Teaspoons of dried lentils to grams runs on one number, 4 grams per teaspoon. 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.
The density behind that figure is 0.81154 g per mL, against 1.00 for water. A cup of water weighs 236.6 g and a cup of dried lentils weighs 192 g, so this ingredient is 81.15% as heavy as the same volume of water — the single fact the whole page rests on.
A level teaspoon of dried lentils weighs 4 g. A kitchen scale that reads to the nearest gram is therefore working at roughly 25% 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 g if the recipe scales up.
Grams are the unit this conversion is really for. A domestic scale resolves to a gram, which is 0.521% of a cup of dried lentils, so weighing gets an accuracy no measuring cup can reach. A 500 g pack of it is 2.604 cups, and a 1 kg pack 5.208.
How the figure is arrived at: Brown or green, dry. Split red lentils are a little lighter per cup.
The formula
teaspoons- The amount of dried lentils you are converting, in teaspoons
4- Grams per teaspoon for dried lentils, from its density of 0.81154 g/mL
grams- The equivalent quantity in grams
How it works, step by step
- Enter the quantity in teaspoons.
- It is multiplied by 4, the grams-per-teaspoon figure for dried lentils.
- 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
3/4 tsp of dried lentils in grams
A recipe calling for 3/4 tsp of dried lentils needs 3 grams on the scale. The arithmetic is 0.75 × 4 = 3, and halving the recipe halves the weight to 1.5 grams.
1 1/2 tsp of dried lentils in grams
Take 1 1/2 tsp of dried lentils: 1.5 × 4 gives 6 grams. Doubling the batch takes it to 12 grams, because the relationship is a straight proportion once the density is known.
4 tsp of dried lentils in grams
Take 4 tsp of dried lentils: 4 × 4 gives 16 grams. Doubling the batch takes it to 32 grams, because the relationship is a straight proportion once the density is known.
How to read your score
Frequently asked questions
How many grams are in 1 tsp of dried lentils?
One teaspoon of dried lentils is 4 grams. Half that quantity is 2 grams and double it is 8 grams, 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?
At this size the spoon wins. One teaspoon of dried lentils is 4 g, and a scale reading to the nearest gram is working at 25% 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 many teaspoons of dried lentils is 500 g?
500 g of dried lentils is 125 teaspoons — 0.25 teaspoons to one gram, so 500 × 0.25 = 125. Going that way is a division by 4, or a multiplication by 0.25 if you prefer.
Dried lentils in teaspoons and grams
| Teaspoons | Grams | Unrounded |
|---|---|---|
| 1/4 tsp | 1 g | 1 |
| 1/2 tsp | 2 g | 2 |
| 3/4 tsp | 3 g | 3 |
| 1 tsp | 4 g | 4 |
| 1 1/2 tsp | 6 g | 6 |
| 2 tsp | 8 g | 8 |
| 3 tsp | 12 g | 12 |
| 4 tsp | 16 g | 16 |
| 6 tsp | 24 g | 24 |
Based on 192 g per cup of dried lentils. One teaspoon of dried lentils is 4 grams.
| Measure | Grams | Ounces | Millilitres |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 cup | 192 g | 6.77 oz | 236.6 mL |
| 1 tbsp | 12 g | 0.423 oz | 14.79 mL |
| 2 tsp | 8 g | 0.282 oz | 9.858 mL |
| 1 tsp | 4 g | 0.141 oz | 4.929 mL |
| 3/4 tsp | 3 g | 0.106 oz | 3.697 mL |
| 1/2 tsp | 2 g | 0.0705 oz | 2.464 mL |
| 1/4 tsp | 1 g | 0.0353 oz | 1.232 mL |
| 1/8 tsp | 0.5 g | 0.0176 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) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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.