How Many Grams of Butter in a Tablespoon?
Quick Answer
One tablespoon of butter weighs approximately 14 grams in the US and UK. Australian tablespoons are 20ml (not 15ml) so one Australian tablespoon of butter is closer to 19 grams.
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The Full Story
Baking is a science, and getting your fat ratios wrong can ruin a recipe. In the US and the UK, a standard tablespoon holds 15ml of volume, which equates to about 14.2 grams of butter. However, Australia uses a larger 20ml tablespoon, meaning an Aussie tablespoon of butter weighs roughly 19 grams.
If you are reading an American recipe, you will almost certainly encounter the infamous "stick" of butter. One US stick equals 8 tablespoons, which is exactly 113 grams (or half a cup). Two sticks equal 1 full cup, or 227 grams. In contrast, most of the metric world buys butter in solid 250g blocks. A standard 250g block contains about 13 Australian tablespoons of butter.
The state of the butter also matters. Cold, hard butter is difficult to pack into a measuring spoon, leaving air gaps that ruin the measurement. Room temperature butter packs perfectly. If you are using margarine, it is slightly lighter due to higher water content, weighing about 13g per tablespoon. Clarified butter or ghee, which has had all water removed, is denser and weighs about 14.5g per tablespoon. Have you ever wondered why US recipes stubbornly stick to volume instead of weight?
Breakdown Table
| Measure | Grams | Millilitres | Equivalent |
|---|---|---|---|
| US/UK Tablespoon | 14.2g | 15 ml | 1/8 of a US stick |
| Australian Tablespoon | 19g | 20 ml | ~1/13 of a 250g block |
| US Butter Stick | 113g | 118 ml | 8 US tbsp (1/2 cup) |
| Standard AU/UK Block | 250g | 260 ml | ~2.2 US sticks |
Did You Know?
The US butter stick is a 1920s invention. To make home baking easier, American dairy companies standardised the 4-ounce stick format, printing tablespoon measurement lines directly on the wax wrapper. It was so convenient that Americans never felt the need to switch to kitchen scales.
Clarified butter is denser. Regular butter is about 80% fat and 20% water and milk solids. When you melt it and remove the water to make ghee or clarified butter, the resulting pure fat is denser and weighs slightly more per tablespoon.
Temperature changes volume. Room temperature butter is aerated and soft, meaning it measures differently in a cup than cold, hard butter. This is why professional bakers always weigh their ingredients in grams rather than using cups.
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Making Sense of US Butter Recipes When You Use Metric
If you live in Australia, New Zealand, or the UK, baking an American recipe can feel like translating an ancient text. The most common hurdle is the "cup" of butter. A US cup of butter is 227 grams. If you have a standard 250g block of butter in your fridge, a quick and easy hack is to cut off about 1.5 tablespoons (roughly 23g) from the end. The remaining block is exactly one US cup.
If a recipe calls for "1 stick of butter," you need 113 grams. Simply cut your 250g block slightly off-center, and you'll have the perfect amount.
If you don't have a kitchen scale, you can use the water displacement trick. Fill a measuring jug with exactly 200ml of cold water. If you need 100g of butter, drop chunks of butter into the water until the water level rises to 300ml. The displaced water equals the volume of the butter. However, the ultimate truth of baking is that weight beats volume every time. Investing in a cheap digital kitchen scale will instantly make you a better, more consistent baker.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I convert US butter measurements to grams?
Multiply the number of US tablespoons by 14. If a recipe calls for 1 stick of butter, use 113 grams. For 1 cup of butter, use 227 grams.
What's a US butter stick in grams?
One standard US stick of butter weighs exactly 113.4 grams (usually rounded to 113g or 115g in metric recipes).
Can I use margarine instead of butter in baking?
Sometimes, but margarine has a higher water content and lower fat content than butter. This can cause cookies to spread too thin and pastries to lack flakiness.
How do I measure butter without a scale?
If you have a standard 250g block, cut it exactly in half to get 125g. Cut that half in half again to get roughly 62g. Alternatively, use the water displacement method in a measuring jug.
Why do US recipes use sticks instead of grams?
The US never adopted the metric system for daily cooking. In the 1920s, butter manufacturers standardised the 4-ounce 'stick' format with tablespoon markings on the wrapper, making volume measurement incredibly easy for American home cooks.
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