Tablespoons of granulated sugar to grams runs on one number, 12.5 grams per tablespoon. 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 tablespoon of granulated sugar is 12.5 g, which puts a teaspoon at 4.167 g and a tablespoon and a half — the quantity recipes are fondest of — at 18.75 g. Levelling twice is where the error comes from, so the scale is the faster instrument once the quantity passes a couple of spoons.
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.
The condition this weight assumes: One of the most reliable ingredients to measure by volume: the crystals are uniform and do not compact under their own weight.
The formula
tablespoons- The amount of granulated sugar you are converting, in tablespoons
12.5- Grams per tablespoon for granulated sugar, from its density of 0.84535 g/mL
grams- The equivalent quantity in grams
How it works, step by step
- Enter the quantity in tablespoons.
- It is multiplied by 12.5, the grams-per-tablespoon figure for granulated sugar.
- The result appears in grams, with a second reading in oz beneath it.
- Use the measure table if you want a standard recipe quantity rather than a number you type in.
Worked examples
2 tbsp of granulated sugar in grams
A recipe calling for 2 tbsp of granulated sugar needs 25 grams on the scale. The arithmetic is 2 × 12.5 = 25, and halving the recipe halves the weight to 12.5 grams.
4 tbsp of granulated sugar in grams
A recipe calling for 4 tbsp of granulated sugar needs 50 grams on the scale. The arithmetic is 4 × 12.5 = 50, and halving the recipe halves the weight to 25 grams.
12 tbsp of granulated sugar in grams
A recipe calling for 12 tbsp of granulated sugar needs 150 grams on the scale. The arithmetic is 12 × 12.5 = 150, and halving the recipe halves the weight to 75 grams.
How to read your score
Frequently asked questions
How many grams are in 1 tbsp of granulated sugar?
One tablespoon of granulated sugar is 12.5 grams. Half that quantity is 6.25 grams and double it is 25 grams, 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?
A scale, if the result matters. Volume measuring carries a spread of about 20% for granulated sugar — roughly 40 g on a 200 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 many tablespoons of granulated sugar is 500 g?
500 g of granulated sugar is 40 tablespoons — 0.08 tablespoons to one gram, so 500 × 0.08 = 40. Going that way is a division by 12.5, or a multiplication by 0.08 if you prefer.
Granulated sugar in tablespoons and grams
| Tablespoons | Grams | Unrounded |
|---|---|---|
| 1/2 tbsp | 6.25 g | 6.25 |
| 1 tbsp | 12.5 g | 12.5 |
| 2 tbsp | 25 g | 25 |
| 3 tbsp | 37.5 g | 37.5 |
| 4 tbsp | 50 g | 50 |
| 6 tbsp | 75 g | 75 |
| 8 tbsp | 100 g | 100 |
| 12 tbsp | 150 g | 150 |
| 16 tbsp | 200 g | 200 |
Based on 200 g per cup of granulated sugar. One tablespoon of granulated sugar is 12.5 grams.
| 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.