How many millilitres is a tablespoon?

Fifteen millilitres in the United States, United Kingdom, New Zealand and Canada, and twenty millilitres in Australia. The US customary tablespoon is technically 14.7868 mL, half a US fluid ounce, but American measuring spoons and food labelling both treat it as 15 mL, so the practical figure is 15.

Why is the Australian tablespoon bigger?

When Australia converted to the metric system its standards body defined the tablespoon as a round 20 mL, which is four 5 mL teaspoons. Other metric countries rounded their tablespoon to 15 mL instead, matching the older three teaspoon convention. Australia and New Zealand differ here despite sharing the 250 mL metric cup.

Are teaspoons the same everywhere?

In modern measuring sets, yes: the teaspoon is 5 mL in Australia, the UK, New Zealand and Europe, and the US customary teaspoon of 4.9289 mL is sold and labelled as 5 mL. That makes the teaspoon the safest unit to use when you do not know where a recipe came from.

How many teaspoons are in a tablespoon?

Three in most of the world, because 15 mL divided by 5 mL is three. Four in Australia, because the Australian tablespoon is 20 mL. This is the quickest way to identify an unmarked spoon set: if the tablespoon takes four level teaspoons to fill it, the set is Australian.

Does the tablespoon difference really matter?

For oil, stock or cream, no. For baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, salt, yeast or gelatine, very much so, because a 20 mL spoon delivers a third more than a 15 mL one. Those ingredients are dosed in small amounts precisely because small amounts change the outcome.

What is a dessertspoon?

A 10 mL measure sitting between the teaspoon and the tablespoon, still used in British and Australian recipes and sold in many measuring sets. Two dessertspoons make one 20 mL Australian tablespoon, and two teaspoons make one dessertspoon. It has no equivalent in standard American recipe writing.

Tablespoon and Teaspoon Converter

Works anywhere

Converts spoon measures between the 20 mL Australian tablespoon, the 15 mL tablespoon used in the US, UK, New Zealand and Canada, the 10 mL dessertspoon, the 5 mL teaspoon and plain millilitres. One Australian tablespoon is 1.333 metric tablespoons, so an Australian recipe measured with an overseas spoon loses a quarter of every tablespoon.

Enter your values

Amount

How many spoons or millilitres the recipe asks for, fractions included.

The recipe was written with

Choose the spoon the recipe author meant, which follows their country.

I am measuring with

Choose the spoon in your own measuring set, or millilitres for a syringe.

Runs in your browser. Nothing you enter is stored or sent anywhere.

Results

Worked example. Edit the values and press Calculate

Converted amount

1.333 metric tablespoons (15 mL)

Counting spoon for spoon instead would be out by 5.00 mL.

Volume in millilitres
20.00 mL
In metric tablespoons (15 mL)
1.33
The tablespoon used in the US, UK, New Zealand and Canada.
In Australian tablespoons (20 mL)
1.00
Australia alone uses a four teaspoon tablespoon, a third larger than everyone else.
In teaspoons (5 mL)
4.00
In dessertspoons (10 mL)
2.00
In US fluid ounces
0.676
Your starting measure was 1.00 Australian tablespoons (20 mL).

Why use this calculator

The tablespoon is the most dangerous measure in international recipe writing, because the word is identical everywhere and the volume is not. Australia uses a 20 mL tablespoon made of four teaspoons. The United States, United Kingdom, New Zealand and Canada use a 15 mL tablespoon made of three.

Nobody writes the size on the recipe, and most measuring sets do not print it on the spoon either. Get it backwards on oil or stock and nothing happens. Get it backwards on baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, salt, gelatine, yeast or a strong spice and the dish is ruined, because those ingredients work in narrow ratios.

This converter puts the actual millilitre volume on screen, shows the count in every common spoon at once, and tells you the size of the error you would make by counting spoon for spoon.

