How many grams in a cup of flour
A cup of all-purpose flour weighs 120 grams spooned and leveled: pick the flour and the way you fill the cup.
240 g all-purpose flour
2 cups
- 1 cup×2
US cup of 236.6 mL, spooned and leveled
How this is measured
1 US cup of all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled, weighs 120 g. Based on King Arthur's ingredient weight chart: fluff, spoon into the cup until overflowing, level with a straight edge (as King Arthur's guide to measuring flour describes).
Other values: Scooped, 142 g a cup (America's Test Kitchen baking conversion chart): 1.69 cups; Sifted, 115 g a cup (USDA Nutritive Value of Foods, Home and Garden Bulletin No. 72): 2.09 cups.
How many grams in 1 cup of flour?
One US cup of all-purpose flour weighs 120 grams when it is spooned and leveled, the grams per cup King Arthur Baking gives and the calculator's default. How the flour gets into the cup changes the weight:
- Spooned and leveled (fluffed, spooned in until it overflows, leveled with a straight edge): 120 grams, King Arthur Baking.
- Scooped (dip the cup into the bag and sweep it level): 142 grams, America's Test Kitchen.
- Sifted, then spooned into the cup: 115 grams, USDA (Home and Garden Bulletin 72).
So when a recipe calls for 240 grams, that is 2 cups spooned and leveled, but only ≈ 1⅔ cups dipped and swept. America's Test Kitchen found up to a 20 percent difference in the weight of a cup of flour depending on how it is measured and by whom; it set its standard by having dozens of volunteers measure a cup and averaging the weights. King Arthur Baking says a cup packed down can hold up to 160 grams.
If the recipe names its method, pick the matching fill in the calculator. If it gives grams, use them and skip the cups. If it gives neither, the calculator assumes spooned and leveled and says so in the answer.
Grams per cup of different types of flour
Flours are not interchangeable by the cup. Each row below is the weight its source gives for one cup; where the source doesn't say how the cup was filled, the row says "Not stated" instead of guessing:
| Flour | How the cup is filled | Grams in 1 US cup | Ounces | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All-purpose flour | Spooned and leveled | 120 g | 4.23 oz | A |
| All-purpose flour | Scooped | 142 g | 5.01 oz | B |
| All-purpose flour | Sifted | 115 g | 4.06 oz | F |
| Bread flour | Not stated | 120 g | 4.23 oz | A |
| Bread flour | Scooped | 137 g | 4.83 oz | C |
| Cake flour | Not stated | 113 g | 3.99 oz | B |
| Whole wheat flour | Not stated | 113 g | 3.99 oz | A |
| Almond flour | Not stated | 96 g | 3.39 oz | A |
Sources: A — King Arthur Baking ingredient weight chart; B — America's Test Kitchen baking conversion chart; C — USDA FoodData Central, SR Legacy; F — USDA Nutritive Value of Foods, Home and Garden Bulletin No. 72.
Bread flour is 120 grams a cup per King Arthur Baking, method not stated; USDA lists 137 grams unsifted and dipped. For cake flour, America's Test Kitchen gives 113 grams and King Arthur 120 grams for its own unbleached cake flour. Neither says how the cup was filled, so the cause of the gap is not stated.
Flour grams to cups conversion chart
All-purpose, spooned and leveled into US cups, with the scooped figure beside it:
US cups, as the cups and spoons to fill; ≈ marks the nearest measure.
| Grams | Spooned and leveled | Scooped |
|---|---|---|
| 25 g | 3 tbsp + 1 tsp | ≈ 2 tbsp + 2 tsp + ½ tsp |
| 50 g | ⅓ cup + 1 tbsp + 1 tsp | ≈ ⅓ cup + 1 tsp |
| 100 g | ¾ cup + 1 tbsp + 1 tsp | ≈ ⅔ cup + 2 tsp |
| 125 g | ≈ 1 cup + 1 tbsp | ≈ ¾ cup + 2 tbsp |
| 150 g | 1¼ cups | ≈ 1 cup + 1 tbsp |
| 200 g | 1⅔ cups | ≈ 1⅓ cups + 1 tbsp |
| 250 g | ≈ 2 cups + 1 tbsp | ≈ 1¾ cups |
| 300 g | 2½ cups | ≈ 2 cups + 2 tbsp |
| 400 g | 3⅓ cups | ≈ 2¾ cups + 1 tbsp |
| 500 g | ≈ 4¼ cups | ≈ 3½ cups |
| 600 g | 5 cups | ≈ 4¼ cups |
| 750 g | 6¼ cups | ≈ 5¼ cups |
| 1000 g | 8⅓ cups | ≈ 7 cups |
A few amounts recipes ask about, spooned and leveled: 100 grams is ¾ cup + 1 tbsp + 1 tsp, 125 grams is ≈ 1 cup + 1 tbsp, 250 grams is ≈ 2 cups + 1 tbsp, 500 grams is ≈ 4¼ cups and 1 kilogram is 8⅓ cups.
