One stick of butter is equal to how many cups

Butter is a well-loved ingredient in cuisines around the world. It makes a pie pastry super flaky, creates fluffy frosting, and becomes an easy sauce for pasta. We all know when we open a new stick of butter there are markings on the wrapper to distinguish the tablespoon amounts. But what if you're cooking from a recipe that lists ingredients by weight (grams and pounds) rather than volume (cups and tablespoons)? And if you're really trying to be more like Julia Child and hone your French cooking skills, there's a chance those weighted ingredients call for metric measurements rather than the imperial system we use in the United States. It can be tricky to figure out how the math lines up when measuring butter for weight, we've got that info right here. Hang onto the numbers below so you'll know how many grams are in a stick of butter and avoid any guesswork.

Table of Contents Show

How Much Does a Stick of Butter Weigh?
Weighing Butter vs. Measuring Butter Amounts
Butter Types
How many cups butter is 1 stick?
Is a stick of butter a 1/2 cup?
Is 1 cup solid butter the same as 1 cup melted butter?

Jay Wilde

Bookmark This List of Emergency Baking Ingredient Substitutions

How Much Does a Stick of Butter Weigh?

The measurement markings on sticks of butter are very helpful, but not particularly useful if you find yourself following a recipe using the metric system instead of standard U.S. measurements (aka imperial measurements). Measuring butter (and almost all ingredients for that matter) is always most accurately done using a kitchen scale. If you already bake a lot, you probably know how many tablespoons are in a stick of butter (it's 8 tablespoons). Here's the breakdown of the standard U.S. sticks of butter to be able to translate any recipe:

Butter SticksCupsTablespoonsOuncesGrams½ stick¼ cup4 Tbsp.2 oz.57 g1 stick½ cup8 Tbsp.4 oz.113 g1½ sticks¾ cup12 Tbsp.6 oz.170 g2 sticks116 Tbsp.8 oz. (½ pound)227 g

Weighing Butter vs. Measuring Butter Amounts

When it comes to baking, precision is key. While it is totally possible to just cut half a stick of butter and add it to your recipe, the only way to ensure those cookies or cakes you bake will turn out exactly the same way every time is to weigh the ingredients.

Butter Types

Since butter comes in different forms, knowing the weight of butter will be helpful in achieving the perfect bake. The USDA standard for American butter is required to have at least 80% fat. The difference in types of butter, though, will be determined by different grades (AA, A, and B). The grades may have slightly different tastes, but can all be used interchangeably in recipes calling for stick butter.

European butter (or Irish butter) is another type of butter to consider using. It comes at a slightly higher price point, but is known for its rich taste due to a higher fat count. You can also use this in recipes calling for stick butter, but since it usually comes in a block form, you'll want to use the scale to weigh the butter.

If you're mid-recipe and need a whole cup (two sticks) of softened butter but only have one stick of butter left, make sure you keep our butter substitutes list handy.

Quickly understand how butter is measured and weighed around the world. Convert butter from US cups, sticks of butter and tablespoons and more to grams with handy Butter Measurement Conversion Charts.

The confusion: Most countries outside the US (and Canada), weigh their butter using scales which makes it very difficult to understand American recipes.

American recipes vary so much on the measurements of butter referencing anything from a stick to a cup, teaspoon or tablespoon. I lose track all the time and end up Googling an answer when creating recipes. Even my recipes vary (having lived in both The US and Europe).

I knew I couldn’t be the only one in need of quick answers. So, in the charts at the bottom of this page, I have tried to give a variety of different conversions to try to clear up some of the confusion.

Differences in butter around the world:

American butter is required to have at least an 80% fat content. French butter must contain a minimum of 82% fat. The higher the fat content in butter, the less water it contains, making pastries flakier. More butterfat also means a softer texture, faster melt, and often, a deeper yellow color.

European butter is known for its rich taste which is a direct result of the higher butterfat content. It also contains less water, European butter is often the preference for baking, especially when the butter flavor is essential in a recipe.

Tips on Making Measuring and Weighing Butter

To make it easier to convert yourself – Try memorizing one fact in each category so you can work it out in your head.

For example – 1/2 cup of butter equals 1 stick of butter so if a recipe calls for 2 sticks of butter, it will be simple to work out in your head that 2 sticks are equal to 1 cup and so on.

How many cups butter is 1 stick?

One stick of butter is 1/2 (half) cup. Two sticks of butter is 1 cup. Four sticks is one pound, and you'll see a lot of pound cake recipes call for four sticks, or a whole box of butter.

Is a stick of butter a 1/2 cup?

One full stick of butter equals 1/2 cup, or 8 tablespoons. Our half sticks equal 1/4 cup of butter, or 4 tablespoons. They can be used interchangeably in recipes. You don't have to use measuring cups to measure butter.

Is 1 cup solid butter the same as 1 cup melted butter?

By volume, yes, butter is the same whether solid or melted. But when used in a recipe it's important that you use it in the form called for because it can really affect the end result. In terms of volume, you've mentioned both are 1 cup(250ml) each, so yes, they're the same in terms of volume.