288 g of table salt is 1 cup. Salt is one of the densest ingredients in the kitchen: a cup of it weighs more than a cup of sugar, flour or butter. Nobody measures salt by the cup in practice, but the figure matters because it shows how dramatically salt types differ. A cup of Diamond Crystal kosher salt weighs only about 128 g, less than half as much, so swapping salt types cup-for-cup is a recipe for disaster.
All figures on this page are approximate, and they come from King Arthur Baking, measured spooned and levelled. When a recipe has to work the first time, verify with a kitchen scale.
Putting the numbers to work
A bread dough that needs precise salt
A bread recipe calls for 10 g of salt, which is about 2 teaspoons, not a cup measure at all. Salt controls the yeast in bread: too little and the dough over-proofs and collapses, too much and the yeast barely works. This is why bakers weigh salt in grams rather than measuring it in spoons, and why the cup figure on this page is a reference, not a practical measure.
Brining a chicken for roasting
A brine recipe uses 72 g of table salt, a quarter of a cup, dissolved in 2 litres of water with sugar and aromatics. The salt concentration is what makes a brine work, drawing moisture into the meat. If you used kosher salt at the same volume, you would have half the salt and a brine that does almost nothing.
Pasta water for a large pot
A big pot of pasta water needs about 18 g of salt, one tablespoon, to taste like the sea. The rule is roughly 10 g of salt per litre of water. This is a case where the cup conversion is irrelevant and the tablespoon figure is the useful one, but it shows why salt is always measured in small units.
The numbers in a table
| Cups | Grams of salt |
|---|---|
| 1/4 cup | 72 g |
| 1/3 cup | 96 g |
| 1/2 cup | 144 g |
| 2/3 cup | 192 g |
| 3/4 cup | 216 g |
| 1 cup | 288 g |
| 1 1/2 cups | 432 g |
| 2 cups | 576 g |
| 3 cups | 864 g |
| 4 cups | 1152 g |
Quick reference: 100 g of salt is about 0.35 cups, and 50 g is about 0.17 cups. All figures are approximate; verify with a kitchen scale when it matters.
Tips for best results
Dry powders and leavening agents are measured spooned and levelled, never heaped and never scooped from the container. A heaped tablespoon of baking soda can be double the intended amount, and that much extra leavening leaves a soapy, metallic taste and a collapsed crumb. Dip a dry spoon into the container, fill it, then level it with the back of a knife. Keep leavening in airtight containers away from humidity, and replace baking powder every six months once opened, because stale powder is the most common silent cause of flat cakes.
Scaling is straightforward once you know the cup weight. Doubling a recipe that calls for 288 g of salt means measuring 576 g, or 2 cups, and tripling it means 864 g, or 3 cups. Halving is just as easy: half a cup is 144 g. The key is to scale every ingredient by the same factor, because changing one ingredient without changing the others throws the recipe out of balance. A cake scaled by half still needs half the flour, half the sugar, half the butter and half the salt, not just half of one of them. If you are scaling a recipe by an awkward factor, like two thirds, weigh the salt rather than trying to measure two thirds of a cup in a jug, because the jug markings are not precise enough for fractions of a cup.
When should you weigh salt instead of measuring it? Whenever the recipe has to work the first time, and whenever the amount is large. A kitchen scale costs less than a single failed cake, and it removes the biggest source of variation in home cooking: the way ingredients pack into a cup or a spoon. Put the bowl on the scale, press tare, and add the salt until the display shows the number you need. There is nothing to wash afterwards except the bowl, and the result is the same every time. For small amounts, a level spoon is accurate enough, and for liquids, a jug is fine, but for anything where precision matters, the scale is the tool to reach for.
Storage. Dry cupboard, indefinitely.
- Swap salts by weight, never by volume.
- One tablespoon of table salt is 18 g.
- Store salt in a dry cupboard; it keeps indefinitely.
How the measurement works
The figure on this page comes from King Arthur Baking, measured spooned and levelled. Fine-grained salt; the default seasoning salt. Seasoning every dish and controlling yeast in bread.
A note on disputed figures. Fine table salt packs at 288 g per cup (18 g per tablespoon). Kosher salt is far lighter: Diamond Crystal is about 128 g per cup and Morton about 256 g - never swap them cup-for-cup.
All results on this page are approximate. Ingredient weights vary with brand, humidity, temperature and how firmly you pack the cup, so when a recipe has to work the first time, weigh the ingredient on a kitchen scale and use the numbers here as a guide.
Frequently asked questions
Why is a cup of salt so heavy?
Salt crystals are dense and pack tightly with very little air between them. Fine table salt packs at 288 g per cup, which is heavier than sugar at 198 g and far heavier than flour at 120 g. Density, not sweetness or flavour, decides the weight.
Can I swap kosher salt for table salt cup for cup?
No, never. Diamond Crystal kosher salt is about 128 g per cup and Morton kosher salt about 256 g, while table salt is 288 g. Swapping by volume can halve or nearly double the salt in a recipe. Swap by weight instead: 10 g of any salt is 10 g.
How many grams of salt are in a teaspoon?
One teaspoon of fine table salt is about 6 g, and one tablespoon is 18 g. These are the figures that matter in real cooking, because salt is almost always measured in teaspoons and tablespoons, not cups.
Does the type of salt matter in baking?
Yes, for the same reason: volume differs by type. Recipes written by weight are safe with any salt, but recipes written in teaspoons assume table salt unless they say otherwise. If a recipe says a teaspoon of kosher salt, it means a teaspoon of kosher salt, which weighs less.
How much salt should go in pasta water?
About 10 g per litre of water, which is roughly a tablespoon per 4 litres. The water should taste like the sea. Most of the salt stays in the water, so the pasta itself ends up seasoned but not salty.
Keeping a conversion note in the kitchen: if you cook from American recipes often, write the gram weights of the ingredients you use most on a card and stick it inside a cupboard door. A short list covering flour, sugar, butter, milk and oil will handle most recipes, and it saves you looking up the same number every time. Update the card when you buy a new ingredient, and note the method next to the weight, because a number without a method is only half a conversion.