CupsToGrams kitchen card
1 US cup = 240 ml, 1 tablespoon = 15 ml, 1 teaspoon = 5 ml. Figures verified 26 July 2026. https://cupsngrams.com/shortening
Vegetable Shortening: Cups to Grams
Also called white vegetable fat.
One US cup (240 ml) of vegetable shortening weighs 205 grams; half a cup weighs 103 grams. A quarter cup is 51.3 grams, a tablespoon is 12.8 grams and a teaspoon is 4.27 grams. These numbers are for vegetable shortening only, because a cup measures volume, not weight.
205 g
1 cup of vegetable shortening = 205 g (US legal cup, 240 ml)
1 cup of vegetable shortening = 205 g (US legal cup, 240 ml)
Based on vegetable shortening at 205 g per US cup.
CupsToGrams, cupsngrams.com
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 follows it.
Vegetable Shortening conversion table
| Cups | Cups (decimal) | Grams | Tablespoons | Millilitres | Ounces (weight) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1/8 cup | 0.125 | 25.6 g | 2 tbsp | 30 ml | 0.904 oz |
| 1/4 cup | 0.25 | 51.3 g | 4 tbsp | 60 ml | 1.81 oz |
| 1/3 cup | 0.33 | 68.3 g | 5.33 tbsp | 80 ml | 2.41 oz |
| 1/2 cup | 0.5 | 103 g | 8 tbsp | 120 ml | 3.62 oz |
| 2/3 cup | 0.67 | 137 g | 10.7 tbsp | 160 ml | 4.82 oz |
| 3/4 cup | 0.75 | 154 g | 12 tbsp | 180 ml | 5.42 oz |
| 1 cup | 1 | 205 g | 16 tbsp | 240 ml | 7.23 oz |
| 1 1/4 cups | 1.25 | 256 g | 20 tbsp | 300 ml | 9.04 oz |
| 1 1/3 cups | 1.33 | 273 g | 21.3 tbsp | 320 ml | 9.64 oz |
| 1 1/2 cups | 1.5 | 308 g | 24 tbsp | 360 ml | 10.8 oz |
| 1 2/3 cups | 1.67 | 342 g | 26.7 tbsp | 400 ml | 12.1 oz |
| 1 3/4 cups | 1.75 | 359 g | 28 tbsp | 420 ml | 12.7 oz |
| 2 cups | 2 | 410 g | 32 tbsp | 480 ml | 14.5 oz |
| 2 1/4 cups | 2.25 | 461 g | 36 tbsp | 540 ml | 16.3 oz |
| 2 1/2 cups | 2.5 | 513 g | 40 tbsp | 600 ml | 18.1 oz |
| 3 cups | 3 | 615 g | 48 tbsp | 720 ml | 21.7 oz |
| 3 2/3 cups | 3.67 | 752 g | 58.7 tbsp | 880 ml | 26.5 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 vegetable shortening weighs about 7.23 oz. Why these two are not the same. Decimals for thirds are rounded (1/3 cup is 0.333 cups), and each linked amount opens a page comparing every ingredient at that measure.
Cite this: CupsToGrams, "Vegetable Shortening: Cups to Grams", https://cupsngrams.com/shortening, figures verified . The data is free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 with a link back to this page.
About measuring vegetable shortening
Vegetable shortening is a solid fat with air worked into it, which is exactly why measuring it by cup is unreliable: one US cup is about 205 grams, but that depends entirely on how firmly you press it in. Shortening is also the one fat where the old water displacement trick still earns its keep. Because it is essentially all fat with no water, it behaves differently from butter in pastry, producing a shorter, more tender crumb and a higher rise in biscuits, so swapping the two gram for gram changes both texture and the moisture balance of the dough.
Press shortening firmly into the cup with a spatula to drive out air pockets, or better, weigh it straight into the bowl.
How many grams is a cup of vegetable shortening?
One US cup (240 ml) of vegetable shortening weighs about 205 grams. Because a cup measures volume rather than weight, that figure is specific to vegetable shortening 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 vegetable shortening is about 51 grams
- 1/3 cup of vegetable shortening is about 68 grams
- 1/2 cup of vegetable shortening is about 103 grams
- 2/3 cup of vegetable shortening is about 137 grams
- 3/4 cup of vegetable shortening is about 154 grams
- 1 1/2 cups of vegetable shortening is about 308 grams
- 2 cups of vegetable shortening is about 410 grams
- 3 cups of vegetable shortening is about 615 grams
Working the other way round, 100 grams of vegetable shortening is about 0.488 cups, and 500 grams is about 2.44 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 vegetable shortening comes to about 214 grams, and the old British imperial cup of 284.1 ml holds about 243 grams. See cup sizes by country for every standard side by side.
Frequently asked questions
How many grams is 1 cup of shortening?
About 205 grams for a US cup, packed. Because shortening traps air, loosely spooned shortening can come in well under that, which is why weighing is more reliable here than for most fats.
Can I substitute butter for shortening by weight?
Not directly. Butter carries a meaningful amount of water while shortening does not, so swapping gram for gram adds water to the dough and makes pastry less tender. Recipes that call for shortening in pastry are relying on that difference.
How do I measure shortening without a scale?
Use water displacement: put a known volume of cold water in a measuring jug, spoon in shortening until the level rises by the amount you need, then pour the water off. It is fiddly, but it beats guessing how hard you packed the cup.
What else is vegetable shortening called?
Vegetable shortening is also called white vegetable fat. This site treats these names as the same product, so the figures on this page apply to all of them: one US cup weighs 205 grams.
Where this figure comes from
| Reference | Grams per US cup | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| USDA FoodData Central portion weights | 205 g | |
| This page | 205 g | The figure the converter above uses |
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.