Butter Converter

How the conversion works

Everything in the converter hangs off one fact: a US stick of butter is half a cup, 8 tablespoons and 113 grams. Whatever you enter is first turned into sticks, and every other figure is worked out from there.

• Volume in: 6 tablespoons / 8 = 0.75 stick
• Weight in: 200 grams / 113 = 1.77 sticks
• Then out: 1.77 sticks x 8 = about 14 tablespoons

Open “Show the math” under the result to see the step with your number.

Worked example

A French recipe asks for 150 grams of butter and you have American sticks.

1. 150 / 113 = 1.33 sticks.
2. 1.33 x 8 = 10.6 tablespoons.
3. Cut one whole stick plus a little over 2 1/2 tablespoons from a second.

Going the other way, an American recipe calls for 1 1/2 sticks. That is 12 tablespoons, 3/4 cup or 170 grams.

Reading the wrapper

American butter is sold in sticks, usually four to a 1 pound box. The paper wrapper is printed with tablespoon marks, so you can cut what you need without a measuring spoon:

• 1 mark = 1 tablespoon = about 14 grams
• 4 marks = 1/4 cup = half a stick = 57 grams
• 8 marks = 1/2 cup = the whole stick = 113 grams

Cut through the paper with a sharp knife while the butter is cold. Soft butter squashes and the marks stop lining up.

Butter outside the United States

In the UK, Europe, Australia and most other countries, butter is sold in blocks by weight, most often 250 grams. There are no sticks and no tablespoon marks, and recipes give butter in grams.

A 250 gram block is:

• 2.2 US sticks
• about 1.1 US cups
• about 17 3/4 tablespoons

So a recipe that needs 1 cup of butter (226 grams) uses most of one block, with about 24 grams left over. If you bake from American recipes often and buy butter in blocks, weighing is quicker than trying to measure butter into a cup.

Common amounts

• 1 tablespoon: 14 grams
• 2 tablespoons: 28 grams, or 1/4 stick
• 1/4 cup: 57 grams, or 1/2 stick
• 1/3 cup: 75 grams, or 5 1/3 tablespoons
• 1/2 cup: 113 grams, or 1 stick
• 3/4 cup: 170 grams, or 1 1/2 sticks
• 1 cup: 226 grams, or 2 sticks
• 1 pound: 454 grams, or 4 sticks

The chart above gives the same figures by number of sticks.

Odd amounts recipes ask for

Some amounts do not land on a neat fraction of a stick. These are the ones that send people to a converter most often:

• 1 teaspoon: about 5 grams
• 3 tablespoons: 42 grams
• 5 tablespoons: 71 grams, or 1/3 cup less 1 teaspoon
• 6 tablespoons: 85 grams, or 3/4 stick
• 10 tablespoons: 141 grams, or 1 stick plus 2 tablespoons
• 12 tablespoons: 170 grams, or 1 1/2 sticks

For anything else, type the amount into the converter above.

Tips and common mistakes

Measure before melting. A recipe that says “1/2 cup butter, melted” means measure 1/2 cup of solid butter and then melt it. “1/2 cup melted butter” means the same amount in practice, because butter keeps its weight when it melts. Weighing avoids the question.

Do not pack butter into a cup if you can avoid it. Pressing cold butter into a measuring cup leaves air gaps and a greasy cup. Use the wrapper marks, or weigh it.

Salted and unsalted weigh the same. The salt changes the flavor, not the conversion. If a recipe calls for unsalted butter and you use salted, reduce the added salt a little.

Whipped butter and spreads are different. Whipped butter has air beaten in, so a cup of it weighs less than a cup of stick butter. Tub spreads often contain added water or oil. This converter is for regular block or stick butter.

Sticks to grams at a glance

For quick mental math, remember 113 and double or halve it: half a stick is about 57 grams, one stick is 113, two sticks are 226 and four sticks are about 454, which is one pound.