How many tablespoons are in 1 cup?

Exactly 16 tablespoons. This is a fixed US culinary definition: 1 US cup = 16 tablespoons = 48 teaspoons = 8 fluid ounces = 240 ml.

How many cups is 4 tablespoons?

1/4 cup. Four tablespoons is one quarter of 16, which equals exactly 0.25 cups (1/4 cup).

How many cups is 8 tablespoons?

1/2 cup. Eight tablespoons is half of 16, which equals exactly 0.5 cups.

How many cups is 6 tablespoons?

3/8 cup, or about 0.375 cups. Six tablespoons is between 1/4 cup (4 tbsp) and 1/2 cup (8 tbsp).

Does this work for dry and liquid ingredients the same way?

Yes. The tablespoon-to-cup ratio is a volume conversion, so it applies equally to liquids (water, milk, oil) and dry ingredients (sugar, flour) when measured by volume. Weight will differ between ingredients, but volume stays the same.

What is the difference between a US tablespoon and a metric tablespoon?

A US tablespoon is 14.79 ml; a metric tablespoon is 15 ml. This tool uses the US standard (14.79 ml per tablespoon, 240 ml per cup). The difference is small enough to ignore for most cooking.

Tablespoons to Cups Converter

Name: Tablespoons to Cups Converter
Availability: InStock
Author: Nham Vu

Convert tablespoons to cups instantly — 16 tablespoons equals exactly 1 cup — with secondary outputs in teaspoons, fluid ounces, and milliliters plus a full reference table.

Enter Tablespoons

Tablespoons

Quick:

Result

Enter a tablespoon value above to see cups.

Quick Reference — Tablespoons to Cups

Tablespoons	Cups	Teaspoons	Fluid Oz	Milliliters
1 tbsp	1/16	3	0.5	14.79 ml
2 tbsp	1/8	6	1	29.57 ml
4 tbsp	1/4	12	2	59.15 ml
5 + 1 tsp	1/3	16	2.67	78.86 ml
6 tbsp	3/8	18	3	88.72 ml
8 tbsp	1/2	24	4	118.29 ml
10 + 2 tsp	2/3	32	5.33	157.73 ml
12 tbsp	3/4	36	6	177.44 ml
16 tbsp	1 cup	48	8	240 ml
24 tbsp	1 1/2	72	12	360 ml
32 tbsp	2 cups	96	16	480 ml

Copied!

Summary

Convert tablespoons to cups instantly — 16 tablespoons equals exactly 1 cup — with secondary outputs in teaspoons, fluid ounces, and milliliters plus a full reference table.

How it works

Enter a tablespoon amount in the input field, or tap a quick-pick button (1, 2, 4, 8, 12, 16, 24, 32 tbsp).
The cup amount updates instantly: divide tablespoons by 16.
Teaspoon, fluid ounce, and milliliter equivalents appear below the main result.
Common fractions (1/4 cup, 1/2 cup, etc.) are shown when the result matches one.
Click "Copy Result" to copy the conversion text to your clipboard.

Use cases

Figure out how many cups of butter or oil a recipe needs when your measure only has tablespoon marks.
Scale up a recipe that lists everything in tablespoons into cup-based measurements.
Convert a tablespoon-heavy sauce recipe into cups for a larger batch.
Check fluid ounce equivalents when following a bartending or beverage recipe.
Teach kitchen measurement relationships to children or cooking students.
Quickly verify a measurement before mixing ingredients.

Frequently Asked Questions

Last updated: 2026-07-23 · Reviewed by Nham Vu