Cups of Butter to Grams

Cups to grams — quick reference

The formula

Cups of butter to grams is one multiply by 226.8 grams per cup (displayed as 227):

grams = cups × 226.8

Worked example: 1 cup × 226.8 = 227 g; ½ cup = 113 g (one US stick); 2 cups = 454 g (one pound). The quick table covers ¼ through 2 cups.

The stick system: 1 stick = ½ cup = 8 Tbsp = 4 oz = 113 g, and a tablespoon is 14 g. A cup is two sticks, 227 g.

How to use the cups of butter to grams

A cup of butter is 227 grams, and the number falls out cleanly because of the US stick system: one cup is two sticks, half a cup is one stick, and a stick is 113 grams. Enter cups for grams, or swap to go from grams to cups.

American butter is sold in quarter-pound sticks, each wrapped with a tablespoon grid printed on the paper. One stick is ½ cup, 8 tablespoons, 4 ounces, and 113 grams; two sticks make a cup at 227 grams; a tablespoon is 14 grams. That grid is why US recipes can say “1 stick” or “4 tablespoons butter” and expect you to know the amount — the wrapper is the measuring tool.

It’s also why butter is one of the few “cup” ingredients that’s actually reliable by volume: you’re not packing a soft solid into a cup, you’re cutting a pre-formed stick at a printed mark. Cold butter sliced at the tablespoon lines is as accurate as weighing for most baking. Where it breaks down is softened or melted butter and non-US butter, which don’t come in sticks.

European and other non-US butter is sold in blocks (often 250 g) with no stick markings, so a recipe written in sticks means nothing until you weigh — 1 stick is 113 g of any butter. Salted and unsalted weigh the same; the salt is a tiny fraction of the mass. These values use the 240 ml US cup.

Frequently asked questions