How many tablespoons and teaspoons in a cup?
1 cup = 16 Tbsp
48 tsp · 1 Tbsp = 3 tsp · 1/4 cup = 4 Tbsp
Converter
Other cup standards
US cups: 1 · nutrition-label cups (240 mL): 0.986 · metric cups (250 mL): 0.946 · UK fluid ounces: 8.33
Spoon math in US recipes rests on two numbers: 3 teaspoons make a tablespoon, and 16 tablespoons make a cup. That puts 48 teaspoons in a cup. Since 2 tablespoons equal 1 fl oz, a 1/4 cup is 4 Tbsp and a 1/8 cup is 2 Tbsp. The odd one out is 1/3 cup, which comes to 5 Tbsp + 1 tsp because 16 does not divide evenly by 3.
Spoons are the tool to grab when your cup set is in the dishwasher or the amount is small. Past about 1/4 cup, counting tablespoons gets tedious and it is easy to lose count, so combine one cup measure with a spoon or two, as the chart below shows for each fraction.
Why labels say 15 mL and 5 mL
A US tablespoon is 14.79 mL and a teaspoon is 4.93 mL. Food labels, metric-marked spoon sets and most recipes from outside the US round these to 15 mL and 5 mL. The gap is less than 2% per spoon, too small to see in a kitchen. See tablespoon to mL and teaspoon to mL for the full charts.
Filling a measuring spoon
- For dry ingredients, dip the spoon, then sweep the excess off with the back of a knife.
- For liquids, fill to the brim over a small bowl instead of over the batter, so a spill does not end up in the recipe.
- For medicine, use the dosing cup or syringe that comes with the medicine, not kitchen spoons.
Questions
How many tablespoons in a cup?
16 Tbsp. Half a cup is 8 Tbsp and a quarter cup is 4 Tbsp.
How many teaspoons in a cup?
48 tsp, since each tablespoon is 3 tsp.
How many teaspoons in a tablespoon?
3 tsp. Half a tablespoon is 1 1/2 tsp.
How many tablespoons in 1/3 cup?
5 Tbsp plus 1 tsp, which is 16 tsp in all.
Sources: US customary units: NIST Handbook 44. How we calculate.