One gram of onion powder is 0.4173913 teaspoons, so converting grams of onion powder to teaspoons means multiplying by 0.4173913. That factor is specific to this ingredient — it comes from its density, not from any relationship between the two units.
Water is the yardstick: 1 mL of it weighs 1 g. Onion powder comes in at 0.48608 g per mL, or 48.61% of water, which is why a cup of it is 115 g rather than 236.6 g. Volume and weight only line up for water, and only in metric.
A level teaspoon of onion powder weighs 2.396 g. A kitchen scale that reads to the nearest gram is therefore working at roughly 41.7% 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 7.188 g if the recipe scales up.
Grams are the unit this conversion is really for. A domestic scale resolves to a gram, which is 0.87% 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
0.417391304348- Teaspoons per gram for onion powder, from its density of 0.48608 g/mL
teaspoons- The equivalent quantity in teaspoons
How it works, step by step
- Enter the quantity in grams.
- It is multiplied by 0.417391304348, the teaspoons-per-gram figure for onion powder.
- The result appears in teaspoons, with a second reading in mL 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 teaspoons
50 g of onion powder weighs out at 20.8696 teaspoons. Divide 20.8696 by 0.4173913 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 teaspoons
150 g of onion powder weighs out at 62.6087 teaspoons. Divide 62.6087 by 0.4173913 and you get back to 150 g, which is the quickest check that the factor is the right way up.
500 g of onion powder in teaspoons
A recipe calling for 500 g of onion powder needs 208.696 teaspoons on the scale. The arithmetic is 500 × 0.4173913 = 208.69565, and halving the recipe halves the weight to 104.348 teaspoons.
How to read your score
Frequently asked questions
How many teaspoons are in 1 g of onion powder?
One gram of onion powder is 0.4173913 teaspoons. Half that quantity is 0.208696 teaspoons and double it is 0.834783 teaspoons, 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 teaspoon of onion powder is 2.396 g, and a scale reading to the nearest gram is working at 41.7% 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 2 tsp of onion powder weigh?
2 tsp of onion powder comes to 4.7917 g, or 4.7917 grams. This page runs that calculation in reverse — enter a weight and it returns the volume — and the teaspoons-to-grams page does it in the direction the question is usually asked.
Onion powder in grams and teaspoons
| Grams | Teaspoons | Unrounded |
|---|---|---|
| 5 g | 2.08696 tsp | 2.086956522 |
| 10 g | 4.17391 tsp | 4.173913043 |
| 25 g | 10.4348 tsp | 10.43478261 |
| 50 g | 20.8696 tsp | 20.86956522 |
| 100 g | 41.7391 tsp | 41.73913043 |
| 125 g | 52.1739 tsp | 52.17391304 |
| 150 g | 62.6087 tsp | 62.60869565 |
| 200 g | 83.4783 tsp | 83.47826087 |
| 250 g | 104.348 tsp | 104.3478261 |
| 300 g | 125.217 tsp | 125.2173913 |
| 500 g | 208.696 tsp | 208.6956522 |
| 1000 g | 417.391 tsp | 417.3913043 |
Based on 115 g per cup of onion powder. One gram of onion powder is 0.4173913 teaspoons.
| 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.