How Many Gram in a Tea poon? Complete Conver ion Guide

Anyone who has tried following a recipe only to end up with dry cookies or a flat cake knows the frustration: the recipe calls for teaspoons, but your scale reads grams. This guide breaks down the exact conversions for the most common kitchen ingredients, explains why the numbers differ, and gives you a quick-reference table you can actually use.

Water (1 tsp): 5 g ·
Granulated sugar (1 tsp): 4.2 g ·
Butter (1 tsp): 4.7 g ·
Honey (1 tsp): 7 g ·
Baking powder (1 tsp): 4 g ·
Active dry yeast (1 tsp): 3 g

Here is a quick reference for common ingredients.

How Many Grams Are in a Teaspoon?

The short answer: it depends on the ingredient

A teaspoon is a unit of volume, not weight. That means the number of grams in one teaspoon changes with the density of the ingredient you’re measuring. The USDA ARS (U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service) confirms that a standard teaspoon equals 5 mL. When you fill that 5 mL space with an ingredient, its weight in grams equals its density (in g/mL) multiplied by 5.

For water — which has a density of 1 g/mL — one teaspoon weighs exactly 5 grams. But for something lighter like all-purpose flour (~0.5 g/mL), the same teaspoon holds only about 2.6 grams. Denser ingredients like honey (~1.4 g/mL) pack in around 7 grams per teaspoon.

Why density matters for accurate conversion

• The weight of a teaspoon varies by ingredient density.
• Water has a density of 1 g/mL, so 1 tsp water = 5 g.
• A teaspoon is a volume unit, not a weight unit — this is the root of most kitchen measurement confusion.

Modernist Pantry measures each ingredient three times and uses the average per teaspoon to build its conversion chart.

Is One Teaspoon 5 Grams?

The 5-gram myth for dry ingredients

The short answer is yes — but only for water. For most dry ingredients, one teaspoon weighs less than 5 grams. Granulated sugar, for instance, weighs about 4.2 grams per teaspoon according to Recipes and Places (kitchen conversion guide). All-purpose flour comes in even lighter at roughly 2.6 grams per teaspoon. The 5-gram rule works as a rough mental shortcut only for liquids with a density close to water.

USDA ARS data confirms that the standard teaspoon is 5 mL — a volume measurement — so the weight that fills it depends entirely on what you pour or scoop into it.

Why sugar, flour, and salt differ

• Granulated sugar has a density around 0.85 g/mL, yielding ~4.2 g/tsp.
• All-purpose flour is much less dense (~0.5 g/mL), giving only ~2.6 g/tsp.
• Table salt (fine grains) packs more tightly and weighs about 6 g/tsp.

What this means: a recipe that calls for “1 teaspoon of flour” without a weight conversion can deliver anywhere from 2 to 3 grams depending on how you scoop, affecting the moisture balance of your dough.

The implication: trusting volume over weight for dry ingredients introduces error proportional to density variation.

How Many Grams Are in a Teaspoon of Sugar?

Granulated sugar vs. brown sugar vs. powdered sugar

Different sugar types pack differently, so weights vary.

The numbers vary because of density and packing. Brown sugar is measured “packed” — pressed into the spoon — which increases its weight per teaspoon. Powdered sugar, with its fine, fluffy texture, contains air pockets and weighs significantly less. Recipes and Places lists powdered sugar at roughly 3 g/tsp, while granulated sugar sits at 4 g in their slightly rounded table.

Why nutrition labels round to 4 grams

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) rounds the sugar content per teaspoon to 4 grams on nutrition labels. However, the precise weight is 4.2 grams. Michigan State University Extension (university-based nutrition outreach) explains: “Four grams of sugar is equal to one teaspoon. To be precise, 4.2 grams equals a teaspoon, but the nutrition facts rounds this number down to four grams.”

The rounding on nutrition labels means that tracking sugar by teaspoon can shift total intake by 0.2 grams per serving, which adds up over multiple servings.

How Many Grams Are in a Teaspoon of Butter, Honey, or Coffee?

Butter: 1 tsp = 4.7 grams

Butter has a density of about 0.959 g/mL. That puts one teaspoon at 4.7 to 4.8 grams. Recipes and Places lists it at 4.5 g in its round table, but USDA data shows the more exact figure.

Honey: 1 tsp = 7 grams

Honey is one of the densest common kitchen ingredients at roughly 1.4 g/mL. That makes one teaspoon about 7 grams. Recipes and Places confirms the 7 g figure. If you substitute honey for sugar in a recipe, the weight difference — plus the extra moisture — will change the outcome.

Coffee grounds: 1 tsp = 2.5 grams

Ground coffee is light and fluffy. A teaspoon of standard drip-grind coffee weighs about 2.5 grams. Instant coffee is even finer and lighter, coming in around 1.8 grams per teaspoon. Chef’s Resources (professional kitchen reference) notes that density varies significantly by grind size, so your morning brew’s strength can shift if you rely on volume alone.

The pattern: denser liquids like honey weigh more per teaspoon than lighter solids like coffee grounds, making volume-based measuring especially unreliable across ingredient types.

How Many Grams Are in a Teaspoon of Baking Powder or Yeast?

Baking powder: 1 tsp = 4 grams

Baking powder contains cornstarch as a filler, which lowers its density. One teaspoon weighs about 4 grams according to Recipes and Places. Baking soda, by contrast, is pure sodium bicarbonate and is denser — about 4.6 grams per teaspoon.

Active dry yeast: 1 tsp = 3 grams

Yeast granules are very light. A teaspoon of active dry yeast weighs roughly 3 grams. Modernist Pantry emphasizes that yeast measurement by weight — not volume — is crucial for consistent bread rise, because even slight over-measurement can kill the fermentation balance.

Leavening agents vary widely by weight.

The trade-off: baking soda is nearly 50% heavier per teaspoon than yeast. Swapping them by volume, even accidentally, changes the chemical reaction in your dough.

The catch: if you use volume instead of weight for leavening agents, you are effectively guessing the chemical balance of your bake.

1. Identify the ingredient you need to convert.
2. Find its density (g/mL) from a reliable source.
3. Multiply the density by 5 to get the grams per teaspoon.

For liquid ingredients, knowing the conversion from teaspoons to grams is just as essential as understanding our guide to cup-to-ml conversions when following international recipes.

Frequently asked questions

For home bakers who rely on US volume measurements, the single best investment is a digital scale accurate to 1 gram. The trade-off is clear: trust the scale, and your pastry will rise. Trust the spoon — and you’re rolling the dice on density, packing, and grind size with every batch.