Grams of uncooked white rice to tablespoons runs on one number, 0.086486486 tablespoons 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.
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 level tablespoon of uncooked white rice is 11.56 g, which puts a teaspoon at 3.854 g and a tablespoon and a half — the quantity recipes are fondest of — at 17.34 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 0.541% of a cup of uncooked white rice, so weighing gets an accuracy no measuring cup can reach. A 500 g pack of it is 2.703 cups, and a 1 kg pack 5.405.
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
grams- The amount of uncooked white rice you are converting, in grams
0.0864864864865- Tablespoons per gram for uncooked white rice, from its density of 0.78195 g/mL
tablespoons- The equivalent quantity in tablespoons
How it works, step by step
- Enter the quantity in grams.
- It is multiplied by 0.0864864864865, the tablespoons-per-gram figure for uncooked white rice.
- The result appears in tablespoons, with a second reading in tsp 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 uncooked white rice in tablespoons
A recipe calling for 50 g of uncooked white rice needs 4.32432 tablespoons on the scale. The arithmetic is 50 × 0.086486486 = 4.3243243, and halving the recipe halves the weight to 2.16216 tablespoons.
150 g of uncooked white rice in tablespoons
150 g of uncooked white rice weighs out at 12.973 tablespoons. Divide 12.973 by 0.086486486 and you get back to 150 g, which is the quickest check that the factor is the right way up.
500 g of uncooked white rice in tablespoons
500 g of uncooked white rice weighs out at 43.2432 tablespoons. Divide 43.2432 by 0.086486486 and you get back to 500 g, which is the quickest check that the factor is the right way up.
How to read your score
Frequently asked questions
How many tablespoons are in 1 g of uncooked white rice?
One gram of uncooked white rice is 0.086486486 tablespoons. Half that quantity is 0.0432432 tablespoons and double it is 0.172973 tablespoons, 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 much does 3 tbsp of uncooked white rice weigh?
3 tbsp of uncooked white rice comes to 34.688 g, or 34.688 grams. This page runs that calculation in reverse — enter a weight and it returns the volume — and the tablespoons-to-grams page does it in the direction the question is usually asked.
Uncooked white rice in grams and tablespoons
| Grams | Tablespoons | Unrounded |
|---|---|---|
| 5 g | 0.432432 tbsp | 0.4324324324 |
| 10 g | 0.864865 tbsp | 0.8648648649 |
| 25 g | 2.16216 tbsp | 2.162162162 |
| 50 g | 4.32432 tbsp | 4.324324324 |
| 100 g | 8.64865 tbsp | 8.648648649 |
| 125 g | 10.8108 tbsp | 10.81081081 |
| 150 g | 12.973 tbsp | 12.97297297 |
| 200 g | 17.2973 tbsp | 17.2972973 |
| 250 g | 21.6216 tbsp | 21.62162162 |
| 300 g | 25.9459 tbsp | 25.94594595 |
| 500 g | 43.2432 tbsp | 43.24324324 |
| 1000 g | 86.4865 tbsp | 86.48648649 |
Based on 185 g per cup of uncooked white rice. One gram of uncooked white rice is 0.086486486 tablespoons.
| Measure | Grams | Ounces | Millilitres |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 cup | 185 g | 6.53 oz | 236.6 mL |
| 1 tbsp | 11.56 g | 0.408 oz | 14.79 mL |
| 2 tsp | 7.708 g | 0.272 oz | 9.858 mL |
| 1 tsp | 3.854 g | 0.136 oz | 4.929 mL |
| 3/4 tsp | 2.891 g | 0.102 oz | 3.697 mL |
| 1/2 tsp | 1.927 g | 0.068 oz | 2.464 mL |
| 1/4 tsp | 0.9635 g | 0.034 oz | 1.232 mL |
| 1/8 tsp | 0.4818 g | 0.017 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) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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.