How to use it

Enter how many spoons the recipe asks for in the amount box, using decimals such as 0.5 for half and 0.25 for a quarter.
In the second field pick the spoon the recipe was written with, taking the country of publication as your guide: choose the Australian 20 mL tablespoon for Australian sources and the 15 mL tablespoon for American, British, New Zealand and Canadian ones.
In the third field pick what you are measuring with, or choose millilitres if you would rather use a medicine syringe or a small jug for accuracy.
The highlighted row gives the count for your own spoon and the millilitre row gives the volume that settles any argument.

What each result means

Converted amount: How many of your spoons match the recipe, plus the millilitre error you avoid by converting.
Volume in millilitres: The true volume the recipe asked for. Measure this with a syringe or jug and no spoon standard can catch you out.
In metric tablespoons (15 mL): The count in the 15 mL tablespoon used in the US, UK, New Zealand and Canada.
In Australian tablespoons (20 mL): The count in the 20 mL Australian tablespoon, which holds four teaspoons instead of three.
In teaspoons (5 mL): The count in teaspoons, which are 5 mL in every modern measuring set worldwide.
In dessertspoons (10 mL): The count in dessertspoons, a 10 mL measure still used in British and Australian recipes.
In US fluid ounces: The same volume in US fluid ounces, for American recipes that switch to ounces above a few spoons.

The formula

Every conversion passes through millilitres:

Volume_mL = amount x fromSpoon_mL
Then result = volume_mL / toSpoon_mL

The constants are the published spoon capacities: metric tablespoon 15 mL, Australian tablespoon 20 mL, dessertspoon 10 mL, teaspoon 5 mL, US customary tablespoon 14.7868 mL which is half a US fluid ounce, US customary teaspoon 4.9289 mL and the historical imperial tablespoon 17.7582 mL. The shortfall line is amount x (fromSpoon_mL - toSpoon_mL), the millilitres you would gain or lose by counting spoons rather than converting.

How this number is used in practice

The classic failure is an Australian recipe cooked overseas, or the reverse. An Australian scone recipe asking for four tablespoons of butter means 80 mL. Measured with a 15 mL spoon that becomes 60 mL, a quarter less fat, and the scones come out dry and pale.

Run it the other way and an American cake calling for a tablespoon of bicarbonate of soda measured with an Australian spoon gets a third more leavening than intended, which tastes soapy and leaves the crumb coarse and full of tunnels. Neither cook did anything wrong except trust a word.

The risk sits entirely in the small, powerful ingredients. Baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, salt, yeast, gelatine, chilli and ground spices are dosed in teaspoons and tablespoons precisely because the amounts are small relative to their effect, so a thirty three per cent error lands on the part of the recipe with no tolerance.

Oil, stock, cream, honey and other bulk ingredients simply do not care. When a recipe of unknown origin calls for a tablespoon of a raising agent, measure three teaspoons: the teaspoon is 5 mL everywhere, which makes it the one spoon that never lies.

Worked examples

One Australian tablespoon converted for an overseas measuring set
1.333 metric tablespoons, or 20.00 mL
Three teaspoons of baking powder in millilitres
15.00 mL, which is exactly one metric tablespoon
Two metric tablespoons of oil measured with an Australian spoon
1.500 Australian tablespoons, or 30.00 mL

When people use it

Cooking an Australian recipe with an American or British measuring spoon set
Halving or doubling a spoon quantity without rounding it into a different measure
Measuring a raising agent accurately when a recipe gives no country of origin
Reading an older British recipe that uses dessertspoons or imperial tablespoons
Dosing a liquid by syringe in millilitres instead of trusting a kitchen spoon

Tips

Count raising agents and salt in teaspoons rather than tablespoons. The teaspoon is 5 mL everywhere, so it cannot go wrong.
An Australian tablespoon is four teaspoons. Everywhere else it is three. That one sentence prevents most spoon errors.
Never measure with cutlery. A soup spoon from the drawer holds anywhere from 7 mL to 14 mL and is not a measuring spoon.
Level dry spoon measures with a straight edge. A heaped teaspoon of baking powder holds roughly double a level one.
A 5 mL oral syringe from a pharmacy is the most accurate small measure most kitchens can buy, and it costs almost nothing.
If a spoon set lists no volume, fill a spoon with water and weigh it: one gram is one millilitre closely enough to identify it.

