One stick of butter is 118 millilitres. That is the fixed conversion, because a US stick of butter is a standardised block: half a cup, 8 tablespoons, 4 ounces and 113 g. The rest of this guide covers the amounts you actually meet — half a stick for a small batch of cookies, two sticks for a cake, a whole pound for pastry — plus worked examples and the softened-versus-melted question that decides whether the number even applies.

1 Stick of Butter in Millilitres conversion table

Stick Of Butter Millilitres
0.5 sticks of butter 59 millilitres
1 stick of butter 118 millilitres
1.5 sticks of butter 177 millilitres
2 sticks of butter 236 millilitres
3 sticks of butter 354 millilitres
4 sticks of butter 472 millilitres
6 sticks of butter 708 millilitres
8 sticks of butter 944 millilitres

Quick reference:

  • 0.5 sticks of butter = 59 millilitres
  • 1.5 sticks of butter = 177 millilitres
  • 3 sticks of butter = 354 millilitres
  • 6 sticks of butter = 708 millilitres

How to convert stick of butters to millilitress

The conversion is fixed because the product is standardised. One US stick of butter is 113 g (113.5 g unrounded), half a cup, 8 tablespoons and 4 ounces, and those four numbers are the same for every brand of American butter. The practical method is to use the wrapper: cut along the printed tablespoon lines for any amount up to a stick, and count whole sticks beyond that. A pound of butter is four sticks (454 g); a cup is two sticks (227 g). The traps are the exceptions. European butter comes in 250 g blocks with no stick markings, so convert by weight (250 g is about 2.2 sticks). Whipped butter is aerated and cannot be converted by volume at all — weigh it. And melted butter should be measured by weight too, because its volume changes as it cools.

Why this conversion comes up

The practical reason to learn this conversion is speed. Butter is the ingredient you reach for while something else is already in the oven, and you do not want to be doing arithmetic with greasy hands. Knowing that a stick is 8 tablespoons means you can cut a stick in half for 4 tablespoons, or use the wrapper's markings to measure a quarter-stick, without washing a measuring cup. The worked examples below show the shortcuts that experienced bakers actually use.

Worked examples

Halving a pastry recipe

A pastry recipe calls for 1 stick of butter of cold butter and you are halving it: 0.5 stick of butter, which is 59 millilitres. Pastry butter must stay cold — cut it from the fridge, keep the pieces large, and work quickly. Warm pastry butter melts into the flour instead of staying in layers, and the pastry comes out tough.

A European recipe in an American kitchen

A recipe from a European blog calls for 2 stick of butter of butter and you buy butter in sticks. 2 stick of butter is 236 millilitres. European recipes usually give butter in grams, so weigh it on a scale rather than converting to sticks — the scale is exact, and a 250 g European block is about 2.2 sticks, which is an awkward number to cut.

Brown butter for a sauce

A brown-butter sauce recipe starts with 1 stick of butter of butter, melted and cooked until nutty. 1 stick of butter is 118 millilitres. Measure the butter solid before melting: melted butter loses water as it browns, so a cup of melted butter is not the same as a cup of solid butter, and the sauce will be short on fat if you measure after melting.

Practical guidance

Measuring without the right tool is the third use, and the most common in a real kitchen. No measuring jug? A tablespoon is 14.79 ml and a teaspoon is 4.93 ml, so any volume can be built from spoons. No scale? A cup of water weighs 237 g, so a kitchen jug marked in millilitres doubles as a rough scale for water-based liquids. These are workarounds, not replacements, but they get dinner cooked when the proper tool is in the dishwasher.

Common mistakes to avoid

  1. Packing softened butter into a measuring cup. Packing softened butter into a measuring cup. Soft butter traps air, so the cup holds less butter than it looks like. Cut cold butter with a knife along the wrapper markings, or weigh it.
  2. Swapping salted and unsalted butter without adjusting the salt. Swapping salted and unsalted butter without adjusting the salt. The weight is identical, but salted butter adds about a quarter-teaspoon of salt per stick. If the recipe was written for unsalted butter, reduce the added salt.
  3. Measuring melted butter by volume as if it were solid. Measuring melted butter by volume as if it were solid. Melted butter loses water and takes up less volume, so a cup measured after melting is less butter than the recipe expects. Measure solid, then melt.
  4. Using whipped butter in a recipe written for regular butter. Using whipped butter in a recipe written for regular butter. Whipped butter is aerated, so a cup of it weighs far less than a cup of regular butter. Weigh whipped butter, or do not substitute it in baking.

Frequently asked questions

What is a stick of butter in Europe?

Europe does not sell butter in sticks. European butter comes in 250 g blocks, which is about 2.2 US sticks, or about 1.1 cups. If you are following an American recipe in Europe, weigh the butter on a scale — 113 g per stick — rather than trying to cut a block into sticks.

Can I substitute oil for butter using this conversion?

Not directly. Butter is about 80% fat and 20% water and milk solids, while oil is 100% fat, so a straight swap changes the result. The usual rule is 3/4 cup of oil per cup of butter, and the recipe will be different — no flakiness in pastry, a moister crumb in cakes. Use a substitution guide rather than this conversion.

How do I measure half a stick of butter?

Cut the stick in half along the wrapper markings — half a stick is 4 tablespoons, a quarter-cup and about 57 g. The wrapper of a standard stick is printed with tablespoon lines, so you can cut exactly 1, 2, 4 or 8 tablespoons without a measuring tool.

Does whipped butter convert the same way?

No. Whipped butter is aerated, so a cup of whipped butter weighs far less than a cup of regular butter. Never substitute whipped butter by volume in baking. Weigh it if you must use it, and expect a different texture.

How many grams is 1 stick of butter?

One US stick of butter is 113 g (113.5 g precisely, rounded to 113 g on the wrapper). It is also half a cup, 8 tablespoons and 4 ounces. A whole pound of butter is four sticks, or 454 g.

Related links