To convert pounds of whole wheat flour into cups, multiply by 3.7799364: one pound comes to 3.7799364 cups. Every ingredient has its own figure here, because the units are measuring different things and only the density links them.
Put next to water — 1 g per mL exactly — whole wheat flour measures 0.50721 g per mL. That ratio, 50.72%, is what separates this page from every other ingredient in the same units, and it is measured rather than defined.
A cup of whole wheat flour is 120 g when it is measured the standard way, but how it gets into the cup changes the answer: between about 108 g and 144 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 whole wheat flour is bought rather than cooked, so this is the bag-size arithmetic: one pound is 3.78 cups, a 2 lb pack is 7.56 cups and a 5 lb sack is 18.9. 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: The bran and germ are bulkier than the endosperm they replace, so a cup weighs less than white flour despite feeling coarser.
The formula
pounds- The amount of whole wheat flour you are converting, in pounds
3.77993641667- Cups per pound for whole wheat flour, from its density of 0.50721 g/mL
cups- The equivalent quantity in cups
How it works, step by step
- Enter the quantity in pounds.
- It is multiplied by 3.77993641667, the cups-per-pound figure for whole wheat flour.
- 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 whole wheat flour in cups
Take 3/4 lb of whole wheat flour: 0.75 × 3.7799364 gives 2.83495 cups. Doubling the batch takes it to 5.6699 cups, because the relationship is a straight proportion once the density is known.
1 1/2 lb of whole wheat flour in cups
1 1/2 lb of whole wheat flour weighs out at 5.6699 cups. Divide 5.6699 by 3.7799364 and you get back to 1 1/2 lb, which is the quickest check that the factor is the right way up.
3 lb of whole wheat flour in cups
3 lb of whole wheat flour weighs out at 11.3398 cups. Divide 11.3398 by 3.7799364 and you get back to 3 lb, which is the quickest check that the factor is the right way up.
How to read your score
Frequently asked questions
How many cups are in 1 lb of whole wheat flour?
One pound of whole wheat flour is 3.7799364 cups. Half that quantity is 1.88997 cups and double it is 7.55987 cups, so the figure scales straight up and down — there is no offset in this conversion, only the factor.
Why is a cup of whole wheat flour not 236 g like water?
Because weight per cup depends on what is in the cup. Whole wheat flour has a density of 0.50721 g per mL where water has 1.00, so a cup of it weighs 120 g rather than 236.6 g. That is a difference of 116.6 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 whole wheat flour by roughly 20% — about 12 g either side of 120 g — because the bran and germ are bulkier than the endosperm they replace, so a cup weighs less than white flour despite feeling coarser. Weighing removes the question entirely.
Is a fluid ounce of whole wheat flour 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 whole wheat flour weighs 0.5291 oz, so the two readings differ by 47.1%. 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 whole wheat flour would weigh 126.8 g instead of 120 g — 6.8 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 whole wheat flour — roughly 24 g on a 120 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 whole wheat flour weigh?
2 cup of whole wheat flour comes to 240 g, or 0.52911 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.
Whole wheat flour in pounds and cups
| Pounds | Cups | Unrounded |
|---|---|---|
| 1/4 lb | 0.944984 cup | 0.9449841042 |
| 1/2 lb | 1.88997 cup | 1.889968208 |
| 3/4 lb | 2.83495 cup | 2.834952313 |
| 1 lb | 3.77994 cup | 3.779936417 |
| 1 1/2 lb | 5.6699 cup | 5.669904625 |
| 2 lb | 7.55987 cup | 7.559872833 |
| 3 lb | 11.3398 cup | 11.33980925 |
| 5 lb | 18.8997 cup | 18.89968208 |
Based on 120 g per cup of whole wheat flour. One pound of whole wheat flour is 3.7799364 cups.
| Measure | Grams | Ounces | Millilitres |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 cup | 120 g | 4.23 oz | 236.6 mL |
| 3/4 cup | 90 g | 3.17 oz | 177.4 mL |
| 2/3 cup | 80 g | 2.82 oz | 157.7 mL |
| 1/2 cup | 60 g | 2.12 oz | 118.3 mL |
| 1/3 cup | 40 g | 1.41 oz | 78.86 mL |
| 1/4 cup | 30 g | 1.06 oz | 59.15 mL |
| 1 tbsp | 7.5 g | 0.265 oz | 14.79 mL |
| 1 tsp | 2.5 g | 0.0882 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) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dry breadcrumbs | 108 g | 3.81 oz | 0.4565 |
| Coconut flour | 112 g | 3.951 oz | 0.4734 |
| Cake flour | 114 g | 4.021 oz | 0.4818 |
| Whole wheat flour (this page) | 120 g | 4.233 oz | 0.5072 |
| Tapioca starch | 120 g | 4.233 oz | 0.5072 |
| Powdered sugar | 120 g | 4.233 oz | 0.5072 |
| All-purpose flour | 125 g | 4.409 oz | 0.5283 |
Ordered by weight. The spread across this group is why a single generic cups-to-grams factor cannot work.