To convert teaspoons of kosher salt into grams, multiply by 5: one teaspoon comes to 5 grams. Every ingredient has its own figure here, because the units are measuring different things and only the density links them.
Water is the yardstick: 1 mL of it weighs 1 g. Kosher salt comes in at 1.0144 g per mL, or 101.4% of water, which is why a cup of it is 240 g rather than 236.6 g. Volume and weight only line up for water, and only in metric.
A level teaspoon of kosher salt weighs 5 g. A kitchen scale that reads to the nearest gram is therefore working at roughly 20% resolution on a single spoonful, which is why measuring spoons beat scales below about 5 g and lose to them above it. Three teaspoons make a tablespoon, so the same spoonful is 15 g if the recipe scales up.
Grams are the unit this conversion is really for. A domestic scale resolves to a gram, which is 0.417% of a cup of kosher salt, so weighing gets an accuracy no measuring cup can reach. A 500 g pack of it is 2.083 cups, and a 1 kg pack 4.167.
What the number depends on: Flake size differs between brands by nearly a factor of two, which makes this the most variable figure on the site. Weigh it when it matters.
The formula
teaspoons- The amount of kosher salt you are converting, in teaspoons
5- Grams per teaspoon for kosher salt, from its density of 1.0144 g/mL
grams- The equivalent quantity in grams
How it works, step by step
- Enter the quantity in teaspoons.
- It is multiplied by 5, the grams-per-teaspoon figure for kosher salt.
- 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
3/4 tsp of kosher salt in grams
Take 3/4 tsp of kosher salt: 0.75 × 5 gives 3.75 grams. Doubling the batch takes it to 7.5 grams, because the relationship is a straight proportion once the density is known.
1 1/2 tsp of kosher salt in grams
Take 1 1/2 tsp of kosher salt: 1.5 × 5 gives 7.5 grams. Doubling the batch takes it to 15 grams, because the relationship is a straight proportion once the density is known.
4 tsp of kosher salt in grams
A recipe calling for 4 tsp of kosher salt needs 20 grams on the scale. The arithmetic is 4 × 5 = 20, and halving the recipe halves the weight to 10 grams.
How to read your score
Frequently asked questions
How many grams are in 1 tsp of kosher salt?
One teaspoon of kosher salt is 5 grams. Half that quantity is 2.5 grams and double it is 10 grams, so the figure scales straight up and down — there is no offset in this conversion, only the factor.
Why is a cup of kosher salt not 236 g like water?
Because weight per cup depends on what is in the cup. Kosher salt has a density of 1.0144 g per mL where water has 1.00, so a cup of it weighs 240 g rather than 236.6 g. That is a difference of 3.4 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 kosher salt by roughly 20% — about 24 g either side of 240 g — because flake size differs between brands by nearly a factor of two, which makes this the most variable figure on the site. Weighing removes the question entirely.
Is a fluid ounce of kosher salt 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 kosher salt weighs 1.058 oz, so the two readings differ by 5.82%. 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 kosher salt would weigh 253.61 g instead of 240 g — 13.6 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?
At this size the spoon wins. One teaspoon of kosher salt is 5 g, and a scale reading to the nearest gram is working at 20% resolution on that — a measuring spoon is the more accurate instrument below about 5 g, which is why spice quantities are still written in spoons.
How many teaspoons of kosher salt is 500 g?
500 g of kosher salt is 100 teaspoons — 0.2 teaspoons to one gram, so 500 × 0.2 = 100. Going that way is a division by 5, or a multiplication by 0.2 if you prefer.
Kosher salt in teaspoons and grams
| Teaspoons | Grams | Unrounded |
|---|---|---|
| 1/4 tsp | 1.25 g | 1.25 |
| 1/2 tsp | 2.5 g | 2.5 |
| 3/4 tsp | 3.75 g | 3.75 |
| 1 tsp | 5 g | 5 |
| 1 1/2 tsp | 7.5 g | 7.5 |
| 2 tsp | 10 g | 10 |
| 3 tsp | 15 g | 15 |
| 4 tsp | 20 g | 20 |
| 6 tsp | 30 g | 30 |
Based on 240 g per cup of kosher salt. One teaspoon of kosher salt is 5 grams.
| Measure | Grams | Ounces | Millilitres |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 cup | 240 g | 8.47 oz | 236.6 mL |
| 1 tbsp | 15 g | 0.529 oz | 14.79 mL |
| 2 tsp | 10 g | 0.353 oz | 9.858 mL |
| 1 tsp | 5 g | 0.176 oz | 4.929 mL |
| 3/4 tsp | 3.75 g | 0.132 oz | 3.697 mL |
| 1/2 tsp | 2.5 g | 0.0882 oz | 2.464 mL |
| 1/4 tsp | 1.25 g | 0.0441 oz | 1.232 mL |
| 1/8 tsp | 0.625 g | 0.022 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 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 |
| Vanilla extract | 202 g | 7.125 oz | 0.8538 |
| Kosher salt (this page) | 240 g | 8.466 oz | 1.014 |
| Table salt | 288 g | 10.16 oz | 1.217 |
| Baking soda | 288 g | 10.16 oz | 1.217 |
Ordered by weight. The spread across this group is why a single generic cups-to-grams factor cannot work.