Cups to Milliliters Converter
Cups-to-milliliters is the bridge between American volume measuring and the metric kitchens of nearly every other country. One US legal cup equals exactly 236.5882365 ml under the NIST definition, which is the figure American food labels and cookbook authors use for nutrition facts panels and recipe metric annotations. The 236.588 ml conversion is what shows up on the back panel of every American can of soup, every box of pasta, and every nutrition app that translates a 'one cup' serving into a metric quantity for international users.
Calculator
1 × 236.588 = 236.5880
Formula
Multiply cups by 236.588 to get milliliters. One cup = 236.588 ml; two cups = 473.176 ml; three cups = 709.765 ml. The figure 240 ml is sometimes used as a rounded approximation in casual recipe contexts but the exact 236.588 figure is the regulatory standard used by the FDA for serving-size declarations on packaged American food.
Where You'll Use This
Adapting an American recipe for a European audience requires every cup measure to translate to millilitres. International food labeling regulations (EU, UK, Australia) require metric volume on all packaged products, so American food companies that export must run this conversion on every label. Coffee brewing recipes — pour-over, AeroPress, French press — often specify water volume in millilitres because the ratio precision (1:15, 1:17 water-to-coffee) requires exact metric measure rather than rounded American cups.
Reference Table
| From (Cups) | To (Milliliters) |
|---|---|
| 0.25 | 59.15 |
| 0.5 | 118.29 |
| 1 | 236.59 |
| 1.5 | 354.88 |
| 2 | 473.18 |
| 3 | 709.77 |
| 4 | 946.35 |
A Bit of History
The US legal cup of 240 ml (the round metric figure used in nutrition labeling) and the US customary cup of 236.588 ml (the household measure) coexist in American practice. The customary cup descends from the gallon system established by Queen Anne in 1707; 1 gallon = 4 quarts = 8 pints = 16 cups, with each cup defined as 8 fluid ounces. When the United States standardized its weights and measures with the metric system in the twentieth century, the conversion was pinned to the 236.5882365 figure used here.
FAQ
How many ml in a cup?
One US legal cup equals 236.588 milliliters. The rounded figure 240 ml is sometimes used in nutrition labeling for simplicity, but the precise NIST definition is 236.5882365 ml per cup.
How many ml in 2 cups?
Two US cups equals 473.176 ml. This is approximately a half-liter (500 ml), which is why home cooks adapting between metric and US cup measures often substitute one for the other in casual contexts.
Is the US cup the same as a metric cup?
No. A US cup is 236.588 ml; a metric cup (used in Australia and some Commonwealth countries) is exactly 250 ml. A 'metric cup' is essentially a quarter of a liter, while the US cup descends from the older gallon-based system.