Grams of granulated sugar to teaspoons runs on one number, 0.24 teaspoons per gram. It is a measured property of this ingredient rather than a defined conversion, which is why a generic volume-to-weight tool cannot give you it.
Water is the yardstick: 1 mL of it weighs 1 g. Granulated sugar comes in at 0.84535 g per mL, or 84.54% of water, which is why a cup of it is 200 g rather than 236.6 g. Volume and weight only line up for water, and only in metric.
A level teaspoon of granulated sugar weighs 4.167 g. A kitchen scale that reads to the nearest gram is therefore working at roughly 24% resolution on a single spoonful, which is why measuring spoons beat scales below about 5 g and lose to them above it. Three teaspoons make a tablespoon, so the same spoonful is 12.5 g if the recipe scales up.
Grams are the unit this conversion is really for. A domestic scale resolves to a gram, which is 0.5% of a cup of granulated sugar, so weighing gets an accuracy no measuring cup can reach. A 500 g pack of it is 2.5 cups, and a 1 kg pack 5.
What the number depends on: One of the most reliable ingredients to measure by volume: the crystals are uniform and do not compact under their own weight.
The formula
grams- The amount of granulated sugar you are converting, in grams
0.24- Teaspoons per gram for granulated sugar, from its density of 0.84535 g/mL
teaspoons- The equivalent quantity in teaspoons
How it works, step by step
- Enter the quantity in grams.
- It is multiplied by 0.24, the teaspoons-per-gram figure for granulated sugar.
- The result appears in teaspoons, with a second reading in mL beneath it.
- Use the measure table if you want a standard recipe quantity rather than a number you type in.
Worked examples
50 g of granulated sugar in teaspoons
A recipe calling for 50 g of granulated sugar needs 12 teaspoons on the scale. The arithmetic is 50 × 0.24 = 12, and halving the recipe halves the weight to 6 teaspoons.
150 g of granulated sugar in teaspoons
150 g of granulated sugar weighs out at 36 teaspoons. Divide 36 by 0.24 and you get back to 150 g, which is the quickest check that the factor is the right way up.
500 g of granulated sugar in teaspoons
A recipe calling for 500 g of granulated sugar needs 120 teaspoons on the scale. The arithmetic is 500 × 0.24 = 120, and halving the recipe halves the weight to 60 teaspoons.
How to read your score
Frequently asked questions
How many teaspoons are in 1 g of granulated sugar?
One gram of granulated sugar is 0.24 teaspoons. Half that quantity is 0.12 teaspoons and double it is 0.48 teaspoons, so the figure scales straight up and down — there is no offset in this conversion, only the factor.
Why is a cup of granulated sugar not 236 g like water?
Because weight per cup depends on what is in the cup. Granulated sugar has a density of 0.84535 g per mL where water has 1.00, so a cup of it weighs 200 g rather than 236.6 g. That is a difference of 36.6 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 granulated sugar by roughly 20% — about 20 g either side of 200 g — because one of the most reliable ingredients to measure by volume: the crystals are uniform and do not compact under their own weight. Weighing removes the question entirely.
Is a fluid ounce of granulated 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 granulated sugar weighs 0.8818 oz, so the two readings differ by 11.8%. 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 granulated sugar would weigh 211.34 g instead of 200 g — 11.3 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?
At this size the spoon wins. One teaspoon of granulated sugar is 4.167 g, and a scale reading to the nearest gram is working at 24% resolution on that — a measuring spoon is the more accurate instrument below about 5 g, which is why spice quantities are still written in spoons.
How much does 2 tsp of granulated sugar weigh?
2 tsp of granulated sugar comes to 8.3333 g, or 8.3333 grams. This page runs that calculation in reverse — enter a weight and it returns the volume — and the teaspoons-to-grams page does it in the direction the question is usually asked.
Granulated sugar in grams and teaspoons
| Grams | Teaspoons | Unrounded |
|---|---|---|
| 5 g | 1.2 tsp | 1.2 |
| 10 g | 2.4 tsp | 2.4 |
| 25 g | 6 tsp | 6 |
| 50 g | 12 tsp | 12 |
| 100 g | 24 tsp | 24 |
| 125 g | 30 tsp | 30 |
| 150 g | 36 tsp | 36 |
| 200 g | 48 tsp | 48 |
| 250 g | 60 tsp | 60 |
| 300 g | 72 tsp | 72 |
| 500 g | 120 tsp | 120 |
| 1000 g | 240 tsp | 240 |
Based on 200 g per cup of granulated sugar. One gram of granulated sugar is 0.24 teaspoons.
| Measure | Grams | Ounces | Millilitres |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 cup | 200 g | 7.05 oz | 236.6 mL |
| 1 tbsp | 12.5 g | 0.441 oz | 14.79 mL |
| 2 tsp | 8.333 g | 0.294 oz | 9.858 mL |
| 1 tsp | 4.167 g | 0.147 oz | 4.929 mL |
| 3/4 tsp | 3.125 g | 0.11 oz | 3.697 mL |
| 1/2 tsp | 2.083 g | 0.0735 oz | 2.464 mL |
| 1/4 tsp | 1.042 g | 0.0367 oz | 1.232 mL |
| 1/8 tsp | 0.5208 g | 0.0184 oz | 0.6161 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 (this page) | 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 | 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.