Cups of powdered gelatin to grams runs on one number, 150 grams per cup. 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.
The density behind that figure is 0.63401 g per mL, against 1.00 for water. A cup of water weighs 236.6 g and a cup of powdered gelatin weighs 150 g, so this ingredient is 63.4% as heavy as the same volume of water — the single fact the whole page rests on.
A cup of powdered gelatin is 150 g when it is measured the standard way, but how it gets into the cup changes the answer: between about 135 g and 180 g covers the range from lightly spooned to firmly packed. That 20% spread is larger than most of the adjustments recipes fuss over, and it disappears entirely the moment the ingredient is weighed instead.
Grams are the unit this conversion is really for. A domestic scale resolves to a gram, which is 0.667% of a cup of powdered gelatin, so weighing gets an accuracy no measuring cup can reach. A 500 g pack of it is 3.333 cups, and a 1 kg pack 6.667.
How the figure is arrived at: Unflavoured. A standard envelope is 7 g, which is a little over two and a quarter teaspoons.
The formula
cups- The amount of powdered gelatin you are converting, in cups
150- Grams per cup for powdered gelatin, from its density of 0.63401 g/mL
grams- The equivalent quantity in grams
How it works, step by step
- Enter the quantity in cups.
- It is multiplied by 150, the grams-per-cup figure for powdered gelatin.
- 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
1/3 cup of powdered gelatin in grams
A recipe calling for 1/3 cup of powdered gelatin needs 50 grams on the scale. The arithmetic is 0.333333 × 150 = 50, and halving the recipe halves the weight to 25 grams.
3/4 cup of powdered gelatin in grams
3/4 cup of powdered gelatin weighs out at 112.5 grams. Divide 112.5 by 150 and you get back to 3/4 cup, which is the quickest check that the factor is the right way up.
3 cup of powdered gelatin in grams
3 cup of powdered gelatin weighs out at 450 grams. Divide 450 by 150 and you get back to 3 cup, 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 cup of powdered gelatin?
One cup of powdered gelatin is 150 grams. Half that quantity is 75 grams and double it is 300 grams, so the figure scales straight up and down — there is no offset in this conversion, only the factor.
Why is a cup of powdered gelatin not 236 g like water?
Because weight per cup depends on what is in the cup. Powdered gelatin has a density of 0.63401 g per mL where water has 1.00, so a cup of it weighs 150 g rather than 236.6 g. That is a difference of 86.6 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 powdered gelatin by roughly 20% — about 15 g either side of 150 g — because unflavoured. Weighing removes the question entirely.
Is a fluid ounce of powdered gelatin 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 powdered gelatin weighs 0.6614 oz, so the two readings differ by 33.9%. 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 powdered gelatin would weigh 158.5 g instead of 150 g — 8.5 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 powdered gelatin — roughly 30 g on a 150 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 cups of powdered gelatin is 500 g?
500 g of powdered gelatin is 3.3333 cups — 0.00666667 cups to one gram, so 500 × 0.00666667 = 3.3333. Going that way is a division by 150, or a multiplication by 0.00666667 if you prefer.
Powdered gelatin in cups and grams
| Cups | Grams | Unrounded |
|---|---|---|
| 1/8 cup | 18.75 g | 18.75 |
| 1/4 cup | 37.5 g | 37.5 |
| 1/3 cup | 50 g | 50 |
| 1/2 cup | 75 g | 75 |
| 2/3 cup | 100 g | 100 |
| 3/4 cup | 112.5 g | 112.5 |
| 1 cup | 150 g | 150 |
| 1 1/2 cup | 225 g | 225 |
| 2 cup | 300 g | 300 |
| 3 cup | 450 g | 450 |
| 4 cup | 600 g | 600 |
Based on 150 g per cup of powdered gelatin. One cup of powdered gelatin is 150 grams.
| Measure | Grams | Ounces | Millilitres |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 cup | 150 g | 5.29 oz | 236.6 mL |
| 1 tbsp | 9.375 g | 0.331 oz | 14.79 mL |
| 2 tsp | 6.25 g | 0.22 oz | 9.858 mL |
| 1 tsp | 3.125 g | 0.11 oz | 4.929 mL |
| 3/4 tsp | 2.344 g | 0.0827 oz | 3.697 mL |
| 1/2 tsp | 1.562 g | 0.0551 oz | 2.464 mL |
| 1/4 tsp | 0.7812 g | 0.0276 oz | 1.232 mL |
| 1/8 tsp | 0.3906 g | 0.0138 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) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Garlic powder | 134 g | 4.727 oz | 0.5664 |
| Instant yeast | 144 g | 5.079 oz | 0.6087 |
| Ground turmeric | 144 g | 5.079 oz | 0.6087 |
| Powdered gelatin (this page) | 150 g | 5.291 oz | 0.634 |
| Baking powder | 192 g | 6.773 oz | 0.8115 |
| Vanilla extract | 202 g | 7.125 oz | 0.8538 |
| Kosher salt | 240 g | 8.466 oz | 1.014 |
Ordered by weight. The spread across this group is why a single generic cups-to-grams factor cannot work.