One pound of packed brown sugar is 2.0617835 cups, so converting pounds of packed brown sugar to cups means multiplying by 2.0617835. That factor is specific to this ingredient — it comes from its density, not from any relationship between the two units.
Put next to water — 1 g per mL exactly — packed brown sugar measures 0.92989 g per mL. That ratio, 92.99%, is what separates this page from every other ingredient in the same units, and it is measured rather than defined.
A cup of packed brown sugar is 220 g when it is measured the standard way, but how it gets into the cup changes the answer: between about 198 g and 264 g covers the range from lightly spooned to firmly packed. That 20% spread is larger than most of the adjustments recipes fuss over, and it disappears entirely the moment the ingredient is weighed instead.
Pounds are how packed brown sugar is bought rather than cooked, so this is the bag-size arithmetic: one pound is 2.062 cups, a 2 lb pack is 4.124 cups and a 5 lb sack is 10.31. That last figure is the one worth knowing before a large bake — it tells you whether one bag covers the recipe.
What the number depends on: Firmly packed, which is the US recipe convention. Spooned in loosely it is closer to 145 g per cup.
The formula
pounds- The amount of packed brown sugar you are converting, in pounds
2.0617835- Cups per pound for packed brown sugar, from its density of 0.92989 g/mL
cups- The equivalent quantity in cups
How it works, step by step
- Enter the quantity in pounds.
- It is multiplied by 2.0617835, the cups-per-pound figure for packed brown sugar.
- The result appears in cups, with a second reading in tbsp beneath it.
- Use the measure table if you want a standard recipe quantity rather than a number you type in.
Worked examples
3/4 lb of packed brown sugar in cups
Take 3/4 lb of packed brown sugar: 0.75 × 2.0617835 gives 1.54634 cups. Doubling the batch takes it to 3.09268 cups, because the relationship is a straight proportion once the density is known.
1 1/2 lb of packed brown sugar in cups
A recipe calling for 1 1/2 lb of packed brown sugar needs 3.09268 cups on the scale. The arithmetic is 1.5 × 2.0617835 = 3.0926753, and halving the recipe halves the weight to 1.54634 cups.
3 lb of packed brown sugar in cups
A recipe calling for 3 lb of packed brown sugar needs 6.18535 cups on the scale. The arithmetic is 3 × 2.0617835 = 6.1853505, and halving the recipe halves the weight to 3.09268 cups.
How to read your score
Frequently asked questions
How many cups are in 1 lb of packed brown sugar?
One pound of packed brown sugar is 2.0617835 cups. Half that quantity is 1.03089 cups and double it is 4.12357 cups, so the figure scales straight up and down — there is no offset in this conversion, only the factor.
Why is a cup of packed brown sugar not 236 g like water?
Because weight per cup depends on what is in the cup. Packed brown sugar has a density of 0.92989 g per mL where water has 1.00, so a cup of it weighs 220 g rather than 236.6 g. That is a difference of 16.6 g per cup, and it is the reason a single volume-to-weight factor cannot be applied to every ingredient.
Does how I measure it change the weight?
Yes, and by more than most people expect. Handling changes the weight of a cup of packed brown sugar by roughly 20% — about 22 g either side of 220 g — because firmly packed, which is the US recipe convention. Weighing removes the question entirely.
Is a fluid ounce of packed brown sugar the same as an ounce?
No. A fluid ounce is a volume — one eighth of a US cup, 29.57 mL — and an ounce is a weight. One fluid ounce of packed brown sugar weighs 0.97 oz, so the two readings differ by 3%. They coincide only for something with the density of water, and then only roughly.
Is this a US cup or a metric cup?
US customary: 236.59 mL, which is the cup every US recipe means. A metric cup is 250 mL, so the same cup of packed brown sugar would weigh 232.47 g instead of 220 g — 12.5 g more, or 5.67%. Australian and some European recipes use the metric cup, and the difference is large enough to matter in baking.
Do I need a scale for this, or will measuring cups do?
A scale, if the result matters. Volume measuring carries a spread of about 20% for packed brown sugar — roughly 44 g on a 220 g cup — while a domestic scale is accurate to a gram or two. For anything where the ratio of ingredients drives the outcome, bread and pastry above all, weigh it.
How much does 2 cup of packed brown sugar weigh?
2 cup of packed brown sugar comes to 440 g, or 0.97003 pounds. This page runs that calculation in reverse — enter a weight and it returns the volume — and the cups-to-pounds page does it in the direction the question is usually asked.
Packed brown sugar in pounds and cups
| Pounds | Cups | Unrounded |
|---|---|---|
| 1/4 lb | 0.515446 cup | 0.515445875 |
| 1/2 lb | 1.03089 cup | 1.03089175 |
| 3/4 lb | 1.54634 cup | 1.546337625 |
| 1 lb | 2.06178 cup | 2.0617835 |
| 1 1/2 lb | 3.09268 cup | 3.09267525 |
| 2 lb | 4.12357 cup | 4.123567 |
| 3 lb | 6.18535 cup | 6.1853505 |
| 5 lb | 10.3089 cup | 10.3089175 |
Based on 220 g per cup of packed brown sugar. One pound of packed brown sugar is 2.0617835 cups.
| Measure | Grams | Ounces | Millilitres |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 cup | 220 g | 7.76 oz | 236.6 mL |
| 3/4 cup | 165 g | 5.82 oz | 177.4 mL |
| 2/3 cup | 146.7 g | 5.17 oz | 157.7 mL |
| 1/2 cup | 110 g | 3.88 oz | 118.3 mL |
| 1/3 cup | 73.33 g | 2.59 oz | 78.86 mL |
| 1/4 cup | 55 g | 1.94 oz | 59.15 mL |
| 1 tbsp | 13.75 g | 0.485 oz | 14.79 mL |
| 1 tsp | 4.583 g | 0.162 oz | 4.929 mL |
US customary measures: 1 cup = 236.59 mL, 1 tbsp = 14.79 mL, 1 tsp = 4.93 mL.
| Ingredient | Grams per cup | Ounces per cup | Density (g/mL) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Uncooked white rice | 185 g | 6.526 oz | 0.7819 |
| Uncooked brown rice | 190 g | 6.702 oz | 0.8031 |
| Dried lentils | 192 g | 6.773 oz | 0.8115 |
| Granulated sugar | 200 g | 7.055 oz | 0.8454 |
| Arborio rice | 200 g | 7.055 oz | 0.8454 |
| Dried chickpeas | 200 g | 7.055 oz | 0.8454 |
| Packed brown sugar (this page) | 220 g | 7.76 oz | 0.9299 |
Ordered by weight. The spread across this group is why a single generic cups-to-grams factor cannot work.