Tablespoons to Milliliters conversion

Tablespoons to milliliters

The tablespoon in American recipes is a defined measure, not the spoon from the cutlery drawer: one US tablespoon is 14.7868 ml, half a fluid ounce, and three teaspoons. Metric recipes usually treat a tablespoon as a round 15 ml — the difference is 1.4 %, invisible in cooking. Australia is the exception with a 20 ml tablespoon, so Australian recipes need a different factor.

Converting

Multiply tablespoons by 14.7868, or by 15 for kitchen purposes.

• 1/2 tbsp = 7.39 ml
• 1 tbsp = 14.79 ml
• 2 tbsp = 29.57 ml (one fluid ounce)
• 3 tbsp = 44.36 ml
• 4 tbsp = 59.15 ml (a quarter cup)
• 6 tbsp = 88.72 ml
• 8 tbsp = 118.29 ml (half a cup)
• 16 tbsp = 236.59 ml (one cup)

Spoons, cups and ounces

The US system nests neatly: 3 teaspoons = 1 tablespoon, 2 tablespoons = 1 fluid ounce, 16 tablespoons = 1 cup. Knowing that chain lets you convert a recipe without a calculator — 6 tablespoons of oil is 3 fl oz or 3/8 cup, about 89 ml.

Oil, honey and butter

Tablespoons measure volume, so a tablespoon of honey (about 21 g) weighs more than a tablespoon of oil (about 14 g). If a recipe gives grams, use a scale; if it gives tablespoons, level the spoon with a knife for dry ingredients and fill it to the brim for liquids. Butter in the US is marked in tablespoons on the wrapper: one stick is 8 tbsp, 113 g.

Medicine

Liquid medicine doses are sometimes written in tablespoons, but pharmacists strongly prefer milliliters because household spoons vary from 7 to 20 ml. Use the measuring cup or syringe that comes with the bottle.

Worked examples

3 tbsp of soy sauce. 3 × 14.787 = 44 ml. A metric recipe would say 45 ml.

1½ tbsp of baking powder. 1.5 × 14.787 = 22 ml — better measured as 1 tbsp + 1½ tsp than guessed in a jug.

10 tbsp of melted butter. 10 × 14.787 = 148 ml, roughly 140 g of butter, or 1¼ sticks.

Frequently asked questions

How many ml are in a tablespoon? 14.79 ml (US), 15 ml (metric), 20 ml (Australia).

How many tablespoons are in a cup? 16. And 4 tablespoons make a quarter cup, which is a handy shortcut for scaling recipes.

Is a dessert spoon a tablespoon? No — a dessert spoon is about 10 ml, two teaspoons. British recipes sometimes use it.

Related conversions

Three teaspoons make a tablespoon (4.93 ml each); two tablespoons make a fluid ounce, so fluid ounces to milliliters covers larger amounts.

Good to know

A tablespoon of a dry ingredient can be level, rounded or heaped, and recipes rarely say which. A level tablespoon of sugar is about 12 g; a heaped one can be 20 g. American recipes assume level spoons unless stated otherwise, which is why measuring spoons have flat rims. Liquids, on the other hand, fill the spoon to the brim by surface tension, so a "tablespoon of oil" is reliably 15 ml. For sticky ingredients like honey or peanut butter, oil the spoon first or use a scale: one tablespoon of honey is about 21 g, of peanut butter about 16 g.