Convert tablespoons to teaspoons
Enter the number of tablespoons from your recipe and read how many teaspoons that makes. One tablespoon holds three teaspoons, so 2 tbsp come to six teaspoons. The field takes fractions straight from the recipe, and half a tablespoon is one and a half teaspoons.
What is a tablespoon and what is a teaspoon?
A tablespoon divides into three teaspoons. One tablespoon holds 15 millilitres and one teaspoon holds 5 millilitres.
Both units describe the capacity of a measuring spoon, and both took their name from a piece of cutlery[1]. In a recipe they mean a portion taken with a spoon from a measuring set and levelled off at the rim.
US food labelling law states both figures outright: a teaspoon means 5 millilitres, a tablespoon means 15 millilitres, one fluid ounce means 30 and a cup means 240[2].
Most places divide the tablespoon into three[3], and British recipes count the same way.
Australia counts differently. The teaspoon there holds the same 5 millilitres while the tablespoon holds 20, so four teaspoons go into one tablespoon[3].
You set the spoon with the Tablespoon type switch under the converter fields. The metric spoon is selected first, because it is the one a British, Irish or European recipe means.
How do you convert tablespoons to teaspoons? The formula and the fractions
Multiply the number of tablespoons by three.
The formula: teaspoons = tablespoons × 3 for the metric and the US customary spoon. The Australian spoon multiplies by 4.
Recipes also write tablespoons as fractions, because half a spoon and a quarter of a spoon come from the same measuring set.
The other direction is handled by the teaspoons to tablespoons converter. For the same portion in millilitres use the tablespoons to millilitres converter, and for a measure written in cups the cups to millilitres converter.
Why does the US spoon also divide into three?
The US teaspoon is defined as one third of the US tablespoon, so the division comes out whole whatever the spoon itself holds[1].
Both units come from the fluid ounce. The US tablespoon holds half an ounce, which is 14.78676478125 millilitres[3]. The teaspoon holds a sixth of an ounce, which is 4.92892159375 millilitres[1]. Divide one by the other and the answer is exactly three.
Spoons from one measuring set divide into a whole number of portions. That is why the metric and the US customary spoon give the same count in the converter, even though they hold different amounts.
Among recipes written today, Australian ones count differently. The 20 millilitre spoon was adopted there during metrication and placed next to the 5 millilitre teaspoon, so the set divides by four[3].
British cookbooks from before metrication also count four teaspoons to a tablespoon. That tablespoon held half an imperial fluid ounce, which is 14.2 millilitres[3], and the teaspoon held one fluid drachm, which is 3.55 millilitres[1]. Today's British recipes use metric spoons.
How many teaspoons is a given number of tablespoons?
| Tablespoons | Teaspoons (divided by three) | Teaspoons (Australian spoon) |
|---|---|---|
| 1/16 | 0.1875 | 0.25 |
| 1/8 | 0.375 | 0.5 |
| 1/4 | 0.75 | 1 |
| 1/3 | 1 | 1.3333 |
| 3/8 | 1.125 | 1.5 |
| 1/2 | 1.5 | 2 |
| 5/8 | 1.875 | 2.5 |
| 2/3 | 2 | 2.6667 |
| 3/4 | 2.25 | 3 |
| 1 | 3 | 4 |
| 1 1/4 | 3.75 | 5 |
| 1 1/2 | 4.5 | 6 |
| 1 3/4 | 5.25 | 7 |
| 2 | 6 | 8 |
| 2 1/4 | 6.75 | 9 |
| 2 1/2 | 7.5 | 10 |
| 2 3/4 | 8.25 | 11 |
| 3 | 9 | 12 |
| 3 1/2 | 10.5 | 14 |
| 4 | 12 | 16 |
| 4 1/2 | 13.5 | 18 |
| 5 | 15 | 20 |
| 6 | 18 | 24 |
| 7 | 21 | 28 |
| 8 | 24 | 32 |
| 9 | 27 | 36 |
| 10 | 30 | 40 |
| 12 | 36 | 48 |
| 16 | 48 | 64 |
| 20 | 60 | 80 |
| 24 | 72 | 96 |
| 32 | 96 | 128 |
How many tablespoons and teaspoons are in a recipe measure?
