Converting mL to g: Flour, Sugar and Butter

To make conversions in recipes, you need to understand how milliliters relate to grams in different situations. For water, converting mL to g is easy. But with other ingredients it is much more complicated.

What Is a Milliliter?

You will often see milliliters in recipes written outside of the United States because it measures volume in the metric system. There are 1,000 milliliters in a liter (L). A liter is the volume of 1 kilogram of water at 4 degrees Celsius.

If you need to convert to the imperial system, one milliliter is equal to about ⅕ teaspoon or 0.03 fluid ounces. A mL is sometimes called a cc (cubic centimeter). The symbol representing a milliliter is mL.

What Is a Gram?

A gram is also a common measurement in recipes written outside of the United States. It measures mass and weight in the metric system. There are 1,000 grams in a kilogram (kg). And there are 1,000 milligrams (mg) in one gram.

If you need to convert to the imperial system, one gram is equal to 0.035 ounces (not fluid ounces). The symbol representing a gram is g. You should use a kitchen scale to get the most accurate measurements in grams.

Milliliters Vs. Grams

Milliliters and grams are both measurements in the metric system, but they measure different things. Milliliters measure volume, and grams measure weight. Volume is the amount of space the ingredient takes up. Weight is the gravitational force on the ingredient.

Because different ingredients have different densities, their weights will be different even if they take up the same amount of space in a container. For example, a milliliter of water and a milliliter of sugar don't weigh the same in grams even though they take up the same amount of space. This is because they have different densities.

Converting mL to g

As explained in the section above, you cannot convert mL to g without knowing the density of the ingredient. The precise conversion between milliliters and grams is dependent on the density of the ingredient being weighed.

If you know the density of the ingredient, you can convert milliliters to grams and grams to milliliters.

• To convert mL to g, multiply the volume in milliliters by the density in g/mL.

Grams = volume (mL) × density (g/mL)

• To convert g to mL, divide the weight in grams by the density in g/mL.

Milliliters = weight (g) ÷ density (g/mL)

The only easy conversion from mL to g is water. Water has a density of 1 g/mL, so one gram of water is equal to one milliliter of water. But for other ingredients, their densities will vary, so each milliliter will weigh a different number of grams.

Conversion Table for Common Ingredients

Ingredient Milliliters (mL) Grams (g)

Ingredient	Milliliters (mL)	Grams (g)
water	100 mL	100 g
flour	100 mL	60 g
sugar	100 mL	84.5 g
salt	100 mL	121.7 g
Vegetable oil	100 mL	89 g
Butter	100 mL	95.9 g

Bottom Line

To convert mL to g, you need to know the density of the ingredient. The densities of ingredients will vary, so each milliliter (volume) will weigh a different number of grams (weight).