Spoon Measure Converter

Tablespoons, teaspoons and dessertspoons between the US customary, US legal, metric, modern UK, historic imperial and Australian conventions — built around the two facts that matter: the Australian tablespoon is 20 mL and four teaspoons, and the old imperial tablespoon was smaller than today’s, not larger.

Last updated 24 Sep 2026

Spoon measures

Any spoon → any spoon

How many spoonsFractions are fine — half a tablespoon is 0.5.

Of this spoonIf the recipe is Australian and says “tablespoon”, it means 20 mL. If it is British, American or European it means 15 or 14.8. The recipe rarely says which.

Measured with this spoon

Density of what is in the spoon (g/mL)Only needed if you want a weight. 0.99821 is water at 20 °C; flour is about 0.53, granulated sugar 0.85, honey 1.43, table salt 1.23. This page does not carry an ingredient table — the cups-to-grams converter already owns one.

Not a circuit: four tablespoons drawn to scale by volume, as columns of equal footprint whose heights are the millilitres. The Australian spoon is a third taller than the metric one, and the internal lines are each spoon's own teaspoon divisions — three for the metric and US spoons, and FOUR for both the Australian one and the historic imperial one, which is the surprise: an imperial tablespoon is 1/40 of a pint and an imperial teaspoon 1/160, so it was four teaspoons too. Australia kept that structure and fitted the metric 5 mL teaspoon into it; Britain kept the teaspoon and took the metric three-teaspoon tablespoon. The fourth column also shows that the historic imperial tablespoon is SMALLER than today's, not larger. The last column is whichever spoon you have selected.

20.000mLExample

one Australian tablespoon, read as a metric tablespoon

One multiplication, and the trouble is entirely in the constant

volume = number of spoons × mL per spoon · spoons of the other kind = volume ÷ mL per that spoon · weight = volume × density

15 mL: the metric tablespoon, the modern UK tablespoon and the US legal tablespoon of 21 CFR 101.9. Three names, one number
20 mL: the Australian tablespoon. A third larger, and four metric teaspoons rather than three
14.78676 mL: the US customary tablespoon, a sixteenth of a US cup and half a US fluid ounce. Exact by definition of the US gallon
14.20653 mL: the historic imperial tablespoon, 1/40 of an imperial pint. SMALLER than 15, not larger
density: grams per millilitre of whatever is in the spoon. A spoon of flour and a spoon of honey are the same volume and nearly three times apart in mass

Worked example

one Australian tablespoon, read as a metric tablespoon
One Australian tablespoon is 20 mL — that is the headline, and it is the whole page
A metric tablespoon is 15 mL, so the Australian one is 1.3333 of it: 20 ÷ 15 = 1.333 metric tablespoons
In other words, reading an Australian tablespoon as a metric one loses 5 mL, or 25.0% of what the recipe asked for
And measuring it in teaspoons takes four, not three, because the Australian teaspoon is the ordinary metric 5 mL
At 0.99821 g/mL — water at 20 °C — that spoon holds 19.96 g

Every spoon on this page, and how far each is from 15 mL

The Australian tablespoon is the outlier that matters: 20 mL, a third larger than everyone else’s, and **four** teaspoons rather than three, because the Australian teaspoon is the ordinary metric 5 mL. So “3 tablespoons” in an Australian recipe is 60 mL where a British or European cook reads 45 mL — a third more of whatever it is. The second thing to notice is the historic imperial row: the formal imperial tablespoon is 1/40 of an imperial pint, which is 14.20653 mL — **smaller** than the modern 15, not larger, and the imperial teaspoon at 1/160 of a pint is 3.55163 mL, 29% smaller than a metric teaspoon. Both were recomputed here from the 1985 Weights and Measures Act pint of exactly 568.26125 mL. And look at the teaspoon column while you are there: 160 ÷ 40 is 4, so the **historic imperial tablespoon was four imperial teaspoons too**. The three-teaspoon tablespoon is the modern metric and US arrangement, not an ancient one. Australia kept the old structure — one tablespoon, two dessertspoons, four teaspoons — and took the metric 5 mL teaspoon with it, which lands the tablespoon at 20; Britain kept the teaspoon and took the metric three-teaspoon tablespoon, which lands it at 15.
Spoon	System	mL	vs 15 mL (%)	Teaspoons of its own system	US fl oz	Imperial fl oz
US tablespoon (US customary, 1/2 US fl oz)	US	14.78676	-1.42	3	0.5000	0.5204
US LEGAL tablespoon (21 CFR 101.9 nutrition labels)	US legal	15	0.00	3	0.5072	0.5279
Metric tablespoon	metric	15	0.00	3	0.5072	0.5279
UK tablespoon, modern	UK	15	0.00	3	0.5072	0.5279
Imperial tablespoon (1/40 imperial pint) — historic	imperial	14.20653	-5.29	4	0.4804	0.5000
AUSTRALIAN tablespoon	Australia	20	33.33	4	0.6763	0.7039
US teaspoon (US customary)	US	4.92892	-67.14	1	0.1667	0.1735
US LEGAL teaspoon (21 CFR 101.9)	US legal	5	-66.67	1	0.1691	0.1760
Metric / UK / Australian teaspoon	metric	5	-66.67	1	0.1691	0.1760
Imperial teaspoon (1/160 imperial pint) — historic	imperial	3.55163	-76.32	1	0.1201	0.1250
Metric dessertspoon	metric	10	-33.33	2	0.3381	0.3520
US dessertspoon (2 US teaspoons)	US	9.85784	-34.28	2	0.3333	0.3469
Imperial dessertspoon (1/4 imperial fl oz) — historic	imperial	7.10327	-52.64	2	0.2402	0.2500