What it assumes, and where it stops being accurate

Measuring spoons are made to their nominal volume. Cheap unmarked sets can be several millilitres out either way.
Spoon measures are level unless the recipe says heaped, which is not a defined quantity at all.
The modern UK and New Zealand tablespoon is treated as 15 mL, which matches current measuring sets and recipe writing.
The historical imperial tablespoon of 17.76 mL is offered only for pre metric British books and is not used in modern recipes.
The conversion is by volume, so the weight of a spoonful still depends on the ingredient and how densely it sits.

Terms used on this page

Metric tablespoon: A 15 mL tablespoon, used in the US, UK, New Zealand, Canada and most of Europe.
Australian tablespoon: A 20 mL tablespoon equal to four teaspoons, used only in Australia.
Dessertspoon: A 10 mL measure between a teaspoon and a tablespoon, common in British and Australian recipes.
Level measure: A spoon filled and scraped flat with a straight edge, which is what a recipe means unless it says heaped.
Imperial tablespoon: A historical British tablespoon of 17.76 mL, five eighths of an imperial fluid ounce.

Questions people ask

How many millilitres is a tablespoon?: Fifteen millilitres in the United States, United Kingdom, New Zealand and Canada, and twenty millilitres in Australia. The US customary tablespoon is technically 14.7868 mL, half a US fluid ounce, but American measuring spoons and food labelling both treat it as 15 mL, so the practical figure is 15.
Why is the Australian tablespoon bigger?: When Australia converted to the metric system its standards body defined the tablespoon as a round 20 mL, which is four 5 mL teaspoons. Other metric countries rounded their tablespoon to 15 mL instead, matching the older three teaspoon convention. Australia and New Zealand differ here despite sharing the 250 mL metric cup.
Are teaspoons the same everywhere?: In modern measuring sets, yes: the teaspoon is 5 mL in Australia, the UK, New Zealand and Europe, and the US customary teaspoon of 4.9289 mL is sold and labelled as 5 mL. That makes the teaspoon the safest unit to use when you do not know where a recipe came from.
How many teaspoons are in a tablespoon?: Three in most of the world, because 15 mL divided by 5 mL is three. Four in Australia, because the Australian tablespoon is 20 mL. This is the quickest way to identify an unmarked spoon set: if the tablespoon takes four level teaspoons to fill it, the set is Australian.
Does the tablespoon difference really matter?: For oil, stock or cream, no. For baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, salt, yeast or gelatine, very much so, because a 20 mL spoon delivers a third more than a 15 mL one. Those ingredients are dosed in small amounts precisely because small amounts change the outcome.
What is a dessertspoon?: A 10 mL measure sitting between the teaspoon and the tablespoon, still used in British and Australian recipes and sold in many measuring sets. Two dessertspoons make one 20 mL Australian tablespoon, and two teaspoons make one dessertspoon. It has no equivalent in standard American recipe writing.

Use this with

Tablespoon and Teaspoon Converter answers one part of the question. These pick up where it stops: Cup Converter, Cups to Grams Converter, Recipe Scaler and Oven Temperature Converter.

Where these figures come from

Works anywhereLast reviewed 2026-09·How we build and check calculators

This calculation is jurisdiction-neutral arithmetic. No country-specific rules are applied.

US FDA food labelling and nutrition. Defines the labelling cup as 240 mL, tablespoon 15 mL, teaspoon 5 mL
Food Standards Australia New Zealand. Australian and New Zealand metric measures and food safety guidance
NIST Special Publication 811, SI units guide. Metric unit symbols and conversion factors

Tablespoon and Teaspoon Converter produces an estimate for general information. It is not financial, tax, medical, legal or engineering advice. read the full disclaimer. Spotted a wrong number? Report it and it gets fixed. The form picks up this calculator and the inputs you used.