There are about 2 cups in a pound of butter. A pound is 453.59 g, and one cup of butter weighs 227 g when measured scooped, so 453.59 divided by 227 gives 2 cups. The figure is approximate: cup weights vary with how the cup is filled, how settled the ingredient is, and the brand you buy, so if the recipe matters, weigh the butter on a kitchen scale instead of counting cups. For everyday cooking, 2 cups per pound is the number to use.
Dairy butter, about 80% fat; one US stick is 113 g, half a cup or 8 tablespoons. Baking, frying, sauces and spreading. That is why the cup count for butter is different from the cup count for other ingredients: a pound of flour fills nearly four cups, while a pound of honey fills fewer than one and a half, because a cup of honey weighs 336 g and a cup of butter weighs 227 g. Weight is the same for every ingredient — a pound is always 453.59 g — but volume is not, and the cup count per pound is simply the pound divided by the weight of one cup.
Pounds to cups conversion table
The table below converts pounds of butter to cups, using 227 g per cup (scooped). Every figure is approximate, and the gram column is exact — a pound is 453.59 g whatever you are weighing.
| Weight | Cups (approx.) | Grams |
|---|---|---|
| 0.25 lb | 0.5 cups | 113.4 g |
| 0.5 lb | 1 cups | 226.79 g |
| 0.75 lb | 1.5 cups | 340.19 g |
| 1 lb | 2 cups | 453.59 g |
| 1.5 lb | 3 cups | 680.38 g |
| 2 lb | 4 cups | 907.18 g |
| 3 lb | 6 cups | 1360.77 g |
| 4 lb | 8 cups | 1814.36 g |
| 5 lb | 10 cups | 2267.95 g |
| 10 lb | 20 cups | 4535.9 g |
For the amounts most recipes use, the useful rows are the small ones: a quarter pound is 0.5 cups, half a pound is 1 cups, and three quarters of a pound is 1.5 cups. If your recipe is written in pounds and your measuring tools are cups, read the cups column; if your recipe is written in cups and you buy by the pound, read it the other way — a recipe that needs 2 cups takes 1 lb, and a recipe that needs 3 cups takes 1.5 lb.
Cups to grams and ounces
The table below works in the other direction: cups of butter to grams and ounces. One cup is 227 g, which is 8 oz, and every other row is a multiple of that.
| Cups | Grams (approx.) | Ounces (approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| 1/4 cup | 56.75 g | 2 oz |
| 1/3 cup | 75.67 g | 2.7 oz |
| 1/2 cup | 113.5 g | 4 oz |
| 2/3 cup | 151.33 g | 5.3 oz |
| 3/4 cup | 170.25 g | 6 oz |
| 1 cup | 227 g | 8 oz |
| 2 cups | 454 g | 16 oz |
| 3 cups | 681 g | 24 oz |
| 4 cups | 908 g | 32 oz |
These are the figures to write on a recipe card. A recipe that calls for 1/2 cup needs 113.5 g, a recipe that calls for 2 cups needs 454 g, and a recipe that calls for 4 cups needs 908 g. Weighing removes the cup entirely: put the bowl on the scale, tare it, and pour until the display reads the gram figure. It is faster than measuring cups, it uses one less tool to wash, and it is the same every time, whatever brand of butter you bought.
Worked examples
Pie crust for a double-crust pie
A double-crust pie needs about 1 cup of butter, which is 227 g — 0.5 lb. One pound of butter is also four sticks, and each stick is 113.5 g — half a cup, or 8 tablespoons. For pastry, the fat must be cold: cut it into cubes, chill it, and rub it into the flour until the mixture looks like coarse breadcrumbs, with a few pea-sized pieces left. Those pieces are what make the crust flaky — they melt in the oven and leave layers. A pound of butter holds 2 cups, so one pound covers two double-crust pies, or one pie with fat left over for the lattice top. If the kitchen is warm, chill the dough for thirty minutes before rolling it out.
Creaming for a layer cake
A layer cake that creams butter with sugar needs 1 cup of fat — 227 g — beaten with the sugar until pale and fluffy. That is 0.5 lb, so a pound bag gives you 2 cups, enough for two cakes. Creaming works because the fat traps air as it is beaten, and that air is what lifts the cake, so the fat must be at room temperature: too cold and it will not trap air, too warm and it collapses. Weigh the fat rather than measuring it in a cup — a cup of solid fat is hard to level accurately, and the difference between a loosely packed cup and a firmly packed one can be 20 g or more.
