Grams of instant yeast to cups runs on one number, 0.0069444444 cups 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. Instant yeast comes in at 0.60865 g per mL, or 60.87% of water, which is why a cup of it is 144 g rather than 236.6 g. Volume and weight only line up for water, and only in metric.
A cup of instant yeast is 144 g when it is measured the standard way, but how it gets into the cup changes the answer: between about 129.6 g and 172.8 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 0.694% of a cup of instant yeast, so weighing gets an accuracy no measuring cup can reach. A 500 g pack of it is 3.472 cups, and a 1 kg pack 6.944.
How the figure is arrived at: Three grams to a teaspoon, so a standard 7 g sachet is a little over two and a quarter teaspoons.
The formula
grams- The amount of instant yeast you are converting, in grams
0.00694444444444- Cups per gram for instant yeast, from its density of 0.60865 g/mL
cups- The equivalent quantity in cups
How it works, step by step
- Enter the quantity in grams.
- It is multiplied by 0.00694444444444, the cups-per-gram figure for instant yeast.
- The result appears in cups, with a second reading in tbsp 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 instant yeast in cups
A recipe calling for 50 g of instant yeast needs 0.347222 cups on the scale. The arithmetic is 50 × 0.0069444444 = 0.34722222, and halving the recipe halves the weight to 0.173611 cups.
150 g of instant yeast in cups
A recipe calling for 150 g of instant yeast needs 1.04167 cups on the scale. The arithmetic is 150 × 0.0069444444 = 1.0416667, and halving the recipe halves the weight to 0.520833 cups.
500 g of instant yeast in cups
A recipe calling for 500 g of instant yeast needs 3.47222 cups on the scale. The arithmetic is 500 × 0.0069444444 = 3.4722222, and halving the recipe halves the weight to 1.73611 cups.
How to read your score
Frequently asked questions
How many cups are in 1 g of instant yeast?
One gram of instant yeast is 0.0069444444 cups. Half that quantity is 0.00347222 cups and double it is 0.0138889 cups, so the figure scales straight up and down — there is no offset in this conversion, only the factor.
Why is a cup of instant yeast not 236 g like water?
Because weight per cup depends on what is in the cup. Instant yeast has a density of 0.60865 g per mL where water has 1.00, so a cup of it weighs 144 g rather than 236.6 g. That is a difference of 92.6 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 instant yeast by roughly 20% — about 14.4 g either side of 144 g — because three grams to a teaspoon, so a standard 7 g sachet is a little over two and a quarter teaspoons. Weighing removes the question entirely.
Is a fluid ounce of instant yeast 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 instant yeast weighs 0.6349 oz, so the two readings differ by 36.5%. 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 instant yeast would weigh 152.16 g instead of 144 g — 8.16 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 instant yeast — roughly 28.8 g on a 144 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 2 cup of instant yeast weigh?
2 cup of instant yeast comes to 288 g, or 288 grams. This page runs that calculation in reverse — enter a weight and it returns the volume — and the cups-to-grams page does it in the direction the question is usually asked.
Instant yeast in grams and cups
| Grams | Cups | Unrounded |
|---|---|---|
| 5 g | 0.0347222 cup | 0.03472222222 |
| 10 g | 0.0694444 cup | 0.06944444444 |
| 25 g | 0.173611 cup | 0.1736111111 |
| 50 g | 0.347222 cup | 0.3472222222 |
| 100 g | 0.694444 cup | 0.6944444444 |
| 125 g | 0.868056 cup | 0.8680555556 |
| 150 g | 1.04167 cup | 1.041666667 |
| 200 g | 1.38889 cup | 1.388888889 |
| 250 g | 1.73611 cup | 1.736111111 |
| 300 g | 2.08333 cup | 2.083333333 |
| 500 g | 3.47222 cup | 3.472222222 |
| 1000 g | 6.94444 cup | 6.944444444 |
Based on 144 g per cup of instant yeast. One gram of instant yeast is 0.0069444444 cups.
| Measure | Grams | Ounces | Millilitres |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 cup | 144 g | 5.08 oz | 236.6 mL |
| 1 tbsp | 9 g | 0.317 oz | 14.79 mL |
| 2 tsp | 6 g | 0.212 oz | 9.858 mL |
| 1 tsp | 3 g | 0.106 oz | 4.929 mL |
| 3/4 tsp | 2.25 g | 0.0794 oz | 3.697 mL |
| 1/2 tsp | 1.5 g | 0.0529 oz | 2.464 mL |
| 1/4 tsp | 0.75 g | 0.0265 oz | 1.232 mL |
| 1/8 tsp | 0.375 g | 0.0132 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) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ground cinnamon | 125 g | 4.409 oz | 0.5283 |
| Chili powder | 125 g | 4.409 oz | 0.5283 |
| Garlic powder | 134 g | 4.727 oz | 0.5664 |
| Instant yeast (this page) | 144 g | 5.079 oz | 0.6087 |
| Ground turmeric | 144 g | 5.079 oz | 0.6087 |
| Powdered gelatin | 150 g | 5.291 oz | 0.634 |
| Baking powder | 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.