Do you need to know how many ounces are in a cup? Learn the difference between fluid and dry ounces and enjoy this handy guide and a FREE printable measurement chart to make recipes in metric and imperial systems.
The difficulty in making recipes nowadays is a result of different measurement systems.
Recipes that use both metric and US measurements are rare, making it more difficult for home cooks and baking enthusiasts to measure the right amounts of ingredients.
This article is an in-depth guide that will give you a quick, easy, and comprehensive cup volume conversion.
Jump to:
What is an ounce?
An ounce is a measurement unit of weight (dry ounce) and volume (fluid ounce).
An avoirdupois ounce (aka US dry oz) is used to measure dry ingredients (flour, nuts, seeds, sugar, etc.), equaling 1/16 pound or 28.35 grams.
A troy ounce (aka British Imperial ounce) is mostly used to measure the mass of precious metals (gold, silver, platinum, etc.). It is equal to 31.10 g.
But the dry ounces shouldn't be confused with fluid ounces (fl oz) that measure liquid ingredients such as milk, water, oil, etc.
1 US fluid ounce = 29.57 milliliters.
1 imperial fluid ounce = 28.4 milliliters.
Measuring cups
Which measuring cup do you need? There are many different types of cups worldwide, and it can be confusing to know which one is right for your needs.
For example, there are US customary and legal cups, Imperial cups, Canadian, New Zealand, and Japanese cups.
Different countries have their own standards for food weight or liquid capacity. So make sure to read a recipe through before you start.
British vs American measuring cups
British and American measuring cups, also ounce measurements, differ because of the different measurement systems.
In the United States, people use imperial measurements for recipes.
In the United Kingdom and many other countries, it is common to use the metric system instead.
1 metric cup = 250 ml of water.
1 US cup = 237 ml of water.
Liquid vs. dry measuring cups
What is the difference between dry cups and liquid ones?
If you measure oil, milk, or juice, for instance, then you should use a wet measuring cup with a pour spout on the side.
Please, don't confuse this type of cup with a coffee mug or a teacup. Liquid things are measured in fluid or liquid ounces.
Dry ingredients such as flour, sugar, or potato starch should be measured with granulated measuring cups in dry ounces.
Different dry ingredients have various rules for measuring them correctly.
For example, flour should be scooped and leveled with the flat edge of a butter knife to remove excess flour from the top of the cup. Brown sugar should be packed into the cup.
So dry measurements are used for weight, while liquid ones identify the volume of liquid.
Please, read more about how to measure liquid and dry ingredients.
Again and again, a kitchen scale is the one that provides the most accurate and precise measurement (aka right measurement) of ingredients.
How many fluid ounces in a cup
Let's dive into how many fluid ounces make a cup.
1 cup to ounces (1 c to fl oz)
One US cup of liquid equals 8 fluid ounces, or
1 c = 8 fl oz
One Imperial cup equals 10 fluid ounces, or
1 c = 10 fl oz
1 ounce to cups (1 fl. oz. to c)
How much is one ounce?
1 US fluid ounce equals 0.125 US cup.
1 Imperial fluid ounce equals 0.1 Imperial cups.
How to convert cups to ounces
To convert US cups to US fluid ounces, multiply the number of cups by 8, where 8 is a conversion factor:
US fluid ounces = cups x 8.
To convert Imperial cups to Imperial fluid ounces, multiply the number of cups by 10, where 10 is a conversion factor:
Imperial fluid ounces = cups x 10.
Let's have a look at an example.
How many ounces in 2 cups?
2 c x 8 = 16 fl. oz. (US system), so
there are 16 US fluid ounces in 2 US cups.
2 c x 10 = 20 fl. oz. (Imperial system), so
there are 20 Imperial fluid ounces in 2 Imperial cups.
Cups to fl oz conversion chart
The chart below provides an easy-to-use guide for navigating the conversion rates. It converts US cups to US fluid ounces (c to fl oz).
| Cups | Fluid ounces |
|---|---|
| ¼ cup | 2 fl oz |
| ⅓ cup | 2.67 fl oz |
| ½ cup | 4 fl oz |
| 1 cup | 8 fl oz |
| 1.5 cup | 12 fl oz |
| 2 cups | 16 fl oz |
| 3 cups | 24 fl oz |
| 4 cups | 32 fl oz |
| 5 cups | 40 fl oz |
| 6 cups | 48 fl oz |
| 7 cups | 56 fl oz |
| 8 cups | 64 fl oz |
| 9 cups | 72 fl oz |
| 10 cups | 80 fl oz |
How to convert ounces to cups
To convert US fluid ounces to US cups, here is a simple formula: divide the number of ounces by 8, where 8 is a conversion factor.
