The metric cup, unit of volume
The metric cup holds exactly 250 milliliters, a quarter of a liter. It is the cup of Australian, New Zealand and modern British recipes, and it is the only cup whose value was chosen rather than inherited.
It arrived with metrication. Australia's Metric Conversion Act of 1970 sent the kitchen to the liter, and the imperial cup of 284.13 milliliters, ten imperial fluid ounces, was replaced by a quarter liter rather than converted. The same reform gave Australia a tablespoon of 20 milliliters, four teaspoons instead of the three used everywhere else, which is the one measure that still catches out cooks following an Australian recipe abroad.
The metric cup in other units
| 1 cup metric | 0.00025 m³ |
| 1 cup metric | 0.25 l |
| 1 cup metric | 25 cl |
| 1 cup metric | 250 ml |
| 1 cup metric | 0.066043 gal |
| 1 cup metric | 0.0549923 gal UK |
| 1 cup metric | 0.528344 pt |
| 1 cup metric | 8.45351 fl oz |
| 1 cup metric | 8.79877 fl oz UK |
| 1 cup metric | 0.264172 qt |
| 1 cup metric | 0.219969 qt UK |
| 1 cup metric | 0.439938 pt UK |
| 1 cup metric | 1.05669 cup |
| 1 cup metric | 1.25 cup JP |
| 1 cup metric | 16.907 tbsp |
| 1 cup metric | 16.6667 tbsp metric |
| 1 cup metric | 12.5 tbsp AU |
| 1 cup metric | 50.721 tsp |
| 1 cup metric | 50 tsp metric |
| 1 cup metric | 2.5 dl |
| 1 cup metric | 0.00157245 bbl |
| 1 cup metric | 0.138588 sho |
| 1 cup metric | 1.38588 go |
Frequently asked questions
Is the metric cup the same as an American cup?
No. The metric cup holds 250 milliliters, the American one 236.59, a gap of 5.7 per cent. Doubling or tripling a recipe multiplies that gap, which is why a cake made from an American recipe with metric cups comes out wetter than intended.
Why is the Australian tablespoon 20 milliliters?
Because the reform chose to make it four teaspoons of five milliliters rather than three. Britain, New Zealand and the metric world in general kept a tablespoon of 15 milliliters, so an Australian recipe calling for two tablespoons of an ingredient asks for a third more than the same words elsewhere.
Do British recipes use the metric cup?
British cooking traditionally weighs rather than measures by volume, which is why British recipes give grams where American ones give cups. Where a British recipe does use a cup, it is the metric one of 250 milliliters.