To convert cups of dried lentils into pounds, multiply by 0.42328754: one cup comes to 0.42328754 pounds. Every ingredient has its own figure here, because the units are measuring different things and only the density links them.
Put next to water — 1 g per mL exactly — dried lentils measures 0.81154 g per mL. That ratio, 81.15%, is what separates this page from every other ingredient in the same units, and it is measured rather than defined.
A cup of dried lentils is 192 g when it is measured the standard way, but how it gets into the cup changes the answer: between about 172.8 g and 230.4 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 dried lentils is bought rather than cooked, so this is the bag-size arithmetic: one pound is 2.362 cups, a 2 lb pack is 4.725 cups and a 5 lb sack is 11.81. That last figure is the one worth knowing before a large bake — it tells you whether one bag covers the recipe.
How the figure is arrived at: Brown or green, dry. Split red lentils are a little lighter per cup.
The formula
cups- The amount of dried lentils you are converting, in cups
0.423287543395- Pounds per cup for dried lentils, from its density of 0.81154 g/mL
pounds- The equivalent quantity in pounds
How it works, step by step
- Enter the quantity in cups.
- It is multiplied by 0.423287543395, the pounds-per-cup figure for dried lentils.
- The result appears in pounds, with a second reading in g beneath it.
- Use the measure table if you want a standard recipe quantity rather than a number you type in.
Worked examples
1/3 cup of dried lentils in pounds
A recipe calling for 1/3 cup of dried lentils needs 0.141096 pounds on the scale. The arithmetic is 0.333333 × 0.42328754 = 0.14109585, and halving the recipe halves the weight to 0.0705479 pounds.
3/4 cup of dried lentils in pounds
Take 3/4 cup of dried lentils: 0.75 × 0.42328754 gives 0.317466 pounds. Doubling the batch takes it to 0.634931 pounds, because the relationship is a straight proportion once the density is known.
3 cup of dried lentils in pounds
Take 3 cup of dried lentils: 3 × 0.42328754 gives 1.26986 pounds. Doubling the batch takes it to 2.53973 pounds, because the relationship is a straight proportion once the density is known.
How to read your score
Frequently asked questions
How many pounds are in 1 cup of dried lentils?
One cup of dried lentils is 0.42328754 pounds. Half that quantity is 0.211644 pounds and double it is 0.846575 pounds, so the figure scales straight up and down — there is no offset in this conversion, only the factor.
Why is a cup of dried lentils not 236 g like water?
Because weight per cup depends on what is in the cup. Dried lentils has a density of 0.81154 g per mL where water has 1.00, so a cup of it weighs 192 g rather than 236.6 g. That is a difference of 44.6 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 dried lentils by roughly 20% — about 19.2 g either side of 192 g — because brown or green, dry. Weighing removes the question entirely.
Is a fluid ounce of dried lentils 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 dried lentils weighs 0.8466 oz, so the two readings differ by 15.3%. 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 dried lentils would weigh 202.88 g instead of 192 g — 10.9 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 dried lentils — roughly 38.4 g on a 192 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 cups of dried lentils is 1 lb?
1 lb of dried lentils is 2.3625 cups — 2.36246 cups to one pound, so 1 × 2.36246 = 2.3625. Going that way is a division by 0.423288, or a multiplication by 2.36246 if you prefer.
Dried lentils in cups and pounds
| Cups | Pounds | Unrounded |
|---|---|---|
| 1/8 cup | 0.0529109 lb | 0.05291094292 |
| 1/4 cup | 0.105822 lb | 0.1058218858 |
| 1/3 cup | 0.141096 lb | 0.1410958478 |
| 1/2 cup | 0.211644 lb | 0.2116437717 |
| 2/3 cup | 0.282192 lb | 0.2821916956 |
| 3/4 cup | 0.317466 lb | 0.3174656575 |
| 1 cup | 0.423288 lb | 0.4232875434 |
| 1 1/2 cup | 0.634931 lb | 0.6349313151 |
| 2 cup | 0.846575 lb | 0.8465750868 |
| 3 cup | 1.26986 lb | 1.26986263 |
| 4 cup | 1.69315 lb | 1.693150174 |
Based on 192 g per cup of dried lentils. One cup of dried lentils is 0.42328754 pounds.
| Measure | Grams | Ounces | Millilitres |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 cup | 192 g | 6.77 oz | 236.6 mL |
| 3/4 cup | 144 g | 5.08 oz | 177.4 mL |
| 2/3 cup | 128 g | 4.52 oz | 157.7 mL |
| 1/2 cup | 96 g | 3.39 oz | 118.3 mL |
| 1/3 cup | 64 g | 2.26 oz | 78.86 mL |
| 1/4 cup | 48 g | 1.69 oz | 59.15 mL |
| 1 tbsp | 12 g | 0.423 oz | 14.79 mL |
| 1 tsp | 4 g | 0.141 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) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dry couscous | 170 g | 5.997 oz | 0.7185 |
| Uncooked white rice | 185 g | 6.526 oz | 0.7819 |
| Uncooked brown rice | 190 g | 6.702 oz | 0.8031 |
| Dried lentils (this page) | 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 |
Ordered by weight. The spread across this group is why a single generic cups-to-grams factor cannot work.