1 Tablespoon in Grams: 35 Ingredients and 4 Spoon Sizes

1 tablespoon in grams, 35 ingredients

The weight of one level tablespoon for every ingredient in the site’s density set, in three spoon sizes, plus one US teaspoon. Use the column that matches the country the recipe comes from.

Ingredient	US tbsp (14.79 ml), g	Metric tbsp (15 ml), g	Australian tbsp (20 ml), g	US tsp, g
Shredded coconut	5.31	5.39	7.19	1.77
Cocoa powder	5.38	5.45	7.27	1.79
Rolled oats	5.62	5.71	7.61	1.88
Almonds, sliced	5.75	5.83	7.78	1.92
Almond flour	6	6.09	8.12	2
Cake flour	7.12	7.23	9.64	2.38
All-purpose flour	7.5	7.61	10.14	2.5
Whole wheat flour	7.5	7.61	10.14	2.5
Powdered sugar	7.5	7.61	10.14	2.5
Coconut flour	7.5	7.61	10.14	2.5
Walnuts, chopped	7.5	7.61	10.14	2.5
Bread flour	7.94	8.05	10.74	2.65
Cornstarch	8	8.12	10.82	2.67
Cornmeal	9.38	9.51	12.68	3.12
Raisins	10.31	10.46	13.95	3.44
Semolina	10.44	10.59	14.12	3.48
Chocolate chips	10.62	10.78	14.37	3.54
White rice, uncooked	11.56	11.73	15.64	3.85
Brown rice, uncooked	11.88	12.05	16.06	3.96
Granulated sugar	12.5	12.68	16.91	4.17
Olive oil	13.5	13.69	18.26	4.5
Vegetable oil	13.62	13.82	18.43	4.54
Brown sugar, packed	13.75	13.95	18.6	4.58
Butter	14.19	14.39	19.19	4.73
Sour cream	14.38	14.58	19.44	4.79
Baking powder	14.38	14.58	19.44	4.79
Cream cheese	14.5	14.71	19.61	4.83
Water	14.81	15.03	20.03	4.94
Heavy cream	14.88	15.09	20.12	4.96
Milk	15.25	15.47	20.63	5.08
Yogurt	15.31	15.53	20.71	5.1
Peanut butter	16.12	16.36	21.81	5.38
Table salt	18	18.26	24.35	6
Maple syrup	19.5	19.78	26.37	6.5
Honey	21.25	21.56	28.74	7.08

Sorted lightest to heaviest. Level spoons; dry ingredients spooned in and swept flat.

Which tablespoon does your recipe use?

The word tablespoon means three different volumes, depending on where the recipe was written.

Spoon	Millilitres	Teaspoons	Where it is used
US customary tablespoon	14.79	3	US recipes and measuring spoon sets
Metric tablespoon	15	3	UK, Canada, New Zealand, most of Europe and Asia; US nutrition labels
Australian tablespoon	20	4	Australian recipes and spoon sets
Old imperial tablespoon	17.76	3	Older British cookbooks

The gap between the US and metric spoons is only 1.4 percent and never matters in cooking. The Australian spoon is 35 percent bigger than the US one, and that does matter, especially for salt, baking powder and yeast. The spoon selector in the converter handles it.

The formula

Grams in a tablespoon = spoon volume in ml × ingredient density in g/ml. The density is the ingredient’s weight per US cup divided by 236.59 ml.

For honey: 340 g per cup ÷ 236.59 ml = 1.437 g/ml. A US tablespoon of honey then weighs 14.79 × 1.437 = 21.25 g. A metric tablespoon weighs 15 × 1.437 = 21.56 g, and an Australian tablespoon 28.74 g.

Worked examples

An Australian recipe asks for 1 tablespoon of butter. The spoon is 20 ml, so it holds 19.2 g of butter, not the 14.2 g of a US tablespoon. If you use a US spoon, add 1 level US teaspoon (4.7 g) to make up the difference.

1 tablespoon of table salt. A level US spoon of fine table salt weighs 18 g. Kosher salt and flaky sea salt have larger crystals with air between them, so the same spoon holds much less. When a recipe gives salt in grams, weigh it.

1 tablespoon of all-purpose flour for a sauce. 7.5 g in a US spoon, 7.61 g in a metric spoon. If the flour is scooped and packed, it can be a third heavier.

Level, rounded and heaped spoons

All the figures on this page are for level spoons, filled and then swept flat. A rounded or heaped tablespoon has no standard volume. It depends on the spoon shape and on how the ingredient piles up. If a recipe says “heaped tablespoon”, the writer did not measure exactly, and a level spoon plus a little extra is a fair reading.

A dinner spoon from the cutlery drawer is not a measuring spoon. Their sizes vary widely, so use a measuring spoon set or a scale.

Questions about one tablespoon

Is 1 tablespoon 15 grams?: Only for water and thin liquids. A tablespoon of flour is 7.5 g, sugar 12.5 g, butter 14.19 g and honey 21.25 g. See also 15 grams to tablespoons.
How many grams is 1 tablespoon of butter?: 14.19 g in a US tablespoon. See tablespoons of butter in grams for sticks and larger amounts.
How many grams is 1 tablespoon of sugar?: 12.5 g of granulated sugar. See grams of sugar to tablespoons for brown and powdered sugar.

Where these numbers come from

The per-cup weights are the site’s published density set, listed with sources on the cups to grams page: dry ingredients follow King Arthur Baking where it lists them, and liquids follow USDA FoodData Central. NIST defines the US tablespoon as half a US fluid ounce. Food Standards Australia New Zealand uses the 20 ml tablespoon. US nutrition labels use 15 ml.

One Tablespoon in Grams.

1 tablespoon in grams converter