How Many Grams of Butter Are in a Cup

One cup of butter equals 227 grams. That’s the figure you need if your recipe uses American measurements and your kitchen works in grams. But there are nuances depending on how you measure the butter (stick form, melted, or at room temperature) that are worth clarifying before you start baking.

Grams of butter in a cup: the exact figure

The standard conversion in baking is:

1 cup of butter = 227 grams
1/2 cup of butter = 113.5 grams
1/4 cup of butter = 56.75 grams
1/3 cup of butter = 75.6 grams

This equivalence is based on the density of butter, which is higher than water but lower than sugar. That’s why you can’t apply the same figure to other ingredients, even if you use the same cup volume.

How much a cup of butter weighs depending on its state

The weight doesn’t change whether the butter is solid, soft, or melted: it’s still 227 grams per cup, because the weight of matter doesn’t vary when it changes state. What does change is the volume that same amount of grams takes up.

When butter melts, it loses the air trapped between the solid fat crystals, so 227 grams of melted butter takes up slightly less volume than 227 grams of cold stick butter. If your recipe calls for “1 cup of melted butter,” it’s better to first weigh 227 grams solid and then melt it, instead of melting butter and filling the cup to the brim.

How to use the markings on butter wrappers

Most butter sticks sold in the United States come with markings printed on the wrapper indicating tablespoons. A standard stick weighs 113 grams and equals half a cup, which is 8 tablespoons. This lets you cut exactly the portion you need without a scale, as long as the stick has those markings.

Outside the US, butter is usually sold in 200 or 250 gram blocks without those markings, so a scale is your best ally there.

Why a scale is more accurate than a measuring cup

When you press butter into a measuring cup, the actual number of grams varies depending on how packed it is. Two people can fill the same cup and get 210 or 240 grams depending on how much air they leave between pieces. A scale eliminates that variable: 227 grams is always 227 grams, no matter how you place it.

In baking, where the fat-to-flour ratio directly affects the final texture (a cookie, a cake, a pastry), that difference of 20 or 30 grams can be noticeable in the result.

Butter cup to grams conversion: quick table for recipes

Save this reference for when you’re halfway through a recipe and don’t want to stop and do calculations:

2 cups of butter = 454 grams
1 1/2 cups of butter = 340.5 grams
3/4 cup of butter = 170.25 grams
2 tablespoons of butter = 28.4 grams
1 tablespoon of butter = 14.2 grams

If you’re working with other cup-measured ingredients, this same precision criteria applies to how many grams of flour are in a cup, although the figure is different because flour’s density is lower.

Differences between butter, margarine, and vegetable fats

Not all baking fats weigh the same per cup. Butter (227 g/cup) and margarine have very similar densities because both contain a similar water percentage. Solid vegetable shortening, on the other hand, tends to weigh a bit less per cup —around 205 grams— because it’s pure fat without the water content found in butter.

If you substitute margarine for butter in a recipe, you can use the same gram figure without adjustment. If you use vegetable shortening, the final texture will change slightly even if you use the same weight.

When the recipe calls for ounces instead of grams

Some American or English recipes indicate butter in ounces instead of cups or grams. One cup of butter equals 8 ounces, so if your recipe calls for, say, 4 ounces of butter, you need half a cup (113.5 grams).

If you often come across recipes in ounces and prefer working in grams, it saves time using a grams to ounces calculator instead of doing the conversion mentally every time.

Common mistakes when measuring butter in cups

The most frequent mistakes when converting butter from cups to grams are:

Leveling the cup with soft butter without packing it down, which gives fewer grams than you’d think.
Confusing tablespoon with teaspoon when using the stick markings.
Measuring melted butter by filling the cup to the brim instead of weighing it before melting.
Using liquid measuring cups (with a spout) instead of dry measuring cups, which have straight edges and give a more accurate measurement for solid ingredients like butter.

If your recipe also includes sugar besides butter, this same care applies when measuring how many grams of white sugar are in a cup, another ingredient where packing significantly alters the result.

Frequently asked questions