tbsp to mL Converter
Convert tablespoons to milliliters for any recipe. Choose US customary (14.79 mL), metric/UK (15 mL), or Australian (20 mL) tablespoons and get mL, teaspoons, and fluid ounces.
Example: with Tablespoons 1 · Tablespoon standard US customary (14.79 mL) → Milliliters: 14.79 mL.
- Teaspoons3 tsp
- Fluid ounces (US)0.5 fl oz
Computed by the calculator below using its default values. Change any input to see your own numbers.
1 US tablespoon = 14.7868 mL — exactly half a US fluid ounce. Metric tablespoons are 15 mL; Australian tablespoons are 20 mL (4 teaspoons).
Three tablespoons, three sizes
The US customary tablespoon is defined as half a US fluid ounce: 14.7868 mL. The metric tablespoon used in the UK, Europe, and on nutrition labels is a clean 15 mL — the FDA lets labels round the US spoon up to it, since the gap is only 1.4%. Australia is the outlier: its tablespoon is 20 mL, four 5-mL teaspoons instead of three.
For cooking, treating a tablespoon as 15 mL is always fine. The place the distinction genuinely matters is dosing: medicine cups and oral syringes are marked in mL precisely so nobody has to guess which spoon the instructions meant.
How it’s calculated
mL = tablespoons × 14.7868 (US customary, exactly ½ US fl oz), × 15 (metric/UK), or × 20 (Australian). Teaspoons: US tbsp = 3 × 4.92892 mL; metric and Australian teaspoons are 5 mL, so an Australian tablespoon equals 4 teaspoons. Fluid ounces at 1 fl oz = 29.5735 mL (NIST factors).
Assumes a level spoon — a rounded or heaped tablespoon of thick liquid can run 20–50% over the level volume.
Tablespoons (US) to milliliters
| Tablespoons | Milliliters | Also equals |
|---|---|---|
| 1 tbsp | 14.79 mL | ½ fl oz / 3 tsp |
| 2 tbsp | 29.57 mL | 1 fl oz |
| 3 tbsp | 44.36 mL | 1½ fl oz (a jigger) |
| 4 tbsp | 59.15 mL | ¼ cup |
| 8 tbsp | 118.29 mL | ½ cup |
| 16 tbsp | 236.59 mL | 1 cup |
Computed with 1 US tbsp = 14.7868 mL (NIST); cup and fluid-ounce equivalents are exact by definition.
Common mistakes
- Mixing up regions — an Australian tablespoon (20 mL) is 35% bigger than a US one, and older UK cookbooks may mean the 17.8 mL imperial spoon.
- Measuring with flatware: actual spoons from the drawer hold anywhere from about 10 to 20 mL.
- Heaping instead of leveling — a heaped tablespoon of honey or peanut butter can be half again the level volume.
- Doing teaspoon math with the wrong spoon: a US or metric tablespoon is 3 teaspoons, but an Australian tablespoon is 4.
Frequently asked questions
How many mL in a tablespoon?
14.7868 mL for a US tablespoon, 15 mL for a metric/UK tablespoon, and 20 mL for an Australian one. The formula is mL = tablespoons × that factor.
Is a tablespoon 15 or 20 mL?
Both, depending on where the recipe was written. US and metric spoons are 14.79–15 mL; Australia uses a 20 mL tablespoon. Check the recipe's origin before converting.
How many teaspoons in a tablespoon?
Three in the US and metric systems. Australia's 20 mL tablespoon holds four 5-mL teaspoons — a common source of over-salted dishes.
Why do US nutrition labels say 1 tbsp = 15 mL?
The FDA permits rounding the 14.7868 mL customary tablespoon to 15 mL for labeling. The 1.4% difference is far smaller than normal measuring error in a kitchen.