Roasting a tray of vegetables
A tray of roasted vegetables for four people needs about 1/4 cup of butter, which is 56.75 g — 0.1 lb. A pound of butter is 2 cups, so one pound covers 7.99 trays of roasting. Toss the vegetables in the fat before they go into the oven, and spread them in a single layer with space between them — crowded vegetables steam instead of roasting, and no amount of fat will fix that. Roast at a high heat so the edges caramelise, and turn the tray halfway through so everything browns evenly.
How the figure is worked out
The calculation is a single division. A pound is defined as 453.59 g. One cup of butter weighs 227 g, measured scooped from a US cup of 236.6 ml, according to King Arthur Baking. Divide the pound by the cup weight — 453.59 divided by 227 — and the answer is 2 cups. There is no other step, and no other number involved, which is why the figure is easy to check: if you know the grams per cup, you know the cups per pound.
The cup weight itself is where the uncertainty lives. One cup of butter weighs 227 g, measured scooped from a US cup of 236.6 ml. The figure comes from King Arthur Baking and carries high confidence in our table. A cup is a volume, not a weight, so anything that changes how much of the ingredient fits in that volume changes the weight: how firmly it is pressed into the cup and how many air pockets are trapped inside That is why this page labels every result approximate and why a scale is the only way to be certain.
The spoon measures follow from the same cup weight. A cup holds 16 tablespoons, so one tablespoon of butter weighs 14.2 g, and one teaspoon weighs 4.7 g. The small table below gives the figures you will actually use when a recipe calls for spoonfuls rather than cups.
| Measure | Grams (approx.) |
|---|---|
| 1 teaspoon | 4.7 g |
| 1 tablespoon | 14.2 g |
| 2 tablespoons | 28.4 g |
| 1/4 cup | 56.8 g |
| 1/2 cup | 113.5 g |
| 1 cup | 227 g |
Practical guidance
Dairy butter, about 80% fat; one US stick is 113 g, half a cup or 8 tablespoons. Baking, frying, sauces and spreading. Refrigerate up to 3 months; freeze up to 6 months.
The most common mistake with butter is measuring it the wrong way for its form. Solid fats are the hardest ingredient to measure in cups, because you cannot level them and air pockets hide inside the cup. The reliable way is to weigh: tare the bowl, add 227 g for a cup, and you are done. If the fat is sold in sticks, use the stick markings — each stick is half a cup. Melted fat measures differently from solid fat, so never swap the two without adjusting: a cup of melted fat is not the same as a cup of solid fat. Keep the fat cold until you need it for pastry, and at room temperature for creaming — the temperature is as important as the weight.
If you do not have a scale, the cup figures on this page will get you close enough for everyday cooking, but not for precision baking. A basic digital kitchen scale costs little, weighs in grams, and removes the single biggest source of variation in baking. Until you have one, spoon and level dry ingredients, use a liquid jug for liquids, and never scoop from the bag.
Frequently asked questions
How many cups are in a pound of butter?
About 2 cups. A pound is 453.59 g, and one cup of butter weighs 227 g, so 453.59 divided by 227 is 2. The figure is approximate, because the cup weight depends on how the cup is filled — scooped gives 227 g, but how firmly it is pressed into the cup changes the weight.
How many grams are in a pound of butter?
453.59 g. A pound is always 453.59 g whatever the ingredient is; what changes is how many cups that weight fills. For butter, 453.59 g fills about 2 cups.
Is a pound of butter the same as 2 cups?
Yes, almost exactly — a pound of butter is 2 cups, so 2 cups is a very good approximation. Measuring by weight avoids the error entirely.
How many sticks are in a pound of butter?
Four sticks. Each stick is 113.5 g — half a cup, or 8 tablespoons — so a pound is 4 sticks and 2 cups.
Does a cup of melted fat weigh the same as a cup of solid fat?
Not exactly. A cup of butter measured solid weighs about 227 g, but melted fat settles differently and can weigh slightly more or less per cup, and the difference depends on how firmly the solid fat was packed. For baking, measure the fat in the state the recipe calls for — solid for pastry and creaming, melted for pouring — and weigh it rather than measuring it in a cup.
How many tablespoons are in a pound of butter?
About 31.97 tablespoons. A pound is 2 cups, and there are 16 tablespoons in a cup. For quick cooking, that is the useful figure: a recipe that needs 2 tablespoons takes 28.38 g, and a pound covers 15.99 such recipes.