Understanding simple kitchen math will save you so much time in the kitchen (and it often leads to less dirty dishes). Have you ever wondered how many tablespoons are in a cup? This is an easy kitchen equation to memorize, and you’ll never believe how often it comes in handy!
How Many Tablespoons Are in a Cup?
1 cup equals 16 tablespoons
There you have it! Commit this formula to memory, and you will never run out of measuring cups again! Not as often, anyway.
If you take that a step further, you’ll see that:
- 8 tablespoons = 1/2 cup
- 4 tablespoons = 1/4 cup
- 2 tablespoons = 1/8 cup (or 1 ounce)
Also, did you know that 1 tablespoons equals 3 teaspoons? As long as you have measuring spoons, you can get the job done (though it may take awhile). I also find these equations very helpful when scaling up or down recipes, especially spice blends like my pumpkin pie spice and taco seasoning.
You can read a more detailed list of kitchen conversions here, if you’re interested. King Arthur Flour also has a very thorough ingredient measurement conversion chart which I refer to as needed.
Now, keep in mind that while these measurements can be incredible useful, I still recommend using a kitchen scale whenever a recipe provides weight measurements, especially for flour. See my post “how to measure flour” for more info.
More Time Saving Kitchen Tips
I love saving myself a trip to the grocery store, don’t you? Learn how to make cake flour, bread flour, and self-rising flour from regular all-purpose flour with my easy tutorial!
Ever run across a recipe for baked goods that only uses 1-2 cups of buttermilk? Does it seem wasteful to buy an entire container? You may like my post on how to make homemade buttermilk substitute.
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