Kitchen, US and metric volumes
Volume units come from three families. Metric units start from the liter, which is the volume of a cube 10 cm on each side; a milliliter is a thousandth of it and a cubic meter a thousand liters. US customary units start from the gallon, defined as exactly 231 cubic inches, and divide it into quarts, pints, cups, fluid ounces, tablespoons and teaspoons. Imperial units, still used in the United Kingdom for beer and milk, share the same names but are larger.
How to use this converter
Type a value in any field and every other unit updates as you type. Start from what your recipe, bottle or invoice shows: tablespoons, fluid ounces, liters or cubic feet. Each pair below the converter also has its own page with the formula, a worked example and a chart to print or keep on the fridge.
The US kitchen ladder
- 1 tablespoon = 3 teaspoons
- 1 fluid ounce = 2 tablespoons
- 1 cup = 8 fluid ounces = 16 tablespoons
- 1 pint = 2 cups, 1 quart = 2 pints, 1 gallon = 4 quarts
- 1 gallon = 128 fluid ounces ≈ 3.785 liters
Metric equivalents to remember
- 1 teaspoon ≈ 5 ml and 1 tablespoon ≈ 15 ml
- 1 cup ≈ 237 ml, often rounded to 240 or 250 ml
- 1 liter ≈ 4.23 cups ≈ 1.057 quarts
- 1 cubic foot ≈ 28.3 liters ≈ 7.48 gallons
Volume is not weight
This converter changes one volume unit into another. Turning a volume into grams or ounces requires the density of the ingredient: a cup of water weighs about 237 g, a cup of sugar about 200 g and a cup of flour about 125 g. For baking, a kitchen scale gives far more consistent results than cups.
US or imperial?
When a recipe or a fuel figure comes from the United Kingdom, Ireland or older Canadian sources, pints and gallons are probably imperial. Pick the imperial units in the converter to avoid a 20% error.
Volume units compared
| Unit | Symbol | In liters |
|---|---|---|
| Milliliter | ml | 0.001 |
| Centiliter | cl | 0.01 |
| Deciliter | dl | 0.1 |
| Liter | l | 1 |
| Cubic meter | m³ | 1,000 |
| Cubic centimeter | cm³ | 0.001 |
| Cubic inch | in³ | 0.0163871 |
| Cubic foot | ft³ | 28.3168 |
| Cubic yard | yd³ | 764.555 |
| Teaspoon | tsp | 0.00492892 |
| Tablespoon | tbsp | 0.0147868 |
| Fluid ounce | fl oz | 0.0295735 |
| Cup | cup | 0.236588 |
| Pint | pt | 0.473176 |
| Quart | qt | 0.946353 |
| Gallon | gal | 3.78541 |
| Imperial fluid ounce | fl oz (UK) | 0.0284131 |
| Imperial pint | pt (UK) | 0.568261 |
| Imperial gallon | gal (UK) | 4.54609 |
The units in detail
What is a milliliter?
The milliliter is one thousandth of a liter, exactly the volume of a cubic centimeter. It is the unit of medicine doses, perfume and cosmetics, and of drink labels in most countries; US bottles show it next to fluid ounces, as in 16.9 fl oz (500 ml).
What is a centiliter?
The centiliter is one hundredth of a liter, or 10 milliliters. It is common on European drink labels and bar recipes: a can holds 33 cl, a wine bottle 75 cl and a standard cocktail measure 4 or 5 cl.
What is a deciliter?
The deciliter is one tenth of a liter, or 100 milliliters. It is rarely seen in the US but appears in Swiss, Scandinavian and some French recipes, and in medical lab results such as cholesterol in mg/dL.
What is a liter?
The liter is the volume of a cube 10 cm on each side, one cubic decimeter. It is the everyday metric unit for drinks, fuel and engine size. One liter is about 1.057 US quarts, or a little more than 4 US cups.
What is a cubic meter?
The cubic meter is the SI unit of volume: a cube one meter on each side, holding 1,000 liters. Outside the US it is used for water and gas bills, concrete, firewood, room volumes and shipping containers.
What is a cubic centimeter?
The cubic centimeter equals exactly one milliliter. Written cc, it is used for syringes and doses in medicine and for engine displacement: a 250 cc motorcycle engine has a displacement of a quarter of a liter.
What is a cubic inch?
The cubic inch is the volume of a cube one inch on each side, exactly 16.387064 cm³. Classic American engines were sized in cubic inches: a 350 cubic inch V8 displaces about 5.7 liters. A US gallon is defined as exactly 231 cubic inches.
What is a cubic foot?
The cubic foot holds about 28.3 liters or 7.48 US gallons. Americans use it for refrigerator and freezer capacity, moving trucks, bagged soil and natural gas billing, where one CCF is 100 cubic feet.
What is a cubic yard?
The cubic yard equals 27 cubic feet, about 0.765 cubic meter. Ready-mix concrete, mulch, topsoil and gravel are sold by the cubic yard in the United States, often shortened to just a yard.
What is a teaspoon?
The US teaspoon is one third of a tablespoon, about 4.93 ml, and is usually rounded to 5 ml. It measures salt, baking powder, spices and extracts. For medicine, use the syringe or cup supplied with the product rather than a kitchen spoon.
What is a tablespoon?
The US tablespoon equals 3 teaspoons or half a fluid ounce, about 14.79 ml. Sixteen tablespoons make a cup. It is close to the 15 ml metric tablespoon, but the Australian tablespoon is larger at 20 ml.
What is a fluid ounce?
The US fluid ounce is 1/128 of a US gallon, about 29.57 ml. It measures drinks and liquid ingredients: a soda can holds 12 fl oz. It is a volume, unlike the ounce on a scale, and slightly larger than the imperial fluid ounce.
What is a cup?
The US customary cup holds 8 fluid ounces, about 236.6 ml. Nutrition labels use a rounded 240 ml cup, and Canada and Australia use a 250 ml metric cup. In baking, measure dry ingredients level, or better, weigh them.
What is a pint?
The US liquid pint equals 2 cups or 16 fluid ounces, about 473 ml. Ice cream, berries and craft beer are often sold by the pint. A British pint is about 20% larger, which surprises travelers ordering a beer.
What is a quart?
The US liquid quart is a quarter of a gallon: 2 pints, 4 cups or 32 fluid ounces, about 946 ml. Motor oil, milk, stock and slow cooker capacities are commonly given in quarts.
What is a gallon?
The US gallon is defined as 231 cubic inches, exactly 3.785411784 liters, and holds 4 quarts or 128 fluid ounces. Gasoline, milk, paint and water use in the United States are measured in gallons.
What is an imperial fluid ounce?
The imperial fluid ounce, used in the United Kingdom, is exactly 28.4130625 ml, about 4% smaller than the US fluid ounce. Twenty imperial fluid ounces make an imperial pint, against sixteen in the US pint.
What is an imperial pint?
The imperial pint holds 20 imperial fluid ounces, exactly 568.26125 ml. It is the legal measure for draft beer and cider in British and Irish pubs, and milk is still sold in pint bottles.
What is an imperial gallon?
The imperial gallon is exactly 4.54609 liters, about 20% more than the US gallon. British fuel economy figures in miles per gallon use it, which is why UK mpg numbers look higher than US ones for the same car.