Good Cooking's Cooking Measure Converter

Use the volume converter for conversion of teaspoons to tablespoons, tablespoons to cups, ounces to cups, cups to pints, pints to quarts, and cups to gallons. Also liquid and dry measurement equivalents.

Measure Equivalents, Metric Conversion Factors

USDA Nutrient Data Laboratory, Agricultural Research Service.