Type a cup amount, fractions included, and see it in milliliters for all four cup sizes at once: US customary, US legal, metric and UK imperial. Switch direction to turn ml back into cups.
Fractions like 1/3 or 2 1/2 work. Runs in your browser. Nothing you type is sent anywhere.
This cups to ml converter is for home cooks and bakers who follow recipes from different countries. It multiplies your cups by the right cup size, so you get milliliters for a US recipe, a nutrition label, an Australian bake or an old British cookbook without guessing which cup was meant.
How Many ml Are in a Cup?
One US customary cup is 236.588 ml, so 1 1/2 cups is 354.88 ml. A US legal cup, used on nutrition labels, is exactly 240 ml. A metric cup used in Australia, Canada and New Zealand is 250 ml, and a UK imperial cup, half an imperial pint, is about 284.13 ml.
What Is the Formula for Cups to ml?
To convert cups to ml, multiply the number of cups by the size of one cup in milliliters.
US customary: ml = cups × 236.588
Metric: ml = cups × 250
ml to cups: cups = ml ÷ cup size
The US customary cup is half a US pint, or 8 US fluid ounces. NIST lists it as 236.588 ml, because one US fluid ounce is 29.5735 ml. A milliliter is one thousandth of a liter, the same volume as one cubic centimeter.
Why Are There Different Cup Sizes?
There are different cup sizes because countries set their kitchen measures at different times and from different base units. The US legal cup of 240 ml comes from the FDA rule for nutrition labeling (21 CFR 101.9), which tells food makers to round household measures to tidy metric values. The metric cup of 250 ml is a quarter liter, used in Australia, New Zealand and Canada. The imperial cup of 284.13 ml is half of a UK imperial pint (568.26 ml), and it mostly appears in older British recipes. Most modern UK recipes give grams or ml instead.
Cups to ml Conversion Table
Values from this tool, rounded to 2 decimal places:
| Cups | US cup | US legal | Metric | UK imperial |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1/4 | 59.15 ml | 60 ml | 62.5 ml | 71.03 ml |
| 1/3 | 78.86 ml | 80 ml | 83.33 ml | 94.71 ml |
| 1/2 | 118.29 ml | 120 ml | 125 ml | 142.07 ml |
| 2/3 | 157.73 ml | 160 ml | 166.67 ml | 189.42 ml |
| 3/4 | 177.44 ml | 180 ml | 187.5 ml | 213.1 ml |
| 1 | 236.59 ml | 240 ml | 250 ml | 284.13 ml |
| 1 1/2 | 354.88 ml | 360 ml | 375 ml | 426.2 ml |
| 2 | 473.18 ml | 480 ml | 500 ml | 568.26 ml |
| 3 | 709.76 ml | 720 ml | 750 ml | 852.39 ml |
| 4 | 946.35 ml | 960 ml | 1,000 ml | 1,136.52 ml |
Does the Cup Size Matter for Baking?
The cup size matters a little for most recipes and more for large batches. Two US cups are 473.18 ml, while two metric cups are 500 ml, a gap of about 27 ml. For flour and sugar, weighing is more accurate than any cup, so use the grams to cups converter for dry ingredients. For small liquid amounts given in ounces, the ml to oz converter is quicker, and for big batches of stock the liters to gallons converter helps.
Worked Example
An American cookie recipe asks for 1 1/2 cups of milk and your measuring jug shows only ml. Type 1 1/2 with US cup selected: the tool shows 354.88 ml, so pour about 355 ml. If the recipe were Australian, the metric box shows 375 ml instead. Going the other way, switch to ml to cups and type 500 with US cup: you get 2.113 cups, or about 2 1/8 US cups.
How Do You Use the Cups to ml Converter?
Pick a direction
Choose Cups to ml, or ml to cups if you are starting from a jug reading.
Choose the cup type
Pick US cup for American recipes, metric for Australia or Canada, legal for labels, UK for old British books.
Type the amount
Enter cups as a decimal or a fraction such as 3/4 or 1 1/2.
Read the result
The big number is your answer. The boxes below it show every cup size side by side.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many ml is half a cup?
Half a US customary cup is 118.29 ml. Half a metric cup is 125 ml, half a US legal cup is 120 ml and half a UK imperial cup is about 142.07 ml. For everyday cooking, 120 ml is close enough for a US recipe.
Is 250 ml the same as 1 cup?
250 ml is exactly 1 metric cup, used in Australia, New Zealand and Canada. In US cups, 250 ml is about 1.057 cups, a little more than one cup. In UK imperial cups it is about 0.88 of a cup.
How many ml in a cup of water?
A US cup of water is 236.59 ml, and because 1 ml of water weighs about 1 gram, it weighs about 237 g. A metric cup of water is 250 ml and weighs about 250 g at room temperature.
How many cups is 500 ml?
500 ml is about 2.11 US customary cups, exactly 2 metric cups, about 2.08 US legal cups and about 1.76 UK imperial cups. Use the ml to cups button in the tool to get any other amount.
Which cup size do nutrition labels use?
US nutrition labels use the US legal cup of 240 ml. The FDA rule 21 CFR 101.9 says a cup means 240 ml, a tablespoon 15 ml and a teaspoon 5 ml for serving sizes on food labels.
Can I use this for flour or sugar?
This tool converts volume, so it tells you how many ml a cup holds, not how many grams it weighs. Flour and sugar pack differently, so for dry ingredients a weight conversion from grams is far more accurate.
Sources and Further Reading
- NIST Guide to the SI, Appendix B.9: conversion factors (cup, fluid ounce)
- FDA nutrition labeling rule, 21 CFR 101.9 (cup means 240 mL)
- UK Weights and Measures Act 1985, Schedule 1 (pint and gallon)
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Last reviewed: October 2026