US Cups vs Metric Cups: What's the Difference?
Not all cups are equal. If you're following a recipe from another country, using the wrong cup size can throw off your measurements by 5.7%.
Cup Sizes Around the World
| Cup Type | Volume | Used In |
|---|---|---|
| US Cup | 236.59 ml | United States, Canada (recipes) |
| Metric Cup | 250 ml | Australia, New Zealand, UK (modern) |
| Imperial Cup | 284.13 ml | UK (historical), Canada (historical) |
| Japanese Cup | 200 ml | Japan |
How It Affects Real Ingredients
Here's what 1 cup of each ingredient weighs depending on which cup you use:
| Ingredient | US Cup | Metric Cup | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| All-Purpose Flour | 125g | 133g | +8g |
| Granulated Sugar | 201g | 213g | +12g |
| Butter | 227g | 240g | +13g |
| Cocoa Powder | 85g | 90g | +5g |
| Rolled Oats | 80g | 85g | +5g |
| Honey | 336g | 355g | +19g |
| Brown Sugar | 220g | 233g | +13g |
| Milk | 244g | 258g | +14g |
How to Tell Which Cup a Recipe Means
- American recipes (most English-language food blogs, NYT Cooking, Bon Appétit) use US cups (237ml).
- Australian recipes (Taste.com.au, Donna Hay) use metric cups (250ml).
- British recipes increasingly use grams, but older recipes may use imperial cups (284ml).
- When in doubt, check if the recipe lists gram equivalents. If not, assume US cups for English-language recipes.
Convert Between US and Metric Cups
Use our converter to convert between US cups, metric cups, grams, and ounces for any of our 50+ ingredients. Every conversion uses real USDA density data.