KitchenTablespoons and teaspoons to grams
A spoon measures space, and grams measure weight, so there is no single answer to "how many grams is a tablespoon". A tablespoon of honey weighs about three times as much as a tablespoon of flour. This chart gives the weight for each common ingredient, for a level 15 ml tablespoon and a level 5 ml teaspoon.
| Ingredient | 1 tablespoon (15 ml) | 1 teaspoon (5 ml) | 1/4 cup (60 ml) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Water | 15 g | 5 g | 60 g |
| Milk | 15.3 g | 5.1 g | 61 g |
| Curd (dahi), plain | 15.3 g | 5.1 g | 61 g |
| Oil | 13.6 g | 4.5 g | 54 g |
| Ghee | 12.8 g | 4.3 g | 51 g |
| Butter | 14.2 g | 4.7 g | 57 g |
| Honey | 21 g | 7.1 g | 85 g |
| Sugar, granulated | 12.5 g | 4.2 g | 50 g |
| Sugar, powdered (icing) | 7.5 g | 2.5 g | 30 g |
| Brown sugar, packed | 13.8 g | 4.6 g | 55 g |
| Maida (plain flour) | 7.8 g | 2.6 g | 31 g |
| Atta (whole wheat flour) | 7.5 g | 2.5 g | 30 g |
| Besan (gram flour) | 5.8 g | 1.9 g | 23 g |
| Sooji (semolina, rava) | 10.4 g | 3.5 g | 42 g |
| Cornflour (corn starch) | 8 g | 2.7 g | 32 g |
| Rice, raw white | 11.6 g | 3.9 g | 46 g |
| Toor, moong or masoor dal, raw | 12 g | 4 g | 48 g |
| Chickpeas (kabuli chana), raw | 12.5 g | 4.2 g | 50 g |
| Oats, rolled | 5.1 g | 1.7 g | 20 g |
| Cocoa powder | 5.4 g | 1.8 g | 22 g |
| Salt, table | 18.2 g | 6.1 g | 73 g |
| Peanuts, raw | 9.1 g | 3 g | 36 g |
| Almonds, whole | 8.9 g | 3 g | 36 g |
| Raisins | 9.1 g | 3 g | 36 g |
Worked out from the cup weights on our cups to grams page: one tablespoon is a sixteenth of a 240 ml cup and one teaspoon is a third of a tablespoon. Figures are rounded and are close guides, not laboratory weights.
Level, rounded and heaped
Unless a recipe says otherwise, a spoon measure is level: fill the spoon, then sweep a knife or a finger across the top. The chart is for level spoons.
- A rounded spoon has a gentle dome and holds about one and a half times a level spoon.
- A heaped spoon is piled as high as it will go and can hold double, or more with flour and powdered sugar.
- A scant spoon is a little less than level.
The gap between a level and a heaped spoon is the most common reason a cake turns out dry or a dal turns out salty. For baking powder, baking soda and salt, always measure level.
Measuring spoons and eating spoons
The teaspoon and tablespoon in a recipe are measuring spoons of 5 ml and 15 ml. Spoons from the cutlery drawer are not made to a standard. A steel dinner spoon often holds only 7 to 10 ml, and a small tea spoon may hold 2.5 to 4 ml. If you have no measuring spoons, check your own spoons once: an empty 5 ml or 10 ml medicine cap or measuring cup from a syrup bottle is an accurate measure that most homes already have.
Quick answers from the chart
- Sugar: a tablespoon is about 12.5 g and a teaspoon about 4 g.
- Salt: a teaspoon is about 6 g.
- Ghee and butter: a tablespoon is about 13 g of ghee or 14 g of butter.
- Oil: a tablespoon is about 14 g.
- Atta and maida: a tablespoon is about 8 g.
- Honey: a tablespoon is about 21 g.
Going the other way: grams to spoons
Divide the grams you need by the weight of one spoon. A recipe asks for 50 g of sugar: 50 divided by 12.5 is 4 tablespoons. It asks for 20 g of butter: about one and a half tablespoons. For amounts above about 60 g, it is easier and more accurate to use a cup measure or a scale.
Why sticky and powdery ingredients mislead
- Honey, jaggery syrup and ghee cling to the spoon, so less reaches the bowl than you measured. Oil the spoon lightly first and they slide off.
- Flour and cocoa pack down. Stir the flour in its container, spoon it up lightly and level it. Do not press the spoon against the side of the tin.
- Coarse and fine salt differ. The chart is for fine table salt. Rock salt and coarse sea salt have more air between the grains, so a spoon of them weighs less.
When a spoon is not good enough
For everyday cooking, spoons are fine. For bread, cakes and sweets where sugar must reach a stage, weigh the main ingredients. A small digital kitchen scale costs little and removes the guesswork. Without one, see measuring without a scale.
Questions people ask
How many grams is one tablespoon of sugar?
About 12.5 grams for granulated sugar, measured level in a 15 ml tablespoon.
How many grams is one teaspoon of salt?
About 6 grams of fine table salt. Coarse salt weighs less per spoon.
How many grams is a tablespoon of butter or ghee?
About 14 grams of butter and about 13 grams of ghee.
Is a tablespoon the same as a big steel spoon?
Not reliably. A measuring tablespoon is 15 ml. Dinner spoons vary and often hold only 7 to 10 ml.
More kitchen help
- Cups to gramsAtta, maida, sugar, rice, ghee and more, by ingredient.
- MeasuresTeaspoon, tablespoon, cup, ml, katori, pav, tola and seer.
- Oven temperaturesCelsius, Fahrenheit and gas mark, with fan oven settings.
- SubstitutesWhat to use when an ingredient is missing.
- Cooking timesPressure cooker minutes for dals, beans and rice.
- How much to cookRice, dal, atta and vegetables for any number of people.
- Food storageHow long food keeps in the fridge and the freezer.
- Spice namesJeera, ajwain, kalonji: English and Hindi names with uses.
- Dal and grain namesDals, flours and millets in English and Hindi.
- Vegetable namesTori, tinda, parwal: English and Hindi names with season.
- Measuring without a scaleWeigh by packets, cups, katoris, glasses and spoons.
- Grams, ounces, poundsCharts both ways, and how to read a foreign recipe.
- ml, cups, fluid ouncesLiquid measures, with US, metric and UK sizes.
- Butter, ghee and oilSticks, spoons and grams, and swapping one fat for another.
- Halve or double a recipeWhat to multiply, what not to, and the awkward amounts.
- Cake tin sizesRound to square, bigger to smaller: how much batter fits.
- Recipe words explainedAbbreviations and cooking words, with Hindi kitchen words.
- Reheating leftoversCooling, storing, thawing and reheating, from official guidance.
- Safe cooking temperaturesOfficial minimum temperatures for chicken, meat, fish, eggs.