How many ounces in a tablespoon( tbsp. to oz)

Are you trying to figure out how many ounces are in a tablespoon? Keep reading this article and get to know these conversions, and help yourself in the kitchen when you ever need to use these cooking measurements, especially while baking or making any recipe.

Sometimes we may encounter ingredients mentioned in terms of volume, that is, a tablespoon, and one likes to convert it in terms of weight. In that case, converting it knowing the formula becomes easy.

An idea of how many oz in a tablespoon or tablespoons in an oz makes cooking easier and leads to better results.

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Where do we use tablespoons and ounces?

Many a time, recipe instructions mention dry and liquid ingredients in tablespoons, and if we know their conversion formulas, it is pretty simple.

For example, butter is a dry ingredient, and most of the time, for a smaller quantity, it is mentioned in ounces(oz); peanut butter is mentioned in a tablespoon for small amounts in recipe instructions.

Another example is where sugar is mentioned in tablespoons, and you may need to convert them into ounces. Reading this entire post helps you with dry as well as liquid ingredients.

Liquid ingredients such as oil, water, milk and other liquids are measured in fluid ounces (fl oz).

If you need to measure these ingredients in terms of weight, then it is better to use a food scale to quickly know the weight of these dry ingredients.

In case you do not have a scale, conversions using these simple formulas or learning conversion techniques can help us in the kitchen when cooking regularly.

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What is an ounce?

An ounce is a unit to measure the weight, mass or volume and uses the abbreviation ‘oz’.

An ounce is derived from the Spanish or Italian word “onza” and is represented to show weights of quantities that are small.

For example, the weight of dry ingredients such as a handful of almonds is represented as ‘oz’.

Another example is measuring the volume of liquid ingredients such as oil or milk represented in terms of volume. We need to measure them in fluid ounces(fl. oz.).

For example, a tablespoon of water = 0.5 fl. oz. (to measure water in terms of volume, i.e. in fluid ounces)

Do not confuse ounces and fluid ounces as an ounce is the unit of mass, and a fluid ounce is a unit measure of volume, but sometimes both are represented as ounces to avoid confusion.

What is a tablespoon?

A tablespoon measures the volume unit in U.S customary measurement system, metric and the Imperial System. It is generally used to measure ingredients in cooking.

One tablespoon is equal to 14.8 ml to measure its water equivalent, but considering it as 15 ml or 0.5 fluid ounce for a tablespoon is the usual norm as per the nutrition labelling in the U.S.

Weight measurement in ounces for a tablespoon of water.

1 U.S tablespoon = ~ 0.5 ounces(oz) or ½ fluid ounce or 0.5 fluid ounce

Formula to calculate how many ounces in a tablespoon

1 tablespoon = 0.5 ounces or 0.5 oz or half-ounce (to measure weight)

Therefore, to calculate ounces from a tablespoon, we use,

Multiplication method:

Ounces(oz) = tablespoon * 0.5

Division method:

Ounces = tbsp/2

For example,

1. To convert ¼ tablespoon to ounces, using the formula we get,

Oz = tbsp. * 0.5

     = ¼ * 0.5

      = 0.125 oz or ⅛ ounce

• To convert ½ tablespoon to oz, it is,

                ½ * 0.5 = ¼ ounce

• To convert 3 tablespoon to ounces, using the formula, we get

Oz = tbsp. * 0.5

        = 3 * 0.5

        = 1.5 oz or 1 ½ oz.

The data table below for tablespoon to oz conversions

U.S tbsp	oz	U.S tbsp	oz
1 tbsp	0.5 oz	9 tbsp	4.5 oz
2 tbsp	1 oz	10 tbsp	5 oz
3 tbsp	1.5 oz	11 tbsp	5.5 oz
4 tbsp	2 oz	12 tbsp	6 oz
5 tbsp	2.5 oz	13 tbsp	6.5 oz
6 tbsp	3 oz	14 tbsp	7 oz
7 tbsp	3.5 oz	15 tbsp	7.5 oz
8 tbsp	4 oz	16 tbsp	8 oz

Calculating values from tablespoons to ounces for butter

Below is an example of converting tablespoon to oz for any ingredient as the number of tablespoon increases.

1 tablespoon butter = 0.5 oz or ½ ounce

Therefore, for 2 tablespoon butter into oz,

Oz = tbsp. * 0.5

        2 * 0.5

=   1 oz

That is 2 tablespoons of butter equal to 1 oz in weight.

