Milliliters to cups converter
Pure volume: it works for any liquid.
Your inputs
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Example loaded. You can change any value.
There is no figure yet: nothing is calculated until you ask for it.
- Enter your measurements.
- Check the units and the assumptions.
- Press Calculate, or load the example.
Rather see a worked case? Press “Load example” and change any value afterwards.
Next step
The other direction, to take a recipe in cups to a measuring jug.
Where each number comes from Conversion constants are exact; densities and coverage rates come from cited sources; everything else is an assumption you can change. Methodology · Sources and updates
How to use it
- Type the amount in millilitres or litres.
- Choose the cup standard your recipe uses.
- The result shows all three cups at once for comparison.
- It includes the nearest fraction on a measuring set.
How it is calculated
This is a pure volume conversion: no ingredient is involved, so it works the same for water, milk, stock or wine.
The three capacities in use are 236.6 ml (US cup), 240 ml (US legal cup, the one on nutrition labels) and 250 ml (metric cup). The result shows all three, because recipes often do not say which they mean and comparing helps you decide.
For flour, sugar or any solid this is not the calculator you want: use grams to cups, which accounts for density.
Worked example
500 ml of milk in cups:
- US cup: 500 / 236.6 = 2.11 cups
- US legal cup: 500 / 240 = 2.08 cups
- Metric cup: 500 / 250 = exactly 2 cups
Half a litre is exactly two metric cups. That neatness is precisely why the metric cup exists.
Good to know
- Volume only. It works for any liquid, water or honey. Weight is another matter: honey is 42 % heavier than water.
- A jug beats a cup. For liquids, a graduated jug read at eye level is more accurate than a measuring cup.
- 250 ml is not a US cup. It is 6 % more. Worth remembering in American baking.
Frequently asked questions
How many ml in a cup?
236.6 ml for the US cup, 240 ml for the US legal cup used on labels, and 250 ml for the metric cup. The spread between the first and last is 6 %.
How many cups is 250 ml?
Exactly one metric cup, or 1.06 US cups. In an American recipe, 250 ml is slightly more than a cup.
And 500 ml?
Exactly two metric cups, or 2.11 US cups. Half a litre is one of the amounts where the choice of cup shows most.
Does this work for flour?
Not directly: flour is measured by volume but weighed in grams, and the relationship depends on its density. Use the grams to cups calculator.