How to Measure Butter

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.

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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!



Wow, thanks! It’s very helpful.
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. :)
great little ditty …. I always have to refer to my cookbook where I have a similar breakdown on butter….
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!
See, I have it engraved into my mind that 1 stick = 1/2 cup, so I love cup measurements!
Very helpful post! Thanks! Have a great weekend!
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!
Kathy – Woo for trumping mom-in-law’s cooking! So happy you guys enjoyed the blueberry pie – one of my absolute favorites!
oh, that`s really helpful!
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!!!
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.
I love this, printed AND saved! :)
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.
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!
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.
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!!
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!
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.
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! :-)
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.
Thanks for the chart! i’m stealing it :)
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!
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 :)
I google this ALL THE TIME! neither sticks nor cups of butter here in Europe, so lots of confusion. thank you so much!
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.
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!
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!
We in Malta too weigh things so much accurate and simple esp using scales which go back to zero without removing the ingredients.
Ican’t believe that in the USA they use cups to measure solids e.g a cup of dates or a cup of apples. How silly.
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.
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.
That only works if it’s a brand new stick. In my house we have a butter dish that gets used all the time so you can only judge by the size, not the wrapper.
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!
I loooove you! Am definitely going to print this out. Thanx!
It seems so simple, but I always forget and get majorly confused too. This is super helpful!! Thanks :)
THANK YOUUUUUUUUU!!!!!!!