One cup of tahini is 240 grams, so converting cups of tahini to grams means multiplying by 240. That factor is specific to this ingredient — it comes from its density, not from any relationship between the two units.
The density behind that figure is 1.0144 g per mL, against 1.00 for water. A cup of water weighs 236.6 g and a cup of tahini weighs 240 g, so this ingredient is 101.4% as heavy as the same volume of water — the single fact the whole page rests on.
A cup of tahini is 240 g when it is measured the standard way, but how it gets into the cup changes the answer: between about 238.8 g and 242.4 g covers the range from lightly spooned to firmly packed. That 1% spread is larger than most of the adjustments recipes fuss over, and it disappears entirely the moment the ingredient is weighed instead.
Grams are the unit this conversion is really for. A domestic scale resolves to a gram, which is 0.417% of a cup of tahini, so weighing gets an accuracy no measuring cup can reach. A 500 g pack of it is 2.083 cups, and a 1 kg pack 4.167.
The condition this weight assumes: Well stirred. Sesame paste separates in the jar and the oil that rises is the lightest part of it.
The formula
cups- The amount of tahini you are converting, in cups
240- Grams per cup for tahini, from its density of 1.0144 g/mL
grams- The equivalent quantity in grams
How it works, step by step
- Enter the quantity in cups.
- It is multiplied by 240, the grams-per-cup figure for tahini.
- 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
1/3 cup of tahini in grams
Take 1/3 cup of tahini: 0.333333 × 240 gives 80 grams. Doubling the batch takes it to 160 grams, because the relationship is a straight proportion once the density is known.
3/4 cup of tahini in grams
A recipe calling for 3/4 cup of tahini needs 180 grams on the scale. The arithmetic is 0.75 × 240 = 180, and halving the recipe halves the weight to 90 grams.
3 cup of tahini in grams
A recipe calling for 3 cup of tahini needs 720 grams on the scale. The arithmetic is 3 × 240 = 720, and halving the recipe halves the weight to 360 grams.
How to read your score
Frequently asked questions
How many grams are in 1 cup of tahini?
One cup of tahini is 240 grams. Half that quantity is 120 grams and double it is 480 grams, so the figure scales straight up and down — there is no offset in this conversion, only the factor.
Why is a cup of tahini not 236 g like water?
Because weight per cup depends on what is in the cup. Tahini has a density of 1.0144 g per mL where water has 1.00, so a cup of it weighs 240 g rather than 236.6 g. That is a difference of 3.4 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?
Barely. Tahini does not compress, so a cup of it is 240 g however it is poured — within about 1%, which is inside the accuracy of a domestic scale. This is the group where measuring by volume is defensible.
Is a fluid ounce of tahini 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 tahini weighs 1.058 oz, so the two readings differ by 5.82%. 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 tahini would weigh 253.61 g instead of 240 g — 13.6 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 1% for tahini — roughly 2.4 g on a 240 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 tahini is 500 g?
500 g of tahini is 2.0833 cups — 0.00416667 cups to one gram, so 500 × 0.00416667 = 2.0833. Going that way is a division by 240, or a multiplication by 0.00416667 if you prefer.
Tahini in cups and grams
| Cups | Grams | Unrounded |
|---|---|---|
| 1/8 cup | 30 g | 30 |
| 1/4 cup | 60 g | 60 |
| 1/3 cup | 80 g | 80 |
| 1/2 cup | 120 g | 120 |
| 2/3 cup | 160 g | 160 |
| 3/4 cup | 180 g | 180 |
| 1 cup | 240 g | 240 |
| 1 1/2 cup | 360 g | 360 |
| 2 cup | 480 g | 480 |
| 3 cup | 720 g | 720 |
| 4 cup | 960 g | 960 |
Based on 240 g per cup of tahini. One cup of tahini is 240 grams.
| Measure | Grams | Ounces | Millilitres |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 cup | 240 g | 8.47 oz | 236.6 mL |
| 3/4 cup | 180 g | 6.35 oz | 177.4 mL |
| 2/3 cup | 160 g | 5.64 oz | 157.7 mL |
| 1/2 cup | 120 g | 4.23 oz | 118.3 mL |
| 1/3 cup | 80 g | 2.82 oz | 78.86 mL |
| 1/4 cup | 60 g | 2.12 oz | 59.15 mL |
| 1 tbsp | 15 g | 0.529 oz | 14.79 mL |
| 1 tsp | 5 g | 0.176 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) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Heavy cream | 238 g | 8.395 oz | 1.006 |
| Vinegar | 239 g | 8.43 oz | 1.01 |
| Sour cream | 240 g | 8.466 oz | 1.014 |
| Tahini (this page) | 240 g | 8.466 oz | 1.014 |
| Half-and-half | 242 g | 8.536 oz | 1.023 |
| Egg whites | 243 g | 8.572 oz | 1.027 |
| Whole milk | 244 g | 8.607 oz | 1.031 |
Ordered by weight. The spread across this group is why a single generic cups-to-grams factor cannot work.