Pounds of semolina to cups runs on one number, 2.716122 cups per pound. 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.
Put next to water — 1 g per mL exactly — semolina measures 0.70587 g per mL. That ratio, 70.59%, is what separates this page from every other ingredient in the same units, and it is measured rather than defined.
A cup of semolina is 167 g when it is measured the standard way, but how it gets into the cup changes the answer: between about 150.3 g and 200.4 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 semolina is bought rather than cooked, so this is the bag-size arithmetic: one pound is 2.716 cups, a 2 lb pack is 5.432 cups and a 5 lb sack is 13.58. 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: Coarse durum wheat. The large hard particles pack densely, making it much heavier per cup than any soft flour.
The formula
pounds- The amount of semolina you are converting, in pounds
2.71612197605- Cups per pound for semolina, from its density of 0.70587 g/mL
cups- The equivalent quantity in cups
How it works, step by step
- Enter the quantity in pounds.
- It is multiplied by 2.71612197605, the cups-per-pound figure for semolina.
- The result appears in cups, with a second reading in tbsp beneath it.
- Use the measure table if you want a standard recipe quantity rather than a number you type in.
Worked examples
3/4 lb of semolina in cups
3/4 lb of semolina weighs out at 2.03709 cups. Divide 2.03709 by 2.716122 and you get back to 3/4 lb, which is the quickest check that the factor is the right way up.
1 1/2 lb of semolina in cups
Take 1 1/2 lb of semolina: 1.5 × 2.716122 gives 4.07418 cups. Doubling the batch takes it to 8.14837 cups, because the relationship is a straight proportion once the density is known.
3 lb of semolina in cups
Take 3 lb of semolina: 3 × 2.716122 gives 8.14837 cups. Doubling the batch takes it to 16.2967 cups, because the relationship is a straight proportion once the density is known.
How to read your score
Frequently asked questions
How many cups are in 1 lb of semolina?
One pound of semolina is 2.716122 cups. Half that quantity is 1.35806 cups and double it is 5.43224 cups, so the figure scales straight up and down — there is no offset in this conversion, only the factor.
Why is a cup of semolina not 236 g like water?
Because weight per cup depends on what is in the cup. Semolina has a density of 0.70587 g per mL where water has 1.00, so a cup of it weighs 167 g rather than 236.6 g. That is a difference of 69.6 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 semolina by roughly 20% — about 16.7 g either side of 167 g — because coarse durum wheat. Weighing removes the question entirely.
Is a fluid ounce of semolina 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 semolina weighs 0.7363 oz, so the two readings differ by 26.4%. 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 semolina would weigh 176.47 g instead of 167 g — 9.47 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 semolina — roughly 33.4 g on a 167 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 2 cup of semolina weigh?
2 cup of semolina comes to 334 g, or 0.73634 pounds. This page runs that calculation in reverse — enter a weight and it returns the volume — and the cups-to-pounds page does it in the direction the question is usually asked.
Semolina in pounds and cups
| Pounds | Cups | Unrounded |
|---|---|---|
| 1/4 lb | 0.67903 cup | 0.679030494 |
| 1/2 lb | 1.35806 cup | 1.358060988 |
| 3/4 lb | 2.03709 cup | 2.037091482 |
| 1 lb | 2.71612 cup | 2.716121976 |
| 1 1/2 lb | 4.07418 cup | 4.074182964 |
| 2 lb | 5.43224 cup | 5.432243952 |
| 3 lb | 8.14837 cup | 8.148365928 |
| 5 lb | 13.5806 cup | 13.58060988 |
Based on 167 g per cup of semolina. One pound of semolina is 2.716122 cups.
| Measure | Grams | Ounces | Millilitres |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 cup | 167 g | 5.89 oz | 236.6 mL |
| 3/4 cup | 125.2 g | 4.42 oz | 177.4 mL |
| 2/3 cup | 111.3 g | 3.93 oz | 157.7 mL |
| 1/2 cup | 83.5 g | 2.95 oz | 118.3 mL |
| 1/3 cup | 55.67 g | 1.96 oz | 78.86 mL |
| 1/4 cup | 41.75 g | 1.47 oz | 59.15 mL |
| 1 tbsp | 10.44 g | 0.368 oz | 14.79 mL |
| 1 tsp | 3.479 g | 0.123 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) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rice flour | 158 g | 5.573 oz | 0.6678 |
| Potato starch | 160 g | 5.644 oz | 0.6763 |
| Steel-cut oats | 160 g | 5.644 oz | 0.6763 |
| Semolina (this page) | 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 | 185 g | 6.526 oz | 0.7819 |
Ordered by weight. The spread across this group is why a single generic cups-to-grams factor cannot work.