| Recipe measure | Millilitres | Tablespoons | Teaspoons |
|---|---|---|---|
| Teaspoon | 5 ml | 1/3 | 1 |
| Dessert spoon | 10 ml | 2/3 | 2 |
| Tablespoon | 15 ml | 1 | 3 |
| Fluid ounce on the label | 30 ml | 2 | 6 |
| Quarter cup | 60 ml | 4 | 12 |
| One third of a cup | 80 ml | 5 1/3 | 16 |
| One hundred millilitres | 100 ml | 6 2/3 | 20 |
| Half a cup | 120 ml | 8 | 24 |
| Three quarters of a cup | 180 ml | 12 | 36 |
| Cup on the label | 240 ml | 16 | 48 |
| Metric cup | 250 ml | 16 2/3 | 50 |
How many teaspoons go into a tablespoon in each measuring set?
| Measuring set | Tablespoon | Teaspoon | Teaspoons per tablespoon |
|---|---|---|---|
| Metric | 15 ml | 5 ml | 3 |
| US customary | 14.78676478125 ml | 4.92892159375 ml | 3 |
| US nutrition label | 15 ml | 5 ml | 3 |
| Australian | 20 ml | 5 ml | 4 |
| British before metrication | 14.2065 ml | 3.5516 ml | 4 |
Which number formats does this converter handle?
| What you type | What the converter shows | How we read it |
|---|---|---|
| 2.5 | 7.5 tsp | The point is the decimal separator, so this is two and a half tablespoons. |
| 2,5 | 7.5 tsp | A comma followed by one digit is a European decimal comma, so we read it as two and a half. |
| 1,500 | 4500 tsp | Three digits after the comma mark a thousands separator, so we count one thousand five hundred tablespoons. The note “Read as 1500. If you meant 1.5, type 1.5.” appears under the field. |
| 1/2 | 1.5 tsp | We convert a fraction with a slash directly, so half a tablespoon goes in exactly as the recipe writes it. |
| 1 1/2 | 4.5 tsp | A mixed number with a space between the whole number and the fraction reads as one and a half tablespoons. |
| 1-1/2 | 4.5 tsp | A hyphen between the whole number and the fraction, as some American recipes write it, is read like a space. |
| 1½ | 4.5 tsp | A ½ character copied from a recipe is added to the number in front of it. |
| 2 tbsp | 6 tsp | A unit pasted along with the number doesn’t get in the way, so we count two tablespoons. |
Which spoon should you pick in the converter?
The choice follows from where the recipe or the packaging comes from.
For a British, Irish or European recipe, keep the metric spoon
Leave the switch on the metric spoon, because that is how recipes from the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada and the rest of Europe count.For American tbsp and tsp, pick the US customary spoon
Set the US customary spoon for recipes from the United States. The unit next to the field changes to US tbsp, so you can see which spoon is doing the counting.For an Australian recipe, pick the Australian spoon
Set the Australian spoon for recipes from Australia. One tablespoon gives four teaspoons there, so three tablespoons come to twelve teaspoons. With the metric spoon those same three tablespoons give nine teaspoons.For a US nutrition label, keep the metric spoon
The nutrition facts panel counts a tablespoon as exactly 15 millilitres and a teaspoon as exactly 5[2], so the metric spoon is the right one for it.
Convert other units to Teaspoons
Convert Tablespoons to other units
Sources
- Teaspoon — Wikipedia
- 21 CFR 101.9 — Nutrition labeling of food — Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School
- Tablespoon — Wikipedia
Every figure in the tables was computed from the unit definitions and checked arithmetically before publication. Historical values and the names of local units come from the sources listed above.
Content last reviewed: · written and checked by the Arteon team
Common questions about converting tablespoons to teaspoons
What does tbsp mean next to tsp in a recipe?
Tbsp is the tablespoon and tsp is the teaspoon[3]. Recipes also shorten both to a single letter: a capital T is the tablespoon and a lower-case t is the teaspoon[1]. The teaspoons to tablespoons converter collects the abbreviations used in other languages.
Is a heaped teaspoon still one third of a tablespoon?
The figures on this page describe a level teaspoon, struck flat with the back of a knife. A heaped teaspoon holds more than that, and how much more depends on how loose the ingredient is.
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