Grams of onion powder to tablespoons runs on one number, 0.13913043 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.
The density behind that figure is 0.48608 g per mL, against 1.00 for water. A cup of water weighs 236.6 g and a cup of onion powder weighs 115 g, so this ingredient is 48.61% as heavy as the same volume of water — the single fact the whole page rests on.
A level tablespoon of onion powder is 7.188 g, which puts a teaspoon at 2.396 g and a tablespoon and a half — the quantity recipes are fondest of — at 10.78 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 0.87% of a cup of onion powder, so weighing gets an accuracy no measuring cup can reach. A 500 g pack of it is 4.348 cups, and a 1 kg pack 8.696.
How the figure is arrived at: Hygroscopic — it pulls in moisture and cakes, and a caked spoonful weighs more than a free-flowing one.
The formula
grams- The amount of onion powder you are converting, in grams
0.139130434783- Tablespoons per gram for onion powder, from its density of 0.48608 g/mL
tablespoons- The equivalent quantity in tablespoons
How it works, step by step
- Enter the quantity in grams.
- It is multiplied by 0.139130434783, the tablespoons-per-gram figure for onion powder.
- 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 onion powder in tablespoons
50 g of onion powder weighs out at 6.95652 tablespoons. Divide 6.95652 by 0.13913043 and you get back to 50 g, which is the quickest check that the factor is the right way up.
150 g of onion powder in tablespoons
A recipe calling for 150 g of onion powder needs 20.8696 tablespoons on the scale. The arithmetic is 150 × 0.13913043 = 20.869565, and halving the recipe halves the weight to 10.4348 tablespoons.
500 g of onion powder in tablespoons
Take 500 g of onion powder: 500 × 0.13913043 gives 69.5652 tablespoons. Doubling the batch takes it to 139.13 tablespoons, because the relationship is a straight proportion once the density is known.
How to read your score
Frequently asked questions
How many tablespoons are in 1 g of onion powder?
One gram of onion powder is 0.13913043 tablespoons. Half that quantity is 0.0695652 tablespoons and double it is 0.278261 tablespoons, so the figure scales straight up and down — there is no offset in this conversion, only the factor.
Why is a cup of onion powder not 236 g like water?
Because weight per cup depends on what is in the cup. Onion powder has a density of 0.48608 g per mL where water has 1.00, so a cup of it weighs 115 g rather than 236.6 g. That is a difference of 121.6 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 onion powder by roughly 20% — about 11.5 g either side of 115 g — because hygroscopic — it pulls in moisture and cakes, and a caked spoonful weighs more than a free-flowing one. Weighing removes the question entirely.
Is a fluid ounce of onion powder 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 onion powder weighs 0.5071 oz, so the two readings differ by 49.3%. 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 onion powder would weigh 121.52 g instead of 115 g — 6.52 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 tablespoon of onion powder is 7.188 g, and a scale reading to the nearest gram is working at 13.9% 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 much does 3 tbsp of onion powder weigh?
3 tbsp of onion powder comes to 21.562 g, or 21.562 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.
Onion powder in grams and tablespoons
| Grams | Tablespoons | Unrounded |
|---|---|---|
| 5 g | 0.695652 tbsp | 0.6956521739 |
| 10 g | 1.3913 tbsp | 1.391304348 |
| 25 g | 3.47826 tbsp | 3.47826087 |
| 50 g | 6.95652 tbsp | 6.956521739 |
| 100 g | 13.913 tbsp | 13.91304348 |
| 125 g | 17.3913 tbsp | 17.39130435 |
| 150 g | 20.8696 tbsp | 20.86956522 |
| 200 g | 27.8261 tbsp | 27.82608696 |
| 250 g | 34.7826 tbsp | 34.7826087 |
| 300 g | 41.7391 tbsp | 41.73913043 |
| 500 g | 69.5652 tbsp | 69.56521739 |
| 1000 g | 139.13 tbsp | 139.1304348 |
Based on 115 g per cup of onion powder. One gram of onion powder is 0.13913043 tablespoons.
| Measure | Grams | Ounces | Millilitres |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 cup | 115 g | 4.06 oz | 236.6 mL |
| 1 tbsp | 7.188 g | 0.254 oz | 14.79 mL |
| 2 tsp | 4.792 g | 0.169 oz | 9.858 mL |
| 1 tsp | 2.396 g | 0.0845 oz | 4.929 mL |
| 3/4 tsp | 1.797 g | 0.0634 oz | 3.697 mL |
| 1/2 tsp | 1.198 g | 0.0423 oz | 2.464 mL |
| 1/4 tsp | 0.599 g | 0.0211 oz | 1.232 mL |
| 1/8 tsp | 0.2995 g | 0.0106 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 nutmeg | 106 g | 3.739 oz | 0.448 |
| Ground black pepper | 110 g | 3.88 oz | 0.4649 |
| Paprika | 110 g | 3.88 oz | 0.4649 |
| Onion powder (this page) | 115 g | 4.057 oz | 0.4861 |
| 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 |
Ordered by weight. The spread across this group is why a single generic cups-to-grams factor cannot work.