How Many Cups In A Pound?

Converting recipes to increase or decrease the number of servings, or to fit a different sized-baking dish doesn’t have to be complicated. How many cups in a pound is one of the most frequently asked questions, but the answer depends on what you’re measuring. Let’s take a look at cups to pounds conversions for kitchen staples and how to use measuring cups!

Each food or ingredient has a different volume. As an example, one pound of flour won’t translate into the same number of cups as sugar does.

If your recipe calls for an ingredient by weight, the easiest way to measure it is using a kitchen scale. However, measuring your ingredient using cups is possible since we already know the cup weight for so many kitchen staples!

What Is A Pound?

A pound is a measure of weight for dry ingredients used in the United States often abbreviated as “lb”, “lbs”, or “#”.

1 pound = 16 ounces = 0.45 kilograms = 454 grams

Note: In this post, we are referring to the US (avoirdupois) pound, which is different from the UK/imperial (Troy) pound. The latter weighs 13 ounces or 373.24 grams.

What Is A Cup?

A cup is a tool used to measure both wet and dry kitchen ingredients by volume. It’s worth noting this is not the kind of cup you use for drinking coffee or tea.

Measuring cups are usually made differently for dry and liquid ingredients. The dry measuring cup has a measuring scale on it while the liquid measuring cup is commonly made of transparent glass or plastic.

Which Cup Should You Use?

In the United States, there are two main cup sizes: the US customary cup is used for cooking and the US legal cup is typically used for nutrition labeling. They have a slightly different volume.

1 US customary cup = 236.588 ml

1 US legal cup = 240 ml

The UK and Commonwealth nations (such as Australia, New Zealand, and Canada) use a different cup called the metric cup.

1 metric cup = 250 ml

You might find a different kind of cup in old British cookbooks known as the imperial cup.

1 imperial cup = 284.131 ml

Phew….so many cups! Confusing, right?

For the sake of simplicity, we’re sticking with the US customary cup throughout this entire article. After all, this is the one most Americans use.

It’s certainly good to have a set of measuring cups and spoons if you cook often but I also highly recommend you also invest in a kitchen scale.

For baking especially, exact measurements always yield the best results!

Pounds To Cups Conversion

1 pound of water = 1.92 cups = 15.34 fluid ounces = 0.45 liters

For baking and cooking purposes, the pounds-to-cups conversion for liquids is rounded up:

1 pound = 2 cups

1 cup = 1/2 pound

This equation works for liquid conversion, but foods have different densities. The most accurate formula also takes density into account because a cup is a unit of volume while a pound is a unit of weight. This is what it looks like:

cups = pounds x 1.92/ingredient density

To save you time from looking up the densities of the different ingredients you might be working with, here are pre-calculated values for common cooking and baking ingredients.

Note: The values can vary slightly between brands as they each use ingredients from different sources and various processing methods.

How Many Cups In A Pound Of Flour?

Each type of flour has a slightly different density, and we’re listing the most frequently used.

Type Of Flour	Pounds	Cups
All-Purpose Flour	1 lb	3.62 cups
Bread Flour	1 lb	3.49 cups
Cake Flour	1 lb	3.98 cups
Self Raising Flour	1 lb	3.63 cups
Whole Wheat Flour	1 lb	3.5 cups
Pastry Flour	1 lb	4.2 cups
Buckwheat Flour	1 lb	3.78 cups
Gluten-Free Flour	1 lb	3.72 cups

How Many Cups In A Pound Of Sugar?

There are many types of sugar, each with its own density. Skip the math and use these pounds to cups calculations for common types of sugar and liquid sweeteners such as corn syrup and honey.

Type Of Sugar	Pounds	Cups
Granulated Sugar	1 lb	2.27 cups
Caster Sugar	1 lb	2.02 cups
Brown Sugar	1 lb	2.27 cups
Powdered Sugar	1 lb	3.63 cups
Corn Syrup	1 lb	1.39 cups
Honey	1 lb	1.35 cups
Maple Syrup	1 lb	1.45 cups

How Many Cups In A Pound Of Fat?

These cooking fats and oils are used in a lot of recipes and you can consult this handy chart whenever you need to make the pounds-to-cups conversion.

As you can see in the table below the values are different because each type of fat has another density. Butter is the easiest one since 1 pound of butter equals 2 cups.

Type Of Fat	Pounds	Cups
Butter	1 lb	2 cups
Lard	1 lb	2.09 cups
Margarine	1 lb	2.09 cups
Virgin Olive Oil	1 lb	2.07 cups
Canola Oil	1 lb	2.11 cups
Vegetable Oil	1 lb	2.08 cups
Coconut Oil	1 lb	2.07 cups
Palm Oil	1 lb	2.15 cups
Rapeseed Oil	1 lb	2.08 cups
Sunflower Oil	1 lb	2 cups

Pounds To Cups Conversions For Dairy

Milk, cream, yogurt, and other types of dairy are also kitchen staples. They are used for both cooking and baking which is why you’ll often need to measure them for your recipes.

Type Of Dairy	Pounds	Cups
Milk	1 lb	1.85 cups
Buttermilk	1 lb	1.88 cups
Condensed Milk	1 lb	1.48 cups
Light Cream	1 lb	1.89 cups
Heavy Cream	1 lb	1.93 cups
Sour Cream	1 lb	1.97 cups
Whipped Cream	1 lb	3.87 cups
Mascarpone	1 lb	2.02 cups
Plain Yogurt	1 lb	1.81 cups
Greek Yogurt	1 lb	2 cups

How To Use A Measuring Cup

Getting the right quantities for ingredients without a scale is not just about how many cups in a pound, it’s also about measuring properly.

For liquids, it’s pretty straightforward. Simply fill the cup to the level you need.

Some mistakes can be made when measuring dry ingredients though. If you don’t need a whole cup, fill it to the appropriate level and lightly tap it against the table to level the surface.

Refrain from packing the dry ingredient as the “cup” it will end up weighing more which can affect how your recipe turns out.

When you need a whole cup of the ingredient just use your finger to level it off in one sweeping motion.

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