To convert cups of uncooked white rice into pounds, multiply by 0.40785519: one cup comes to 0.40785519 pounds. Every ingredient has its own figure here, because the units are measuring different things and only the density links them.
The density behind that figure is 0.78195 g per mL, against 1.00 for water. A cup of water weighs 236.6 g and a cup of uncooked white rice weighs 185 g, so this ingredient is 78.19% as heavy as the same volume of water — the single fact the whole page rests on.
A cup of uncooked white rice is 185 g when it is measured the standard way, but how it gets into the cup changes the answer: between about 166.5 g and 222 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 uncooked white rice is bought rather than cooked, so this is the bag-size arithmetic: one pound is 2.452 cups, a 2 lb pack is 4.904 cups and a 5 lb sack is 12.26. 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: Long grain, unrinsed and dry. It roughly triples in volume once cooked, so the dry cup is the measurement worth converting — a cup of cooked rice is a different quantity entirely.
The formula
cups- The amount of uncooked white rice you are converting, in cups
0.407855185042- Pounds per cup for uncooked white rice, from its density of 0.78195 g/mL
pounds- The equivalent quantity in pounds
How it works, step by step
- Enter the quantity in cups.
- It is multiplied by 0.407855185042, the pounds-per-cup figure for uncooked white rice.
- 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 uncooked white rice in pounds
1/3 cup of uncooked white rice weighs out at 0.135952 pounds. Divide 0.135952 by 0.40785519 and you get back to 1/3 cup, which is the quickest check that the factor is the right way up.
3/4 cup of uncooked white rice in pounds
Take 3/4 cup of uncooked white rice: 0.75 × 0.40785519 gives 0.305891 pounds. Doubling the batch takes it to 0.611783 pounds, because the relationship is a straight proportion once the density is known.
3 cup of uncooked white rice in pounds
3 cup of uncooked white rice weighs out at 1.22357 pounds. Divide 1.22357 by 0.40785519 and you get back to 3 cup, which is the quickest check that the factor is the right way up.
How to read your score
Frequently asked questions
How many pounds are in 1 cup of uncooked white rice?
One cup of uncooked white rice is 0.40785519 pounds. Half that quantity is 0.203928 pounds and double it is 0.81571 pounds, so the figure scales straight up and down — there is no offset in this conversion, only the factor.
Why is a cup of uncooked white rice not 236 g like water?
Because weight per cup depends on what is in the cup. Uncooked white rice has a density of 0.78195 g per mL where water has 1.00, so a cup of it weighs 185 g rather than 236.6 g. That is a difference of 51.6 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 uncooked white rice by roughly 20% — about 18.5 g either side of 185 g — because long grain, unrinsed and dry. Weighing removes the question entirely.
Is a fluid ounce of uncooked white rice 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 uncooked white rice weighs 0.8157 oz, so the two readings differ by 18.4%. 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 uncooked white rice would weigh 195.49 g instead of 185 g — 10.5 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 uncooked white rice — roughly 37 g on a 185 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 uncooked white rice is 1 lb?
1 lb of uncooked white rice is 2.4519 cups — 2.45185 cups to one pound, so 1 × 2.45185 = 2.4519. Going that way is a division by 0.407855, or a multiplication by 2.45185 if you prefer.
Uncooked white rice in cups and pounds
| Cups | Pounds | Unrounded |
|---|---|---|
| 1/8 cup | 0.0509819 lb | 0.05098189813 |
| 1/4 cup | 0.101964 lb | 0.1019637963 |
| 1/3 cup | 0.135952 lb | 0.1359517283 |
| 1/2 cup | 0.203928 lb | 0.2039275925 |
| 2/3 cup | 0.271903 lb | 0.2719034567 |
| 3/4 cup | 0.305891 lb | 0.3058913888 |
| 1 cup | 0.407855 lb | 0.407855185 |
| 1 1/2 cup | 0.611783 lb | 0.6117827776 |
| 2 cup | 0.81571 lb | 0.8157103701 |
| 3 cup | 1.22357 lb | 1.223565555 |
| 4 cup | 1.63142 lb | 1.63142074 |
Based on 185 g per cup of uncooked white rice. One cup of uncooked white rice is 0.40785519 pounds.
| Measure | Grams | Ounces | Millilitres |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 cup | 185 g | 6.53 oz | 236.6 mL |
| 3/4 cup | 138.8 g | 4.89 oz | 177.4 mL |
| 2/3 cup | 123.3 g | 4.35 oz | 157.7 mL |
| 1/2 cup | 92.5 g | 3.26 oz | 118.3 mL |
| 1/3 cup | 61.67 g | 2.18 oz | 78.86 mL |
| 1/4 cup | 46.25 g | 1.63 oz | 59.15 mL |
| 1 tbsp | 11.56 g | 0.408 oz | 14.79 mL |
| 1 tsp | 3.854 g | 0.136 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) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Semolina | 167 g | 5.891 oz | 0.7059 |
| Uncooked quinoa | 170 g | 5.997 oz | 0.7185 |
| Dry couscous | 170 g | 5.997 oz | 0.7185 |
| Uncooked white rice (this page) | 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 |
Ordered by weight. The spread across this group is why a single generic cups-to-grams factor cannot work.