A 16 oz tub of vegetable shortening holds about 2.5 cups. Shortening is much lighter per cup than butter or margarine — 184 g per cup against butter's 227 g — because it is pure fat whipped with air and contains no water at all. That is why a tub that weighs the same as a block of butter holds half a cup more. Two and a half cups is a lot of shortening: it covers several pie crusts and still leaves enough for biscuits.
How many cups in a 16 oz tub?
A 16 oz tub of vegetable shortening holds about 2.5 cups (454 g ÷ 184 g per cup).
| Amount | Cups | Grams | Tablespoons |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full 16 oz tub | 2.5 | 454 | 40 |
| Half 16 oz tub | 1.25 | 227 | 20 |
| Quarter 16 oz tub | 0.62 | 113.5 | 10 |
| 1 tablespoon | 0.06 | 11.5 | 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
Pie crust that needs a cup of shortening
A double-crust 9-inch pie takes about 1 cup of shortening — 184 g, or a little under half the tub — rubbed into 2 and a half cups of flour with a teaspoon of salt. Shortening makes the flakiest crust of any fat because it has no water to develop the gluten, and it stays solid at room temperature, so the dough is forgiving to handle. One cup from the tub leaves 1.5 cups behind, enough for another pie and a batch of biscuits.
Biscuits that need half a cup
A batch of twelve biscuits takes about 1/2 cup of shortening — 92 g, or 8 tablespoons — cut into 2 cups of flour with 1 tablespoon of baking powder. Keep the shortening cold and cut it in quickly; warm shortening blends into the flour instead of staying in flakes, and flakes are what make biscuits rise in layers. Half a cup is a fifth of the tub, so one tub makes about five batches of biscuits.
Frying that needs a cup and a half
A shallow fry for doughnuts or fried chicken takes about 1 and a half cups of shortening — 276 g — melted in the pan. Shortening's high smoke point makes it a classic frying fat, and it leaves no flavour of its own. A cup and a half is three-fifths of the tub, so a single tub covers one frying session and leaves a cup for baking. Strain and save the cooled fat if you want to reuse it, but do not pour it back into the fresh tub.
How the figure was measured
The weight figure on this page comes from King Arthur Baking: vegetable shortening weighs 184 g per cup, measured scooped, and that figure carries high 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
Solid fats are measured by weight or by the markings on the wrapper, and both beat a cup. Margarine and shortening are soft enough to press into a cup, but air pockets hide between the scoops — a cup that looks full can be 10% short. Press the fat firmly into the measure with the back of a spoon, level it, and check for gaps. Better still, weigh it: a kitchen scale removes the question entirely. If the tub or block carries tablespoon markings on its wrapper, use those for small amounts — one tablespoon of margarine is about 14 g. For baking, cold fat matters as much as the amount: keep it chilled until the moment it goes into the dough, or the texture changes before the weighing is even finished.
Practical guidance
An opened tub of margarine or shortening absorbs fridge smells within days, so keep the lid on tight and keep it away from onions and garlic. Shortening keeps for months at room temperature in a cool cupboard, while margarine belongs in the fridge and softens on the counter in about fifteen minutes — do not microwave it, which melts the edges and leaves the centre cold. When a recipe calls for butter and you are using margarine, remember the water content differs: margarine carries more water than butter, so cookies spread a little more and pastry is a touch less flaky. That is a fair trade for a dairy-free bake, but it is not a like-for-like swap in laminated dough.
Two and a half cups is the figure that surprises people, because a tub of shortening looks the same size as a tub of margarine but holds more. When a recipe calls for shortening by weight, trust the scale: 184 g is a cup, not 227 g, and using the butter figure over-measures by nearly a quarter. If your tub is a different size — 48 oz tubs are common for frequent bakers — the same 184 g per cup applies, so a 48 oz tub holds about 7.4 cups. And remember that shortening has no flavour of its own: in a recipe where butter's flavour matters, use half butter and half shortening for the best of both.
Frequently asked questions
How many tablespoons are in a 16 oz tub of shortening?
There are 40 tablespoons in a 16 oz tub of shortening, because the tub holds about 2.5 cups and there are 16 tablespoons in a cup. A tablespoon of shortening weighs about 11.5 g. That is fewer grams per tablespoon than butter, because shortening is lighter per cup.
Why does shortening weigh less per cup than butter?
Shortening is pure fat with air whipped into it and no water, while butter is about 80 percent fat and 20 percent water and milk solids. Water is heavy, so a cup of butter weighs 227 g while a cup of shortening weighs 184 g. The same tub weight therefore holds more cups of shortening than of butter — 2.5 cups against 2 cups.
Can I substitute shortening for butter cup-for-cup?
Not exactly. Because shortening is lighter, 1 cup of butter weighs 227 g while 1 cup of shortening weighs 184 g. If a recipe gives cups, you can swap them cup-for-cup, but the result will be lighter and less rich; if it gives grams, use the same weight, which is about 1 and a quarter cups of shortening for every cup of butter. Add a tablespoon of water per cup when replacing butter, to replace the water butter would have supplied.
How long does an opened tub of shortening last?
Shortening keeps for months at room temperature in a cool cupboard, far longer than butter or margarine, because it contains no water and no milk solids to spoil. Keep the lid on and store it away from heat. It does eventually go rancid — a stale, paint-like smell is the sign — but a tub bought this year is usually fine next year.
Does shortening need to be refrigerated?
No. Shortening is shelf-stable and is meant to be stored at room temperature. Refrigerating it makes it hard and difficult to measure, and it does not extend its life meaningfully. Keep it in a cool cupboard away from the stove, with the lid on tight so it does not pick up smells.