The four traps, in order of how much damage they do

Only the first two are large enough to ruin anything, and they are the same trap seen from two sides. The third is worth carrying because it is usually stated backwards, and the fourth because it explains why a nutrition panel and a measuring spoon disagree by a per cent and a half.
What you assume	What is true	Error
A tablespoon is a tablespoon	15 mL almost everywhere, 20 mL in Australia	+33.3% if you read an Australian recipe as metric, or −25% the other way. On a tablespoon of salt, bicarbonate or baking powder that is the difference between a dish and a mistake.
3 teaspoons make a tablespoon	In Australia, 4 do — 4 × 5 mL = 20 mL	+33.3% again, and this one bites when you measure an Australian tablespoon with a teaspoon because you have not got the bigger spoon.
The old British tablespoon was bigger	It was smaller: 1/40 of an imperial pint, 14.20653 mL	−5.29% against 15 mL. Small enough not to matter in most cooking, and the opposite sign from what people expect.
A US tablespoon is 15 mL	The customary one is 14.78676 mL; the LEGAL one, for nutrition labelling under 21 CFR 101.9, is exactly 15	−1.42%. The United States has two tablespoons and uses both: the recipe one and the label one.

Dessertspoons, which are three different sizes

The dessertspoon survives in British and Australian recipes and in some dosing instructions, and it is the one spoon most likely to be missing from an American measuring set. Two metric teaspoons is the practical substitute. **A spoon that came with a medicine is not any of these**, and neither is a spoon from the cutlery drawer: measured cutlery “teaspoons” run from 2.5 to 7.3 mL and “tablespoons” from 7 to 20 mL, which is why a study of 287 parents in *Pediatrics* found that those dosing in spoons had twice the odds of an error. Use the device that came with the medicine, and ask the pharmacist. This page gives no dosing advice and links to none.
Dessertspoon	mL	Defined as	Where you meet it
Metric	10	Half a metric tablespoon, two metric teaspoons	UK and Australian recipes, and the 10 mL measuring spoon sold in metric sets. In Australia it is half the 20 mL tablespoon, so the same 10 mL arrives by a different route.
US customary	9.85784	Two US customary teaspoons	US charts that carry a dessertspoon row at all. It is 1.4% under the metric one — irrelevant in practice.
Historic imperial	7.103266	A quarter of an imperial fluid ounce, half an imperial tablespoon	Victorian and Edwardian cookery and old apothecaries’ texts. 29% smaller than the metric dessertspoon, which is worth knowing before you follow a hundred-year-old recipe literally.

Twenty millilitres against fifteen, and four teaspoons against three

The Australian tablespoon is 20 mL. Everyone else’s is 15. That one fact is why this page exists, and it is worth more than the rest of it put together. An Australian recipe that says “3 tablespoons of sugar” means 60 mL; a British, European or American cook reads 45 mL and is a third short. It is not a rounding difference and it does not average out. On sugar or flour you might get away with it; on salt, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder or dried chilli you will not.

