Convert teaspoons to millilitres
Enter the number of teaspoons from your recipe and read the answer in millilitres. One metric teaspoon is 5 millilitres, so two teaspoons, written 2 tsp, come to 10 millilitres. The field takes fractions exactly as the recipe writes them, and 1/4 teaspoon is 1.25 millilitres.
What is a teaspoon and what is a millilitre?
A teaspoon is a kitchen measure of a fixed capacity. The name comes from the piece of cutlery, while the capacity is agreed: across Britain, Ireland, the rest of Europe and Australia a teaspoon means 5 millilitres[1].
The scale on an oral syringe and the marks on a measuring spoon are both written in millilitres, so a recipe and a medicine label use the same unit. A thousand millilitres make a litre, and one millilitre fills a cube one centimetre along each edge.
An American recipe counts this portion differently. The US customary teaspoon is defined as one sixth of a fluid ounce, which comes to 4.92892159375 millilitres[2].
You set the spoon with the Teaspoon type switch under the converter fields. The metric spoon is selected by default, because that is the spoon a British, Irish, European or Australian recipe means.
How many millilitres are in a teaspoon?
One teaspoon is 5 millilitres. The US customary teaspoon holds 4.929 millilitres.
Each of those numbers arrived by its own route. The metric spoon was adopted outright as 5 millilitres, a third of the 15 millilitre tablespoon. Australia enlarged the tablespoon to 20 millilitres when it went metric and left the teaspoon at 5[3], so the Australian spoon holds exactly what a British one does.
The US customary spoon comes from the fluid ounce. The tables of units published by the American measurement institute NIST give the teaspoon as one and a third fluid drams and the tablespoon as four[4]. A fluid dram is an eighth of a fluid ounce. That puts one sixth of an ounce in a teaspoon, which is 4.92892159375 millilitres.
An American package prints a third value. The food labelling regulation states outright that for labelling purposes a teaspoon means 5 millilitres[5], and the dosage directions on a medicine bottle use the same figure. The same word therefore covers two different portions, depending on whether you are reading a recipe or a package.
How do you convert teaspoons to millilitres? Formula and fractions
Multiply the number of teaspoons by the capacity of the spoon your recipe means.
Formula: millilitres = teaspoons × 5 for the metric spoon. For the US customary spoon the multiplier is 4.9289.
A measuring set starts at an eighth of a teaspoon and runs up to a full tablespoon, which is why recipes write small portions as fractions. The converter field takes that notation directly.
Type 1/4 and you get 1.25 millilitres. Type 1 1/2, with a space between the whole number and the fraction, and you get 7.5 millilitres. Decimals work the same way, and the dot and the comma are interchangeable: 2.5 and 2,5 give the same answer.
Three portions give round results. Half a teaspoon is 2.5 millilitres. One teaspoon gives 5 millilitres. Two teaspoons come to 10 millilitres.
The other direction is handled by the millilitres to teaspoons converter. The same portion in tablespoons comes from the teaspoons to tablespoons converter, and a volume written in tablespoons from the tablespoons to millilitres converter.
How many millilitres are in a given number of teaspoons?
| Teaspoons | Metric teaspoon | US customary teaspoon |
|---|---|---|
| 1/8 | 0.625 ml | 0.616 ml |
| 1/4 | 1.25 ml | 1.232 ml |
| 1/3 | 1.667 ml | 1.643 ml |
| 3/8 | 1.875 ml | 1.848 ml |
| 1/2 | 2.5 ml | 2.464 ml |
| 2/3 | 3.333 ml | 3.286 ml |
| 3/4 | 3.75 ml | 3.697 ml |
| 1 | 5 ml | 4.929 ml |
| 1 1/4 | 6.25 ml | 6.161 ml |
| 1 1/2 | 7.5 ml | 7.393 ml |
| 1 3/4 | 8.75 ml | 8.626 ml |
| 2 | 10 ml | 9.858 ml |
| 2 1/2 | 12.5 ml | 12.322 ml |
| 3 | 15 ml | 14.787 ml |
| 3 1/2 | 17.5 ml | 17.251 ml |
| 4 | 20 ml | 19.716 ml |
| 5 | 25 ml | 24.645 ml |
| 6 | 30 ml | 29.574 ml |
| 7 | 35 ml | 34.502 ml |
| 8 | 40 ml | 39.431 ml |
| 9 | 45 ml | 44.36 ml |
| 10 | 50 ml | 49.289 ml |
| 12 | 60 ml | 59.147 ml |
| 15 | 75 ml | 73.934 ml |
| 16 | 80 ml | 78.863 ml |
| 20 | 100 ml | 98.578 ml |
| 24 | 120 ml | 118.294 ml |
| 30 | 150 ml | 147.868 ml |
How many millilitres does a teaspoon hold in each system?
