Tablespoons to ml:
multiply by 14.7868
Convert US tablespoons to millilitres for recipes and measuring jugs, with a chart, two worked examples and the spoon-size traps to avoid.
Calcylator Editorial Team
Updated · 5 min read
How many ml are in a tablespoon?
One US tablespoon is 14.78676478 millilitres, which rounds to 14.8 ml. It is exactly half of a US fluid ounce, and three US teaspoons make one tablespoon.
Cooks often round the figure to 15 ml because most recipe sites and measuring spoons do, and for a spoonful of oil or soy sauce the difference is far too small to taste. It only starts to matter when you scale a recipe up, because the gap of 0.21 ml per spoon grows with every spoonful.
The tbsp to ml formula
- ml:
- volume in millilitres
- tbsp:
- volume in US tablespoons
- 14.78676478:
- millilitres in one US tablespoon
Volume
3 tbsp
Multiply
3 × 14.78676478
Volume in ml
44.36 ml
The full result is 44.36029434 ml.
For a quick estimate, multiply the spoon count by 15 and take off a little. Three tablespoons is 45 by the shortcut, against the true 44.36.
- Count the level tablespoons, using decimals for part spoons (2 1/2 becomes 2.5).
- Multiply by 14.78676478.
- Round to the nearest whole millilitre for cooking, or one decimal for baking by weight and volume.
- Compare with your shortcut of tbsp × 15 to catch slips.
Chart: tablespoons to ml from 1 to 1000
These values come straight from the converter. Round them to whatever your measuring jug can show.
| Tablespoons | Millilitres |
|---|---|
| 1 | 14.78676478 |
| 2 | 29.57352956 |
| 5 | 73.93382391 |
| 10 | 147.8676478 |
| 25 | 369.6691195 |
| 50 | 739.3382391 |
| 100 | 1478.676478 |
| 250 | 3696.691195 |
| 500 | 7393.382391 |
| 1000 | 14786.76478 |
Ten tablespoons is about 148 ml and 16 tablespoons fill one US cup of 236.6 ml.
Converting a recipe given in tablespoons
Suppose a pancake batter calls for 2.5 tablespoons of melted butter and you only have a jug marked in millilitres. Multiply 2.5 by 14.78676478 and you get 36.97 ml, so pour to just under 37 ml.
Going the other way is common with sauces and dressings. A bottle label that says to add 250 ml of stock is 250 × 0.0676280454 = 16.9 tablespoons, a little more than one US cup.
Eight tablespoons of butter, the usual stick in American recipes, is 118.29 ml of volume, which is half a cup.
Common mistakes when converting tbsp to ml
- Mixing spoon sizes. The US tablespoon is 14.79 ml, a metric tablespoon is 15 ml and an Australian tablespoon is 20 ml, so a recipe from Sydney needs more liquid per spoon.
- Mixing up tbsp and tsp. A tablespoon is three teaspoons, so confusing them changes the quantity threefold.
- Using a heaped spoon. Recipes assume a level spoon, and a heaped one holds noticeably more.
- Treating a tablespoon as a weight. 1 tbsp of honey and 1 tbsp of flour take the same volume but weigh very differently.
Common questions
How many ml is 1 tablespoon?
One US tablespoon is 14.78676478 ml, roughly 14.8 ml. Many recipes and measuring spoons round this to 15 ml, which is a metric tablespoon. The difference is about 0.2 ml per spoonful, and it only matters when you measure many spoonfuls.
How do I convert tbsp to ml?
Multiply the number of tablespoons by 14.78676478. For example, 4 tbsp is 4 × 14.78676478 = 59.15 ml. For a quick estimate multiply by 15, which gives 60 ml for the same four spoons.
How many tablespoons are in 250 ml?
There are about 16.9 US tablespoons in 250 ml, found by multiplying 250 by 0.0676280454. With the 15 ml shortcut you would get 16.7, so the exact answer is slightly higher than the rounded one.
Is a tablespoon 15 ml or 14.79 ml?
A US tablespoon is 14.79 ml, while a metric tablespoon is exactly 15 ml. Both are in everyday use, and the gap is under 1.5 percent, so either works for cooking. Use 14.79 when the recipe is in US units and precise.
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