There are about 5.05 cups in a kilogram of granulated sugar. That is the short answer, and it is the number this page is built around: one US cup of granulated sugar weighs 198 g spooned and levelled, according to King Arthur Baking, so 1,000 g divided by 198 g gives 5.05 cups. Every figure on this page is approximate, because cup weights shift a little with how the cup is filled, and when the result matters — a cake, a brine, a batch of jam — a kitchen scale is the only way to be exact.

Granulated Sugar is refined white cane or beet sugar; the default sugar in most recipes. It is used for sweetening drinks, baking, preserving and candy-making. That is why the kilogram-to-cups question comes up so often: granulated sugar is sold by weight in most countries, while many recipes — especially American ones — measure it in cups. This page converts the whole kilogram, not just a single cup, so you can plan a whole bag or tub against a recipe instead of converting one spoonful at a time.

Conversion table: kilograms of granulated sugar to cups

One US cup is 236.6 ml, and one cup of granulated sugar weighs 198 g spooned and levelled. Every row below is that cup weight divided into the weight shown, so the whole table follows from a single number. Figures are rounded to two decimal places and labelled approximate.

Weight Cups (approx.)
100 g 0.51
250 g 1.26
500 g 2.53
750 g 3.79
1 kg (1,000 g) 5.05
1.5 kg (1,500 g) 7.58
2 kg (2,000 g) 10.1

The same cup weight works in the other direction too:

Measure Weight (approx.)
1 cup 198 g
1 tablespoon 12.4 g
1 teaspoon 4.12 g
1 kg in tablespoons about 81 tbsp

If you only need part of the kilogram, the table above is the fastest way to read it off. Half a kilogram is 2.53 cups, a quarter is 1.26 cups, and 100 g — a common recipe amount — is 0.51 cups.

How the figure is worked out

The calculation is a single division: 1,000 g ÷ 198 g per cup = 5.05 cups. The only input is the weight of one cup of granulated sugar, and that comes from King Arthur Baking, which lists one US cup of granulated sugar at 198 g, spooned and levelled. The confidence rating on that figure is high, which means it is a published, checked value rather than an estimate — but it is still a cup measurement, and cups are never as exact as grams.

One thing to know before you use the number: King Arthur lists 198 g per cup; USDA FoodData Central rounds granulated sugar to 200 g per cup. The 2 g difference is rounding, not a real disagreement.

Spooned and levelled means spooning granulated sugar loosely into the cup and sweeping the top flat with a knife, never scooping the cup through the bag. Scooping packs the ingredient down and can add 10–20% to the weight, which is exactly how a recipe ends up with too much of something and nobody knows why.

That is also why every number here carries the word approximate. A cup is a volume measure being used as a stand-in for weight, and the two only line up when the filling method matches the published one. If the dish is forgiving — a stew, a marinade, a crumble topping — the cup figure is plenty. If it is a cake, a loaf of bread, or anything where a 10% error changes the texture, weigh the ingredient on a kitchen scale and skip the cups entirely.

Worked examples

The table is useful, but recipes do not come in kilograms. Here are three ordinary situations where the kilogram-to-cups figure does real work.

Example 1 — a cake from a 1 kg bag

A sponge cake calls for 2 cups of granulated sugar. Two cups weigh 396 g, so from a 1 kg bag you use just over a third of it and have about 3.05 cups left — enough for a second, smaller bake. If you are making the same cake again next weekend, one bag covers roughly 2.5 two-cup cakes before it runs out.

Example 2 — doubling a cookie batch

Your cookie recipe uses 1½ cups of granulated sugar (297 g) and you want to double it for a school bake sale. Doubled, that is 3 cups, or 594 g — about 59% of a kilogram bag. Weighing 594 g straight from the bag is faster and more accurate than scooping three cups, and you still have 2.05 cups in reserve.

Example 3 — a glaze measured in grams

A glaze recipe lists 100 g of granulated sugar rather than cups. That is 0.51 cups — just over half a cup, or about 8.1 tablespoons. Measuring the glaze by weight avoids the common mistake of packing a cup too firmly and ending up with a glaze that sets too sweet and too thick.

Measuring it well, and storing what is left

The most common mistake with granulated sugar is the packing question. Spooned and levelled is the method behind every figure here, and changing the method changes the weight. A cup scooped hard from the bag can weigh 10–20% more than a spooned-and-levelled cup, which in a cake means a sweeter, denser crumb and a bake that browns too fast. The second mistake is measuring over the mixing bowl: spill a little extra in and there is no way to take it back. Measure over the bag or a plate instead.

Storage matters once you have opened a kilogram pack. Airtight container, cool and dry, indefinitely. A kilogram is a lot of granulated sugar for a home kitchen — for most households it will last weeks or months — so decanting it into a sealed container on the day you open it is worth doing: it keeps the weight stable, keeps moisture out, and means the cup you measure in a month weighs the same as the cup you measure today.

Without a scale, tablespoons are the fallback: one kilogram of granulated sugar is about 81 level tablespoons, and one cup is 16 tablespoons, so you can build any amount in the table above from spoonfuls. It is slower than weighing, and each spoonful adds its own small error, but for soups, marinades, and everyday cooking it is close enough. For baking, borrow or buy a scale — it is the single cheapest upgrade to a home baker's accuracy.

Buying it by the kilogram

Shops sell granulated sugar by weight, and the kilogram is the standard pack size in most countries outside the United States. Knowing that the pack holds about 5.05 cups lets you compare it honestly against smaller packs: a 500 g pack is 2.53 cups, so if the kilogram costs less than twice the 500 g price, it is the better buy — provided you will use it before it goes stale. For granulated sugar, sweetening drinks, baking, preserving and candy-making. Work out how many cups your household actually uses in a month before choosing the big pack; a bargain that ends up thrown away is not a bargain. And remember the figure is approximate: if the recipe on the packet is written in grams, follow the grams. Cups are a translation, not the original.

Frequently asked questions

How many cups are in 1 kg of granulated sugar?

About 5.05 cups. One cup of granulated sugar weighs 198 g spooned and levelled (King Arthur Baking), and 1,000 g ÷ 198 g = 5.05 cups. The figure is approximate, because how firmly the cup is filled changes the weight slightly.

How many grams is 1 cup of granulated sugar?

198 g, spooned and levelled, according to King Arthur Baking. That is the single number every conversion on this page is built from — multiply it by the number of cups for grams, or divide a gram weight by it for cups.

Is 5.05 cups per kilogram exact?

No — it is a close, practical figure. Cup weights vary with filling method, humidity, and how settled the ingredient is in the pack. For everyday cooking the error is small enough not to matter. For baking, brines, or anything where a 10% error changes the result, weigh the ingredient on a kitchen scale instead of converting.

How many cups are in 500 g of granulated sugar?

About 2.53 cups — half the kilogram figure. The same division applies: 500 g ÷ 198 g per cup = 2.53 cups. The conversion table near the top of the page lists 100 g, 250 g, 750 g, 1.5 kg, and 2 kg as well.

Why do different sources give different cup weights for granulated sugar?

King Arthur lists 198 g per cup; USDA FoodData Central rounds granulated sugar to 200 g per cup. The 2 g difference is rounding, not a real disagreement. This page uses the primary published figure and states it plainly, so you can adjust if your recipe book uses a different one.

Related conversions

More conversions for granulated sugar, and the tools that do this arithmetic for you: