Grams of cornmeal to tablespoons runs on one number, 0.11594203 tablespoons per gram. It is a measured property of this ingredient rather than a defined conversion, which is why a generic volume-to-weight tool cannot give you it.
Water is the yardstick: 1 mL of it weighs 1 g. Cornmeal comes in at 0.58329 g per mL, or 58.33% of water, which is why a cup of it is 138 g rather than 236.6 g. Volume and weight only line up for water, and only in metric.
A level tablespoon of cornmeal is 8.625 g, which puts a teaspoon at 2.875 g and a tablespoon and a half — the quantity recipes are fondest of — at 12.94 g. Levelling twice is where the error comes from, so the scale is the faster instrument once the quantity passes a couple of spoons.
Grams are the unit this conversion is really for. A domestic scale resolves to a gram, which is 0.725% of a cup of cornmeal, so weighing gets an accuracy no measuring cup can reach. A 500 g pack of it is 3.623 cups, and a 1 kg pack 7.246.
What the number depends on: Medium grind. Coarse polenta grinds weigh a little more per cup and fine grinds a little less.
The formula
grams- The amount of cornmeal you are converting, in grams
0.115942028986- Tablespoons per gram for cornmeal, from its density of 0.58329 g/mL
tablespoons- The equivalent quantity in tablespoons
How it works, step by step
- Enter the quantity in grams.
- It is multiplied by 0.115942028986, the tablespoons-per-gram figure for cornmeal.
- The result appears in tablespoons, with a second reading in tsp beneath it.
- Use the measure table if you want a standard recipe quantity rather than a number you type in.
Worked examples
50 g of cornmeal in tablespoons
50 g of cornmeal weighs out at 5.7971 tablespoons. Divide 5.7971 by 0.11594203 and you get back to 50 g, which is the quickest check that the factor is the right way up.
150 g of cornmeal in tablespoons
150 g of cornmeal weighs out at 17.3913 tablespoons. Divide 17.3913 by 0.11594203 and you get back to 150 g, which is the quickest check that the factor is the right way up.
500 g of cornmeal in tablespoons
500 g of cornmeal weighs out at 57.971 tablespoons. Divide 57.971 by 0.11594203 and you get back to 500 g, which is the quickest check that the factor is the right way up.
How to read your score
Frequently asked questions
How many tablespoons are in 1 g of cornmeal?
One gram of cornmeal is 0.11594203 tablespoons. Half that quantity is 0.057971 tablespoons and double it is 0.231884 tablespoons, so the figure scales straight up and down — there is no offset in this conversion, only the factor.
Why is a cup of cornmeal not 236 g like water?
Because weight per cup depends on what is in the cup. Cornmeal has a density of 0.58329 g per mL where water has 1.00, so a cup of it weighs 138 g rather than 236.6 g. That is a difference of 98.6 g per cup, and it is the reason a single volume-to-weight factor cannot be applied to every ingredient.
Does how I measure it change the weight?
Yes, and by more than most people expect. Handling changes the weight of a cup of cornmeal by roughly 20% — about 13.8 g either side of 138 g — because medium grind. Weighing removes the question entirely.
Is a fluid ounce of cornmeal the same as an ounce?
No. A fluid ounce is a volume — one eighth of a US cup, 29.57 mL — and an ounce is a weight. One fluid ounce of cornmeal weighs 0.6085 oz, so the two readings differ by 39.2%. They coincide only for something with the density of water, and then only roughly.
Is this a US cup or a metric cup?
US customary: 236.59 mL, which is the cup every US recipe means. A metric cup is 250 mL, so the same cup of cornmeal would weigh 145.82 g instead of 138 g — 7.82 g more, or 5.67%. Australian and some European recipes use the metric cup, and the difference is large enough to matter in baking.
Do I need a scale for this, or will measuring cups do?
A scale, if the result matters. Volume measuring carries a spread of about 20% for cornmeal — roughly 27.6 g on a 138 g cup — while a domestic scale is accurate to a gram or two. For anything where the ratio of ingredients drives the outcome, bread and pastry above all, weigh it.
How much does 3 tbsp of cornmeal weigh?
3 tbsp of cornmeal comes to 25.875 g, or 25.875 grams. This page runs that calculation in reverse — enter a weight and it returns the volume — and the tablespoons-to-grams page does it in the direction the question is usually asked.
Cornmeal in grams and tablespoons
| Grams | Tablespoons | Unrounded |
|---|---|---|
| 5 g | 0.57971 tbsp | 0.5797101449 |
| 10 g | 1.15942 tbsp | 1.15942029 |
| 25 g | 2.89855 tbsp | 2.898550725 |
| 50 g | 5.7971 tbsp | 5.797101449 |
| 100 g | 11.5942 tbsp | 11.5942029 |
| 125 g | 14.4928 tbsp | 14.49275362 |
| 150 g | 17.3913 tbsp | 17.39130435 |
| 200 g | 23.1884 tbsp | 23.1884058 |
| 250 g | 28.9855 tbsp | 28.98550725 |
| 300 g | 34.7826 tbsp | 34.7826087 |
| 500 g | 57.971 tbsp | 57.97101449 |
| 1000 g | 115.942 tbsp | 115.942029 |
Based on 138 g per cup of cornmeal. One gram of cornmeal is 0.11594203 tablespoons.
| Measure | Grams | Ounces | Millilitres |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 cup | 138 g | 4.87 oz | 236.6 mL |
| 1 tbsp | 8.625 g | 0.304 oz | 14.79 mL |
| 2 tsp | 5.75 g | 0.203 oz | 9.858 mL |
| 1 tsp | 2.875 g | 0.101 oz | 4.929 mL |
| 3/4 tsp | 2.156 g | 0.0761 oz | 3.697 mL |
| 1/2 tsp | 1.438 g | 0.0507 oz | 2.464 mL |
| 1/4 tsp | 0.7188 g | 0.0254 oz | 1.232 mL |
| 1/8 tsp | 0.3594 g | 0.0127 oz | 0.6161 mL |
US customary measures: 1 cup = 236.59 mL, 1 tbsp = 14.79 mL, 1 tsp = 4.93 mL.
| Ingredient | Grams per cup | Ounces per cup | Density (g/mL) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Self-rising flour | 125 g | 4.409 oz | 0.5283 |
| Bread flour | 127 g | 4.48 oz | 0.5368 |
| Cornstarch | 128 g | 4.515 oz | 0.541 |
| Cornmeal (this page) | 138 g | 4.868 oz | 0.5833 |
| Graham cracker crumbs | 142 g | 5.009 oz | 0.6002 |
| Rice flour | 158 g | 5.573 oz | 0.6678 |
| Potato starch | 160 g | 5.644 oz | 0.6763 |
Ordered by weight. The spread across this group is why a single generic cups-to-grams factor cannot work.