One tablespoon of yogurt weighs 15.3 g (spooned and levelled, USDA). Plain whole-milk yogurt is one of the most useful spoon-measured ingredients in the kitchen: it thins a sauce, tenderises a marinade, lightens a cake, and stands in for sour cream, all from the same tub. Its tablespoon weight sits close to milk and buttermilk, which makes sense — yogurt is essentially cultured milk, thickened by fermentation rather than by fat. The figure matters when a recipe calls for a few tablespoons to adjust a batter, when you are tracking protein and calories, or when you are swapping yogurt for another dairy ingredient. All weights on this page are approximate; Greek yogurt is thicker and slightly denser, so weigh it when precision matters.
How much does 1 tablespoon of yogurt weigh?
One level tablespoon of yogurt weighs 15.3 g, spooned and levelled, according to USDA. That is the headline number, but a single tablespoon is rarely the whole story — most recipes use several spoonfuls, or a fraction of a cup, so the table below gives the weights you will actually reach for, from a teaspoon up to a full cup. Every figure is derived from the same source value of 245 g per cup, so the whole table is consistent. Treat all of these as approximate: spooned and levelled is a technique, not a machine setting, and two cooks measuring the same ingredient can differ by a gram or two per spoonful. When the recipe matters, weigh the ingredient on a kitchen scale instead.
| Amount | Weight (approx.) |
| --- | --- |
| 1 teaspoon | 5.1 g |
| 1 tablespoon | 15.3 g |
| 2 tablespoons | 30.6 g |
| 3 tablespoons | 45.9 g |
| 1/4 cup (4 tbsp) | 61.2 g |
| 1/2 cup (8 tbsp) | 122.5 g |
| 3/4 cup (12 tbsp) | 183.8 g |
| 1 cup (16 tbsp) | 245 g |
A useful rule of thumb: there are 3 teaspoons in a tablespoon and 16 tablespoons in a cup, so you can move between any of these measures by multiplying or dividing. If a recipe calls for 2 teaspoons and you only have a tablespoon measure, that is two-thirds of a tablespoon — about 10.2 g. If a recipe calls for a quarter cup and you only have a tablespoon, that is 4 level tablespoons. Keep the tablespoons to grams converter open while you cook and you will never need to do the arithmetic in your head.
Worked examples
A yogurt marinade for chicken
A marinade for four chicken breasts uses 6 tablespoons of plain yogurt whisked with lemon juice, garlic and spices — about 92 g. The weight matters because the marinade needs to coat the chicken evenly without drowning it: too much yogurt and the coating slides off in the pan, too little and the acid and spices never reach the meat. Weighing 92 g into the bowl is quicker than counting spoonfuls, and it lets you scale the marinade for a larger batch without guessing. The yogurt's lactic acid tenderises the chicken gently over a few hours, which is why yogurt marinades are the standard for tandoori-style cooking.
Lightening a chocolate cake
A chocolate cake recipe calls for 4 tablespoons of yogurt in place of some of the butter — about 61 g — to keep the crumb moist while cutting the fat. The swap works because yogurt brings moisture and acidity without the saturated fat, and the acid reacts with the baking soda in the recipe to add lift. Measuring by weight keeps the batter's liquid balance exact: 61 g of yogurt is not the same as 61 g of butter in the finished cake, but the weight tells you exactly how much moisture you have added, which is what the baker needs to know. Get it wrong by a few tablespoons and the cake turns gummy in the middle.
A raita for a curry night
A raita for six needs about 3 tablespoons of yogurt per person, which is 18 tablespoons or roughly 275 g — a little more than one standard 200 g tub. That is the planning number that tells you to buy two tubs, not one. The yogurt is whisked with grated cucumber, mint and a pinch of salt, and the weight matters for consistency: a raita made with 275 g of yogurt is thick enough to spoon, while one made with a whole 500 g tub is a soup. If you are using Greek yogurt instead of plain, the same weight gives a thicker raita, so thin it with a tablespoon or two of water.
