To convert milliliters to US cups, divide by 236.588. 250 mL is 1.057 cups, 500 mL is 2.113 cups, and 1 liter is 4.227 cups.
Metric recipes, measuring jugs and drink bottles use mL. This page tells you how many US measuring cups that is, so you can use the cups in your drawer.
How to use the ml to cups converter
- Type the value in milliliters into the box. Decimals are fine.
- The result in cups updates as you type, along with the working.
- Need the other way? Switch the direction menu, or open the cups to ml converter.
Formula
A US customary cup is half a US pint, or 8 US fluid ounces: exactly 236.5882365 mL. Other "cups" exist: US nutrition labels use 240 mL, and Australia, New Zealand and Canada use a 250 mL metric cup.
Worked example
How many cups is a 500 mL bottle of stock?
- 500 ÷ 236.5882365 = 2.1134.
- Result: 2.11 cups, just over 2 cups (about 2 cups plus 1¾ tablespoons).
Milliliters to cups chart
Common values, rounded to 3 decimal places.
| Milliliters (mL) | Cups (cup) |
|---|---|
| 30 mL | 0.127 cup |
| 50 mL | 0.211 cup |
| 60 mL | 0.254 cup |
| 75 mL | 0.317 cup |
| 100 mL | 0.423 cup |
| 125 mL | 0.528 cup |
| 150 mL | 0.634 cup |
| 175 mL | 0.74 cup |
| 200 mL | 0.845 cup |
| 240 mL | 1.014 cup |
| 250 mL | 1.057 cup |
| 300 mL | 1.268 cup |
| 330 mL | 1.395 cup |
| 355 mL | 1.5 cup |
| 400 mL | 1.691 cup |
| 473 mL | 1.999 cup |
| 500 mL | 2.113 cup |
| 750 mL | 3.17 cup |
| 1,000 mL | 4.227 cup |
Translating metric recipes
If a recipe is Australian or New Zealand and says "1 cup = 250 mL", it was written with metric cups, and you can use US cups with only about a 5% difference. Recipes from the UK and Europe usually give mL directly, which is when this converter helps most.
Small amounts are easier in spoons: 15 mL is a tablespoon and 5 mL is a teaspoon (see tablespoons to teaspoons converter).
Quick mental math
Divide by 250 for a rough answer (it's about 5% low), or think "a quarter liter is about a cup."
Related conversions
Going the other way: cups to ml converter. Related pages: ounces to ml converter (fl oz to ml), ml to ounces converter (ml to fl oz), tablespoons to teaspoons converter. For other units in the same family, use the full cooking measurement converter or the volume converter.
Caveats and assumptions
- Uses the US customary cup (236.59 mL). For a 250 mL metric cup, divide mL by 250 instead.
- Results show up to 10 significant digits; the chart is rounded for reading. Keep full precision for engineering, medical or legal work.
Frequently asked questions
How many cups is 250 mL?
1.057 US cups, or exactly 1 metric cup.
How many cups is 1 liter?
4.227 US cups.
How many cups is 100 mL?
0.423 cup, a little under ½ cup (about 6¾ tablespoons).
Is 240 mL one cup?
It is the cup used on US nutrition labels. A US customary cup is 236.6 mL, so 240 mL is 1.014 cups.
Sources
- NIST Metric Kitchen — Cooking Measurement Equivalencies — household cup, spoon and fluid-ounce equivalents
- eCFR 21 CFR 101.9 — Nutrition labeling of food — label conventions: 1 cup = 240 mL, 1 fl oz = 30 mL, 1 tbsp = 15 mL, 1 tsp = 5 mL
- NIST SP 811 Appendix B.9 — Conversion factors — cup (US) to liter
This calculator gives estimates for planning and education. Check measurements, local codes, supplier specs and your school's official policy before relying on a result. See our disclaimer and how we build and check calculators.