Teaspoons of uncooked white rice to grams runs on one number, 3.8541667 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 0.78195 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 teaspoon of uncooked white rice weighs 3.854 g. A kitchen scale that reads to the nearest gram is therefore working at roughly 25.9% 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 11.56 g if the recipe scales up.
Grams are the unit this conversion is really for. A domestic scale resolves to a gram, which is 0.541% 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.
What the number depends on: 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
teaspoons- The amount of uncooked white rice you are converting, in teaspoons
3.85416666667- Grams per teaspoon for uncooked white rice, from its density of 0.78195 g/mL
grams- The equivalent quantity in grams
How it works, step by step
- Enter the quantity in teaspoons.
- It is multiplied by 3.85416666667, the grams-per-teaspoon figure for uncooked white rice.
- 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 uncooked white rice in grams
Take 3/4 tsp of uncooked white rice: 0.75 × 3.8541667 gives 2.89062 grams. Doubling the batch takes it to 5.78125 grams, because the relationship is a straight proportion once the density is known.
1 1/2 tsp of uncooked white rice in grams
1 1/2 tsp of uncooked white rice weighs out at 5.78125 grams. Divide 5.78125 by 3.8541667 and you get back to 1 1/2 tsp, which is the quickest check that the factor is the right way up.
4 tsp of uncooked white rice in grams
4 tsp of uncooked white rice weighs out at 15.4167 grams. Divide 15.4167 by 3.8541667 and you get back to 4 tsp, which is the quickest check that the factor is the right way up.
How to read your score
Frequently asked questions
How many grams are in 1 tsp of uncooked white rice?
One teaspoon of uncooked white rice is 3.8541667 grams. Half that quantity is 1.92708 grams and double it is 7.70833 grams, 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?
At this size the spoon wins. One teaspoon of uncooked white rice is 3.854 g, and a scale reading to the nearest gram is working at 25.9% 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 uncooked white rice is 500 g?
500 g of uncooked white rice is 129.73 teaspoons — 0.259459 teaspoons to one gram, so 500 × 0.259459 = 129.73. Going that way is a division by 3.85417, or a multiplication by 0.259459 if you prefer.
Uncooked white rice in teaspoons and grams
| Teaspoons | Grams | Unrounded |
|---|---|---|
| 1/4 tsp | 0.963542 g | 0.9635416667 |
| 1/2 tsp | 1.92708 g | 1.927083333 |
| 3/4 tsp | 2.89062 g | 2.890625 |
| 1 tsp | 3.85417 g | 3.854166667 |
| 1 1/2 tsp | 5.78125 g | 5.78125 |
| 2 tsp | 7.70833 g | 7.708333333 |
| 3 tsp | 11.5625 g | 11.5625 |
| 4 tsp | 15.4167 g | 15.41666667 |
| 6 tsp | 23.125 g | 23.125 |
Based on 185 g per cup of uncooked white rice. One teaspoon of uncooked white rice is 3.8541667 grams.
| 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.