Kitchen measures
How Many Tablespoons Are in ½ Cup?
8tablespoons
US tablespoons
8.33tablespoons
UK / imperial
The US and imperial systems give different answers to this question. Go by where the recipe is from: American recipes mean 8, British and older Commonwealth recipes mean 8.33.
Eight tablespoons make half a US cup. It is also, usefully, exactly one stick of American butter — which is why so many US baking recipes specify butter in sticks, half cups and tablespoons interchangeably without ever explaining that they are the same thing.
Quick reference
½ cup in tablespoons, by region
| United States | 8 tablespoons |
| UK / imperial (250 ml cup) | 8.33 tablespoons |
| Australia (20 ml tablespoon) | 6.25 tablespoons |
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Questions
Frequently asked questions
How many tablespoons are in half a cup?
There are 8 tablespoons in ½ US cup, and 8.33 in the UK/imperial equivalent. American recipes mean the US figure.
Is half a cup 8 tablespoons?
In US measures, exactly. A US cup is 16 tablespoons, so half is 8. With a 250 ml metric cup it is about 8.3 tablespoons.
Is half a cup the same as one stick of butter?
Yes. A US stick of butter is 8 tablespoons, half a cup, 4 oz or 113 g — four different ways of saying the same amount, all of which appear in American recipes.
How many teaspoons in half a cup?
Twenty-four US teaspoons.
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