How many tablespoons in a cup?

In standard US cooking measurements, 1 cup equals 16 tablespoons exactly. A tablespoon is 3 teaspoons, so a cup is also 48 teaspoons or 8 fluid ounces. These are the numbers in almost every American recipe.

If you follow a British, Australian, or metric recipe, the numbers shift a little. A UK tablespoon is 15 mL compared to the US 14.79 mL (close enough for cooking). An Australian tablespoon is 20 mL, so 1 cup equals only 12.5 Australian tablespoons. For baking, where ratios matter more than absolute volume, stick with the origin country's definition to avoid surprises.

Quick reference: Cups (US) to Tablespoons

Worked examples

1. Example 1: A recipe calls for 1/2 cup of butter but you only have a tablespoon measure.

   Calculation: 1/2 × 16 = 8 tablespoons.

   Use 8 tablespoons of butter. (Also happens to be 1 stick.)

2. Example 2: You are scaling a recipe up 3x and need 3 cups of olive oil. The bottle's pour cap only dispenses tablespoons.

   Calculation: 3 × 16 = 48 tablespoons.

   That is a lot of counting. A measuring cup will be much faster.

3. Example 3: A sauce recipe needs 1/4 cup of soy sauce. How many tablespoons?

   Calculation: 16 ÷ 4 = 4 tablespoons.

   4 tablespoons of soy sauce. Easy to eyeball with a regular spoon if you do not have a tablespoon measure.

← Back to all answers