For example, 1 ounce to cup calculation:
1 c ÷ 8 = 0.125 cup
To convert Imperial fluid ounces to Imperial cups, divide the number of ounces by 10, where 10 is a conversion factor.
For example, 1 ounce to cup calculation:
1 c ÷ 10 = 0.1 cup
Fl oz to cup conversion chart
Here is another conversion chart - US fluid ounces to US cups conversion table (fl oz to c).
| Fluid ounces | Cups |
|---|---|
| 1 fl oz | 0.13 cup |
| 2 fl oz | 0.25 cup |
| 3 fl oz | 0.38 cup |
| 4 fl oz | 0.5 cup |
| 5 fl oz | 0.63 cup |
| 6 fl oz | 0.75 cup |
| 7 fl oz | 0.88 cup |
| 8 fl oz | 1 cup |
| 9 fl oz | 1.13 cups |
| 10 fl oz | 1.25 cups |
| 12 fl oz | 1.5 cups |
| 14 fl oz | 1.75 cups |
| 16 fl oz | 2 cups |
| 18 fl oz | 2.25 cups |
| 20 fl oz | 2.6 cups |
| 24 fl oz | 3 cups |
| 48 fl oz | 6 cups |
| 64 fl oz | 8 cups |
How many oz in a cup
The cup of a dry ingredient will contain different dry ounces depending on what type of ingredient it is.
Now let's have a look at some examples:
- 1 cup of flour = 4. 41 oz.
- 1 cup of brown sugar = 7.05 oz.
- 1 cup of butter = 8 oz.
- 1 cup of leafy greens = 16 oz.
- 1 cup of chocolate chips = 6 oz.
Here are a few conversions charts for the most common dry ingredients.
Note: The conversions below are in US measurements (US cups, US ounces).
All-purpose flour
| Cups | Ounces | Grams |
|---|---|---|
| ¼ cup | 1.1 oz | 31 g |
| ⅓ cup | 1.5 oz | 42 g |
| ½ cup | 2.2 oz | 63 g |
| 1 cup | 4.4 oz | 125 g |
Bread flour
| Cups | Ounces | Grams |
|---|---|---|
| ¼ cup | 1.1 oz | 32 g |
| ⅓ cup | 1.5 oz | 42 g |
| ½ cup | 2.2 oz | 64 g |
| 1 cup | 4.5 oz | 127 g |
Cake flour
| Cups | Ounces | Grams |
|---|---|---|
| ¼ cup | 0.9 oz | 25 g |
| ⅓ cup | 1.2 oz | 33 g |
| ½ cup | 1.8 oz | 50 g |
| 1 cup | 3.5 oz | 100 g |
Self-raising flour
| Cups | Ounces | Grams |
|---|---|---|
| ¼ cup | 1.1 oz | 31 g |
| ⅓ cup | 1.5 oz | 42 g |
| ½ cup | 2.2 oz | 63 g |
| 1 cup | 4.4 oz | 125 g |
Whole wheat flour
| Cups | Ounces | Grams |
|---|---|---|
| ¼ cup | 1.1 oz | 32 g |
| ⅓ cup | 1.5 oz | 43 g |
| ½ cup | 2.3 oz | 65 g |
| 1 cup | 4.6 oz | 129.6 g |
Buckwheat flour
| Cups | Ounces | Grams |
|---|---|---|
| ¼ cup | 1 oz | 30 g |
| ⅓ cup | 1.4 oz | 40 g |
| ½ cup | 2.1 oz | 60 g |
| 1 cup | 4.2 oz | 120 g |
Gluten-free flour
| Cups | Ounces | Grams |
|---|---|---|
| ¼ cup | 1.1 oz | 31 g |
| ⅓ cup | 1.4 oz | 41 g |
| ½ cup | 2.2 oz | 61 g |
| 1 cup | 4.3 oz | 122 g |
Cornflour
| Cups | Ounces | Grams |
|---|---|---|
| ¼ cup | 1.3 oz | 38 g |
| ⅓ cup | 1.8 oz | 50 g |
| ½ cup | 2.7 oz | 75 g |
| 1 cup | 5.3 oz | 150 g |
Cocoa powder
| Cups | Ounces | Grams |
|---|---|---|
| ¼ cup | 1 oz | 30 g |
| ⅓ cup | 1.2 oz | 39 g |
| ½ cup | 2.1 oz | 59 g |
| 1 cup | 4.2 oz | 118 g |
Granulated sugar
| Cups | Ounces | Grams |
|---|---|---|