Flour cups to grams conversions
Going the other way, for recipes written in cups:
| Cups | Spooned and leveled | Scooped | Sifted |
|---|---|---|---|
| ⅛ cup | 15 g | 17.75 g | 14.38 g |
| ¼ cup | 30 g | 35.5 g | 28.75 g |
| ⅓ cup | 40 g | 47.33 g | 38.33 g |
| ½ cup | 60 g | 71 g | 57.5 g |
| ⅔ cup | 80 g | 94.67 g | 76.67 g |
| ¾ cup | 90 g | 106.5 g | 86.25 g |
| 1 cup | 120 g | 142 g | 115 g |
| 1½ cups | 180 g | 213 g | 172.5 g |
| 2 cups | 240 g | 284 g | 230 g |
| 3 cups | 360 g | 426 g | 345 g |
| 4 cups | 480 g | 568 g | 460 g |
A pound of all-purpose is ≈ 3¾ cups spooned and leveled, or ≈ 3¼ cups scooped. A 5-pound bag holds five times that.
How to measure flour
With a kitchen scale. Set the bowl on the scale and press tare so it reads 0 grams, then add flour until it shows the grams in the recipe; for one cup of all-purpose, King Arthur Baking says to keep going until the scale reads 120 grams. It also says you can stay within 5 grams either way, so 245 grams when the recipe calls for 240 won't affect it. America's Test Kitchen calls measuring by weight the only way to guarantee accuracy, and says to ignore the volume measurement when a recipe gives a weight and you have a scale.
Without a scale, King Arthur Baking's method gives its 120 grams cup:
- Fluff the flour in its bag or container with a spoon or scoop.
- Spoon it into the measuring cup until it overflows.
- Level the top with a straight edge, such as the back of a butter knife or a bench knife.
America's Test Kitchen writes its recipes for dip and sweep instead: dip the measuring cup into the container and level it with a straight edge, which gives its 142 grams cup. Sifted flour is lighter still, 115 grams a cup sifted and then spooned. Use the method the recipe was written for, and the cup will hold what the author meant.
Questions
How much should 1 cup of flour weigh?
120 grams of all-purpose, spooned and leveled (King Arthur Baking), or 142 grams scooped (America's Test Kitchen). Other types weigh differently; see the table above.
Is 1 cup of flour 250 grams?
No, 250 grams is more than two US cups: ≈ 2 cups + 1 tbsp spooned and leveled. One cup is 120 grams.
Is 200 grams of flour 1 cup?
No. 200 grams of all-purpose is 1⅔ cups spooned and leveled. 200 grams is closer to one cup of granulated sugar, which weighs 198 grams.
How many grams are in ½ cup of flour?
60 grams of all-purpose, spooned and leveled, or 71 grams scooped.
How many cups is 375 grams of flour?
3 cups + 2 tbsp spooned and leveled; ≈ 2⅔ cups scooped.
How many cups is 600 grams of flour?
5 cups spooned and leveled; ≈ 4¼ cups scooped.
How many cups are in 1200 grams of flour?
10 cups spooned and leveled, or ≈ 8½ cups scooped.
How do I convert cups to grams for baking?
Multiply the cups by the weight of one cup of that flour, filled the way the recipe meant. Spooned and leveled, 2 cups is 240 grams. The calculator above does it for each type and fill.
How many grams are in ½ cup of butter?
113.5 grams (USDA); one US stick of butter is ½ cup. The butter converter does sticks, tablespoons and grams.
How do I measure 100 grams of flour without a scale?
Spoon and level ¾ cup + 1 tbsp + 1 tsp. Expect it to be close rather than exact: the weight of a cup depends on the fill.
Sources
- 21 CFR 101.9 (US nutrition labeling)
- America's Test Kitchen baking conversion chart
- America's Test Kitchen, Baking Basics: Measuring Ingredients
- America's Test Kitchen, Measuring Flour
- King Arthur Baking ingredient weight chart
- King Arthur Baking, How to measure flour
- NIST Handbook 44, Appendix C
- NIST Special Publication 430, Household Weights and Measures
- USDA FoodData Central, SR Legacy
- USDA Nutritive Value of Foods, Home and Garden Bulletin No. 72
- Weights and Measures Act 1985 (UK), Schedule 1
- Grams to cups converterPick the ingredient, type the grams and get US cups and spoons, with the fill method the weight assumes.
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- How many grams in a cup of sugarA cup of granulated sugar weighs 198 grams: pick the sugar, and for brown or powdered, how the cup is filled.
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- Ingredient weight chartOne US cup of every ingredient we have a sourced weight for, in grams; change the amount or unit and every row follows.
- Cooking conversion chartCups, spoons, ounces, grams, milliliters and oven temperatures on one printable page, with the abbreviations recipes use.