Sticks of Butter: Cups, Tablespoons & Grams
1 stick of butter is 1/2 cup, which is 8 tablespoons or 113 grams (also 4 ounces). Two sticks make a full cup. Convert any amount with the butter converter.
Quick answer: 1 stick = 1/2 cup = 8 tbsp = 113 g = 4 oz · 2 sticks = 1 cup = 227 g
Butter stick conversion chart
US butter is sold in quarter-pound sticks, and the wrapper is marked in tablespoons for exactly this reason. Here is every common amount from half a stick up to a full pound.
| Sticks | Cups | Tablespoons | Grams | Ounces |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1/2 stick | 1/4 cup | 4 tbsp | 57 g | 2 oz |
| 1 stick | 1/2 cup | 8 tbsp | 113 g | 4 oz |
| 2 sticks | 1 cup | 16 tbsp | 227 g | 8 oz |
| 3 sticks | 1 1/2 cups | 24 tbsp | 340 g | 12 oz |
| 4 sticks | 2 cups | 32 tbsp | 454 g | 16 oz |
Four sticks is one full pound of butter, the standard American box. Each stick weighs a quarter pound, so the box math is clean: 4 sticks, 2 cups, 1 lb.
European butter blocks are sold by weight
Outside the US, butter usually comes as a solid block measured in grams, not pre-cut sticks. A common European block is 250 g, which works out to about 2.2 US sticks, or a cup plus a couple of tablespoons. A 200 g block is close to 1.75 sticks. When an American recipe calls for sticks and all you have is a metric block, weigh out the grams from the chart above rather than eyeballing a cut.
Softened, melted, or cold, the weight is the same
Butter does not change weight when it softens or melts, so 113 g is 113 g whether the stick is fridge-cold or spreadable. Volume can shift slightly as it warms, which is one more reason bakers trust the scale. For grams by the cup and the sourcing behind these figures, see butter cups to grams.
Measuring butter without a scale
If you have no scale, the stick wrapper is your ruler. Most US sticks are printed with tablespoon marks along the length, each line one tablespoon, so half a stick is the 4-tablespoon mark and a whole stick is 8. For a recipe needing 6 tablespoons, cut at the sixth mark. When the butter came from a tub or a metric block instead, pack it firmly into a dry measuring cup and level the top; a packed 1/2 cup is one stick's worth. The water displacement trick also works: fill a cup to a known line, add butter until the water rises by the volume you need, then pour off.
Convert sticks, cups, tablespoons, grams, and ounces of butter instantly with the free baking converter.