And it is four teaspoons, not three. The Australian teaspoon is the ordinary metric 5 mL — Australia did not scale its whole set, it just kept a larger tablespoon — so 20 mL is four teaspoons where 15 mL is three. Australian measuring sets are built on that ladder: one tablespoon, two 10 mL dessertspoons, four teaspoons. This catches people who own a teaspoon measure and not a tablespoon and count out three out of habit, arriving 25% under. What makes it less arbitrary than it looks: the imperial ladder was the same shape. An imperial tablespoon is 1/40 of a pint and an imperial teaspoon 1/160, and 160 ÷ 40 is four, so the old British tablespoon was four teaspoons as well. Australia kept the structure and fitted the metric 5 mL teaspoon into it; Britain kept the teaspoon and adopted the metric three-teaspoon tablespoon. The three-teaspoon rule is the modern arrangement, not the ancient one.

The historic British tablespoon was smaller, not larger. This is stated backwards almost everywhere. The formal imperial tablespoon is 1/40 of an imperial pint, and the imperial pint is exactly 568.26125 mL, so the tablespoon is 14.20653 mL — half an imperial fluid ounce and 5.3% under the modern 15. The imperial teaspoon is 1/160 of a pint, 3.55163 mL, and that one is a real gap: 29% smaller than a metric teaspoon, enough to change an old recipe if you follow it literally with a modern set. What confuses the point is that the cutlery of the period was not made to any standard, so the actual spoons in a Victorian drawer could be bigger than 15 even though the unit was smaller.

The United States has two tablespoons and uses both. The customary one is a sixteenth of a US cup — 14.78676 mL, exact by definition — and that is what a measuring spoon is made to. For nutrition labelling, 21 CFR 101.9(b)(5)(viii) defines a teaspoon as “5 milliliters (mL)”, a tablespoon as “15 mL”, a cup as “240 mL” and a fluid ounce as “30 mL”. The 1.4% gap never matters in a kitchen and always matters when you are trying to make a label agree with a recipe.

A spoon is a volume; a recipe often wants a mass. Once you know the volume, grams are just volume × density, which is why this page takes a density rather than carrying its own ingredient table — the cups to grams converter already holds 26 ingredients with a named USDA or King Arthur source for each, and two tables of the same numbers would eventually disagree. For the cups, pints and fluid ounces around the spoons, see the US, UK and metric measures converter. One thing this page will not do is dosing. A spoon that came with a medicine is a dosing device marked in millilitres, not a kitchen spoon, and a spoon from the drawer is neither: measured cutlery “teaspoons” run from 2.5 to 7.3 mL and “tablespoons” from 7 to 20 mL. A study of 287 parents in Pediatrics found that those dosing in spoon units had twice the odds of an error. Use the device supplied and ask a pharmacist.

Frequently asked questions

Is an Australian tablespoon really 20 mL?

Yes, and Australia is the only metricated country where it is. 20 mL against 15 everywhere else, which makes it a third larger, and it is four teaspoons rather than three because the Australian teaspoon is the ordinary metric 5 mL. The measuring sets sold there are built on it: one tablespoon = two 10 mL dessertspoons = four 5 mL teaspoons. If a recipe is Australian and calls for a tablespoon of anything strong — salt, bicarbonate, baking powder, chilli — the 33% matters.

How many teaspoons in a tablespoon?

Three, unless the recipe is Australian, in which case four. That is not a different teaspoon; it is the same 5 mL teaspoon and a bigger tablespoon. The trap catches people who own a teaspoon measure but not a tablespoon: three metric teaspoons is 15 mL and an Australian tablespoon is 20, so you are 25% short. Worth knowing that four is the older answer: the imperial tablespoon was 1/40 of a pint and the imperial teaspoon 1/160, and 160 ÷ 40 is 4. The three-teaspoon tablespoon is a modern metric and US arrangement. Australia kept the old ladder — one tablespoon, two dessertspoons, four teaspoons — and fitted the metric 5 mL teaspoon into it.

Was the old British tablespoon bigger than 15 mL?

No — smaller, which is the opposite of what almost everyone assumes. The formal imperial tablespoon is 1/40 of an imperial pint, and the imperial pint is exactly 568.26125 mL, so the tablespoon is 14.20653 mL: half an imperial fluid ounce, and 5.3% under the modern 15. The imperial teaspoon is 1/160 of a pint, 3.55163 mL, which is 29% under a metric teaspoon and the one historic figure large enough to matter. What confuses the issue is that cutlery of the period was not made to any standard and a Victorian serving spoon could hold 20 mL or more — but that is a spoon, not a unit.

Why does the United States have two tablespoons?

