How to Measure Butter
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Am I the only person who curses almost every time a recipe calls for butter and lists the amount in cups? You’d think that I’d have this whole butter thing down pat by now (no pun intended), but I never remember. Ever. And without fail, I turn to Google… “How many cups in one stick of butter?” or some variation of that. I’ve finally remembered that 1 pound of butter is four sticks, so weight I’m good with. Give me a gold star sticker for my refrigerator, thankyouverymuch. But yikes, shouldn’t there be a standard of some sort when it comes to how cookbooks list the amount of butter? I’d be so happy. And I’d prefer that it be listed by weight (if some higher up cookbook authority gave me a vote, that is). I’ve gone on before about how great it is to measure using a kitchen scale, so I won’t go into it again here. I’ve grown weary of Googling, so I finally took the time to make myself a little cheat sheet for butter measuring. Maybe I’m the only person in the world who has this problem, but in case I’m not I figured I’d share my crib notes with you.
And in case you want to print that baby out and stick it on your fridge (or in your recipe binder), here is a pretty printable version.
Happy Baking!
THANK YOUUUUUUUUU!!!!!!!
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It seems so simple, but I always forget and get majorly confused too. This is super helpful!! Thanks
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I loooove you! Am definitely going to print this out. Thanx!
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You…are…AMAZING! I curse EVERY time I read a recipe and the butter is in cups. How am I supposed to shove this block of butter into my measuring cup? Thanks for the chart,
You’re the best!
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Depending on where you live in the country, many brands have the cup, tablespoon, and teaspoon measurements printed on the butter stick’s wrapper. Lucerne definitely does.
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Kelley on September 14th, 2010 at 2:41 pm
Yeah, I can’t recall ever seeing a butter wrapper that didn’t have those measurements on it! I’m so used to them by now that I could probably measure my butter without any sort of guide.
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This is brilliant! I live in the UK where we don’t even have ‘sticks’ of butter, we just weigh it, so as much as I love a lot of american cooking blogs, I too spend a LOT of time googling butter conversions!
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Kelley on September 14th, 2010 at 2:45 pm
So true! In (French) pastry school we weighed everything, so this chart will come in handy for me if I want to use a recipe from school – I can easily convert grams to sticks. Hehe!
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This is fantastic!! No sticks of butter here in Australia either and it drives me mad trying to convert from American cups to grams! I’m going to print this and stick it on the fridge.
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I google this ALL THE TIME! neither sticks nor cups of butter here in Europe, so lots of confusion. thank you so much!
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Thanks! I also get frustrated with American recipes that measure in ‘sticks’ as butter doesn’t come in sticks in most other places in the world. I often forget the sticks / cups / grams conversions too and end up using Google
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Thanx!!!! I am an American living in Canada…the most cost effect way to buy butter is just by the pound!!! I do miss the sticks…this will be a HUGE help.
Love you site…Thanx so much!
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Thanks for the chart! i’m stealing it
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Most of our butter packaging here has the measurements for cups on the label, from 1/4 cup to 1 cup. No where have I seen it measured in equivalents such as you have gone to the trouble to do here. Super cheat sheet! Thank you.
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YOU, my dear, sweet foodie friend, deserve a HUGE hug and a “pat” on the back (pun intended!) for this post! Now if we could only get cookbook authors and recipe writers (including you…PRETTY PLEASE?) to note whether an oven temperature listed in a recipe is for a CONVENTIONAL or CONVECTION oven (You may already know that convection ovens cook 25 degrees hotter than conventional ovens), my cooking & baking experiences would be a dreamy dream land of wonderfulness!
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This is a great reference. I’m pretty good at remembering 8 T in a stick, but it seems they can never put the wrapper on straight! I may have to start weighing too.
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My sticks of butter always have the cup markings on them, however I always wonder if I have a tub of butter, do I just pack it into a cup? haha. Also I think the consistency is different too.
Handy table though!
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I love your cheat sheet!! I get so frustrated with recipes that list “sticks.” I hadn’t even heard of a “stick” as a proper measurement until last year, and I think my exact words were “What the flip is a ‘stick’?!?” Also, while making Alton’s The Chewy, I used my rusty brain, and ended up using twice as much butter than the recipe called for. (they were really delicious though lol)
Thanks for the sheet!!
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Thank you Michelle for posting this list. It will make everyone’s baking time easier, especially as butter ususally indicates cups and my recipes inevitably list TBSPS or ounces! A good tool to have and keep.