How to measure a tablespoon of yogurt correctly
Yogurt is measured spooned and levelled, and the method depends on which yogurt you have. Plain whole-milk yogurt pours slowly and levels itself in a tablespoon with a gentle shake; Greek yogurt is much thicker and needs to be spooned in and levelled with the back of a knife, pressing lightly to remove air pockets. Do not pack it hard — compressed yogurt weighs more than the recipe expects. For amounts above a few tablespoons, weigh it directly into the bowl: tare the bowl on the scale and spoon the yogurt in. This is faster, cleaner, and exact. The USDA figure of 15.3 g per tablespoon is for plain whole-milk yogurt; low-fat yogurt weighs almost the same, but Greek yogurt can weigh 17 g or more per tablespoon because the whey has been strained out, leaving a denser product. If you are using Greek yogurt in a recipe written for plain yogurt, weigh it rather than spooning it, and consider thinning it with a little water or milk to match the original consistency.
When the weight matters most
Yogurt's tablespoon weight matters most in baking, where it plays three roles at once: moisture, acidity and tenderness. The moisture keeps cakes and muffins soft for days; the acidity activates baking soda, giving lift without any extra leavening; and the fat and protein tenderise the crumb. Change the amount by a few tablespoons and you change all three, which is why recipes that rely on yogurt are sensitive to how it is measured. In savoury cooking the weight matters for marinades and sauces, where yogurt needs to coat evenly and where too much liquid makes a sauce thin. And for anyone tracking nutrition, the tablespoon weight is the bridge between the tub and the plate: a tablespoon of plain whole-milk yogurt is about 9 calories and 0.5 g of protein, numbers that only make sense once you know the gram weight behind the spoonful.
Common mistakes to avoid
The most common mistake is swapping Greek yogurt for plain yogurt spoon-for-spoon without adjusting. Greek yogurt is strained and much thicker, so the same volume weighs more and brings less water — a cake made with Greek yogurt in place of plain yogurt can come out dry and dense. Thin Greek yogurt with a tablespoon of water or milk per 100 g to match plain yogurt's consistency. The second mistake is adding yogurt to a boiling sauce, where it curdles just like sour cream; take the pan off the heat and temper it first. The third mistake is using sweetened or flavoured yogurt in a savoury recipe — the sugar changes the flavour and the browning. Finally, do not assume all yogurts weigh the same: a tablespoon of runny natural yogurt and a tablespoon of thick Greek yogurt can differ by 2 g, which adds up across a whole recipe.
Frequently asked questions
How many grams is 1 tablespoon of yogurt?
One tablespoon of plain whole-milk yogurt weighs 15.3 g, spooned and levelled, according to the USDA. One teaspoon weighs 5.1 g. These are approximate weights — Greek yogurt is denser at about 17 g per tablespoon, so weigh it for the most accurate result.
How many tablespoons of yogurt are in 100 g?
There are about 6.5 tablespoons in 100 g of plain yogurt (100 divided by 15.3 is 6.5). A standard 200 g tub holds about 13 tablespoons, and a 500 g tub holds about 33 tablespoons.
Can I use yogurt instead of sour cream?
Yes, 1:1 in most cases. Plain yogurt weighs 15.3 g per tablespoon against sour cream's 14.4 g, so the weights are close. Yogurt is tangier and leaner, which suits baking, dips and toppings, but it curdles more easily in hot sauces, so add it off the heat.
Can I use Greek yogurt instead of plain yogurt?
Yes, but adjust for thickness. Greek yogurt is strained, so it is denser and brings less water. For baking, thin it with about 1 tablespoon of water or milk per 100 g of Greek yogurt to match plain yogurt's consistency, and weigh it rather than measuring by volume.
How long does yogurt last once opened?
About 1 week in the fridge, sealed tightly. A little whey on the surface is normal — stir it back in. Discard the yogurt if it smells sharply sour, tastes bitter, or shows mould.
Related conversions
If you cook with this ingredient regularly, these pages will help: the tablespoons to grams converter for any amount, the cups to grams converter for larger quantities, and the full ingredient guide for storage, substitutes and the weight of a whole cup. You can also compare the cup weight on the Yogurt cups to grams page or work backwards from a gram amount on the Yogurt grams to cups page.
You may also want Sour Cream tbsp to grams, Yogurt ingredients, Yogurt cups to grams and Yogurt grams to cups.