When converting recipes, units, and measurements, one of the most frequently asked questions is how many cups are in a pound. There are 2 cups in 1 pound.
But a pound of different types of flour varies using cups. For example, 1 pound equals 3.62 cups of all-purpose flour, 3.49 cups of bread flour, and 3.98 cups of cake flour.
The same is true for different types of sugar, fat, and wet ingredients. This article will quickly answer how many cups of sugar in a pound and other questions.
What is a pound?
Pound (abbreviated as lb, lbs, lbm, or #) is a measure of weight in the United States that is equal to 16 ounces or 0.45359237 kilograms.
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But there are two types of pound: the Troy pound of the United Kingdom and the avoirdupois pound of the United States.
- 1 US (avoirdupois) pound = 1.91 cups
- 1 UK/imperial (Troy) pound = 0.66 cups
What is a cup?
A cup is an essential measuring tool while cooking and baking. It is used to measure the volume of liquids such as water, milk, and oil and dry ingredients such as flour, sugar, rice, etc.
How many cups in a pound
Here is a simple conversion table from pounds to cups.
US pound | Cups | UK pound | Cups |
---|---|---|---|
1 lb | 1.91 cups | 1 lb | 1.32 cups |
2 lb | 3.82 cups | 2 lb | 2.64 cups |
3 lb | 5.73 cups | 3 lb | 3.3 cups |
4 lb | 7.64 cups | 4 lb | 3.96 cups |
5 lb | 9.55 cups | 5 lv | 4.62 cups |
Pounds to cups conversions for dry ingredients
Flour
Pounds | All-purpose flour | Bread flour | Cake flour | Self-raising flour |
---|---|---|---|---|
½ lb | 1.81 cups | 1.74 cups | 1.99 cups | 1.81 cups |
1 lb | 3.62 cups | 3.49 cups | 3.98 cups | 3.63 cups |
2 lb | 7.25 cups | 6.97 cups | 7.96 cups | 7.26 cups |
3 lb | 10.87 cups | 10.46 cups | 11.93 cups | 10.89 cups |
4 lb | 14.5 cups | 13.94 cups | 15.91 cups | 14.51 cups |
5 lb | 18.12 cups | 17.43 cups | 19.89 cups | 18.14 cups |
Pounds | Whole wheat flour | Pastry flour | Buckwheat flour | Gluten-free flour |
---|---|---|---|---|
½ lb | 1.75 cups | 2.1 cups | 1.89 cups | 1.86 cups |
1 lb | 3.5 cups | 4.2 cups | 3.78 cups | 3.72 cups |
2 lb | 7 cups | 8.4 cups | 7.56 cups | 7.44 cups |
3 lb | 10.5 cups | 12.6 cups | 11.34 cups | 11.15 cups |
4 lb | 14 cups | 16.8 cups | 15.12 cups | 14.87 cups |
5 lb | 17.5 cups | 21 cups | 18.9 cups | 18.59 cups |
How many cups in a pound of flour?
- 1 pound of all-purpose flour equals 3.62 cups
- 1 pound of bread flour equals 3.49 cups
- 1 pound of cake flour equals 3.98 cups
- 1 pound of self-raising flour equals 3.63 cups
- 1 pound of whole wheat flour equals 3.5 cups
- 1 pound of pastry flour equals 4.2 cups
- 1 pound of buckwheat flour equals 3.78 cups
- 1 pound of gluten-free flour equals 3.72 cups
Sugar
Pounds | Granulated sugar | Caster sugar | Brown sugar | Powdered sugar |
---|---|---|---|---|
½ lb | 1.13 cups | 1.01 cups | 1.13 cups | 1.81 cups |
1 lb | 2.27 cups | 2.02 cups | 2.27 cups | 3.63 cups |
2 lb | 4.54 cups | 4.03 cups | 4.54 cups | 7.26 cups |
3 lb | 6.8 cups | 6.05 cups | 6.8 cups | 10.89 cups |
4 lb | 9.07 cups | 8.06 cups | 9.07 cups | 14.51 cups |
5 lb | 11.34 cups | 10.08 cups | 11.34 cups | 18.14 cups |
How many cups in a pound of sugar?
