1/4 Cup Butter in Grams
1/4 cup of butter weighs 56.8 g (scooped, King Arthur Baking). Dairy butter, about 80% fat; one US stick is 113 g, half a cup or 8 tablespoons. All the figures on this page are approximate conversions based on the King Arthur Baking value of 227 g per cup, so when a recipe really matters, verify with a kitchen scale.
Why a quarter cup is worth weighing
A quarter cup is a small measure, and small measures are where cup errors hurt most. A 5 g mistake in a full cup of butter is a rounding error; the same 5 g on a quarter cup is a 17 percent swing on 56.8 g, and in a small batch that swing can change the result. Recipes that call for a quarter cup are usually small, precise or both — a mug cake, a glaze, a roux, a single-serve bake — and there is no large batch to absorb the error. Weighing 56.8 g takes five seconds and removes the problem entirely.
Scooped is the method behind the number, and it matters. Butter is used for baking, frying, sauces and spreading. That range of uses is part of why the conversion comes up so often: the same ingredient appears in everyday cooking and in precise baking, and the two situations demand different levels of accuracy. Grams cut through all of that: 56.8 g of butter is 56.8 g whatever the brand, the humidity or the size of your measuring cup.
Butter cups to grams conversion table
| Cups | Grams | Tablespoons |
|---|---|---|
| 1/4 cup | 56.8 g | 4 |
| 1/3 cup | 75.7 g | 5.3 |
| 1/2 cup | 113.5 g | 8 |
| 2/3 cup | 151.3 g | 10.7 |
| 3/4 cup | 170.2 g | 12 |
| 1 cup | 227 g | 16 |
| 1 1/2 cups | 340.5 g | 24 |
| 2 cups | 454 g | 32 |
The tablespoon column shows how many tablespoons each amount equals: a quarter cup is 4 tablespoons, and one tablespoon of butter weighs about 14.2 g. A cup is 16 tablespoons, so the numbers in the table are just the cup weight divided by 16, rounded to one decimal place. For small amounts a scale that reads to the gram is far more reliable than a spoon, because a heaped tablespoon can weigh half as much again as a level one. Read the table from the 1/4-cup row outwards: every other row is a multiple of 56.8 g, so scaling a recipe up or down is simple multiplication.
How the weight was measured
Scooped means the ingredient is measured the way King Arthur Baking measures it: scooped. For butter, that gives 227 g per cup, and a quarter of that is 56.8 g. The source for the figure is King Arthur Baking, and the confidence in the value is high. King Arthur Baking publishes a standard ingredient weight chart that recipe developers use as a reference, and this page follows it exactly rather than averaging across sources, because an average of two different measuring methods is a number that matches nobody's cup.
There is no serious dispute about this figure: King Arthur Baking lists 227 g per cup, and other reputable charts agree within a gram or two. The variation that remains comes from how the ingredient is measured, not from disagreement about the number itself.
Worked examples
Searing two steaks
Searing two steaks takes about 1/4 cup of butter in a ripping-hot pan — 56.8 g — though much of it stays in the pan. The fat needs to be hot enough to brown the meat in ninety seconds a side, and butter is dairy butter, about 80% fat; one US stick is 113 g, half a cup or 8 tablespoons. Weigh 56.8 g, heat it until it just starts to shimmer, and lay the steaks away from you so the hot fat does not splash.
A stir-fry for two
A stir-fry for two needs about 1/4 cup of butter — 56.8 g — in a wok heated until it smokes faintly. The oil must be hot enough that the vegetables sizzle on contact and stay crisp, and too little oil means they steam instead. Weigh 56.8 g, swirl it around the wok, and add the ingredients in batches so the pan stays hot.
Brushing pastry before baking
Brushing a sheet of pastry takes only a spoonful or two of butter, but melting a full 1/4 cup — 56.8 g — covers a large tray bake with some to spare. A thin, even brush of fat is what turns pastry golden and crisp instead of pale and papery, and weighing 56.8 g first stops you from melting a whole block for a job that needs a tablespoon.
