By Tim King · Updated 7 October 2026

Tablespoons to Grams

How Many Grams in a Tablespoon

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Number of spoons

Spoon

Ingredient

Result

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How the Tablespoons To Grams works

How many grams in a tablespoon depends on what is in it: a 15 ml tablespoon holds about 15 g of water, 12.8 g of sugar and 14.4 g of butter. This tablespoons to grams converter does the sum for 2 tbsp or any other amount. Choose the spoon, the ingredient and how many spoonfuls, and read off the grams, ounces and millilitres. The table lists every spoon size for that ingredient, so you can see that an Australian tablespoon of honey is 28 g while a US one is 21 g.

Tablespoons to grams: why a spoon cannot be weighed

A tablespoon is a volume, so there is no single tablespoons to grams figure. A metric tablespoon holds 15 g of water, 8 g of plain flour, 12.8 g of sugar and 21.3 g of honey: the same level spoon, nearly three times the weight. Converting needs two facts, the size of the spoon and the density of the ingredient.

The formula

Grams = number of spoons × millilitres per spoon × density in grams per millilitre.

Spoon sizes are fixed by standard. A metric tablespoon is 15 mL and a metric teaspoon 5 mL, the sizes sold across the UK, Ireland, New Zealand, Canada and most of Europe. The US tablespoon is half a US fluid ounce, 14.79 mL. The Australian tablespoon is 20 mL, four teaspoons rather than three. The UK dessert spoon, 10 mL, turns up in older British recipes.

Densities are the same values used by the cups to grams converter. Water is 1.00 g/mL; oil is lighter at 0.92. Powders carry air between the grains, so flour is 0.53 and cocoa 0.42, while honey has none and is 1.42. Table salt, at 1.22, is one of the densest things in the cupboard.

Worked examples

The first example: a British recipe asks for 3 tablespoons of caster sugar. The formula gives 3 × 15 × 0.89 = 40.1 g, or 1.41 oz, from 45 mL of spoon.

The second example catches people out. An Australian dressing asks for 2 tablespoons of olive oil. With a metric spoon that is about 27.6 g; with the Australian 20 mL spoon it is 2 × 20 × 0.92 = 36.8 g, a third more. In a dressing that is taste; with bicarbonate of soda in a cake it is a soapy tang. Set the spoon to match where the recipe came from.

How many grams in a tablespoon of common ingredients

Level spoons, rounded as the calculator rounds, to 0.1 g below 100 g.

Grams per level spoon, by spoon standard

Ingredient	Metric tbsp (15 mL)	AU tbsp (20 mL)	Metric tsp (5 mL)
Plain (all-purpose) flour	8.0 g	10.6 g	2.7 g
Wholemeal flour	8.3 g	11.0 g	2.8 g
Cornflour (cornstarch)	8.1 g	10.8 g	2.7 g
White sugar (granulated)	12.8 g	17.0 g	4.3 g
Caster (superfine) sugar	13.4 g	17.8 g	4.5 g
Brown sugar, packed	14.0 g	18.6 g	4.7 g
Icing (powdered) sugar	8.0 g	10.6 g	2.7 g
Butter	14.4 g	19.2 g	4.8 g
Water	15.0 g	20.0 g	5.0 g
Milk	15.5 g	20.6 g	5.2 g
Yoghurt	15.5 g	20.6 g	5.2 g
Vegetable or olive oil	13.8 g	18.4 g	4.6 g
Honey	21.3 g	28.4 g	7.1 g
Golden syrup or treacle	21.0 g	28.0 g	7.0 g
Maple syrup	19.8 g	26.4 g	6.6 g
Peanut butter	16.2 g	21.6 g	5.4 g
Cocoa powder	6.3 g	8.4 g	2.1 g
Rolled oats	5.7 g	7.6 g	1.9 g
Breadcrumbs, dry	6.8 g	9.0 g	2.3 g
Almond meal	6.0 g	8.0 g	2.0 g
Desiccated coconut	5.3 g	7.0 g	1.8 g
Raisins or sultanas	9.3 g	12.4 g	3.1 g
Parmesan, grated	6.0 g	8.0 g	2.0 g
Table salt	18.3 g	24.4 g	6.1 g
Baking powder or bicarb soda	13.5 g	18.0 g	4.5 g

The table under the calculator gives your chosen ingredient in all six spoon sizes.

How to read the result

Grams is the weight of the amount entered. Round to what your scale shows.
Ounces is the same weight in avoirdupois ounces (28.35 g) for US recipes.
Millilitres is the volume of the spoons alone, before density is applied.

Tips and pitfalls

Level means level. Scoop, then sweep flat with a knife. A heaped tablespoon of flour can weigh nearly double a level one, and no two heaps match.
Weigh salt, yeast and raising agents. Flaky sea salt weighs about half as much per spoon as fine table salt, so a recipe written for one is bland or inedible with the other.
Sticky ingredients cling. Oil the spoon before honey or syrup, or weigh straight into the bowl on a tared scale.
Cutlery is not a measuring spoon. A soup spoon holds anywhere from 7 to 20 mL. For medicine, use the syringe supplied.
Scaling multiplies error. Convert to grams first, then use the recipe scaler.

For liquids by volume, mL to fluid ounces converts metric and US ounces; oven temperature converts gas marks, and the coffee ratio calculator turns scoops into grams.

Sources: NIST unit conversion.

Checked against: 1 US tablespoon = 14.79 ml (NIST)

FAQ

How many grams are in a tablespoon?

A metric tablespoon is 15 mL, so 15 g of water, milk or anything close to water in density. Flour is about 8 g, sugar 13 g, butter 14 g, honey 21 g and salt 18 g per level metric tablespoon. A US tablespoon is 14.8 mL and gives almost the same figures; an Australian tablespoon is 20 mL and gives a third more.

How many grams are in a teaspoon of sugar?

A level metric or US teaspoon of granulated sugar is about 4.2 g, which is the figure nutrition labels round to 4 g. Caster sugar is slightly heavier at 4.5 g and icing sugar lighter at 2.7 g. A heaped teaspoon is roughly double.

Is an Australian tablespoon different?

Yes. The Australian tablespoon is 20 mL, four teaspoons, while metric and US tablespoons are 15 and 14.8 mL, three teaspoons. Australian recipes and measuring spoon sets use the 20 mL size, so choose the Australian option for those and the metric option for New Zealand, UK and Canadian recipes.

How many teaspoons are in a tablespoon?

Three for metric and US tablespoons, four for the Australian tablespoon. Two teaspoons make a UK dessert spoon. Because all of these are level measures of a set volume, the ratio holds for every ingredient, so a recipe can be scaled in spoons before converting to grams.

Do these figures assume level or heaped spoons?

Level. A level spoon is filled and scraped flat with a knife, which is what a recipe means unless it says otherwise. A heaped spoon of a dry ingredient holds roughly twice as much and varies a lot, so if a recipe says heaped, treat the result as approximate or weigh instead.

How much does a tablespoon of butter weigh?

About 14 g for a metric or US tablespoon, and 19 g for an Australian tablespoon, taking butter at 0.96 g/mL. American recipes often give butter in tablespoons because a US stick is marked in eight tablespoons of 14 g each.