US cup, tablespoon, and teaspoon relationships
In US customary cooking measures, 1 cup equals 16 tablespoons and 1 tablespoon equals 3 teaspoons. Therefore, 1 US cup equals 48 teaspoons.
These relationships make recipe scaling simple: half a cup is 8 tablespoons, and one quarter cup is 4 tablespoons.
Converting kitchen measures to milliliters
One US legal cup is 240 milliliters, while a US customary cup is approximately 236.588 milliliters. Recipes and nutrition labels may use different conventions.
A US tablespoon is approximately 14.7868 milliliters and a US teaspoon is approximately 4.92892 milliliters. Many recipes round these to 15 mL and 5 mL.
Why country labels matter
Metric cups are commonly 250 mL, and Australian tablespoons are commonly 20 mL. Imperial and US fluid ounces also differ.
When adapting an international recipe, identify its country or measurement standard before converting. Small differences accumulate across several cups.
Volume is not the same as weight
A cup measures volume, while grams measure mass. Converting cups to grams requires ingredient density, so a cup of flour does not weigh the same as a cup of sugar.
For repeatable baking results, use a kitchen scale when weights are provided. Use volume conversions only when the ingredient and cup standard are clear.