120 Grams of Butter to Cups
½ cup in a US cup — and what that looks like with a measuring spoon
120 grams of butter is ½ cup in a US cup. In the kitchen that is ½ cup plus 1¼ teaspoons.
Grams weigh and cups fill, so the answer only exists once you say what is in the cup. A US cup of butter weighs 227 g, and every figure on this page comes from that one number.
It also depends on whose cup you mean, though not much at this weight. A 250 ml metric cup — the standard in the UK, Australia, New Zealand and Canada — holds about 5.7% more than the 236.6 ml US cup, but 120 g of butter still rounds to ½ cup in both: 0.53 US cups against 0.50 metric.
Round to the nearest measure in a standard cup set — ½ cup — and you are 6 g under, about 5% of the amount.
120 g of butter in each cup standard
| Cup standard | Size | Grams per cup | Cups |
|---|---|---|---|
| US customary | 236.6 ml | 227 g | ½ |
| Metric (UK, AU, NZ, CA) | 250 ml | 240 g | ½ |
| Imperial (older UK) | 284 ml | 273 g | ½ |
A recipe that says "cups" without saying which one is almost always American. At 120 g it barely matters for butter — both cups round to the same measure — but on a larger batch the 5.7% gap compounds.
How to measure 120 g of butter without scales
Butter is easiest to measure from the wrapper rather than in a cup. A US stick is 113 g — half a cup — and the wrapper is printed in tablespoons, each 14.2 g.
Salted and unsalted butter weigh the same, so the conversion does not change. Softened or melted butter fills a cup slightly differently, but the weight in the recipe is the weight either way.
- Build it as ½ cup plus 1¼ teaspoons rather than guessing at ½ of a cup.
- 120 g is 8.46 tablespoons of butter, at 14.19 g per tablespoon.
- A digital scale removes the question entirely, and costs less than the ingredients it saves.
Nearby amounts of butter
| Grams | US cups | Metric cups | Tablespoons |
|---|---|---|---|
| 100 g | ½ | ⅜ | 7.05 |
| 110 g | ½ | ½ | 7.75 |
| 113 g | ½ | ½ | 7.96 |
| 115 g | ½ | ½ | 8.11 |
| 125 g | ½ | ½ | 8.81 |
| 130 g | ⅝ | ½ | 9.16 |
| 140 g | ⅝ | ⅝ | 9.87 |
| 150 g | ⅔ | ⅝ | 10.57 |
120 g of something else
The same 120 g is a different number of cups for every ingredient, because they do not weigh the same for their size.
| Ingredient | Grams per US cup | US cups |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 125 g | 0.96 |
| Sugar | 200 g | ⅝ |
| Water | 237 g | ½ |
| Oats | 90 g | 1⅓ |
120 grams in other units
| Unit | Amount |
|---|---|
| US cups | ½ |
| Tablespoons | 8.46 |
| Teaspoons | 25.37 |
| Ounces (weight) | 4.23 oz |
| Pounds | 0.26 lb |
| Millilitres (volume it fills) | 125 ml |
Frequently asked questions
How many cups is 120 grams of butter?
120 grams of butter is ½ cup in a US cup, based on 227 g per cup. A 250 ml metric cup rounds to the same ½ cup.
What is the easiest way to measure 120 g of butter?
½ cup plus 1¼ teaspoons — built from a standard cup and spoon set. Butter is easiest to measure from the wrapper rather than in a cup. A US stick is 113 g — half a cup — and the wrapper is printed in tablespoons, each 14.2 g.
Is 120 g of butter the same in cups in the UK?
Near enough. A UK, Australian, New Zealand or Canadian metric cup is 250 ml against the US cup's 236.6 ml, so the exact answers differ — 0.53 US cups against 0.50 metric — but both round to ½ cup, and at this weight you can use either.
Can I just use ½ cup instead?
½ cup of butter weighs about 114 g, so you would be 6 g under. For a sauce or a soup that is fine; for a cake, where the flour-to-liquid ratio sets the crumb, weigh it.
How many ounces is 120 grams?
120 grams is 4.23 ounces by weight. Unlike cups, that answer is the same whatever you are measuring — ounces weigh, fluid ounces fill, and they are not the same unit.