mL to Grams Conversion

How to use this calculator

Enter the volume in millilitres (mL). Select the ingredient from the dropdown — each substance has a different density and the gram result will change accordingly. Press Calculate to see grams, ounces, pounds, and kilograms.

mL to grams: why density matters

Millilitres measure how much space a substance takes up. Grams measure how heavy it is. A given volume of honey weighs far more than the same volume of vegetable oil, because honey is denser.

The conversion formula is:

For water, density = 1.000 g/mL, so the numbers are identical. For everything else, you must use the correct density.

Ingredient	Density (g/mL)	100 mL = ? grams
Water	1.000	100.0 g
Whole Milk	1.030	103.0 g
Heavy Cream	1.040	104.0 g
Honey	1.360	136.0 g
Maple Syrup	1.320	132.0 g
Simple Syrup	1.200	120.0 g
Vegetable Oil	0.917	91.7 g
Olive Oil	0.914	91.4 g
Coconut Oil	0.925	92.5 g
Ethanol (alcohol)	0.789	78.9 g
All-Purpose Flour	0.593	59.3 g
White Sugar	0.800	80.0 g

Common mL to grams conversions for water

Because water is used as the baseline, its conversions are used in cooking, nutrition, and medicine:

Millilitres (mL)	Grams (g)	Ounces (oz)	Notes
5 mL	5 g	0.18 oz	1 teaspoon
15 mL	15 g	0.53 oz	1 tablespoon
30 mL	30 g	1.06 oz	1 fl oz
60 mL	60 g	2.12 oz	1/4 cup
120 mL	120 g	4.23 oz	1/2 cup
240 mL	240 g	8.47 oz	1 US cup
250 mL	250 g	8.82 oz	1 metric cup
500 mL	500 g	17.64 oz	1 US pint
1000 mL	1000 g	35.27 oz	1 litre

Converting mL to grams for oils

Cooking oils are lighter than water. This is why oil floats on water and why a cup of oil weighs less than a cup of water. All common cooking oils fall in the range of 0.910 to 0.930 g/mL.

Key reference points:

• 1 tablespoon (15 mL) of vegetable oil = 13.75 g
• 1 tablespoon of olive oil = 13.71 g
• 1 cup (240 mL) of vegetable oil = 220.1 g
• 1 cup of olive oil = 219.4 g

For most recipes, the difference between oil types is less than 2%, so using a single oil density is acceptable for practical cooking. The difference matters more when converting large quantities — 1 litre of olive oil (914 g) vs 1 litre of coconut oil (925 g) differs by 11 g.

Converting mL to grams for dairy

Dairy products are slightly denser than water because of dissolved proteins, sugars (lactose), and fats.

Product	Density (g/mL)	100 mL in grams
Whole milk (3.25% fat)	1.030	103 g
Skimmed milk	1.010	101 g
Heavy cream (36% fat)	1.040	104 g
Half-and-half	1.020	102 g
Buttermilk	1.030	103 g
Sour cream	1.050	105 g
Greek yogurt	1.100	110 g

For most recipes, using 1.0 g/mL for milk introduces an error of about 3%, which is within the normal tolerance of volumetric measuring cups anyway. Weighing dairy is more precise.

Converting mL to grams for honey, syrup, and other dense liquids

Dense liquids like honey and syrups contain dissolved sugars that significantly increase their density above water.

Honey: density ranges from 1.33 to 1.45 g/mL depending on moisture content. At 1.36 g/mL:

• 1 tablespoon (15 mL) of honey = 20.4 g
• 1 cup (240 mL) of honey = 326.4 g
• 1 kg of honey = 735 mL (about 3 US cups)

Maple syrup (Grade A amber): density 1.32 g/mL:

• 1 tablespoon of maple syrup = 19.8 g
• 1 cup of maple syrup = 316.8 g

Simple syrup (1:1 sugar to water): density approximately 1.20 g/mL:

• 1 cup of simple syrup = 288 g

Weighing honey and syrups by grams rather than measuring by volume reduces the error caused by the liquid sticking to measuring cups and spoons. A baker who “measures” 1 cup of honey by volume may actually be working with anywhere from 300 g to 340 g depending on how well they scrape the cup.

Converting mL to grams for flour and dry ingredients

Dry ingredients measured by volume have highly variable densities depending on how they were packed. The values in the calculator use standard “spooned and levelled” measurements:

Ingredient	Density (g/mL)	240 mL (1 cup) in grams
All-purpose flour	0.593	142 g
Bread flour	0.610	146 g
Cake flour	0.566	136 g
Whole wheat flour	0.620	149 g
White sugar	0.800	192 g
Brown sugar (packed)	0.960	230 g
Powdered sugar	0.481	115 g
Cocoa powder	0.540	130 g
Cornstarch	0.608	146 g

If you scoop flour directly from the bag, you can pack 20-30% more into the same volume. This is why professional baking recipes use grams rather than mL or cups for flour.

mL to grams in nutrition and food science

Food science and nutrition use mL to gram conversions routinely when calculating:

Calorie density: Oil provides about 9 kcal per gram. 15 mL of olive oil = 13.71 g x 9 = 123 kcal. Tracking calories from oils requires the mass, not just the volume.

Portion sizes: A 200 mL carton of orange juice contains about 200 g of liquid. If the nutrition label says 45 kcal per 100 g, the carton contains 90 kcal.

Beverage analysis: A standard drink in the US contains 14 g of pure alcohol. A 355 mL (12 fl oz) beer at 5% ABV contains 355 x 0.05 x 0.789 = 14.0 g of ethanol. The mL to grams conversion via ethanol density is central to alcohol unit calculations.