Because recipes and nutrition labels are governed by different things. The customary tablespoon is a sixteenth of a US cup — 14.78676 mL, exact by definition of the gallon — and that is what a US measuring spoon is made to. For nutrition labelling, 21 CFR 101.9(b)(5)(viii) defines a tablespoon as “15 mL”, a teaspoon as “5 milliliters (mL)”, a cup as “240 mL” and a fluid ounce as “30 mL”, all round numbers chosen for labelling arithmetic. The gap is 1.42% on the tablespoon, 1.44% on the teaspoon and 1.5% on the cup. It never matters in a kitchen and it always matters when you are reconciling a label with a recipe.

How do I turn a spoon into grams?

Multiply the volume by the ingredient’s density, which this page takes as an input. It deliberately does not carry an ingredient table, because this site already has one: the cups to grams converter holds 26 ingredients with the USDA or King Arthur source named for each, and duplicating them here would give you two tables that could drift apart. As a sense check: a metric tablespoon holds about 15 g of water, 12.7 g of granulated sugar, 7.9 g of plain flour, 21.5 g of honey and 18.5 g of table salt.

Can I use a spoon from the drawer?

For cooking, usually — a dessert spoon of olive oil is nobody’s undoing. For anything where the amount is the point, no: measured cutlery “teaspoons” run from 2.5 to 7.3 mL and cutlery “tablespoons” from 7 to 20 mL, so a spoonful can be half or nearly half again what the recipe meant. Baking powder, bicarbonate, salt, yeast and gelatine are all worth a real measuring spoon or a scale.

What about the spoon that came with a medicine?

It is not a kitchen spoon and this page will not convert it. Dosing devices are supplied with the product and marked in millilitres for a reason: a study of 287 parents published in Pediatrics found that those who thought in teaspoons and tablespoons had twice the odds of a dosing error, and 30% of them used a kitchen spoon against 1% of those dosing in millilitres. Use the device that came with the medicine and ask a pharmacist if it is lost. Nothing on this page is dosing advice.

Related calculators

References

21 CFR 101.9(b)(5)(viii) (eCFR, read 27 September 2026), the US nutrition-labelling definitions, quoted directly as a US Government work: a teaspoon “means 5 milliliters (mL)”, a tablespoon “means 15 mL”, a cup “means 240 mL”, and “1 fl oz means 30 mL”. This is why the United States has two tablespoons that differ by 1.4%: the customary one of 14.7868 mL and the legal one of exactly 15.
Wikipedia, Tablespoon (read 27 September 2026): US customary “approximately 14.8 mL”, US labelling “15 mL”, international metric “exactly equal to 15 mL”, UK modern “exactly 15 mL”, UK historical “approximately 14.2 mL, exactly 1⁄2 imperial fluid ounce”, and “1 Australian metric tablespoon = 20 mL”, with “In Australia, one tablespoon equals four teaspoons.” Note that the historic British tablespoon is SMALLER than the modern one, not larger.
Wikipedia, Cooking weights and measures (read 27 September 2026), for the imperial definitions in closed form — “teaspoons and tablespoons are formally 1/160 and 1/40 of an imperial pint (3.55 mL and 14.21 mL), respectively” — and for the US customary values to five figures (tablespoon 14.7868, teaspoon 4.92892, dessertspoon 9.85784 mL). Both imperial figures were recomputed here from the 1985 Weights and Measures Act gallon of exactly 4.54609 L and agree exactly.
Wikipedia, Measuring spoon (read 27 September 2026), for the Australian set as sold — “1 Australian tablespoon = 20 ml = 2 dessertspoons, 1 dessertspoon = 10 ml each = 4 teaspoons, 1 teaspoon = 5 ml each” — and for the reason a spoon from the drawer is not a measure: “Cutlery spoons are not made to standard sizes and may hold 2.5~7.3 ml (50%~146% of 5 ml) for teaspoons and 7~20 ml (47%~133% of 15 ml) for tablespoons.” No Australian Standard number for the measuring set could be found, so none is cited.
Wikipedia, Dessert spoon (read 27 September 2026): “A metric dessert spoon is 10mL”, and the imperial one is a quarter of a British imperial fluid ounce (7.103 mL) — three different dessertspoons once the US customary 2-teaspoon figure is added.
S. Yin et al., Pediatrics, as reported by the US National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Spoon measurements contribute to many child drug-dosing errors (nichd.nih.gov, read 27 September 2026): of 287 parents, over 40% made a dosing error, and parents using teaspoon or tablespoon units had “twice the odds of making a dosing error, compared to parents who dosed using milliliters only”, with 30% of those thinking in spoonfuls using a kitchen spoon against 1% of those using millilitres. Cited for one fact only: a kitchen spoon is not a dosing device. This page gives no dosing advice of any kind.