Tablespoons of whole flaxseed to grams runs on one number, 10.3125 grams per tablespoon. 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. Whole flaxseed comes in at 0.69741 g per mL, or 69.74% of water, which is why a cup of it is 165 g rather than 236.6 g. Volume and weight only line up for water, and only in metric.
A level tablespoon of whole flaxseed is 10.31 g, which puts a teaspoon at 3.438 g and a tablespoon and a half — the quantity recipes are fondest of — at 15.47 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 0.606% of a cup of whole flaxseed, so weighing gets an accuracy no measuring cup can reach. A 500 g pack of it is 3.03 cups, and a 1 kg pack 6.061.
What the number depends on: Whole seeds. Ground flax is much lighter per cup and goes rancid far faster.
The formula
tablespoons- The amount of whole flaxseed you are converting, in tablespoons
10.3125- Grams per tablespoon for whole flaxseed, from its density of 0.69741 g/mL
grams- The equivalent quantity in grams
How it works, step by step
- Enter the quantity in tablespoons.
- It is multiplied by 10.3125, the grams-per-tablespoon figure for whole flaxseed.
- The result appears in grams, with a second reading in oz beneath it.
- Use the measure table if you want a standard recipe quantity rather than a number you type in.
Worked examples
2 tbsp of whole flaxseed in grams
A recipe calling for 2 tbsp of whole flaxseed needs 20.625 grams on the scale. The arithmetic is 2 × 10.3125 = 20.625, and halving the recipe halves the weight to 10.3125 grams.
4 tbsp of whole flaxseed in grams
A recipe calling for 4 tbsp of whole flaxseed needs 41.25 grams on the scale. The arithmetic is 4 × 10.3125 = 41.25, and halving the recipe halves the weight to 20.625 grams.
12 tbsp of whole flaxseed in grams
12 tbsp of whole flaxseed weighs out at 123.75 grams. Divide 123.75 by 10.3125 and you get back to 12 tbsp, which is the quickest check that the factor is the right way up.
How to read your score
Frequently asked questions
How many grams are in 1 tbsp of whole flaxseed?
One tablespoon of whole flaxseed is 10.3125 grams. Half that quantity is 5.15625 grams and double it is 20.625 grams, so the figure scales straight up and down — there is no offset in this conversion, only the factor.
Why is a cup of whole flaxseed not 236 g like water?
Because weight per cup depends on what is in the cup. Whole flaxseed has a density of 0.69741 g per mL where water has 1.00, so a cup of it weighs 165 g rather than 236.6 g. That is a difference of 71.6 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 whole flaxseed by roughly 12% — about 9.9 g either side of 165 g — because whole seeds. Weighing removes the question entirely.
Is a fluid ounce of whole flaxseed 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 whole flaxseed weighs 0.7275 oz, so the two readings differ by 27.2%. 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 whole flaxseed would weigh 174.35 g instead of 165 g — 9.35 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 12% for whole flaxseed — roughly 19.8 g on a 165 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 many tablespoons of whole flaxseed is 500 g?
500 g of whole flaxseed is 48.485 tablespoons — 0.0969697 tablespoons to one gram, so 500 × 0.0969697 = 48.485. Going that way is a division by 10.3125, or a multiplication by 0.0969697 if you prefer.
Whole flaxseed in tablespoons and grams
| Tablespoons | Grams | Unrounded |
|---|---|---|
| 1/2 tbsp | 5.15625 g | 5.15625 |
| 1 tbsp | 10.3125 g | 10.3125 |
| 2 tbsp | 20.625 g | 20.625 |
| 3 tbsp | 30.9375 g | 30.9375 |
| 4 tbsp | 41.25 g | 41.25 |
| 6 tbsp | 61.875 g | 61.875 |
| 8 tbsp | 82.5 g | 82.5 |
| 12 tbsp | 123.75 g | 123.75 |
| 16 tbsp | 165 g | 165 |
Based on 165 g per cup of whole flaxseed. One tablespoon of whole flaxseed is 10.3125 grams.
| Measure | Grams | Ounces | Millilitres |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 cup | 165 g | 5.82 oz | 236.6 mL |
| 1 tbsp | 10.31 g | 0.364 oz | 14.79 mL |
| 2 tsp | 6.875 g | 0.243 oz | 9.858 mL |
| 1 tsp | 3.438 g | 0.121 oz | 4.929 mL |
| 3/4 tsp | 2.578 g | 0.0909 oz | 3.697 mL |
| 1/2 tsp | 1.719 g | 0.0606 oz | 2.464 mL |
| 1/4 tsp | 0.8594 g | 0.0303 oz | 1.232 mL |
| 1/8 tsp | 0.4297 g | 0.0152 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) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blueberries | 148 g | 5.221 oz | 0.6256 |
| Crumbled feta | 150 g | 5.291 oz | 0.634 |
| Corn kernels | 150 g | 5.291 oz | 0.634 |
| Whole flaxseed (this page) | 165 g | 5.82 oz | 0.6974 |
| Sliced strawberries | 166 g | 5.855 oz | 0.7016 |
| Chocolate chips | 170 g | 5.997 oz | 0.7185 |
| Chia seeds | 192 g | 6.773 oz | 0.8115 |
Ordered by weight. The spread across this group is why a single generic cups-to-grams factor cannot work.