6 Tablespoons to cups measures ⅜ of one cup. That’s a U.S. conversion.
How did we reach this calculation?
Multiply the value in Tablespoons by the conversion factor 0.0625. So, 6 Tablespoons times 0.0625 is equal to 3/8 cups.
Why might you need this information? Perhaps you’re traveling and you don’t have any measuring cups or you're working in a strange kitchen and can't find the cups. You can use a tablespoon instead.
Home bakers and frequently, moi included, tend to measure using volume–with measuring cups and spoons.
But, culinary professionals weigh ingredients, particularly flour, using a kitchen scale.
I have this scale and it’s easy to use.
Once you get used to using a scale, you'll wonder what took you so long.
TBSP to Cup Conversions
The formula for converting these measurements is as follows, with thanks to coolconversions.com.
One cup equals 16 tablespoons
So, to figure out other tablespoon to cup calculation divide the value in tablespoons by 16 because 1 cup equals 16 Tablespoons.
So, 4 Tablespoons = 416 = 14 or 0.25 cup.
½ cup equals 8 Tablespoons.
Tbsp to Cups Conversion Chart
| 4 Tablespoons | ¼ cup |
| 5-⅓ Tablespoons | ⅓ cup |
| 8 Tablespoons | ½ cup |
| 10-⅔ Tablespoons | ⅔ cup |
| 12 Tablespoons | ¾ cup |
| 16 Tablespoons | 1 cup |
A Tablespoon in any other country
Consider the source of your recipe. What’s the author’s country of origin?
The U.S., the U.K. and Australia all have tablespoon measures that are difference sizes.
The UK’s tablespoon measure referred to as he Imperial tablespoon— is 17.8 milliliters, which is roughly 20 percent larger than the Queen Anne tablespoon used in the US.
The UK tablespoon is considered post 1824 British
The imperial tablespoon which is post-1824 British) is approximately 17.8 mL, which is about 20% larger than the Queen Anne tablespoon used in the USA. Thus, the Queen Anne (USA) tablespoon is ⅚ the size of the British one.
The Australian tablespoon is larger still— 20 milliliters .
How Many Teaspoons in a Tablespoon?
Have you ever heard of conflicting information about how many teaspoons are in a tablespoon?
Well, the teaspoon in both Australia and the U.S. is 5ml. So a tablespoon in Australia is four teaspoons.
But, in the U.S., a tablespoon contains 3 teaspoons because our tablespoon measure is smaller than Australia’s.
Tips for Measuring by Volume
- Make sure you are measuring level amounts and not a heaping tablespoon or teaspoon.
- Before measuring, use a whisk or a spoon to stir your dry ingredients like flour or cocoa powder to aerate them.
Too much flour or not enough can ruin your batch of cookie dough. Weighing flour is best using a kitchen scale but failing that, use the dip and sweep method to measure your flour. Pour a few cups of flour into a bowl and fluff it up with a spoon. Now spoon flour into your measuring cup until slightly heaped. Then slide a butter knife or a bench scraper across the top of the measuring cup to remove the excess.
You might also find Cooking Equivalents and Measures - Science of Food useful as well.
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