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Butter Measurements Explained: Sticks, Tablespoons, Cups and Grams

4 min read · Updated October 20, 2026 · By Mohammad Dawood Edris Ghanizada

Butter is one of the easiest ingredients to measure, as long as you know how it is packaged. American butter is sold in sticks with printed tablespoon markings, while European butter is sold in blocks of 250 g or 500 g. Here is how the measurements line up.

The key equivalents

  • 1 US stick = 113 g = 4 oz = 8 tablespoons = 1/2 cup
  • 2 sticks = 226 g (often rounded to 227 g) = 1 cup
  • 1 tablespoon = about 14 g
  • 1 teaspoon = about 4.7 g
  • A 250 g European block = a little more than 2 sticks (about 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons)

Common recipe amounts in grams

  • 1/4 cup (4 tablespoons): 57 g
  • 1/3 cup: 76 g
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick): 113 g
  • 3/4 cup: 170 g
  • 1 cup (2 sticks): 227 g

Why butter is easy by weight but tricky by cup

Solid butter does not pack neatly into a measuring cup, because air gaps appear between lumps. That is why American packaging marks the tablespoons on the wrapper: you slice off exactly what you need. If your butter has no markings, use a scale or the table above.

Salted versus unsalted

Most baking recipes assume unsalted butter so that the cook controls the salt. If you only have salted butter, reduce the added salt by about 1/4 teaspoon for each 1/2 cup (113 g) of butter. Salt levels vary by brand, so taste your batter or dough when possible.

Softened, melted and cold butter are not interchangeable

The same weight of butter behaves differently depending on its temperature. Cold butter creates flaky layers in pastry, softened butter traps air when creamed with sugar for cakes and cookies, and melted butter gives dense, chewy results in brownies. Follow the state the recipe specifies, even if the weight is identical.

Substitutions

  • Margarine or baking spreads: use 1:1 by weight, but choose a product with at least 80 percent fat for baking.
  • Oil: use about 3/4 of the butter amount (for example, 3/4 cup oil for 1 cup butter). The texture will be softer.
  • Ghee or clarified butter: use 1:1, though flavour is richer and no water is present.

To convert any butter quantity, use the ingredient converters or the general grams to cups calculator.

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