How Many Tablespoons in a Cup?
There are exactly 16 tablespoons in one US cup.
How to Convert Cups to Tablespoons
To convert cups to tablespoons, multiply by 16.
For example: 5 cups × 16 = 80 tablespoons.
Why This Number Matters
When a measuring cup is dirty or a recipe needs an odd fraction, tablespoons are how cooks measure it out. The relationship is exact, which makes halving and thirding recipes straightforward.
A third of a cup is 5 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon, the one cup fraction that does not land on a whole number of tablespoons.
What People Get Wrong
An Australian tablespoon is 20 mL rather than 15, so an Australian cup takes 12.5 of them. Using Australian spoons on an American recipe overshoots every tablespoon measurement by a third.
Cups to Tablespoons Conversion Table
| Cups (cup) | Tablespoons (tbsp) |
|---|---|
| 1 | 16 |
| 2 | 32 |
| 3 | 48 |
| 4 | 64 |
| 5 | 80 |
| 6 | 96 |
| 7 | 112 |
| 8 | 128 |
| 9 | 144 |
| 10 | 160 |
| 11 | 176 |
| 12 | 192 |
| 13 | 208 |
| 14 | 224 |
| 15 | 240 |
| 16 | 256 |
| 17 | 272 |
| 18 | 288 |
| 19 | 304 |
| 20 | 320 |
| 25 | 400 |
| 30 | 480 |
| 40 | 640 |
| 50 | 800 |
| 75 | 1,200 |
| 100 | 1,600 |
| 250 | 4,000 |
| 500 | 8,000 |
| 1,000 | 16,000 |
About These Units
The cup
A US customary cup is 8 fluid ounces, or exactly 236.5882365 milliliters. Nutrition labels use a separate "legal cup" of exactly 240 milliliters, and a metric cup is 250 milliliters.
The tablespoon
A US tablespoon is 3 teaspoons, or about 14.79 milliliters. Australian recipes are the trap here: an Australian tablespoon holds 4 teaspoons, or 20 milliliters.
Definitions follow NIST Handbook 44, Appendix C. See how we calculate for the exact values and rounding rules.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many tablespoons in half a cup?
Half a cup is 8 tablespoons.
How many tablespoons in a quarter cup?
A quarter cup is 4 tablespoons.
How many tablespoons in a third of a cup?
5 tablespoons and 1 teaspoon, since a third of 16 is 5 and a third.
How many teaspoons in a cup?
There are 48 teaspoons in a cup, since each of the 16 tablespoons holds 3 teaspoons.