 Tbsp. to oz conversion table for butter in terms of their weights

Butter (U.S tbsp.)	Ounces(oz)	Butter (U.S tbsp.)	Ounces (oz)
1 tbsp	0.5 oz	17 tbsp	8.5 oz
2 tbsp	1 oz	18 tbsp	9 oz
3 tbsp	1.5	19 tbsp	9.5 oz
4 tbsp	2 oz	20 tbsp	10 oz
5 tbsp	2.5 oz	21 tbsp	10.5 oz
6 tbsp	3 oz	22 tbsp	11 oz
7 tbsp	3.5 oz	23 tbsp	11.5 oz
8 tbsp	4 oz	24 tbsp	12 oz
9 tbsp	4.5 oz	25 tbsp	12.5 oz
10 tbsp	5 oz	26 tbsp	13 oz
11 tbsp	5.5 oz	27 tbsp	13.5 oz
12 tbsp	6 oz	28 tbsp	14 oz
13 tbsp	6.5 oz	29 tbsp	14.5 oz
14 tbsp	7 oz	30 tbsp	15 oz
15 tbsp	7.5 oz	31 tbsp	15.5 oz
16 tbsp	8 oz	32 tbsp	16 oz

Do all the ingredients represent the same ounces for a tbsp?

No, different ingredients have different ounces in terms of their weight measurements.

For example, the weight of sugar and weight of flour is different in ounces(oz) for a tablespoon(tbsp),i.e.

1 tablespoon sugar = 0.365111 oz

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour = 0.27592 oz or 0.28 oz

Weight measurements are different for different ingredients because their densities vary, and there is a slight difference in their weights when we convert them from tablespoons to ounces.

Even liquid ingredients such as milk and oil have different ounces when converting them from tablespoon to ounces in terms of their weights.

For example,

 1 tablespoon milk = 0.537235 oz

1 tablespoon oil = 0.458997 oz

Generally, considering them as 0.5 oz for 1 tablespoon makes the measurements and conversions easy for any given ingredient and ignores their densities while cooking to avoid confusion.

How many fluid ounces in a tablespoon

Fluid ounces are a measure of volume to measure the liquid ingredients; for liquids, the unit is fl. oz. A tablespoon equals 0.5 fl. oz. or half fluid ounce(½ fl.oz.).

Remember that the liquid ingredient in the Imperial system to measure volume uses fl. oz.

1 tablespoon = 0.5 fl.oz

Now, two tablespoons equal 1 fl. oz; for three tablespoons, it is 1.5 fl. oz, and for four tablespoons, it is 2 fl. oz, and for five tablespoons, it is 2.5 fl. oz; for six tablespoons, it is 3 fl. oz.

Similarly, multiplying the number of tablespoons with 0.5 fl. oz gives the required number of fluid ounces for a given number of tbsps.

How many tablespoons in an ounce

We have seen how easy it is to convert into ounces from a tablespoon, and in the same way, we can alter and say how many tablespoons are in an ounce just by tweaking the formula a bit.

An ounce equals 2 U.S tablespoons.

Formula:

1 oz = 2 U.S tbsp

To calculate different tablespoons for different ounces,

Tbsp = oz * 2 tbsp

Check out an example below for 2 oz to tbsp

               2 * 2 tbsp

                = 4 tbsp

Data table for ounces to a tablespoon

Ounces (oz)	Tablespoons (tbsp)
¼ oz	½ tbsp
½ oz	1 tbsp
¾ oz	1.5 tbsp
1 oz	2 tbsp
1.5 oz	3 tbsp
2 oz	4 tbsp
2.5 oz	5 tbsp
3 oz	6 tbsp
3.5 oz	7 tbsp
4 oz	8 tbsp
5oz	10 tbsp
6 oz	12 tbsp

Similarly, to get the values for any tablespoons, we need to multiply the number of ounces by 2.

What to use, ounces or tablespoons or cups?

While using dry ingredients such as flour, sugar, butter, and coffee, using tablespoons or cups for small quantities is better.

When there is an increase in their amounts, measuring them in ounces gives the correct results.

 However, using cups or tablespoons to calculate simple and small ingredients is a better option while cooking.

Tablespoons or teaspoons work well for ingredients such as sugar, a small quantity of flour, baking soda, and baking powder; ounces work well when weighing meat such as chicken or other meats.

Another example is when you need a tablespoon of flour to coat the chicken; while frying chicken, 1 tablespoon or 2 tablespoon flour works well.

But when you need to use more flour, such as in baking, we cannot measure flour in tablespoons; using it in ounces or cups makes sense.

Therefore, using tablespoons or cups, or ounces is a personal choice and should go according to the amount of ingredients in the given recipe.

For volume measurements such as milk, oil etc., the United States generally uses fluid ounces, cups, quarts, gallons and pints.

Using tablespoons, fluid ounces or sometimes cups is a better choice for small quantities of liquids. Their metric equivalents, such as millilitres or litres, are also mentioned in edible fluids.

FAQ’S

I hope the conversions are easier to convert and have cleared most of the reader’s doubts, but if you have any queries, leave us your feedback, and we shall get back to you to solve them.