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This article was reviewed by Ollie George Cigliano and by wikiHow staff writer, Janice Tieperman. Ollie George Cigliano is a Private Chef, Food Educator, and Owner of Ollie George Cooks, based in Long Beach, California. With over 20 years of experience, she specializes in utilizing fresh, fun ingredients and mixing traditional and innovative cooking techniques. Ollie George holds a BA in Comparative Literature from The University of California, Berkeley, and a Nutrition and Healthy Living Certificate from eCornell University.
This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources.
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Tablespoons are an essential unit of measurement used in many recipes, but they aren’t synonymous with a typical spoon that you use during your meals. We’ll walk you through some easy substitutions to use if you don’t have a tablespoon on hand, along with how to properly measure both dry and wet ingredients using this tool. We’ve also included a list of tablespoon weights for common dry ingredients you may come across in your future recipes.
Things You Should Know
- One tablespoon is equal to 3 teaspoons, or 1/16 of a cup.
- If you’re measuring liquids, 1 tbsp equals around 15 mL.
- Roughly approximate the tip of your thumb to be the same size as a 1 tbsp portion.
Steps
How to Properly Measure a Tablespoon
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![Step 1 Dry ingredients]()
Dry ingredients Tilt the container of your dry ingredient and stick the tablespoon inside, lifting up enough of the ingredient so the spoon is overflowing. Then, use the blunt edge of a butter knife (or another flat item, like a chopstick), to level off the overflowing ingredient.[7]- Use this process when measuring dry ingredients with any type of measuring cup.
- Alternative: Use a kitchen scale to get the most accurate measurements for your dry ingredients.
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![Step 2 Wet ingredients]()
Wet ingredients Pour the wet ingredient directly into your tablespoon until it’s completely full. You don’t need to bother with a liquid measuring cup when you only need a small amount of a certain ingredient.[8]
Community Q&A
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QuestionShould I use a level or a heaped tablespoon?
Community AnswerA level spoon is generally recommended unless your recipe specifies otherwise. -
QuestionWhat do T, tb, tbs, and tbsp stand for?
Community AnswerAll of these are common abbreviations for "tablespoon." Be sure to read carefully, however, as "t" and "tsp" stand for teaspoon, a much smaller measurement! -
QuestionWhat is 12.5 ml compared to a teaspoon?
Community AnswerOne teaspoon = 5 ml, so 12.5 ml = 2 1/2 teaspoons, or nearly a tablespoon.
Tips
References
- ↑ https://www.thekitchn.com/do-you-know-how-many-teaspoons-are-in-a-tablespoon-223429
- ↑ https://www.exploratorium.edu/food/measurements
- ↑ https://www.exploratorium.edu/food/measurements
- ↑ https://www.seriouseats.com/how-to-measure-wet-dry-ingredients-for-baking-accurately-best-method
- ↑ https://www.siue.edu/campus-recreation/facilities/EstimatingPortionSizesUsingYourHands.pdf
- ↑ https://www.piqua.org/Downloads/servingsize.pdf
- ↑ https://www.seriouseats.com/how-to-measure-wet-dry-ingredients-for-baking-accurately-best-method
- ↑ https://www.seriouseats.com/how-to-measure-wet-dry-ingredients-for-baking-accurately-best-method
About This Article
The most accurate way to measure a tablespoon is to use a measuring spoon. If you don't have a measuring spoon, you can use measurement equivalents. For example, 3 level teaspoons makes 1 tablespoon. 1/16 of a cup is also equivalent to 1 tablespoon, and 15 ml of any liquid is equal to 1 tablespoon. If you don't have any measuring tools, try eyeballing it to estimate. 2 tablespoons of a dry ingredient will be approximately the size of a ping pong ball, and 2 tablespoons of liquid will fill a cupped hand. If you want to learn how to use bottle caps to measure out tablespoons, keep reading the article!
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