Cups to Grams Converter
Select your ingredient below and enter the number of cups — the calculator uses the ingredient's actual density to give you an exact gram weight, not a generic estimate.
Select your ingredient and enter the amount — the calculator preloads cups → grams.
Why Cup Measurements Vary by Ingredient
A measuring cup measures volume — the amount of space an ingredient takes up. But what you really need in baking is mass (grams), because baking chemistry depends on how much of an ingredient you have by weight.
The problem is that different ingredients fill that volume very differently. Dense ingredients like sugar pack tightly into a cup, so 1 cup of granulated sugar weighs around 200g. Airy ingredients like sifted flour fill the same cup with a lot of empty space, so 1 cup of flour might weigh as little as 110g or as much as 150g depending on how it was scooped.
That's a 36% variation — enough to ruin a delicate sponge cake or produce dense, heavy cookies. The solution is to convert cups to grams using ingredient-specific density values (which this calculator does) and, ideally, to weigh your ingredients directly on a kitchen scale.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many grams is 1 cup of flour?
1 cup of all-purpose flour weighs approximately 125 grams (spooned and leveled) using the US customary cup (236.6ml). If you scoop the flour directly from the bag, it can pack and weigh up to 150g. Always spoon flour into the cup and level it off for the most consistent results.
How many grams is 1 cup of sugar?
1 cup of granulated white sugar weighs about 200 grams. Brown sugar (packed) is also approximately 200g per cup. Powdered (icing) sugar is lighter — around 120g per cup — because of its finer, airier texture.
Why does the weight of 1 cup vary by ingredient?
A cup measures volume (space), not mass. Every ingredient has a different density — how much matter is packed into that space. Water fills a cup uniformly, so 1 cup = 240g, but airy flour only weighs ~125g for the same volume. This is why ingredient-specific conversion tables exist, and why weighing with a kitchen scale is always more accurate.
What is the difference between a US cup and a metric cup?
A US customary cup holds 236.6 ml. A US legal cup (used in nutrition labeling) is 240ml. An Australian or metric cup is 250ml. These differences are small but meaningful in baking — a metric cup of flour weighs about 132g versus 125g for a US customary cup.