Butter Calculator - How Much is a Stick of Butter?

Enter a butter amount in any unit — sticks, cups, tablespoons, teaspoons, ounces, or grams — and instantly convert it to all the others using standard US butter measurements.

Quick Facts

Method
Standard US butter conversion: 1 stick = 1/2 cup = 8 tbsp = 4 oz = 113 g
Based on the standard 1-pound box of butter cut into 4 sticks (US convention).

Your Results

Calculated
Sticks
-
1 stick = 1/2 cup
Cups
-
1 cup = 2 sticks
Tablespoons
-
1 tbsp = 3 tsp
Grams
-
1 stick = 113 g
Ounces
-
weight, not fluid oz
Teaspoons
-
1 stick = 24 tsp

Ready

Enter an amount and unit, then calculate.

How much is a stick of butter?

In the US, butter is sold in 1-pound boxes divided into 4 individually wrapped sticks. Each stick is a standard, printed-on-the-wrapper measure: 1 stick = 1/2 cup = 8 tablespoons = 4 ounces (weight) = 113 grams. Most US stick wrappers even have tablespoon markings printed on the paper, which makes cutting off a partial stick (like 3 tbsp or 6 tbsp) easy without a scale.

The conversion table this calculator uses

  • 1 stick = 1/2 cup = 8 tbsp = 24 tsp = 4 oz = 113 g
  • 1 cup butter = 2 sticks = 16 tbsp = 8 oz = 226 g
  • 1 tbsp butter = 1/2 oz = 14.2 g = 3 tsp
  • 1 lb butter = 4 sticks = 2 cups = 16 oz = 452 g

These figures come from the standard US retail butter package (4 sticks per pound, each stick 1/4 lb) combined with the fixed kitchen-measurement ratios of 1 cup = 16 tbsp and 1 tbsp = 3 tsp. Gram figures are rounded to the nearest whole gram, matching what you'll see printed on real butter wrappers and used by most recipe sites.

Why butter conversion trips people up

Butter is measured two different ways depending on the recipe's origin: US recipes usually give volume (cups, tablespoons, sticks), while European and many baking-by-weight recipes give grams. Because butter is a solid fat (not a liquid), "ounces" here always means weight, never fluid ounces — 8 tbsp of butter is 4 weight-ounces, not a fluid measure. Mixing up fluid ounces and weight ounces is one of the most common butter-conversion mistakes.

Using the calculator

Enter any single amount — for example "2" with the unit set to "Stick(s)" — and the calculator converts it to sticks, cups, tablespoons, teaspoons, grams, and ounces all at once. This is useful when a recipe calls for an amount in a unit you don't have a measuring tool for (e.g., a recipe says "115 g butter" but your kitchen only has cup and tablespoon measures).

Frequently Asked Questions

How many tablespoons are in a stick of butter?
There are 8 tablespoons in a standard US stick of butter (a stick is 1/2 cup, and 1 cup = 16 tablespoons). Most US butter wrappers have tablespoon lines printed on the paper, so you can cut off exactly the amount you need without a scale.
How many grams are in a stick of butter?
One stick of butter is 113 grams (4 ounces by weight). This comes from a standard 1-pound (452 g) box of butter divided into 4 equal sticks. Recipe sites sometimes round slightly differently (112 g or 114 g), but 113 g is the most commonly cited figure and matches most nutrition labels.
Is a stick of butter measured by weight or volume?
Both, and they agree: a stick is defined as 1/2 cup by volume and 4 oz by weight, because butter has a fixed, standardized density as sold. This is different from ingredients like flour or brown sugar, where volume measurements vary with how tightly the ingredient is packed — butter sticks don't have that problem since they come pre-shaped to a fixed size.
Are "ounces" of butter fluid ounces or weight ounces?
Weight ounces. Butter is a solid fat, so recipes and packaging always list butter in ounces (or grams) of weight, never fluid ounces. If you see "8 oz butter," that means 8 ounces on a scale (which equals 1 cup by volume), not 8 fluid ounces.

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