Pounds to Cups Converter
Find out how many cups are in a pound (or a package in ounces) of flour, sugar, cheese, rice, beans, berries and more, including how much dry pasta, rice and beans make once cooked.
Cups = weight in grams ÷ grams per cup
Cups in a Pound of Common Groceries
Level US cups. Flour and powdered sugar are spooned in, brown sugar and raisins are packed, and cheese is loosely filled after shredding.
| Ingredient | Cups per lb | Cups per 8 oz | g per cup |
|---|---|---|---|
| All-purpose flour | 3.63 | 1.81 | 125 |
| Bread flour | 3.54 | 1.77 | 128 |
| Cake flour | 4.01 | 2.01 | 113 |
| Almond flour | 4.72 | 2.36 | 96 |
| Granulated sugar | 2.27 | 1.13 | 200 |
| Brown sugar (packed) | 2.06 | 1.03 | 220 |
| Powdered sugar (unsifted) | 3.78 | 1.89 | 120 |
| Cocoa powder | 5.27 | 2.64 | 86 |
| Cornstarch | 3.54 | 1.77 | 128 |
| Honey | 1.34 | 0.67 | 339 |
| Butter | 2 | 1 | 227 |
| Vegetable oil | 2.08 | 1.04 | 218 |
| Cheddar, shredded | 4.01 | 2.01 | 113 |
| Mozzarella, shredded | 4.05 | 2.02 | 112 |
| Parmesan, grated | 4.54 | 2.27 | 100 |
| Long-grain white rice (dry) | 2.45 | 1.23 | 185 |
| Elbow macaroni (dry) | 4.32 | 2.16 | 105 |
| Dried black or pinto beans | 2.34 | 1.17 | 194 |
| Dried lentils | 2.36 | 1.18 | 192 |
| Rolled oats (dry) | 5.6 | 2.8 | 81 |
| Strawberries, whole | 3.15 | 1.57 | 144 |
| Blueberries | 3.06 | 1.53 | 148 |
| Raisins (packed) | 2.75 | 1.37 | 165 |
| Walnuts, chopped | 3.88 | 1.94 | 117 |
| Almonds, whole | 3.17 | 1.59 | 143 |
| Chocolate chips | 2.7 | 1.35 | 168 |
Dry vs Cooked: Rice, Pasta, Beans and Oats
Rice, pasta and beans are sold dry by the pound but served by the cooked cup, and they swell a lot. A 1 lb bag of dried beans is only about 2⅓ cups in the bag but close to 6 cups once soaked and cooked. Cooked volumes vary with the variety and how soft you cook it, so treat these as planning figures.
| 1 lb of | Cups dry | Cooked per dry cup | About this many cups cooked |
|---|---|---|---|
| Long-grain white rice | 2.5 | × 3 | 7.4 |
| Elbow macaroni | 4.3 | × 2 | 8.6 |
| Dried black or pinto beans | 2.3 | × 2.5 | 5.8 |
| Dried lentils | 2.4 | × 2.5 | 5.9 |
| Rolled oats | 5.6 | × 2 | 11.2 |
Reading Package Weights
"Net wt 12 oz" on a bag of chocolate chips is a weight, not a volume, so it isn't 1½ cups. Only for water and similar liquids do 8 oz by weight and 8 fl oz by volume roughly line up. Set the converter to ounces and enter the number from the label, or use these common sizes:
| Package | Net weight | About this much |
|---|---|---|
| Chocolate chips, 12 oz bag | 12 oz | 2 cups |
| Block of cheddar, 8 oz | 8 oz | 2 cups shredded |
| Powdered sugar, 1 lb box | 16 oz | 3.8 cups unsifted |
| Brown sugar, 2 lb bag | 32 oz | 4.1 cups packed |
| Elbow macaroni, 1 lb box | 16 oz | 4.3 cups dry |
| Honey, 12 oz bottle | 12 oz | 1 cups |
Worked Example: How Far a Bag of Cheese Goes
You bought a 2 lb bag of shredded mozzarella for a pizza night. Each 12-inch pizza takes 1½ cups. How many pizzas does the bag cover? (This is the calculator's Load Example.)
Step 1: Pounds to grams
Step 2: Grams to cups (112 g per cup)
Step 3: Cups to pizzas
The bag covers 5 pizzas, with a little over half a cup left over. Shredding a block yourself gives about the same 4 cups per pound, though freshly grated cheese packs down less, so a cup of it may weigh a bit less.
Turning Decimal Cups Into Measuring Cups
A conversion that ends in 3.63 cups isn't much use with a set of measuring cups. The calculator rounds to the nearest tablespoon (1 cup = 16 tbsp = 48 tsp) and shows the result as cups plus tablespoons. Here are the usual decimal endings:
| Decimal | Measure it as |
|---|---|
| 0.125 | 2 tbsp |
| 0.25 | ¼ cup (4 tbsp) |
| 0.33 | ⅓ cup (5 tbsp + 1 tsp) |
| 0.5 | ½ cup (8 tbsp) |
| 0.67 | ⅔ cup (10 tbsp + 2 tsp) |
| 0.75 | ¾ cup (12 tbsp) |
| 0.875 | ¾ cup + 2 tbsp |
Frequently asked questions
How many cups is a pound of pasta?
About 4⅓ cups of dry elbow macaroni, which cooks to roughly 8–9 cups. Long or bulky shapes such as spaghetti or farfalle don't measure neatly in cups, so go by weight: about 2 oz dry per serving.
How many cups of shredded cheese are in a pound?
About 4 cups of shredded cheddar or mozzarella, and about 4½ cups of finely grated Parmesan.
Is a pound of water 2 cups?
Nearly: 1 lb of water is about 1.92 US cups. The old saying "a pint's a pound" works because a US pint (2 cups) of water weighs 1.04 lb.
Why does a pound of flour make more cups than a pound of sugar?
Flour is lighter for its size, about 125 g per cup against 200 g for granulated sugar. So the same pound fills about 3.6 cups of flour but only 2.3 cups of sugar.
Sources
- USDA FoodData Central: portion weights per cup for flours, sugars, cheeses, dry rice, pasta, beans, lentils, oats, fruit and nuts.
- NIST Handbook 44, Appendix C: US cup = 8 fl oz = 236.5882365 mL, and 1 lb = 453.59237 g.
- USA Rice Federation: 1 cup of uncooked long-grain rice yields about 3 cups cooked.
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