Brown Sugar: Cups to Grams
One US cup (240 ml) of brown sugar weighs about 220 grams, based on its typical kitchen density. Convert any amount below, or use the reference table for common cup fractions.
220 g
1 cups of brown sugar, us legal cup
1 cup brown sugar = 220 g (cupsngrams.com)
Based on brown sugar at 220 g per US cup.
Cup standard: US legal cup (240 ml)
Baking from a UK, Australian or New Zealand recipe? Their cup is not the American one. Pick the standard your recipe assumes and every cup figure above follows it.
Brown Sugar conversion table
| Cups | Grams | Millilitres | Tablespoons | Ounces (weight) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1/4 cup | 55 g | 60 ml | 4 tbsp | 1.94 oz |
| 1/3 cup | 73.3 g | 80 ml | 5.33 tbsp | 2.59 oz |
| 1/2 cup | 110 g | 120 ml | 8 tbsp | 3.88 oz |
| 2/3 cup | 147 g | 160 ml | 10.7 tbsp | 5.17 oz |
| 3/4 cup | 165 g | 180 ml | 12 tbsp | 5.82 oz |
| 1 cup | 220 g | 240 ml | 16 tbsp | 7.76 oz |
| 1 1/2 cups | 330 g | 360 ml | 24 tbsp | 11.6 oz |
| 2 cups | 440 g | 480 ml | 32 tbsp | 15.5 oz |
| 2 1/2 cups | 550 g | 600 ml | 40 tbsp | 19.4 oz |
| 3 cups | 660 g | 720 ml | 48 tbsp | 23.3 oz |
Ounces here are ounces of weight (1 oz = 28.35 g), not fluid ounces. One US cup is 8 fluid ounces of volume whatever is in it, but what it weighs in ounces depends on the ingredient: a cup of brown sugar weighs about 7.76 oz. Why these two are not the same.
In grams, 1/4 cup of brown sugar is about 55 g, 1/3 cup is about 73 g, 1/2 cup is about 110 g, 2/3 cup is about 147 g, 3/4 cup is about 165 g, 1 cup is about 220 g, 1 1/2 cups is about 330 g, 2 cups is about 440 g and 3 cups is about 660 g.
A tablespoon of brown sugar is about 13.8 grams, and a teaspoon is about 4.6 grams.
About measuring brown sugar
Brown sugar is granulated sugar with molasses added back in, which makes it moist and clumpy. Recipes almost always mean packed brown sugar, and one US cup packed weighs about 220 grams. The molasses is what makes packing necessary: press it firmly into the cup so it holds the shape of the measure. Loosely spooned, the same cup might hold only 145 grams, a big enough gap to change how chewy your cookies turn out.
Recipes assume packed brown sugar. Press it firmly so it holds the shape of the cup.
How many grams is a cup of brown sugar?
One US cup (240 ml) of brown sugar weighs about 220 grams. Because a cup measures volume rather than weight, that figure is specific to brown sugar and does not transfer to any other ingredient: the same cup holds 125 grams of all-purpose flour and 340 grams of honey.
- 1/4 cup of brown sugar is about 55 grams
- 1/3 cup of brown sugar is about 73 grams
- 1/2 cup of brown sugar is about 110 grams
- 2/3 cup of brown sugar is about 147 grams
- 3/4 cup of brown sugar is about 165 grams
- 1 1/2 cups of brown sugar is about 330 grams
- 2 cups of brown sugar is about 440 grams
- 3 cups of brown sugar is about 660 grams
Working the other way round, 100 grams of brown sugar is about 0.455 cups, and 500 grams is about 2.27 cups.
Does it matter which cup my recipe means?
It does, though less than the ingredient itself. This page uses the US legal cup of 240 ml. An Australian metric cup is 250 ml, so a metric cup of brown sugar comes to about 229 grams, and the old British imperial cup of 284.1 ml holds about 260 grams. See cup sizes by country for every standard side by side.
Frequently asked questions
How many grams is 1 cup of packed brown sugar?
One US cup of firmly packed brown sugar is about 220 grams. Loosely spooned it can be as little as 145 grams, so packing matters.
Is light and dark brown sugar the same weight?
Yes, near enough. Dark brown sugar simply has more molasses, so the weight per packed cup is essentially the same at around 220 grams.
Why does my brown sugar cup vary so much?
Because of the molasses, brown sugar traps air unless pressed. A packed cup holds far more than a loose one, which is why recipes and CupsToGrams assume packed.
Where this figure comes from
We have not yet found a published reference that states a weight for a cup of brown sugar. The 220 grams on this page follows the calibration the rest of the site is built on, with butter at 227 grams per cup, water at 240, all-purpose flour at 125 and granulated sugar at 200. Treat it as a good working figure rather than a cited one. If you have a better source, tell us and we will check it and credit you.
Published figures for the same ingredient vary between references anyway, because how an ingredient is packed changes what a cup of it weighs. Treat any cup figure as accurate to within a few percent, and weigh on a scale when a recipe is sensitive. Our full approach is on the methodology page.
Figures last verified . Compiled by the CupsToGrams editorial team at FusionStudios. Spotted a value that looks off? Tell us.