How Many Milliliters in a Cup? (Kitchen Measurement Conversion Chart)
How Many Milliliters in a Cup?
The short answer is 236.6 ml per US cup — more precisely 236.588 ml, since 1 US cup equals exactly 8 US fluid ounces, and each fluid ounce is exactly 29.5735 ml. In practice, rounding to 236 or 240 ml is fine for almost any recipe, but which number you use matters when you're scaling formulas, weighing dough, or following recipes written outside the United States.
Why the Answer Isn't Always 236.6 ml
"A cup" is not one universal measure. Three different cup sizes are still in active use around the world, and mixing them up is the most common source of baking and cooking mistakes.
- US cup: 236.588 ml (8 US fl oz). Used in American recipes and most US-published cookbooks.
- Metric cup: 250 ml. Standard in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and much of Asia. Canadian cookbooks sometimes round to 240 ml instead.
- Imperial/UK cup: 284.13 ml (10 imperial fl oz). Largely historical, but it still appears in older British recipes.
That's a spread of nearly 20% between a metric cup and an imperial cup. If a recipe calls for 2 cups of milk and you measure 500 ml instead of 473 ml, you'll get a noticeably thinner batter or a softer dough. For baking — where precision matters most — always confirm which cup system the recipe uses.
Quick Conversion Table
| Volume | US cup equivalent | Metric (ml) | US fl oz |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 cup (US) | 1 | 236.6 | 8 |
| 1/2 cup (US) | 1/2 | 118.3 | 4 |
| 1/3 cup (US) | 1/3 | 78.9 | 2.67 |
| 1/4 cup (US) | 1/4 | 59.1 | 2 |
| 1 cup (metric) | 1.06 | 250 | 8.45 |
| 1 cup (imperial) | 1.20 | 284.1 | 10 |
| 1 tbsp (US) | 1/16 | 14.8 | 0.5 |
| 1 tsp (US) | 1/48 | 4.93 | 0.167 |
Milliliters by Ingredient: Where Volume and Weight Diverge
Liquids convert directly from volume to weight, but dry ingredients don't. A cup of flour and a cup of honey are both "a cup," yet they differ enormously. A US cup holds roughly 120–125 g of all-purpose flour, about 200 g of granulated sugar, and about 236 g of water (1 ml of water weighs 1 g). If your recipe lists milliliters for a dry ingredient, measure by weight instead — 100 ml of flour is meaningless without knowing how it was packed.
Useful liquid approximations to memorize:
- 1 cup water = 236 ml = 236 g
- 1 cup milk ≈ 240–245 ml depending on fat content (whole milk runs denser than skim)
- 1 cup vegetable oil ≈ 218 g — oil is lighter than water, even though it fills the same 236 ml
- 1 cup honey ≈ 340 g — the single most over-poured ingredient in baking
How to Convert Cup-Based Recipes to Milliliters
Multiply the number of cups by the correct factor for your recipe's system:
- US recipe: ml = cups × 236.6
- Recipe already in metric cups: ml = cups × 250
- Imperial recipe: ml = cups × 284.1
Converting the other way is the same math in reverse. If a European recipe lists 500 ml of milk, that's 2.11 US cups — not exactly 2 cups. Rather than fight the rounding, measure 473 ml for 2 US cups and add 27 ml more if the dough looks dry, or use a metric measuring cup and measure exactly 500 ml.
Practical Tips for Accurate Measuring
- Weigh liquids when precision counts. A digital kitchen scale reading in grams is more accurate than any cup, especially for baking, where 1–2% variance in hydration changes the result.
- Read the cup at eye level. Measuring on a counter usually adds 5–15% to the volume, because the eye line sits above the liquid surface.
- Use dry measures for dry ingredients. Fill the cup, then level it off with the flat of a knife. Scooping directly from the bag can pack in 20% or more flour.
- Settle dry ingredients before measuring. A cup of flour straight from the bag can weigh anywhere from 120 g to 145 g. Spoon it into the cup instead.
- Check the recipe's origin. If it's from Australia, Canada, or a UK blog, assume the metric 250 ml cup unless stated otherwise.
Which Measuring Cup Should You Own?
For American recipes, a standard set labeled in cups and ounces, with interior markings in milliliters and fluid ounces, covers everything. For metric recipes, a 250 ml cup with a clear handle is the safest tool. A simple digital scale that switches between grams, ounces, and milliliters gives you both systems at once — and removes the guesswork entirely when a recipe lists milliliters but your kitchen only has cups.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is 240 ml the same as 1 cup? Almost. 240 ml is the rounded figure commonly used in Canadian and some American recipes, while the precise US cup is 236.6 ml. The difference is about 1.4%, which is negligible for liquids and stews but can affect bread doughs and cakes. If a recipe says 240 ml per cup, measure 240 ml exactly rather than 236.6 ml.
How many milliliters are in a metric cup? A metric cup is exactly 250 ml — one-quarter of a liter. This is the standard in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, and much of Europe and Asia, and it's the most common cup size in international recipe writing today.
How do I convert teaspoons and tablespoons to milliliters? In the US system, 1 tablespoon is 14.8 ml and 1 teaspoon is 4.93 ml. Metric cookware uses cleaner numbers: 15 ml and 5 ml respectively. The difference is tiny (about 0.2 ml per tablespoon), so the two systems are generally interchangeable for cooking; for baking or pharmacy-style precision, stick to the metric values.