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Co-authored byJanice TiepermanReviewed byOllie George Cigliano
Last Updated: October 14, 2023Fact Checked
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- Tablespoon Equivalents |
- Best Measuring Practices |
- Common Dry Ingredient Measurements |
Tablespoons are an essential unit of measurement used in many recipes, but they aren’t synonymous with a typical spoon that you use during your meals. We’ll walk you through some easy substitutions to use if you don’t have a tablespoon on hand, along with how to properly measure both dry and wet ingredients using this tool. We’ve also included a list of tablespoon weights for common dry ingredients you may come across in your future recipes.
Things You Should Know
- One tablespoon is equal to 3 teaspoons, or 1/16 of a cup.
- If you’re measuring liquids, 1 tbsp equals around 15 mL.
- Roughly approximate the tip of your thumb to be the same size as a 1 tbsp portion.
Section 1 of 3:
Tablespoon Equivalents
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1
3 level teaspoons In the mathematical world of measuring cups and spoons, 1 tablespoon is equivalent to 3 teaspoons. By extension, the following measurements also equal 1 tbsp:[1]
2
1/16 of a cup If you have nothing to measure with aside from a large measuring cup, pour your ingredient in so it’s coating the bottom of the cup very lightly. A tablespoon equals 1/16 of a cup, or:[2]
- ⅛ of a ½ cup
- ¼ of a ¼ cup
- ½ of an ⅛ cup
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3
15 mL of any liquid If you’re working with wet ingredients, a small liquid measuring cup may help you measure out 15 mL of whatever ingredient you’re using.[3] Keep it in mind, though, that mL only measures volume (fluids), and shouldn’t be used for dry ingredients.[4]
4
Tip of your thumb Look at your thumb pad, from the upper crease of your knuckle to the curved tip. This is roughly the same size as 1 tbsp of any given ingredient, and can be helpful if you’re measuring on the fly.[5]
5
½ a ping pong ball From a visual standpoint, it helps to compare an ingredient to a ping pong ball that’s cut in half evenly. Around 1 tbsp of an ingredient is roughly the same size as this shape.[6]
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Section 2 of 3:
How to Properly Measure a Tablespoon
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1
Dry ingredients Tilt the container of your dry ingredient and stick the tablespoon inside, lifting up enough of the ingredient so the spoon is overflowing. Then, use the blunt edge of a butter knife (or another flat item, like a chopstick), to level off the overflowing ingredient.[7]
- Use this process when measuring dry ingredients with any type of measuring cup.
- Alternative: Use a kitchen scale to get the most accurate measurements for your dry ingredients.
2
Wet ingredients Pour the wet ingredient directly into your tablespoon until it’s completely full. You don’t need to bother with a liquid measuring cup when you only need a small amount of a certain ingredient.[8]
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Section 3 of 3:
Common Dry Ingredient Measurements
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Measuring your ingredients by weight allows you to be more accurate. Dry ingredients are measured in weight rather than volume—in other words, 1 tablespoon of flour doesn’t weigh the same as 1 tablespoon of sugar, which doesn’t weigh the same as 1 tablespoon of brown sugar, and so on and so forth. Using a kitchen scale to measure the precise weight of your ingredients helps you capture the ratio of ingredients needed for your recipes—and to help you out, we’ve created a cheat sheet with the weights (in grams) for common dry ingredients.
| Ingredient | Weight (in grams) |
|---|---|
| All purpose flour | 7.5 g |
| Almond flour | 6 g |
| Baking powder | 12 g |
| Baking soda | 9 g |
| Bread crumbs | 7 g |
| Bread crumbs (panko) | ~3 g |
| Brown sugar | ~13.5 g |
| Chocolate chips | ~10.5 g |
| Coconut (unsweetened, shredded) | ~3.5 g |
| Cornmeal | ~8.5 g |
| Dried milk (nonfat) | 7 g |
| Gluten-free all purpose flour | 9.75 g |
| Glutinous rice flour | 7.5 g |
| Meringue powder | 10.75 g |
| Oats | 5.75 g |
| Peanuts | ~9 g |
| Pecans | ~7 g |
| Pizza flour | 7.75 g |
| Quinoa | ~11 g |
| Rice flour (white) | ~9 g |
| Rice (white) | ~12.5 g |
| Salt (table) | 18 |
| Wheat germ | 7 g |
| Whole wheat flour | ~7 g |
| Yeast (instant) | 9 g |
Community Q&A
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Question
Should I use a level or a heaped tablespoon?
Community Answer
A level spoon is generally recommended unless your recipe specifies otherwise.
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Question
What do T, tb, tbs, and tbsp stand for?
Community Answer
All of these are common abbreviations for "tablespoon." Be sure to read carefully, however, as "t" and "tsp" stand for teaspoon, a much smaller measurement!
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Question
What is 12.5 ml compared to a teaspoon?
Community Answer
One teaspoon = 5 ml, so 12.5 ml = 2 1/2 teaspoons, or nearly a tablespoon.
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References
- ↑ https://www.thekitchn.com/do-you-know-how-many-teaspoons-are-in-a-tablespoon-223429
- ↑ https://www.exploratorium.edu/food/measurements
- ↑ https://www.exploratorium.edu/food/measurements
- ↑ https://www.seriouseats.com/how-to-measure-wet-dry-ingredients-for-baking-accurately-best-method
- ↑ https://www.siue.edu/campus-recreation/facilities/EstimatingPortionSizesUsingYourHands.pdf
- ↑ https://www.piqua.org/Downloads/servingsize.pdf
- ↑ https://www.seriouseats.com/how-to-measure-wet-dry-ingredients-for-baking-accurately-best-method
- ↑ https://www.seriouseats.com/how-to-measure-wet-dry-ingredients-for-baking-accurately-best-method
About This Article
Reviewed by:
Ollie George Cigliano
Private Chef & Food Educator
This article was reviewed by Ollie George Cigliano and by wikiHow staff writer, Janice Tieperman. Ollie George Cigliano is a Private Chef, Food Educator, and Owner of Ollie George Cooks, based in Long Beach, California. With over 20 years of experience, she specializes in utilizing fresh, fun ingredients and mixing traditional and innovative cooking techniques. Ollie George holds a BA in Comparative Literature from The University of California, Berkeley, and a Nutrition and Healthy Living Certificate from eCornell University. This article has been viewed 579,871 times.
28 votes - 35%
Co-authors: 10
Updated: October 14, 2023
Views:579,871
Categories: Basic Cooking Skills | Baking
Article SummaryX
The most accurate way to measure a tablespoon is to use a measuring spoon. If you don't have a measuring spoon, you can use measurement equivalents. For example, 3 level teaspoons makes 1 tablespoon. 1/16 of a cup is also equivalent to 1 tablespoon, and 15 ml of any liquid is equal to 1 tablespoon. If you don't have any measuring tools, try eyeballing it to estimate. 2 tablespoons of a dry ingredient will be approximately the size of a ping pong ball, and 2 tablespoons of liquid will fill a cupped hand. If you want to learn how to use bottle caps to measure out tablespoons, keep reading the article!
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