Ah, the milliliter (ml, British spelling millilitre). It’s the little brother of the larger liter, and also a common cooking measurement to use. After all, there are not many recipes that call for an entire liter of liquid to be added unless you’re making something massive. However, if you need to convert the measurements to cups then things can get a little complicated for you.
They are such different forms of measurement that it can feel pretty complex and overwhelming when you first approach it. However, you don’t need to worry about going through it alone. We took you through the liter conversion process, and milliliters isn’t all that different. In fact, it’s fairly simple and remains quite a universal conversion to and from cups.
Looking at the Most Common Ingredients
It’s helpful to have a grasp of the most common ingredients that are used and measured in milliliters. After all, while you might be using a whole array of different ingredients there are some basic ones that can give us a good foundation to work with.
| Ingredient | Number of US Customary Cups | Quantity in Milliliters |
| Water | 1 | 236 |
| Milk | 1 | 236 |
| Coffee | 1 | 236 |
As you can see, the quantity tends to remain the same for all ingredients. This is because the milliliter system is only used for measuring wet ingredients. Even for liquids like honey, you would use spoons or grams instead of milliliters because of the viscosity. It should also be noted that we use the classic US customary cup for these quantities.
How Many Milliliters in a Cup?
Milliliters are a measurement of volume, which means it tends to be exclusively used for liquid measurements. It is commonly used, and there are several different types of conversion that you can use in addition to the classic US customary cup – as you will discover below.
There are 236ml in one US customary cup, which is a good basis for which to start your conversion process. It is very easy to use this to determine how much is in, for example, half a cup or a quarter cup as well based on this – 118.3ml and 59.15ml respectively.
Imperial vs Metric: The Battle
There is more to this system of measurement than meets the eye, and it brings us back to the classic battle between the imperial and metric systems. Even in the US, there is more than one type of measurement system for cups, which can make converting to milliliters a little tricky. No worries, we are here to lay it all out for you with the most common systems.
The US customary cup is the most common and the one that we tend to use. That’s where there is 236ml in one cup. The US legal cup is slightly larger and has 240ml to one cup. The difference is very minimal, but it can be enough to make or break a recipe if you add too much or too little to your chosen dish.
Following this, you have the metric and imperial system. The metric cup has 250ml per cup, which is notably larger than the US cup. You will find that this is commonly used outside of the USA. The imperial cup is very rarely used anymore because it was only prevalent in vintage English recipes. However, there is 284ml to an imperial cup.
| Cup | How Many ml In 1 Cup | |
| US Customary Cup | 236 ml | |
| US Legal Cup | 240 ml | |
| Metric Cup | 250 ml | |
| Imperial Cup | 284 ml |
While the US does still use the imperial system for its measurements, the cup sizes are different as they have evolved over time. The imperial system isn’t really used outside of the USA anymore, and this is why there are such noticeable differences between the sizes.
To Conclude
It can seem daunting, but this unit of measurement is easier to convert than you might think. It’s certainly a lot smaller than the liter, which can make it feel more confusing at first, but you will also come across the milliliter far more often when you are cooking. Hopefully, we have been able to make the process much easier for you.
If you want to discover more conversions and how to do it, we have an entire series of guides based on the topic for you. Whether you’re interested in grams, liters, or just how much rice should be served per person, we are here to answer all of your most pressing questions. Make sure you check it out, you won’t regret it.
To convert cups to milliliters (mL), you may use the cups to mL converter above. Alternatively, to find out how many milliliters there are in "x" cups, you may use the cups to mL conversion table above.
Below, you will find information of how to find out how many mL there are in "x" cups, including the formulas and example conversions.
The tables and the converter are based on the US cups and milliliters.
How many milliliters in a cup?
There are 236.588237 milliliters in a cup. To convert cups to mL, multiply the cup value by 236.588237.
For example, to find out how many mL in a cup and a half, multiply 1.5 by 236.588237, that makes 354.882 mL in 1.5 cups.
cups to mL formula
mL = cup * 236.588237
How to convert milliliters (mL) to cups?
1 Milliliter (mL) is equal to 0.00422675295 cup. To convert milliliters to cups, multiply the milliliter value by 0.00422675295 or divide by 236.588237.
For example, to convert 1000 mL to cups, divide 1000 by 236.588237, that makes 4.226 cups in 1000 mL.
What is a Cup?
Cup is a cooking measurement volume unit. 1 US cup = 236.588237 mL. 1 Imperial cup = 284.13064262 mL. 1 Metric cup = 250 mL. 1 Canadian cup = 227.3405 mL. The symbol is "c".
The list of conversion factors from cups to mL:
- 1 US cup = 236.588237 mL
- 1 Metric cup = 250 mL
- 1 Canadian cup = 227.3045 mL
- 1 Imperial cup = 284.13064262 mL
Common conversions from cups to milliliters (mL):
- 1/4 cup = 59.1470591 mL
- 1/2 cup = 118.294118 mL
- 3/4 cup = 177.441177 mL
- 1 cup = 236.588237 mL
- 1.5 cups = 354.882355 mL
- 2 cups = 473.176473 mL
- 4 cups = 946.352946 mL
What is a Milliliter?
Milliliter (millilitre) is a volume unit in the metric system. The symbol is "mL".
To convert from UK, Metric and US cups to milliliters, please visit all volume units conversion.
How much is a cup of milk in ML?
Volume (liquid) | |
1 cup or 8 fluid ounces | 237 ml |
2 cups or 1 pint | 473 ml |
4 cups or 1 quart | 946 ml |
8 cups or 1/2 gallon | 1.9 liters |