Sugar: Cups to Grams
Granulated, caster, turbinado and demerara — four sugars, four different weights for the same cup.
Granulated sugar conversion table
| Cups | Grams | Ounces |
|---|
Four sugars, four weights
All of these are "sugar", but the King Arthur Baking Ingredient Weight Chart lists each type separately, because crystal size changes how much fits in a cup:
| Sugar | Grams per US cup | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Granulated sugar | 198 g | The standard white sugar most recipes mean by "sugar". |
| Superfine (caster) sugar | 190 g | Finer crystals; dissolves faster in meringues and drinks. |
| Turbinado sugar | 180 g | Raw, coarse crystals with a light molasses flavour. |
| Demerara sugar | 220 g | Large amber crystals, often sprinkled on top of bakes. |
Looking for brown or powdered sugar instead? They behave differently enough to have their own pages: brown sugar (213 g per packed cup) and powdered sugar (113 g per cup).
So is a cup of sugar 198 g or 200 g?
Both numbers are published, and the difference is the cup, not the sugar. King Arthur's chart weighs granulated sugar in a US customary cup (236.588 mL) and gets 198 g. Converters that show 200 g are generally working from the US legal cup (240 mL) used on nutrition labels — about 1.4% more volume, which rounds to about 1.4% more sugar. Use the cup-type selector in the converter above if your recipe or label uses legal cups.
Measuring sugar well
Sugar is more forgiving than flour: it doesn't compress much, so a level cup is a level cup. Spoon or pour it in, then level the top with a straight edge. Coarse sugars (turbinado, demerara) are the exception — big, uneven crystals trap air unpredictably and vary by brand, so for anything where the sugar is structural, weighing beats scooping. And never swap sugars by the cup without checking the chart: a cup of demerara carries 22 g more sugar than a cup of granulated.
Frequently asked questions
Is 1 cup of sugar 200 grams?
Close, but on this chart it is 198 g. King Arthur Baking lists granulated sugar at 198 g per US customary cup. The 200 g figure seen on many sites is calculated on the 240 mL US legal cup used for nutrition labels — a slightly bigger cup, so a slightly bigger weight.
Why does demerara sugar weigh more per cup than granulated sugar?
The King Arthur chart lists demerara at 220 g per cup versus 198 g for granulated sugar. Coarse raw sugars are less uniform than refined granulated sugar, so their cup weights vary more by brand and crystal size — which is one more reason to weigh coarse sugars instead of measuring by volume.
Can I swap caster sugar for granulated sugar?
Yes — they are the same sugar with different crystal sizes. By the cup they differ slightly (caster/superfine is 190 g, granulated is 198 g on the King Arthur chart), and caster dissolves faster, which is why meringues and cocktails call for it. Swapping by weight is the most accurate option.
How many grams is half a cup of sugar?
Half a US cup of granulated sugar is 99 g — half of the chart's 198 g per cup. The table on this page gives the full run of common amounts from 1/4 cup to 4 cups.
Why do sugar weights per cup vary so much between types?
Because a cup measures volume. Fine crystals pack tightly with little air between them; coarse and raw sugars trap air differently and vary by brand. On the King Arthur chart the range runs from 180 g (turbinado) to 220 g (demerara) per cup — a 40 g spread for the same measuring cup.
Data source: King Arthur Baking Ingredient Weight Chart (grams per US customary cup, 236.588 mL; other cup sizes scaled by volume ratio).