- 1 pound of granulated sugar equals 2.27 cups
- 1 pound of caster equals 2.02 cups
- 1 pound of brown sugar equals 2.27 cups
- 1 pound of powdered sugar equals 3.63 cups
Pounds to cups conversions for fat
When butter is standardized, it's always a pound for every two cups, regardless of brand.
Pounds | Butter | Margarine | Virgin olive oil |
---|---|---|---|
½ lb | 1 cups | 1.05 cups | 1.03 cups |
1 lb | 2 cups | 2.09 cups | 2.07 cups |
2 lb | 4 cups | 4.18 cups | 4.13 cups |
3 lb | 6 cups | 6.27 cups | 6.2 cups |
4 lb | 8 cups | 8.36 cups | 8.26 cups |
5 lb | 10 cups | 10.45 cups | 10.33 cups |
So, let's break it down:
- 1 pound of butter equals 2 cups
- 1 pound of margarine equals 2.09 cups
- 1 pound of virgin olive oil equals 2.07 cups
Pounds to cups conversions for liquid ingredients
Pounds | Water | Milk |
---|---|---|
½ lb | 0.96 cups | 0.94 cups |
1 lb | 1.92 cups | 1.87 cups |
2 lb | 3.83 cups | 3.75 cups |
3 lb | 5.75 cups | 5.62 cups |
4 lb | 7.67 cups | 7.50 cups |
5 lb | 9.59 cups | 9.37 cups |
- 1 pound of water equals 1.92 cups
- 1 pound of milk equals 1.87 cups
How to convert cups to pounds and vice versa
Let's start from the basics to calculate how many cups are in a pound. The one-pound to 2 cups conversion is mainly used for cooking and baking purposes.
- 1 pound equals 2 cups.
- 1 cup equals ½ pound, or 1 c = ½ lb.
Let's make an example: how many pounds are 5 cups? If 1 cup = ½ pound, we should first multiply five (the number of cups) by ½ (coefficient): 5 x ½ = 2.5
The answer: 5 cups make 2.5 pounds.
Note: Use the formula when working with liquid-to-pound conversions.
However, the food items have different densities. So, the actual volume of a pound varies depending on the density of the ingredient.
To convert pounds to cups (lbs to cups), you should divide the weight multiplied by 1.917223 by the density of the ingredient:
cups = pounds × 1.917223/ingredient density
To convert cups to pounds (cups to lbs), you should divide the volume multiplied by the density of the ingredient by 1.917223:
pounds = cups × ingredient density/1.917223
Which cup you should use
The cup is a US customary unit of volume equal to 16 tablespoons or 8 fluid ounces.
In America, there are two main sizes of cups: the US customary cup used in recipes and the US legal cup used in nutrition labeling.
- 1 US customary cup = 236.588 mL
- 1 US legal cup = 240 mL
There is the metric cup in the UK and the rest of the Commonwealth: 1 international (metric) cup = 250 mL
However, if you use a recipe from an old British cookbook, it probably uses an imperial cup: 1 imperial cup = 284.131 mL
If you follow the US recipes, please invest in a set of measuring cups and spoons to measure ingredients. However, a good kitchen scale will always give precise measurements and predictable results in baking.
Other baking conversions
To convert between other measurement units such as grams, pints, quarts, gallons, tablespoons, teaspoons, and more, visit Baking Conversion Charts. You will find individual converters from cups to grams, grams to cups, cups to pints, etc.
- How Many Cups In A Pint
- How Many Cups In A Quart
- How Many Cups In A Gallon
- How Many Milliliters In A Teaspoon
- How Many Milliliters In A Tablespoon
Conclusion
Now, it is clear that each ingredient has its measuring cup value. So, despite the standard system conversion where one pound equals 2 cups, different ingredients have different pound-to-cup measurements.
So what's next? Discover the delicious recipes on the blog.
Maria Van Bibber says
I'm interested in learning about baking; this will greatly help me; I will read and understand every step/measurement. Thank you.
Irina says
Hello Maria, I would suggest signing up for Baking Basics Course where you will learn lots of basics, tips, and tricks. Happy learning!