There are 16 oz in a pound. That is the answer, and it is the conversion that holds the American weight system together: 1 pound equals 16 ounces, which equals 453.6 grams, which equals 0.454 kilograms. If a recipe calls for half a pound of butter, weigh 8 ounces. If it calls for a quarter pound of cheese, weigh 4 ounces. This page gives you the table, real cooking examples, and the warning that matters: an ounce of weight is not the same as a fluid ounce of volume, and confusing them is the most common weight mistake in baking.
The conversion table
| Pounds | Ounces | Grams | Kilograms |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1/8 lb | 2 oz | 56.7 g | 0.057 kg |
| 1/4 lb | 4 oz | 113.4 g | 0.113 kg |
| 1/2 lb | 8 oz | 226.8 g | 0.227 kg |
| 3/4 lb | 12 oz | 340.2 g | 0.340 kg |
| 1 lb | 16 oz | 453.6 g | 0.454 kg |
| 1 1/2 lb | 24 oz | 680.4 g | 0.680 kg |
| 2 lb | 32 oz | 907.2 g | 0.907 kg |
| 3 lb | 48 oz | 1,360.8 g | 1.361 kg |
| 5 lb | 80 oz | 2,268.0 g | 2.268 kg |
| 10 lb | 160 oz | 4,535.9 g | 4.536 kg |
The gram figures are rounded to one decimal place. A pound is defined as exactly 453.59237 grams, and an ounce is one sixteenth of that, or 28.3495 grams.
Worked example 1: butter by the ounce
A recipe calls for 8 ounces of butter, and your butter is sold in sticks. One stick is 4 ounces, so you need 2 sticks, which is half a pound, or 1 cup. If the recipe calls for 12 ounces, that is 3 sticks, which is three quarters of a pound, or 1 1/2 cups. The ounce-to-pound conversion is the one that ties butter together: a stick is 4 ounces, a pound is 16 ounces, and a cup is 8 ounces, so you can move between sticks, ounces, pounds, and cups without a scale, as long as you remember that 16 ounces make a pound.
Worked example 2: a recipe written in ounces only
An old recipe calls for 12 ounces of flour, 8 ounces of sugar, and 4 ounces of butter, and you want to know how many pounds that is. Twelve ounces is three quarters of a pound, 8 ounces is half a pound, and 4 ounces is a quarter of a pound. The total is 1 1/2 pounds of dry ingredients, which is 680 grams. Knowing the ounce-to-pound conversion lets you understand the recipe's proportions at a glance: the flour is three times the butter, and the sugar is twice the butter, which is the classic ratio for a sponge cake.
Worked example 3: buying meat by the pound
You are buying a joint of meat and the recipe calls for 2 pounds, but the shop sells it by the ounce on the label. Two pounds is 32 ounces, so look for a joint labelled 32 ounces, or 907 grams. If the joint is 40 ounces, that is 2 1/2 pounds, and you should add about 15 minutes to the cooking time. The weight matters because the cooking time is calculated from it, and the ounce-to-pound conversion is the bridge between the recipe and the shop label.
Method and source
An avoirdupois pound is defined as exactly 453.59237 grams, and an avoirdupois ounce is defined as one sixteenth of a pound, or 28.349523125 grams. The avoirdupois system is the one used for food and for most everyday weights: 16 ounces make a pound, and a pound is 453.6 grams. The troy ounce is different: it is 31.1035 grams, and 12 troy ounces make a troy pound, which is 373.24 grams, but the troy system is used only for precious metals, so you will never meet it in a recipe. If a recipe says "ounce" without any other word, it means an avoirdupois ounce, and 16 of them make a pound. A fluid ounce is a different thing entirely — it measures volume, not weight — and a fluid ounce of water weighs about an ounce, but a fluid ounce of honey weighs about 1.4 ounces.
Practical guidance
Buy a kitchen scale that reads grams, and use it for every recipe that gives a weight. Weighing is more accurate than measuring by volume, because a cup of flour can weigh anywhere from 120 to 142 grams depending on how you scoop it, while 227 grams is always 227 grams. When you convert ounces to pounds, divide by 16; when you convert pounds to ounces, multiply by 16. Remember the anchor numbers: 4 ounces is a quarter pound, 8 ounces is half a pound, 12 ounces is three quarters of a pound, and 16 ounces is a pound. And if a recipe gives a weight in ounces and a volume in cups for the same ingredient, trust the weight, because it is the more precise figure.
Frequently asked questions
How many ounces are in 1 pound?
There are 16 ounces in 1 avoirdupois pound. That is the standard conversion for food and cooking. A troy pound, used for precious metals, has 12 troy ounces, but you will never meet one in a recipe.
How many ounces are in half a pound?
There are 8 ounces in half a pound. Half a pound is also 226.8 grams and 0.227 kilograms. It is a common amount for butter, cheese, and chocolate in baking.
How many ounces are in a quarter pound?
There are 4 ounces in a quarter pound. A quarter pound is also 113.4 grams, and it is exactly one stick of butter, which is why butter wrappers are marked in ounces.
How many pounds are in 32 ounces?
There are 2 pounds in 32 ounces. Thirty-two divided by 16 is 2, so if a recipe gives an amount in ounces that adds up to 32, you can weigh it as 2 pounds instead.
Is an ounce the same as a fluid ounce?
No. An ounce measures weight, and a fluid ounce measures volume. A fluid ounce of water weighs about an ounce, which is where the confusion comes from, but a fluid ounce of honey weighs about 1.4 ounces, and a fluid ounce of oil weighs about 0.9 ounces. Never swap them.
How many ounces are in a kilogram?
There are 35.27 ounces in a kilogram. A kilogram is 1,000 grams, and 1,000 divided by 28.35 is 35.27, which is a useful figure when a European recipe gives a weight in grams and your scale reads ounces.
Why 16 ounces is not a round number
Sixteen ounces in a pound is not a round number, and that is the point: the pound was not designed for decimal arithmetic, it was designed for dividing. Sixteen divides evenly by 2, by 4, and by 8, so a pound splits cleanly into halves, quarters, and eighths, which are the fractions a cook actually uses. A kilogram divides by 10, which is cleaner for maths but less useful for splitting a lump of butter in half. That is why the ounce survives in American baking: a recipe that calls for 4 ounces is a quarter of a pound, and a recipe that calls for 8 ounces is half a pound, and those are amounts you can see and cut without a scale. The trade is that scaling a recipe by a third, or by 1.5, is harder in ounces than in grams, so use grams when the maths gets awkward.