Butter Conversion Calculator

Butter measurement conversions are one of the most frequently needed conversions in the kitchen, especially when adapting recipes across countries. American recipes use sticks and cups; European and British recipes typically use grams and milliliters; older recipes often list tablespoons or ounces.

The US stick — the anchor unit:

1 stick = 8 tablespoons = ½ cup = 4 ounces = 113 grams

All core conversion formulas:

Grams = Sticks × 113

Tablespoons = Sticks × 8

Cups = Sticks ÷ 2

Ounces = Sticks × 4

Full reference table:

Worked example: A French pastry recipe calls for 200 g of butter. 200 ÷ 113.4 = 1.76 sticks. In practical terms: 1¾ sticks, or 14 tablespoons, or ⅞ cup. Cut a quarter stick off the second one and stop worrying about the last 3 grams.

Important distinctions:

• US butter is 80% fat. European-style butter (such as Kerrygold) is 82–84% fat. For most recipes the difference is negligible, but in laminated doughs (croissants, puff pastry) use slightly less European butter to maintain the fat ratio.
• Salted vs. unsalted: Most baking recipes assume unsalted butter. If using salted, reduce added salt by ¼ tsp per stick.
• Clarified butter (ghee): butter loses about 25% of its weight when clarified, as the water boils off and the milk solids are strained out. To end up with a given amount of ghee, start with 1.33× that much whole butter, not 1.25×. Dividing by 0.75 and multiplying by 1.25 are not the same move, and the second one leaves you 6% short.

Volume vs. weight, and why weight wins in baking: Volume measurements of butter are accurate only when the butter is at room temperature and properly packed. Weighing on a scale eliminates any ambiguity and is the professional standard.

Butter is the one ingredient where American volume measures are almost tolerable, because the wrapper is printed with tablespoon marks and a stick is a defined quarter pound rather than however much fits in a cup. Cold butter still packs differently from soft, so the scale wins.

Enter an amount in any unit and the calculator gives every other one. All of them derive from the single identity that a stick weighs a quarter pound, so converting a value and converting it back returns exactly where you started.