How to Measure Without Measuring Cups (or a Scale)

No measuring cups in the kitchen, or they’re all in the dishwasher? You can still follow a recipe accurately. These methods go from most to least accurate.

1. Use a kitchen scale (best)

If you have any scale at all, convert the recipe to grams and skip cups completely. Look up each ingredient with the cups to grams converter, or paste the full list into the recipe converter. 1 cup of flour is 120 g, 1 cup of sugar 198 g, 1 cup of butter 227 g.

2. Use a tablespoon

A regular measuring tablespoon is the next best tool. Use these conversions:

Level each spoon off with a knife. 16 level spoonfuls take a minute, but the result is as accurate as a cup. Full chart: tablespoons in a cup.

No measuring spoons either? Ordinary cutlery isn’t standardized: a dinner spoon can hold noticeably less or more than a measuring tablespoon. Fine for soup, risky for baking.

3. Use something marked in ml

Many things in the kitchen already have milliliter marks: a baby bottle, a medicine cup, a jug, a blender jar, a water bottle. A US cup is 236.6 ml, so:

• 1 cup ≈ 237 ml (use 240 ml for liquids)
• 1/2 cup ≈ 118 ml
• 1/4 cup ≈ 59 ml
• A 500 ml bottle holds about 2 cups + 2 tablespoons

This is perfect for water, milk and oil. For flour, pour it in loosely and don’t shake it down. See the 1 cup in ml chart.

4. Check a mug or glass once

Mugs and glasses are not a standard size: many hold 250–350 ml or more, well above a 237 ml cup. Don’t assume a mug is a cup. Instead, calibrate one:

1. Fill a measuring tablespoon with water and pour it into the mug, counting.
2. When you reach 16 tablespoons, that’s 1 cup. Mark the level with a piece of tape or note how full it is.

Now that mug is your 1-cup measure for this recipe.

5. Use package markings

• Butter: US sticks are marked in tablespoons; 1 stick = 1/2 cup. See how to measure butter without a scale.
• Packets and cans: a 250 ml carton of cream or milk is just over 1 cup. A 1 kg bag of sugar is about 5 cups; a 1 kg bag of flour about 8 1/3 cups.

6. Ratios instead of cups

For rice, porridge and other dishes based on a ratio, the cup size doesn’t matter as long as you use the same container for everything. For example, rice is often cooked with about 1 part rice to 1 1/2 to 2 parts water by volume, depending on the rice. Any glass will do, as long as it’s the same glass.

What not to do

• Don’t guess flour by eye for cakes and bread; small differences change the texture.
• Don’t use a coffee mug as “1 cup” without checking it first.
• Don’t pack flour down to fit; spoon it in loosely. More in how to measure flour.