Quick answer: One US cup of butter weighs 227 g (226.8 g exactly), which is half a pound or two American sticks. Half a cup is 113 g, a quarter cup 57 g and one tablespoon about 14 g. A standard 250 g British block is therefore just over one cup, with about 23 g left over.
Butter is the easiest cup conversion of all, because American recipes treat a cup of butter as a fixed weight rather than a scoop of something soft. Once you know that one cup equals 8 oz, the rest follows. You will find the other baking staples, from flour to spoons, in the UK cooking measurements hub.
How many grams is a cup of butter?
A cup of butter is 227 g. In the US, butter is sold by the pound and divided into sticks, and packaging marks one stick as half a cup. A pound is legally defined as 453.59237 g, so half a pound (one cup) is 226.8 g and a quarter pound (one stick, half a cup) is 113.4 g. King Arthur Baking’s ingredient chart gives the same 113 g for half a cup.
| US cups | Tablespoons | US sticks | Grams | Ounces |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ⅛ cup | 2 tbsp | ¼ stick | 28 g | 1 oz |
| ¼ cup | 4 tbsp | ½ stick | 57 g | 2 oz |
| ⅓ cup | 5⅓ tbsp | ⅔ stick | 76 g | 2⅔ oz |
| ½ cup | 8 tbsp | 1 stick | 113 g | 4 oz |
| ⅔ cup | 10⅔ tbsp | 1⅓ sticks | 151 g | 5⅓ oz |
| ¾ cup | 12 tbsp | 1½ sticks | 170 g | 6 oz |
| 1 cup | 16 tbsp | 2 sticks | 227 g | 8 oz |
| 1½ cups | 24 tbsp | 3 sticks | 340 g | 12 oz |
| 2 cups | 32 tbsp | 4 sticks | 454 g | 16 oz (1 lb) |
Three-quarters of a cup of butter weighs 170 grams, and one tablespoon of butter weighs about 14 grams (14.2 g). Two cups make a full pound of butter, 454 grams.
How do you cut cup measures from a 250 g block?
Cut the block by length: one cup is just over nine-tenths of a 250 g block. Butter has an even density, so if the block is a neat rectangle, each fraction of its length holds the same fraction of its weight. The diagram shows where to cut.
- Chill the block. Cold butter cuts cleanly and keeps its shape.
- Measure the length. Use a ruler along the wrapper and multiply by the percentage from the diagram. For one cup, multiply by 0.91.
- Cut straight down. Use a large knife through the wrapper, keeping the blade vertical.
- Check on scales if you have them. Trim or add slivers until the display reads the target weight.
How many cups is 100 g of butter?
100 g of butter is 0.44 of a US cup, or about 7 tablespoons. The reverse chart is useful when a British recipe gives grams but you only have American cup or spoon measures.
| Butter (g) | US cups | US tablespoons | Ounces |
|---|---|---|---|
| 25 g | 0.11 | 1¾ tbsp | 0.9 oz |
| 50 g | 0.22 | 3½ tbsp | 1.8 oz |
| 100 g | 0.44 | 7 tbsp | 3.5 oz |
| 125 g | 0.55 | 8¾ tbsp | 4.4 oz |
| 200 g | 0.88 | 14 tbsp | 7.1 oz |
| 250 g | 1.10 | 17⅔ tbsp | 8.8 oz |
| 500 g | 2.20 | 35¼ tbsp | 17.6 oz |
Is a cup of melted butter the same weight?
Yes, as long as you weigh the butter before melting it. Melting does not change the weight, so “1 cup butter, melted” is still 227 g. The wording matters only if a recipe says “1 cup melted butter” and you measure the liquid in a jug; in practice US recipe writers nearly always mean two sticks, so weigh 227 g, melt it and use all of it.
Softened butter is likewise measured by weight. There is no need to press it into a cup: simply weigh the cold block, then leave the weighed piece to soften.
Salted or unsalted butter for American recipes?
Use whatever the recipe specifies; the weight conversion is identical. Many American baking recipes call for unsalted butter and add salt separately. If you only have salted butter, you can use it and reduce or leave out the added salt, tasting where possible.
Butter is often creamed with sugar, so the cups to grams sugar chart is a natural companion to this page. For a whole recipe, the guide to converting American recipes to UK measures brings flour, liquids, butter and oven settings together.
Frequently asked questions
How many grams is 1 cup of butter?
One US cup of butter is 227 g, which is half a pound or two American sticks.
How many grams is half a cup of butter?
Half a US cup of butter is 113 g. This is one American stick, or 8 tablespoons.
How many cups is a 250 g block of butter?
A 250 g block is 1.1 US cups. Cut off about 23 g, roughly 1⅔ tablespoons, and the remaining 227 g is exactly one cup.
How many grams is a tablespoon of butter?
One US tablespoon of butter is about 14 g. There are 16 tablespoons in a cup and 8 in a stick.
Why do American recipes measure butter in cups?
American recipes measure most ingredients by volume, and US butter sticks are wrapped with cup and tablespoon markings, so cups are a convenient shorthand for a fixed weight.
Sources
- Weights and Measures Act 1985, Schedule 1 (definition of the pound and ounce), legislation.gov.uk
- King Arthur Baking: ingredient weight chart (butter by the half cup)
- NIST: US customary to metric conversions