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I’ve been meaning to do this for ages, so you just saved me tons of time. I’m printing this out and sticking it in my recipe box right now! Since moving to Canada not having sticks is driving me crazy, I’ve been cutting the pound blocks into sticks and trying to judge Tablespoons and such from there. Not so accurate LOL. A scale is next on my to buy list and I can’t wait!
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I’m going to get a scale soon and start weighing all of my ingredients for consistent results. We like to buy our butter at Costco. It’s frustrating though that the unsalted butter does not have tbsp marks on it, only fractions of cups and pounds. Ugh indeed! I’m printing this out also.
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I love this, printed AND saved!
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I have added a link from my blog to your blog. This is a fantabolous cheat sheet. One that I will continuously use. Thanks for putting it together.
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Thank you!!!
I think the worst idea at all is butte in cups and I live in England so we don’t have sticks of butter as well and every time I have google how much is a stick or a cup, but not any more!!!
Tks a lot!!!
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oh, that`s really helpful!
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Since I am from the states I do understand this concept, but up here in Canada where I now live you buy butter in a 1 lb block. Threw me for a loop at first… BTW; made your blueberry pie a few weeks ago (first pie I ever made). Followed instructions to a T and my husband was SHOCKED. Best he’s ever had… and he is a softy for his mothers cooking!
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Michelle on September 13th, 2010 at 10:18 pm
Kathy – Woo for trumping mom-in-law’s cooking! So happy you guys enjoyed the blueberry pie – one of my absolute favorites!
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Very helpful post! Thanks! Have a great weekend!
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See, I have it engraved into my mind that 1 stick = 1/2 cup, so I love cup measurements!
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This is SO HELPFUL! When certain recipes call for it, I cook with unsalted butter. I also use it for ghee. I’ll definitely be consulting this little cheat sheet. Thank you!
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great little ditty …. I always have to refer to my cookbook where I have a similar breakdown on butter….
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Great cheat sheet! I usually am pretty good at figuring it out quickly in my head, but there have been a couple of occasions where I’ve completely messed it up. This will be nice to double-check myself.
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Wow, thanks! It’s very helpful.
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What kind of butter is everyone using that doesn’t have the cups indicated on the stick of butter. I suggestion you just buy butter that shows the cups already on it.
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Michelle on September 13th, 2010 at 10:15 pm
Hi Jen – I buy butter in bulk (4 lbs at a time) and they come in 1 lb blocks wrapped in foil – no measurement markings at all. For the amount of baking that I do it’s like throwing money away to buy it 1 lb at a time at the grocery store – so much cheaper in bulk!
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Deedee on June 8th, 2013 at 3:45 pm
Everyone outside of the US does not have cup measurements marked on butter. And butter isn’t sold as “sticks” here either! They generally come in 250g pieces which is 2.2045 sticks of butter. The world would be a better place if all solids were just marked by weight in recipes rather than using volumetric measurements.
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Michelle, thanks for the cheat sheet – most times I have butter in sticks but there are a few brands that print the Tbs and cups across the width of the full 1/2 lb. loaf which generally throws me for a loop – and as far as the sticks are concerned, I usually find I use a bit more than recipes call for because the paper covers are not on properly – rather a bit too much than too little.
Enjoy your blog and love your sense of humor.
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whenever i’m doing a big baking project, i always have little doodles with my “butter math” on the side of the recipe!
americans living in canada – you can usually find packages with sticks of butter inside. i always buy those for baking. they are maybe 20 cents more. lactantia for sure has them.
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Thank you!!!! Now that I only buy unsalted butter (due to my increased baking) I can never remember the conversions!! The butter I used to buy had them all on the wrapper but the unsalted does not
. This is going on the side of my frig 
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This will definitely come in handy! Thanks for the helpful measurements and tips, Michelle!
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mmm that is pretty!!!
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This is great!!! Thank you soooo much!
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I always have issues with 2/3 cup. For some reason I run into that one a lot. I can never remember what the measurement is so I Google that one all the time.
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Chelsea on September 21st, 2010 at 5:56 pm
I made a new-to-me recipe last week that called for 1/3 cup of butter, and I’ll admit to a bit of confusion on that one! Since I wanted more of the product (scones, mmmmm) anyway, though, I just tripled it so that I was using one full cup, LOL.
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Thank you! I always try to remember by using liquid measure- 8 oz in a cup, so 4 oz are in 1/2 cup, etc. As long as I can divide the ounces I’m usually good:) But this can go up inside my cabinet door.
