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Tablespoons to US cups

Multiply tablespoons by 0.0625 to get US cups.

1 tbsp = 0.0625 cupNIST HB 44
tbsp
0.75cup

12 tbsp = 0.75 cup

How to convert tablespoons to US cups

The US cup is a US customary cup, one sixteenth of a gallon (236.5882365 millilitres). The tablespoon is a US tablespoon, half a fluid ounce (14.78676478125 millilitres).

Worked example — 12 tbsp: 12 × 0.0625 = 0.75 cup.

Tablespoons to US cups table

Common conversions.
TablespoonsUS cups
1 tbsp0.0625 cup
2 tbsp0.125 cup
4 tbsp0.25 cup
8 tbsp0.5 cup
12 tbsp0.75 cup
16 tbsp1 cup
24 tbsp1.5 cup
32 tbsp2 cup
48 tbsp3 cup

Reverse and related

About tablespoons and US cups

Tablespoon (tbsp)

1 tbsp = 0.0625 cup

Definition. A US tablespoon, half a fluid ounce (14.78676478125 millilitres)

History and origin

The tablespoon became a fixed cooking measure as recipes were standardised, set in the US at half a fluid ounce, about 14.8 millilitres, and equal to three teaspoons.

Current use

Tablespoons are an everyday kitchen measure for cooking and baking across the English-speaking world, though the exact size varies a little by country.

Source: NIST Handbook 44, Appendix C §2 (U.S. Customary Units) and §5 (Tables of Equivalents)

US cup (cup)

1 cup = 16 tbsp

Definition. A US customary cup, one sixteenth of a gallon (236.5882365 millilitres)

History and origin

The US customary cup was standardised as a cooking measure at one sixteenth of a gallon, about 237 millilitres. It became popular through American recipe books in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

Current use

The cup is the dominant volume measure in US home cooking and baking; metric recipes usually give millilitres or grams instead.

Source: NIST Handbook 44, Appendix C §2 (U.S. Customary Units) and §5 (Tables of Equivalents)

Where people use this

Tablespoons: recipes. US cups: recipes, baking. 16 tablespoons make 1 US cup.

How we know this is right
The factor is fixed by the standards that define the units, not chosen — so it is exact, not a measurement:
1 cup = 16 tbsp, so 1 tbsp = 1 ÷ 16 = 0.0625 cup.

Every value is carried to full double precision; the display is rounded.

Both units are defined in NIST Handbook 44, Appendix C §2 (U.S. Customary Units) and §5 (Tables of Equivalents).

Questions people ask

How many tablespoons in a cup?

16 tablespoons make one US cup.

How many tablespoons is half a cup?

Half a US cup is 8 tablespoons.

How many tablespoons is a quarter cup?

A quarter US cup is 4 tablespoons.

All tablespoon conversions