Butter Measurements Decoded: Sticks, Cups, Tablespoons, and Grams

Few culinary ingredients cause as much international confusion as butter. If you open an American recipe, you will see measurements expressed in "sticks". Open a British or Australian cookbook, and measurements are in "grams" or "metric cups". Here is how to navigate all of them without second-guessing.

The US Butter Stick Architecture

In the United States, butter is sold by the pound (16 ounces / 453.6g), divided into 4 individually wrapped sticks:

• 1 Stick of Butter = 1/2 cup = 8 tablespoons = 4 ounces = 113.5 grams (often rounded to 113g or 114g)
• 2 Sticks of Butter = 1 full cup = 16 tablespoons = 8 ounces (1/2 pound) = 227 grams
• 4 Sticks of Butter = 2 full cups = 32 tablespoons = 16 ounces (1 pound) = 454 grams
• 1/2 Stick of Butter = 1/4 cup = 4 tablespoons = 2 ounces = 56.7 grams (57g)
• 1 Tablespoon of Butter = 1/8 stick = 0.5 ounce = 14.2 grams

US Butter vs. European & Metric Butter Blocks

In the UK, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand, butter is packaged in solid 250-gram or 500-gram blocks rather than individual 4-ounce sticks.

Furthermore, an Australian or Metric measuring cup holds 250 milliliters, meaning 1 Metric cup of butter equals 250 grams. That is slightly larger than the US cup of butter (227g). If you are preparing a French puff pastry or Viennoiserie that calls for precise fat-to-flour ratios, those 23 extra grams can alter your dough's lamination!