Cups of Sugar to Grams

Cups to grams — quick reference

The formula

Cups of granulated sugar to grams is one multiply by 200 grams per cup:

grams = cups × 200

Worked example: 1 cup × 200 = 200 g; ⅓ cup ≈ 67 g; 2 cups = 400 g. The quick table covers ¼ through 2 cups.

Granulated sugar doesn’t compress, so scoop or spoon — the weight lands at about 200 g either way, which is why it’s the reliable dry ingredient by volume.

How to use the cups of sugar to grams

A cup of granulated sugar is 200 grams, and unlike flour it’s a number you can trust no matter how you scoop. Enter cups for grams, or swap to convert a gram amount back to cups.

Granulated sugar is the one common dry ingredient that volume measures honestly. Its crystals are hard and uniform, so they don’t compress when you dip and scoop the way flour does — a packed cup and a gently filled cup weigh essentially the same 200 grams. That’s why a recipe can get away with “1 cup sugar” where “1 cup flour” is a gamble.

So why weigh sugar at all? Three reasons. Consistency, if you’re the kind of baker who weighs everything else and wants one clean workflow. Scaling, because doubling or halving a recipe is trivial in grams. And ratio-sensitive work — caramel, meringue, candy — where the sugar-to-everything-else balance decides whether the result sets, and a few grams off changes the outcome. For everyday cakes and cookies, the cup is genuinely fine here.

Note this is granulated white sugar. Caster (superfine) sugar is the same crystal ground smaller and weighs about the same per cup; the densities that differ are brown sugar (heavier, and it packs) and powdered sugar (much lighter), each of which has its own page. These values use the 240 ml US cup.

Frequently asked questions