A 13 oz jar of ghee holds about 1.7 cups. Ghee is clarified butter — the milk solids and water removed — so it is pure butterfat, and a cup of it weighs about 218 g, lighter than a cup of butter at 227 g. The 13 oz jar is the common supermarket size, and a cup and three-quarters is enough for weeks of cooking: a spoonful for tempering spices, a little for roasting, a little for baking.
How many cups in a 13 oz jar?
A 13 oz jar of ghee holds about 1.7 cups (369 g ÷ 218 g per cup).
| Amount | Cups | Grams | Tablespoons |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full 13 oz jar | 1.7 | 369 | 27 |
| Half 13 oz jar | 0.85 | 184.5 | 14 |
| Quarter 13 oz jar | 0.42 | 92.25 | 7 |
| 1 tablespoon | 0.06 | 13.62 | 1 |
The table gives the full package, half a package and a quarter of a package, plus a single tablespoon, so you can scale the answer to whatever your recipe asks for. If your packet is a different size from the one on this page, the same per-cup figure still applies — divide your packet's weight by the grams per cup, or its volume by 236.6 ml per cup, and you have your answer.
Worked examples
Tempering spices that need two tablespoons
A tadka — the spiced oil poured over dal or vegetables — takes about 2 tablespoons of ghee, or 27 g, heated until it shimmers, then cumin seeds, garlic and chilli are fried in it for thirty seconds. Two tablespoons is a small fraction of the jar, about a twenty-seventh, so one jar covers dozens of tadkas. Heat the ghee gently: it has a high smoke point, but the spices burn in seconds once they go in, so have everything ready before the pan is hot.
Roasting vegetables that need a quarter of a cup
A tray of roast potatoes or cauliflower takes about 1/4 cup of ghee — 55 g, or 4 tablespoons — melted and tossed with the vegetables before roasting. Ghee's nutty flavour is the reason to use it here rather than oil, and its high smoke point means it browns without burning. A quarter of a cup is about a seventh of the jar, so one jar covers about seven trays of roasting.
Baking that needs half a cup
A batch of shortbread or nankhatai takes about 1/2 cup of ghee — 109 g, or 8 tablespoons — creamed with 3/4 cup of sugar and 2 cups of flour. Ghee gives a tender, crumbly texture and a nutty richness that butter does not quite match, and because it has no water, the dough stays short rather than chewy. Half a cup is just under a third of the jar, so one jar makes about three batches with a little left over.
How the figure was measured
The weight figure on this page comes from USDA: ghee weighs 218 g per cup, measured poured, and that figure carries medium confidence in CookScale's 120-ingredient table. Every cup-based result on this page is approximate, because a cup measures volume and the weight depends on how the ingredient settles, how it was measured, and how fresh it is. When the amount matters — a cake, a cheesecake, a sauce that must set — weigh the ingredient on a kitchen scale instead of trusting the cup. Package sizes vary by brand and region, so check the weight printed on your own packet before planning a recipe around this page.
How to measure it
Oil is measured by volume, which makes this page simpler than the dry-ingredient ones: a cup is 236.6 ml no matter what is in it, so the bottle's millilitres divide cleanly into cups. Use a liquid measuring jug with a spout, read it at eye level on a flat counter, and let the oil settle — a jug tilted in your hand reads a tablespoon high. For small amounts a tablespoon measure is more accurate than eyeballing a jug line. If a recipe gives grams instead, weigh the oil: it is lighter than water, so 1 cup of olive oil is about 216 g and 1 cup of vegetable oil about 218 g, not 237 g. Mixing up oil and water weights is the most common conversion error in baking.
Practical guidance
Oil goes rancid long before it looks or smells obviously wrong, and a 500 ml bottle opened for occasional cooking can sit for months. Store it in a cool, dark cupboard away from the stove — heat and light are what turn it. Taste a drop before using an old bottle in a vinaigrette: if it is bitter or sharp in a stale way, it is past its best and will carry that flavour into everything. Never pour used oil back into the fresh bottle, and keep the cap on: oil absorbs strong smells from the pantry. For frying, measure what you need into the pan rather than pouring from the bottle over a hot hob, where a slip becomes a fire risk.
A 13 oz jar is a practical size for a household that cooks with ghee a few times a week: it lasts for weeks without refrigeration and the 1.7 cups inside stretch a long way when most uses are a tablespoon or two. Check the label before you buy — some jars are 8 oz, which holds about 1 cup, and some are 16 oz, which holds about 2.1 cups. The same 218 g per cup applies to every size, so you can scale the answer to any jar. And keep a dedicated spoon for the jar: a spoon that has touched wet food introduces water, and water is the one thing ghee does not tolerate.
Frequently asked questions
How many tablespoons are in a 13 oz jar of ghee?
There are about 27 tablespoons in a 13 oz jar of ghee, because the jar holds about 1.7 cups and there are 16 tablespoons in a cup. A tablespoon of ghee weighs about 13.6 g. For tempering, where a recipe calls for a tablespoon or two, measuring by the spoon is more accurate than pouring from the jar.
Is ghee the same as clarified butter?
Ghee is clarified butter that has been cooked a little longer, until the milk solids turn golden and nutty. Clarified butter is simply butter with the solids and water removed. They measure the same — about 218 g per cup — and substitute cup-for-cup, but ghee has a deeper, nuttier flavour and a longer shelf life.
Can I substitute ghee for butter cup-for-cup?
By volume, yes, but not by weight: a cup of ghee weighs 218 g while a cup of butter weighs 227 g. In most recipes the difference is small enough not to matter, but in baking where the fat is weighed, use 218 g of ghee for every 227 g of butter. Ghee has no water, so pastry made with it is more tender and less flaky than pastry made with butter.
Does ghee need to be refrigerated after opening?
No. Ghee is shelf-stable because the milk solids and water have been removed, and it keeps for months at room temperature in a cool cupboard. It will go solid in a cool kitchen and liquid in a warm one; both are normal. Use a clean, dry spoon every time — water introduced into the jar is what causes spoilage.
How many grams are in a 13 oz jar of ghee?
A 13 oz jar of ghee weighs about 369 g. Divide that by 218 g per cup and you get about 1.7 cups. If a recipe gives grams rather than cups, the gram figure is the one to use: 109 g is half a cup, 55 g is a quarter of a cup, and 27 g is two tablespoons.