What Is Half of ½ Cup?
Half of ½ cup is ¼ cup — that's 4 tablespoons.
Measure it as: 1/4 cup
How to measure ¼ cup
- With standard cups & spoons: 1/4 cup
- Tablespoon method: count out 4 level tablespoons. A cup is 16 tablespoons, so awkward cup fractions often come out to a clean number of spoons.
- By volume: 59 ml, or 2 fluid ounces — handy if you have a measuring jug.
- By weight (most accurate): see the gram table below for common ingredients.
Here's the math: ½ cup is 8 tablespoons. Take half of that and you get 4 tablespoons, which is ¼ cup. Working in spoons instead of cup fractions is the trick professional bakers use to scale recipes without special equipment.
¼ cup in grams
Volume-to-weight depends on the ingredient — a cup of flour weighs far less than a cup of honey. For ¼ cup:
| Ingredient | ¼ cup weighs about |
|---|---|
| All-purpose flour | 30 g |
| Granulated sugar | 50 g |
| Brown sugar (packed) | 55 g |
| Powdered sugar | 30 g |
| Butter | 57 g |
| Milk | 60 g |
| Water | 59 g |
| Vegetable oil | 55 g |
| Honey | 85 g |
Recipe Halving Chart: nearby amounts
| Original | Half | Measure it as |
|---|---|---|
| ¼ cup | ⅛ cup | 2 tbsp |
| ⅓ cup | ⅙ cup | 2 tbsp + 2 tsp |
| ⅜ cup | 3/16 cup | 3 tbsp |
| ½ cup | ¼ cup | 1/4 cup |
| ⅝ cup | 5/16 cup | 1/4 cup + 1 tbsp |
| ⅔ cup | ⅓ cup | 1/3 cup |
| ¾ cup | ⅜ cup | 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp |
See the full recipe halving chart →
Frequently asked questions
How many tablespoons is ¼ cup?
¼ cup equals exactly 4 tablespoons. That's often the easiest way to measure it: just count out level tablespoons.
What is half of ½ cup in milliliters?
Half of ½ cup is about 59 ml (2 fl oz).
What's the easiest way to measure ¼ cup without special cups?
Use standard measures: 1/4 cup. Every part of that comes from a standard measuring cup and spoon set.