Convert grams to teaspoons and back for baking powder, baking soda, yeast, table and kosher salt, spices and extracts. It also tells you which measuring spoons to use, down to ⅛ tsp.
teaspoons = grams ÷ grams per teaspoon
A teaspoon is a volume of about 5 mL. What it weighs depends on the ingredient: a level teaspoon of fine table salt is about 6 g, baking powder 4 g, cinnamon 2.6 g and dried oregano only 1 g. To convert, divide the grams by the weight of one teaspoon of that ingredient.
Teaspoon amounts matter most for leaveners, salt and spices, where 1 or 2 g makes a visible difference. Many home kitchen scales only read in whole grams, so a recipe written as "3 g baking soda" is often easier to measure with a spoon.
Level US teaspoons. The last two columns convert typical metric recipe amounts into the measuring spoons to use.
| Ingredient | g per tsp | 2 g is | 5 g is |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baking powder | 4 | ½ tsp | 1 tsp + ¼ tsp |
| Baking soda | 6 | ¼ tsp + ⅛ tsp | ½ tsp + ¼ tsp + ⅛ tsp |
| Instant or active dry yeast | 3.1 | ½ tsp + ⅛ tsp | 1 tsp + ½ tsp + ⅛ tsp |
| Table salt (fine) | 6.1 | ¼ tsp + ⅛ tsp | ½ tsp + ¼ tsp + ⅛ tsp |
| Kosher salt, Morton | 5.3 | ¼ tsp + ⅛ tsp | 1 tsp |
| Kosher salt, Diamond Crystal | 2.7 | ½ tsp + ¼ tsp | 1 tsp + ½ tsp + ¼ tsp + ⅛ tsp |
| Granulated sugar | 4.2 | ½ tsp | 1 tsp + ¼ tsp |
| Vanilla extract | 4.7 | ¼ tsp + ⅛ tsp | 1 tsp + ⅛ tsp |
Baking soda is roughly three to four times as strong as baking powder, and a teaspoon of it also weighs more, so never swap them spoon for spoon.
Salt is the ingredient where teaspoons are least reliable. Fine table salt packs tightly. Morton kosher salt has flakier crystals and Diamond Crystal kosher salt has hollow, pyramid-shaped flakes, so the same spoon holds less than half the salt. A recipe tested with Diamond Crystal and made with table salt will be more than twice as salty.
| Salt | g per tsp | g per tbsp | 10 g in tsp |
|---|---|---|---|
| Table salt (fine) | 6.1 | 18 | 1.64 |
| Kosher salt, Morton | 5.3 | 16 | 1.88 |
| Kosher salt, Diamond Crystal | 2.7 | 8 | 3.75 |
Fine sea salt behaves like table salt. Flaky finishing salts such as Maldon are lighter still and vary by batch, so weigh them.
A European loaf recipe uses 500 g flour, 10 g salt (2% of the flour) and 7 g instant yeast. Your scale only reads in 5 g steps. Which spoons do you need?
Step 1: Yeast
Step 2: Salt, depending on which you have
The same 10 g of salt is anywhere from about 1⅝ to 3¾ teaspoons. If a recipe gives salt only in teaspoons and doesn't name the brand, assume table salt and taste as you go.
Ground spices are light, so a teaspoon is usually 2 to 3 g. The last column shows how many teaspoons are in 1 oz (28 g), a common jar or bulk-bag size, which helps when you're scaling up a spice blend or buying by weight.
| Spice | g per tsp | tsp per 1 oz (28 g) |
|---|---|---|
| Ground cinnamon | 2.6 | 11 |
| Ground cumin | 2.1 | 13 |
| Paprika | 2.3 | 12 |
| Chili powder | 2.7 | 10 |
| Black pepper, ground | 2.3 | 12 |
| Garlic powder | 3.1 | 9 |
| Onion powder | 2.4 | 12 |
| Ground ginger | 1.8 | 16 |
| Ground nutmeg | 2.2 | 13 |
| Ground turmeric | 3 | 9 |
| Dried oregano | 1 | 28 |
These were never official measures. They have become fixed sizes because many measuring-spoon sets are labelled with them, using the scale below. A pinch between your fingers is usually a bit more, about 0.3 to 0.5 g of fine salt.
| Name | Spoon size | Table salt (g) | Cinnamon (g) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dash | ⅛ tsp | 0.76 | 0.33 |
| Pinch | 1/16 tsp | 0.38 | 0.16 |
| Smidgen | 1/32 tsp | 0.19 | 0.08 |
The US cooking teaspoon is one-third of a US tablespoon, 4.93 mL. Almost everywhere else, including the UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, a teaspoon is 5 mL, and US nutrition labels also count a teaspoon as 5 mL. The 1.4% difference is far smaller than the difference between a level and a slightly rounded spoon, so either size works with these figures.
Unlike the tablespoon, the teaspoon is the same in Australia: 5 mL. Their tablespoon is 4 teaspoons rather than 3, so convert Australian tablespoon amounts on the grams to tablespoons page. For liquid medicine, use the dosing syringe or cup that comes with it, not a kitchen spoon.
A little over ¾ tsp of table salt, just under 1 tsp of Morton kosher salt or nearly 2 tsp of Diamond Crystal. Check which salt you are using.
2¼ teaspoons. A US ¼ oz packet of instant or active dry yeast is 7 g.
About 4 g level. A teaspoon of baking soda is heavier, about 6 g.
About 1.3 g. Ground cinnamon weighs roughly 2.6 g per level teaspoon.
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