Solid, melted and poured are three different weights
For butter, the method is scooped, and temperature changes the result. Solid fat traps air when scooped, melted fat pours cleanly, and the same fat weighed cold versus warm can differ by a few grams per cup. At quarter-cup scale that is a small difference in grams but a real one in a recipe that depends on fat for texture. Weigh 56.8 g in the state the recipe asks for, and do not swap a solid measure for a melted one without converting by weight.
Scaling a quarter cup up and down
Once you know that 1/4 cup of butter is 56.8 g, the rest is arithmetic. Half a cup is 113.5 g, three quarters is 170.2 g, and a full cup is 227 g. Doubling a recipe that calls for 1/4 cup means weighing 113.5 g; halving it means 28.4 g, which is 2 tablespoons. Writing the recipe in grams at this point is worth doing: the next time you make it, you weigh 56.8 g straight into the bowl and skip the measuring cup altogether. If you are scaling a recipe for a different tin size, convert every ingredient to grams first and then multiply — scaling by volume compounds the error on every ingredient at once, while scaling by weight keeps each one exact.
Common mistakes with butter
- Measuring melted fat in a dry cup. Melted fat clings and pours unevenly in a dry cup. Weigh it, or use a liquid jug.
- Cutting butter by eye. Butter packaging is marked in tablespoons for a reason. One stick is 113 g, half a cup, and cutting by the marks beats guessing.
- Using a cold-fat volume for a softened recipe. Cold fat packs more densely than softened fat. Weigh 56.8 g and the temperature stops mattering.
- Leaving fat in the measuring cup. Oil and melted butter cling to the cup. Weighing into the mixing bowl avoids losing a gram or two on 56.8 g.
Storage and handling
Refrigerate up to 3 months; freeze up to 6 months. Keeping butter stored properly also keeps its weight per cup stable: an ingredient that has absorbed moisture from the air weighs more per cup than a dry one, so a sealed container is not just about freshness, it is about measurement accuracy too. If a bag has been open for months in a humid kitchen, the first thing to do before a precise bake is to weigh the ingredient rather than trusting the cup. Label the container with the conversion — 1/4 cup is 56.8 g — and the next person to bake with it will thank you.
Frequently asked questions
How many grams is 1/4 cup of butter?
1/4 cup of butter weighs 56.8 g, measured scooped according to King Arthur Baking. That is one quarter of the full-cup weight of 227 g, and it is the figure to use when converting a recipe from cups to grams. All the figures on this page are approximate, so when a recipe really matters, verify with a kitchen scale.
Is 1/4 cup of butter always 56.8 g?
No — 56.8 g is the standard value from King Arthur Baking for butter measured scooped, and it is the right default. Brand, moisture, how settled the container is and how firmly it was packed can shift the weight by a few grams. For most cooking that variation does not matter. For precise baking, weigh the ingredient and trust the scale over the cup.
How many tablespoons is 1/4 cup of butter?
There are 4 tablespoons in a quarter cup, whatever the ingredient. One tablespoon of butter weighs about 14.2 g, so 4 tablespoons come to about 56.8 g. For small amounts like this, a scale that reads to the gram is more reliable than spoons, because a heaped tablespoon can weigh half as much again as a level one.
What is butter used for?
Baking, frying, sauces and spreading. Dairy butter, about 80% fat; one US stick is 113 g, half a cup or 8 tablespoons. A quarter cup — 56.8 g — is a common amount in small batches, glazes, sauces and test bakes, which is why this conversion comes up so often.
How should I store butter?
Refrigerate up to 3 months; freeze up to 6 months. Good storage keeps the ingredient fresh and keeps its weight per cup consistent, because moisture absorbed from the air adds grams that the recipe did not ask for.
Related conversions
Use the cups to grams converter butter to oil converter butter stick converter for instant answers, or browse the cups to grams hub for the full ingredient list. Related pages: 1 cup of butter in grams, 1/2 cup of butter in grams, 227 g of butter in cups, tablespoons of butter in grams, 1/4 cup of vegetable oil in grams, 1/4 cup of olive oil in grams. See also our disclaimer about approximate conversions.