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Just realized that American and Australian cups & grams are different – maybe that why recipes don’t come out as expected !
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to me, measuring the butter in sticks is the easiest thing because measurements are right on the wrapper and you slice off what you want. It never occurred to me until recently that things might be different elsewhere, when my (english) boyfriend asked me, puzzled, how I managed to cook without a scale. haha!
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Oh wow thats great. I live in New Zealand and have never seen a “stick” of butter before and it gets very confusing when using American recipes. Will print this out.
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Hehe, funny that you should say that! I’m in New Zealand too, and find “sticks” of butter very confusing!!!! Not to mention I broke my kitchen scales over the weekend, and was trying to convert all manner of measurements into cups!
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Oh wow thank you for this! I am always getting confused, but I printed this out and have it with all my other baking material! : )
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Oh thank you! This is awesome!
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This is such a helpful and informative post! Thanks for sharing your info!
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You are WONDERFUL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Kate
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I love this chart! I usually find myself squinting at the butter wrapper to find the approximate measurements, but not anymore!
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How about a similar chart for Crisco? I hate dirtying up measuring cups and would rather convert my recipes to weight for this ingredient!
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Michelle on September 15th, 2010 at 10:03 pm
Hi Sheryl, I will put that on the to-do list. For quick reference though, 1 cup of vegetable shortening is 7 ounces.
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Thanks so much for this great reference. As am American expat living in Germany I am going to pass the link on to my girfriends/fellow expats.
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Boy, if at all possible, I go with the weight instead of measuring by cup or half cup. I use my kitchen scale to make sure I get it exactly right. So many times the magazines will get the cup number wrong but the weight is correct. I think more and more of them are leaning towards weight and away from cup measurements anyhow.
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Thanks heaps for this! In the past I’ve tried to use American recipes but had no idea how much a ‘stick’ of butter was. In New Zealand we buy it by the pound. Very useful. Cheers!
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Jeanette on November 6th, 2010 at 1:40 am
By the “pound” are you sure you live in New Zealand Bobi lol
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Oh ha ha. Aren’t you funny!
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Thank you, Thank you, Thank you …….
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ohhh myyy! ure a life saver, n i do curse everytime i read recipes calling for a cup of butter! maybe we should start a no cups for butter petition for recipe writers!!
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I LOVE YOOOU.
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THANK YOU! You see, living in India, I’ve become weary of blogs giving butter measurements in sticks. We get them in 100gm packs (minimum) and 500gm packs (maximum) and I literally go insane trying to fit them in cups! I’ve printed out this chart and stuck it to my refrigerator already! So glad I found my way to your blog!
I do have some issues with flour though. Do you have any tips on measuring flour on an electronic scale? Do you keep putting flour till it reaches the required weight (I go by 120gms for every cup)?
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Michelle on May 16th, 2011 at 3:55 pm
I put a bowl on the scale, tare it, then add the flour until it reaches the correct weight. I use this chart for all of my weight measurements:
http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipe/master-weight-chart.html
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DouxProject on May 17th, 2011 at 3:41 am
Oh thank you! You are the BEST!
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awww thank you :hugz: … u made it easy for me
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Thank you – I am forever on Google trying to work out how much a stick of butter is as we can’t get it in sticks here. It only comes in 500gm lots!
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Yeah, but how do you cut 1 tspn. of butter from a stick that’s only marked with tablespoon measurements? Thanks for the chart, which I will print, but after 40+ years of baking, I have that down pat (I think).
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I was just searching on Google “how measure cup butter”, I am in France and sticks of butter don’t exist here !
Thank you for the metric measure !
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Just wanted to say “Thank you”. Woke up this morning (Christmas Eve) with myself thinking “how much is a stick of butter in grams” (I’m in Australia – the land of no sticks of butter). Thank you, you had it sorted for me no matter what I wanted to measure butter into.
I’ve printed it out and there it sits on my fridge.
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I see it says that 16oz is 1 pound which is 454g which confuses me because here in New Zealand 1 Pound of butter is 500g.
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Michelle on February 10th, 2013 at 2:22 pm
Hi Sophie, I can’t comment on how things are packaged or labeled, but I know that with the conversion rate of 1 ounce = 28.3495 grams, 16 ounces calculates to 454 grams.
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Many thanks, I’m in France and there aren’t sticks of butter. I’m able now to cook US recipes easily
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FINALLY!!!!!! THank you
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Thank you so much for always sharing such great receipes and information.
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You are the best. Thank soooooo much.
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