| ¼ cup | 1.8 oz | 50 g |
| ⅓ cup | 2.4 oz | 67 g |
| ½ cup | 3.5 oz | 100 g |
| 1 cup | 7.1 oz | 200 g |
Caster sugar
| Cups | Ounces | Grams |
|---|---|---|
| ¼ cup | 2 oz | 56 g |
| ⅓ cup | 2.7 oz | 75 g |
| ½ cup | 4 oz | 113 g |
| 1 cup | 7.9 oz | 225 g |
Brown sugar
| Cups | Ounces | Grams |
|---|---|---|
| ¼ cup | 1.8 oz | 50 g |
| ⅓ cup | 2.4 oz | 67 g |
| ½ cup | 3.5 oz | 100 g |
| 1 cup | 7.1 oz | 200 g |
Powdered sugar
| Cups | Ounces | Grams |
|---|---|---|
| ¼ cup | 1.1 oz | 31 g |
| ⅓ cup | 1.5 oz | 42 g |
| ½ cup | 2.2 oz | 63 g |
| 1 cup | 4.4 oz | 125 g |
Butter
| Cups | Ounces | Grams |
|---|---|---|
| ¼ cup | 2 oz | 57 g |
| ⅓ cup | 2.7 oz | 76 g |
| ½ cup | 4 oz | 113 g |
| 1 cup | 8 oz | 226.8 g |
Margarine
| Cups | Ounces | Grams |
|---|---|---|
| ¼ cup | 1.9 oz | 54 g |
| ⅓ cup | 2.6 oz | 72 g |
| ½ cup | 3.8 oz | 109 g |
| 1 cup | 7.7 oz | 217 g |
Free printable conversion chart
To help you, I have created a cheat sheet to place on a cabinet door or refrigerator. You can also laminate or even frame it.
This liquid conversion chart converts from teaspoons to milliliters to tablespoons and from cups to milliliters to fluid ounces to tablespoons.
Download and print this Liquid Measurement Conversion Chart >>
More FREE printables are part of our Baking Like a Chef Club and FREE resource library.
More baking conversions
Make sure also to check out other handy conversions:
- Grams To Cups Conversions
- Cups To Grams Conversions
- How Many Cups In A Pint
- How Many Cups In A Gallon
- How Many Milliliters In A Teaspoon
- How Many Milliliters In A Tablespoon
Also, enjoy a handy tool - Cake Pan Converter - to re-calculate cake pan sizes.
Conclusion
This cups to ounces conversion is a part of conversion series created as quick and easy guides for beginners and professional bakers.
I hope this post makes clear converting between ounces and cups and vice versa.
Here is a short list of baking tools needed to measure dry and liquid ingredients:
- kitchen scale,
- liquid measuring cups,
- dry measuring cups,
- measuring spoons, or
- measuring cups and spoons set.
Now, take a chance to learn the baking basics and common measurements by signing up for a specially created E-course.
What's more? You will never get bored with the delicious recipes on the blog.
FAQ
2 fluid ounces equal ¼ cup.
4 fluid ounces is ½ cup.
6 fluid ounces is ⅔ cup.
1 cup equals 8 fl. oz.
12 fluid ounces equal 1 ½ cup.
14.5 fluid ounces is 1.81 cups.
15 fluid ounces is 1.88 cups.
2 cups equal 16 fl. oz.
4 cups equal 32 fl. oz.
A cup of water equals 8 fluid ounces.
There are 4 fluid ounces in half of the cup.
There are 2 fluid ounces in a quarter cup.
A standard cup of coffee is 6 ounces, although the coffee cup sizes depend on coffee shops.
Leave a Reply