| Kind of teaspoon | Capacity | In metric teaspoons | Where it applies |
|---|---|---|---|
| Metric teaspoon | 5 ml | 1 | Britain, Ireland and the rest of Europe |
| Australian teaspoon | 5 ml | 1 | Australia: recipes and measuring sets |
| Teaspoon on a US label | 5 ml | 1 | United States: nutrition panels and medicine directions |
| US customary teaspoon | 4.92892159375 ml | 0.9858 | United States: recipes and measuring sets |
| Pre-metric Canadian teaspoon | 4.7355 ml | 0.9471 | Canada: cookbooks printed before metrication |
| Imperial teaspoon, the fluid drachm | 3.5516 ml | 0.7103 | Britain: recipes and prescriptions printed before metrication |
Which number formats does this converter handle?
| What you type | What the converter shows | How we read it |
|---|---|---|
| 2.5 | 12.5 ml | The point is the decimal separator, so this is two and a half teaspoons. |
| 2,5 | 12.5 ml | A comma followed by one digit is a European decimal comma, so we read it as two and a half. |
| 1,500 | 7500 ml | Three digits after the comma mark a thousands separator, so we count one thousand five hundred teaspoons. A note under the field says: Read as 1500. If you meant 1.5, type 1.5. |
| 1/8 | 0.625 ml | An eighth of a teaspoon goes in as a fraction too, and the result keeps three decimal places. |
| 1/2 | 2.5 ml | We convert a fraction with a slash directly, so half a teaspoon goes in exactly as the recipe writes it. |
| 1 1/2 | 7.5 ml | A mixed number with a space between the whole number and the fraction reads as one and a half teaspoons. |
| 1-1/2 | 7.5 ml | A hyphen between the whole number and the fraction, as some American recipes write it, is read like a space. |
| 1½ | 7.5 ml | A ½ character copied from a recipe is added to the number in front of it. |
| 2 tsp | 10 ml | A unit pasted along with the number doesn’t get in the way, so we count two teaspoons. |
Which teaspoon should you pick in the converter?
The choice follows from where the recipe or the package comes from.
For a British, Irish, European or Australian recipe, keep the metric teaspoon
Leave the switch on the metric spoon. Five millilitres to a teaspoon is what recipes from Britain, Ireland, the rest of Europe and Australia count on[1].For an American recipe or measuring set, pick the US customary teaspoon
Switch to the US customary spoon when you are counting the customary teaspoon, one sixth of a fluid ounce. On a single teaspoon the gap to the metric spoon is 0.071 millilitres. Over ten teaspoons it grows to 0.711 millilitres, or 0.14 of a teaspoon.For a label or dosage panel on an American package, keep the metric teaspoon
The nutrition panel and the dosage directions on an American package count a teaspoon as a round 5 millilitres[5], so the metric spoon is the right one for them. A fluid ounce on that same label means 30 millilitres, which the fluid ounces to millilitres converter handles.Check your own teaspoon from the drawer on a kitchen scale
Put the empty teaspoon on a kitchen scale and zero the reading. Fill it with water to the brim and read the mass. One gram of water takes up one millilitre, so the reading gives you the capacity of that particular spoon.
Convert other units to Millilitres
Convert Teaspoons to other units
Sources
- Cuillère à café — Wikipédia
- Teaspoon — Wikipedia
- AS 1325-1972 — Metric measuring cups and spoons and standard litre measure for domestic purposes — Standards Australia
- Handbook 44, Appendix C. General Tables of Units of Measurement — National Institute of Standards and Technology
- 21 CFR 101.9 — Nutrition labeling of food — Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School
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 teaspoons to millilitres
Does 1 tsp in a British recipe mean the same as in an American one?
In recipes from Britain, Ireland and Australia, tsp means the 5 millilitre metric spoon. An American recipe counts the customary teaspoon of 4.929 millilitres, while an American label goes back to 5 millilitres.
How many ml is a heaped teaspoon?
Every conversion on this page uses a level teaspoon, the portion struck flat with the edge of a knife, and that is the one that holds 5 millilitres. A heaped or rounded spoon holds more[2], and how much more depends on how loose the ingredient is. The same difference between a level and a heaped portion applies to the tablespoon, and the tablespoons to millilitres converter covers it.
Help us improve our tools
Have an idea for a new feature, found a bug or want to suggest another tool? Write to us.