What Is Half of 2 Sticks of Butter?
Half of 2 sticks of butter is 1 stick of butter — that's ½ cup of butter.
Measure it as: 1/2 cup
How to measure 1 stick of butter
- With standard cups & spoons: 1/2 cup
- Tablespoon method: count out 8 level tablespoons. A cup is 16 tablespoons, so awkward cup fractions often come out to a clean number of spoons.
- By volume: 118 ml, or 4 fluid ounces — handy if you have a measuring jug.
- Using the wrapper: US butter sticks have tablespoon markings printed on the wrapper — 1 stick of butter is 8 tablespoons, so cut at the right marking.
Here's the math: 2 sticks of butter is 16 tablespoons. Take half of that and you get 8 tablespoons, which is 1 stick of butter. Working in spoons instead of cup fractions is the trick professional bakers use to scale recipes without special equipment.
1 stick of butter, every way
| Cups | ½ cup |
| Tablespoons | 8 tbsp |
| Grams | about 114 g |
| Ounces | about 4 oz |
Recipe Halving Chart: nearby amounts
| Original | Half | Measure it as |
|---|---|---|
| ½ stick of butter | ¼ stick of butter | 2 tbsp |
| 1 stick of butter | ½ stick of butter | 1/4 cup |
| 1½ sticks of butter | ¾ stick of butter | 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp |
| 2 sticks of butter | 1 stick of butter | 1/2 cup |
See the full recipe halving chart →
Frequently asked questions
How many tablespoons is 1 stick of butter?
1 stick of butter equals exactly 8 tablespoons. That's often the easiest way to measure it: just count out level tablespoons.
What is half of 2 sticks of butter in milliliters?
Half of 2 sticks of butter is about 118 ml (4 fl oz).
What's the easiest way to measure 1 stick of butter without special cups?
Use standard measures: 1/2 cup. Every part of that comes from a standard measuring cup and spoon set.