🧊 cup to tbsp — US Cup to Tablespoon Converter

Convert volume units — liters, gallons, cups, milliliters, cubic meters, barrels and more.

1 unit =
From
To
Formula 1 cup = 15.999946 tbsp
UnitNameValue
0.001 cup0.0159999 tbsp
0.01 cup0.159999 tbsp
0.1 cup1.59999 tbsp
1 cup15.9999 tbsp
5 cup79.9997 tbsp
10 cup159.999 tbsp
50 cup799.997 tbsp
100 cup1599.99 tbsp
1000 cup15999.9 tbsp
Last updated: March 2026

US Cup to Tablespoon Conversion Table

Common us cup values converted to tablespoon — factor: 1 cup = 16 tbsp

US Cup (cup)Tablespoon (tbsp)Context
0.0625 cup1 tbspTablespoon
0.125 cup2 tbspEighth cup
0.25 cup4 tbspQuarter cup
0.333 cup5.328 tbspThird cup
0.5 cup8 tbspHalf cup
1 cup16 tbspOne cup
2 cup32 tbspOne pint
4 cup64 tbspOne quart
8 cup128 tbspHalf gallon
16 cup256 tbspOne gallon
32 cup512 tbsp2 gallons
64 cup1,024 tbsp4 gallons
128 cup2,048 tbsp8 gallons
256 cup4,096 tbspLarge drum
512 cup8,192 tbspLarge drum

About US Cup to Tablespoon Conversion

Converting us cup to tablespoon comes up frequently in cooking, chemistry, medicine, and engineering. A recipe written in metric units may need to be adapted for a kitchen using tablespoon, or a laboratory protocol may specify volumes in us cup that need to be measured with equipment calibrated in tablespoon.

In everyday use, knowing that 5 cup = 80 tbsp and 10 cup = 160 tbsp covers most common situations. For bulk calculations, 100 cup = 1600 tbsp is a useful anchor. The reverse conversion — tablespoon back to us cup — uses the factor 0.0625, so 1 tbsp = 0.0625 cup.

All conversions use the internationally recognized factor of exactly 1 cup = 16 tbsp. Calculations are performed in IEEE 754 double-precision floating point, giving accuracy to at least 8 significant figures — more than sufficient for any practical application.

Quick Answer

Formula: Tablespoon = US Cup × 15.999946

Multiply any us cup value by 15.999946 to get tablespoon. One us cup equals 15.999946 tbsp.

Reverse: US Cup = Tablespoon × 0.062500211

Worked Examples

One US cup
1 cup × 15.999946 = 15.999946 tbsp
1 US cup = 16 tablespoons.
One tablespoon
0.0625 cup × 15.999946 = 0.99999662 tbsp
0.0625 cups = 1 tablespoon.
One US quart
4 cup × 15.999946 = 63.999784 tbsp
4 cups = 64 tablespoons.
Quarter cup
0.25 cup × 15.999946 = 3.9999865 tbsp
0.25 cups = 4 tablespoons.

Mental Math Tricks

× 16 exactly

Cups × 16 = tablespoons. One cup = exactly 16 tablespoons.

Easy scaling

½ cup = 8 tbsp, ¼ cup = 4 tbsp.

Reverse

Tablespoons ÷ 16 = cups.

Who Uses This Conversion?

Home Baker

Follows American recipes using cups for flour, sugar, milk, and butter.

Recipe Developer

Tests and standardizes recipes in cup measurements before international publication.

Registered Dietitian

Uses cup portions as standardized serving-size references for dietary counseling.

Culinary Teacher

Teaches beginner cooks using cups as intuitive, equipment-free measuring tools.

Food Manufacturer

Converts cup-based recipes to liter or kilogram quantities for industrial production.

Expat Cook

Converts US cup measurements to metric mL when cooking American recipes abroad.

Frequently Asked Questions

About US Cup and Tablespoon

US Cup (cup)

The US customary cup is defined as exactly 8 US fluid ounces, or 236.588 mL. It was standardized by Fannie Farmer in her 1896 cookbook The Boston Cooking-School Cook Book.

The cup is the backbone of US baking: nearly every American recipe uses cup measurements for flour, sugar, butter, and liquids. Standard sets include 1 cup, ½ cup, ⅓ cup, and ¼ cup.

Interesting fact: Australia uses a metric cup of 250 mL, slightly larger than the US cup, which can cause recipe confusion in international cooking.

Tablespoon (tbsp)

The US tablespoon is defined as exactly 3 teaspoons or ½ fluid ounce, approximately 14.787 mL. Standardization arrived in the late 19th century alongside modern recipe writing.

Tablespoons are fundamental to cooking and medicine. The Australian tablespoon is 20 mL, the UK tablespoon is 17.76 mL, and the US tablespoon is 14.79 mL.

Interesting fact: Capital T for tablespoon versus lowercase tsp for teaspoon is a convention designed to prevent dangerous dosing errors in medical and culinary contexts.