One gram of sunflower seeds is 0.11428571 tablespoons, so converting grams of sunflower seeds to tablespoons means multiplying by 0.11428571. 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. Sunflower seeds comes in at 0.59175 g per mL, or 59.17% of water, which is why a cup of it is 140 g rather than 236.6 g. Volume and weight only line up for water, and only in metric.
A level tablespoon of sunflower seeds is 8.75 g, which puts a teaspoon at 2.917 g and a tablespoon and a half — the quantity recipes are fondest of — at 13.12 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 0.714% of a cup of sunflower seeds, so weighing gets an accuracy no measuring cup can reach. A 500 g pack of it is 3.571 cups, and a 1 kg pack 7.143.
How the figure is arrived at: Hulled kernels, not the striped whole seeds sold as bird food — the whole seed is mostly hull and weighs far less per cup, which is the difference that trips up bulk-bin shopping.
The formula
grams- The amount of sunflower seeds you are converting, in grams
0.114285714286- Tablespoons per gram for sunflower seeds, from its density of 0.59175 g/mL
tablespoons- The equivalent quantity in tablespoons
How it works, step by step
- Enter the quantity in grams.
- It is multiplied by 0.114285714286, the tablespoons-per-gram figure for sunflower seeds.
- 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 sunflower seeds in tablespoons
50 g of sunflower seeds weighs out at 5.71429 tablespoons. Divide 5.71429 by 0.11428571 and you get back to 50 g, which is the quickest check that the factor is the right way up.
150 g of sunflower seeds in tablespoons
A recipe calling for 150 g of sunflower seeds needs 17.1429 tablespoons on the scale. The arithmetic is 150 × 0.11428571 = 17.142857, and halving the recipe halves the weight to 8.57143 tablespoons.
500 g of sunflower seeds in tablespoons
500 g of sunflower seeds weighs out at 57.1429 tablespoons. Divide 57.1429 by 0.11428571 and you get back to 500 g, which is the quickest check that the factor is the right way up.
How to read your score
Frequently asked questions
How many tablespoons are in 1 g of sunflower seeds?
One gram of sunflower seeds is 0.11428571 tablespoons. Half that quantity is 0.0571429 tablespoons and double it is 0.228571 tablespoons, so the figure scales straight up and down — there is no offset in this conversion, only the factor.
Why is a cup of sunflower seeds not 236 g like water?
Because weight per cup depends on what is in the cup. Sunflower seeds has a density of 0.59175 g per mL where water has 1.00, so a cup of it weighs 140 g rather than 236.6 g. That is a difference of 96.6 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 sunflower seeds by roughly 12% — about 8.4 g either side of 140 g — because hulled kernels, not the striped whole seeds sold as bird food — the whole seed is mostly hull and weighs far less per cup, which is the difference that trips up bulk-bin shopping. Weighing removes the question entirely.
Is a fluid ounce of sunflower seeds 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 sunflower seeds weighs 0.6173 oz, so the two readings differ by 38.3%. 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 sunflower seeds would weigh 147.94 g instead of 140 g — 7.94 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 sunflower seeds — roughly 16.8 g on a 140 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 3 tbsp of sunflower seeds weigh?
3 tbsp of sunflower seeds comes to 26.25 g, or 26.25 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.
Sunflower seeds in grams and tablespoons
| Grams | Tablespoons | Unrounded |
|---|---|---|
| 5 g | 0.571429 tbsp | 0.5714285714 |
| 10 g | 1.14286 tbsp | 1.142857143 |
| 25 g | 2.85714 tbsp | 2.857142857 |
| 50 g | 5.71429 tbsp | 5.714285714 |
| 100 g | 11.4286 tbsp | 11.42857143 |
| 125 g | 14.2857 tbsp | 14.28571429 |
| 150 g | 17.1429 tbsp | 17.14285714 |
| 200 g | 22.8571 tbsp | 22.85714286 |
| 250 g | 28.5714 tbsp | 28.57142857 |
| 300 g | 34.2857 tbsp | 34.28571429 |
| 500 g | 57.1429 tbsp | 57.14285714 |
| 1000 g | 114.286 tbsp | 114.2857143 |
Based on 140 g per cup of sunflower seeds. One gram of sunflower seeds is 0.11428571 tablespoons.
| Measure | Grams | Ounces | Millilitres |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 cup | 140 g | 4.94 oz | 236.6 mL |
| 1 tbsp | 8.75 g | 0.309 oz | 14.79 mL |
| 2 tsp | 5.833 g | 0.206 oz | 9.858 mL |
| 1 tsp | 2.917 g | 0.103 oz | 4.929 mL |
| 3/4 tsp | 2.188 g | 0.0772 oz | 3.697 mL |
| 1/2 tsp | 1.458 g | 0.0514 oz | 2.464 mL |
| 1/4 tsp | 0.7292 g | 0.0257 oz | 1.232 mL |
| 1/8 tsp | 0.3646 g | 0.0129 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) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pumpkin seeds | 130 g | 4.586 oz | 0.5495 |
| Frozen peas | 135 g | 4.762 oz | 0.5706 |
| Cashews | 140 g | 4.938 oz | 0.5917 |
| Sunflower seeds (this page) | 140 g | 4.938 oz | 0.5917 |
| Whole almonds | 142 g | 5.009 oz | 0.6002 |
| Sesame seeds | 144 g | 5.079 oz | 0.6087 |
| Raisins | 145 g | 5.115 oz | 0.6129 |
Ordered by weight. The spread across this group is why a single generic cups-to-grams factor cannot work.