To convert pounds of shredded coconut into cups, multiply by 5.3363808: one pound comes to 5.3363808 cups. Every ingredient has its own figure here, because the units are measuring different things and only the density links them.
The density behind that figure is 0.35927 g per mL, against 1.00 for water. A cup of water weighs 236.6 g and a cup of shredded coconut weighs 85 g, so this ingredient is 35.93% as heavy as the same volume of water — the single fact the whole page rests on.
A cup of shredded coconut is 85 g when it is measured the standard way, but how it gets into the cup changes the answer: between about 79.9 g and 95.2 g covers the range from lightly spooned to firmly packed. That 12% spread is larger than most of the adjustments recipes fuss over, and it disappears entirely the moment the ingredient is weighed instead.
Pounds are how shredded coconut is bought rather than cooked, so this is the bag-size arithmetic: one pound is 5.336 cups, a 2 lb pack is 10.67 cups and a 5 lb sack is 26.68. That last figure is the one worth knowing before a large bake — it tells you whether one bag covers the recipe.
What the number depends on: Unsweetened and dried. Sweetened flake is heavier per cup because of the sugar coating it.
The formula
pounds- The amount of shredded coconut you are converting, in pounds
5.33638082353- Cups per pound for shredded coconut, from its density of 0.35927 g/mL
cups- The equivalent quantity in cups
How it works, step by step
- Enter the quantity in pounds.
- It is multiplied by 5.33638082353, the cups-per-pound figure for shredded coconut.
- 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
3/4 lb of shredded coconut in cups
Take 3/4 lb of shredded coconut: 0.75 × 5.3363808 gives 4.00229 cups. Doubling the batch takes it to 8.00457 cups, because the relationship is a straight proportion once the density is known.
1 1/2 lb of shredded coconut in cups
Take 1 1/2 lb of shredded coconut: 1.5 × 5.3363808 gives 8.00457 cups. Doubling the batch takes it to 16.0091 cups, because the relationship is a straight proportion once the density is known.
3 lb of shredded coconut in cups
A recipe calling for 3 lb of shredded coconut needs 16.0091 cups on the scale. The arithmetic is 3 × 5.3363808 = 16.009142, and halving the recipe halves the weight to 8.00457 cups.
How to read your score
Frequently asked questions
How many cups are in 1 lb of shredded coconut?
One pound of shredded coconut is 5.3363808 cups. Half that quantity is 2.66819 cups and double it is 10.6728 cups, so the figure scales straight up and down — there is no offset in this conversion, only the factor.
Why is a cup of shredded coconut not 236 g like water?
Because weight per cup depends on what is in the cup. Shredded coconut has a density of 0.35927 g per mL where water has 1.00, so a cup of it weighs 85 g rather than 236.6 g. That is a difference of 151.6 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 shredded coconut by roughly 12% — about 5.1 g either side of 85 g — because unsweetened and dried. Weighing removes the question entirely.
Is a fluid ounce of shredded coconut 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 shredded coconut weighs 0.3748 oz, so the two readings differ by 62.5%. 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 shredded coconut would weigh 89.818 g instead of 85 g — 4.82 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 12% for shredded coconut — roughly 10.2 g on a 85 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 shredded coconut weigh?
2 cup of shredded coconut comes to 170 g, or 0.37479 pounds. This page runs that calculation in reverse — enter a weight and it returns the volume — and the cups-to-pounds page does it in the direction the question is usually asked.
Shredded coconut in pounds and cups
| Pounds | Cups | Unrounded |
|---|---|---|
| 1/4 lb | 1.3341 cup | 1.334095206 |
| 1/2 lb | 2.66819 cup | 2.668190412 |
| 3/4 lb | 4.00229 cup | 4.002285618 |
| 1 lb | 5.33638 cup | 5.336380824 |
| 1 1/2 lb | 8.00457 cup | 8.004571235 |
| 2 lb | 10.6728 cup | 10.67276165 |
| 3 lb | 16.0091 cup | 16.00914247 |
| 5 lb | 26.6819 cup | 26.68190412 |
Based on 85 g per cup of shredded coconut. One pound of shredded coconut is 5.3363808 cups.
| Measure | Grams | Ounces | Millilitres |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 cup | 85 g | 3 oz | 236.6 mL |
| 3/4 cup | 63.75 g | 2.25 oz | 177.4 mL |
| 2/3 cup | 56.67 g | 2 oz | 157.7 mL |
| 1/2 cup | 42.5 g | 1.5 oz | 118.3 mL |
| 1/3 cup | 28.33 g | 0.999 oz | 78.86 mL |
| 1/4 cup | 21.25 g | 0.75 oz | 59.15 mL |
| 1 tbsp | 5.312 g | 0.187 oz | 14.79 mL |
| 1 tsp | 1.771 g | 0.0625 oz | 4.929 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) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mini marshmallows | 50 g | 1.764 oz | 0.2113 |
| Sliced almonds | 85 g | 2.998 oz | 0.3593 |
| Shredded coconut (this page) | 85 g | 2.998 oz | 0.3593 |
| Grated parmesan | 100 g | 3.527 oz | 0.4227 |
| Chopped pecans | 113 g | 3.986 oz | 0.4776 |
| Shredded cheddar | 113 g | 3.986 oz | 0.4776 |
| Chopped walnuts | 117 g | 4.127 oz | 0.4945 |
Ordered by weight. The spread across this group is why a single generic cups-to-grams factor cannot work.