Cups to ml Converter
Convert US cups to milliliters, liters and fluid ounces.
How to use this cups to ml
- 1Enter your volume in US cups — use decimals for fractions (0.25 for ¼ cup, 0.333 for ⅓ cup, 0.5 for ½ cup, 0.75 for ¾ cup).
- 2The converter shows milliliters, liters, and fluid ounces instantly.
- 3For adapting US recipes for international kitchens, the ml output gives the precise metric equivalent.
- 4Key reference: 1 cup = 236.6 ml, ½ cup = 118.3 ml, ¼ cup = 59.1 ml, 1 tablespoon = 14.79 ml.
- 5Remember: Australian and metric recipes use a 250 ml cup — 5.6% larger than the US cup.
- 6For dry ingredients, using the ml volume isn't sufficient — a cup of flour varies widely in grams; weigh instead.
How it's calculated
ml = cups × 236.588. 1 US cup = 236.588 ml.
About the Cups to ml
Cups are the uniquely American volume measurement unit that defines how US cooking recipes are written. Every other major cooking culture uses metric volume (milliliters, liters) or metric weight (grams) — but US recipes, cookbooks, and kitchen equipment are built around the cup as a standard unit. Converting cups to milliliters is essential for anyone using a metric kitchen to follow US recipes, or for understanding the scale of US recipe quantities.
The US cup is exactly 236.588 milliliters (8 fluid ounces × 29.5735 ml/fl oz). This is not a round number, which creates a persistent friction with the metric system. The metric cup, used in Australia, Canada, and some other countries, is 250 ml exactly — 5.6% larger than the US cup. This difference is small enough to ignore in casual cooking but significant in baking, where the ratio of ingredients determines the chemistry of leavening, gluten development, and texture. When following a recipe, determining whether it's from a US source (cup = 236.6 ml) or an Australian/metric source (cup = 250 ml) is important for accuracy.
The most common fractions of a cup appear constantly in recipes, making their ml equivalents worth memorizing: ¼ cup = 59.1 ml, ⅓ cup = 78.9 ml, ½ cup = 118.3 ml, ¾ cup = 177.4 ml. For practical cooking, rounding to the nearest 5 ml is sufficient; for baking that benefits from precision, a digital kitchen scale is more reliable than volume measurement for dry ingredients regardless of which cup size you use.
The cup's historical persistence in US cooking reflects how deeply measurement conventions embed themselves in cultural practice and equipment design. US measuring cups are sold in sets of ¼, ⅓, ½, and 1 cup. US recipes are formulated and tested in US cup sizes. The investment in standardized equipment and the institutional knowledge of "how much is a cup" creates cultural lock-in that makes metrication of US cooking slower than any official policy change could achieve.
For international baking and cooking communities who share recipes online, the tension between cups and grams has largely been resolved by including both measures: "2 cups (240g) all-purpose flour" or "1 cup (236 ml) whole milk" allows cooks from any system to follow the recipe accurately. This dual-unit approach is increasingly common in modern international food publishing.
Frequently asked questions
How many ml is ½ cup?
0.5 × 236.588 = 118.3 ml. Common fractions: ¼ cup = 59.1 ml, ⅓ cup = 78.9 ml, ½ cup = 118.3 ml, ⅔ cup = 157.7 ml, ¾ cup = 177.4 ml, 1 cup = 236.6 ml.
Is a metric cup (250 ml) the same as a US cup (236.6 ml)?
No — a metric cup is 250 ml exactly, while a US cup is 236.588 ml. The difference is 5.6%, which is noticeable in baking. Australian, Canadian, and metric recipe books use 250 ml cups. US recipes always use 236.6 ml cups. When following recipes, always check the origin to use the correct cup size.
How many cups is 1 liter?
1 liter ÷ 0.236588 = 4.227 US cups. If using metric (250 ml) cups: 1,000 ml ÷ 250 ml = exactly 4 cups.
How many ml is 2 cups (the amount to make most box cakes)?
2 US cups × 236.588 = 473.2 ml, approximately 473 ml or just under half a liter.
Why do US recipes use cups while most other countries use grams?
Volume measurement in cups is a historical American convention dating from 19th century cookbooks. Most of the world adopted weight measurement in grams because it's more precise — the same ingredient can vary in volume depending on how compacted it is. A cup of all-purpose flour can range from 120 to 160 grams depending on whether it's scooped vs spooned. Modern US baking recipes increasingly list gram weights alongside cups for precision.