You’re standing there with flour on your chin, a bowl of sticky dough, and a missing measuring cup. It happens. You need 2/3 of a cup for that sourdough or those chewy brownies, but the only thing in your drawer is a tablespoon. It feels like a middle school math test you didn't study for. Honestly, most people just eyeball it and hope for the best, but baking is basically chemistry, and "vibes" don't make bread rise.
So, 2/3 of a cup equals how many tablespoons? The short, fast answer is 10 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons.
That’s the magic number. If you’re in a rush, just scoop out 10 tablespoons, add two little teaspoons, and get back to your mixing. But if you want to know why that number is so weird, or how to handle it when you’re dealing with dry versus liquid ingredients, stay with me. Kitchen math is a rabbit hole, and the deeper you go, the better your food tastes.
Breaking Down the 2/3 Cup Measurement
Most of us grew up thinking a cup is just a cup. It’s not. In the United States, we use the US Customary System, which is slightly different from the Imperial system used in the UK or the metric system used by literally everyone else.
Here is the basic logic. One cup equals 16 tablespoons. If you do the math—and I did, because I’m a nerd about this—one third of a cup is 5 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon. Since 2/3 is just double that, you end up with 10 tablespoons and 2 teaspoons.
It sounds simple. It rarely is.
If you try to use a liquid measuring cup for flour, you’re going to have a bad time. Liquid cups have a spout. They're meant for water, milk, or oil. When you pour flour into one of those, it settles. You end up packing way more flour into the cup than the recipe actually calls for. Suddenly, your cookies are hard as rocks. You’ve basically made edible bricks.
The Problem With Volume
Volume is a liar. That’s the first thing professional pastry chefs like Joanne Chang or Dominique Ansel will tell you. A tablespoon of loosely packed brown sugar is not the same as a tablespoon of "packed" brown sugar. When you are trying to figure out how many tablespoons are in 2/3 of a cup, you have to consider what you are measuring.
Is it honey? Honey sticks to the spoon. If you measure out 10 tablespoons of honey, you're actually losing about half a tablespoon to the sides of the spoon. Pro tip: spray your spoon with a little bit of non-stick oil first. The honey will slide right off like it’s on a water slide.
Why 10 Tablespoons Plus 2 Teaspoons is the Gold Standard
Let's look at the actual $math$ here.
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$1 \text{ cup} = 16 \text{ tablespoons}$
$2/3 \text{ of } 16 = 10.666 \dots$
You can't really measure $0.666$ of a tablespoon easily. That’s where the teaspoons come in. Since there are exactly 3 teaspoons in a single tablespoon, $2/3$ of a tablespoon is exactly 2 teaspoons.
10 tablespoons. 2 teaspoons. Easy.
But wait. What if you're in the UK? Over there, an Imperial cup is actually larger—about 284 milliliters compared to the US cup which is roughly 236 milliliters. If you're following a British recipe and you use 10 US tablespoons, your cake might come out a bit dry or small. Most modern recipes on the internet try to standardize this, but if you're looking at an old family heirloom recipe from your great-aunt in London, keep that in mind.
What if you don't have a teaspoon?
Sometimes the kitchen is a disaster zone. If you only have a tablespoon and you’ve lost your teaspoons to the garbage disposal or the "junk drawer" abyss, you have to estimate. You need 10 and 2/3 tablespoons.
Basically, fill that 11th tablespoon about two-thirds of the way. It’s not perfect. It’s "kinda" close enough for a casual dinner, but if you're making French macarons? Don't do it. Buy new spoons.
The Dry vs. Liquid Dilemma
We need to talk about the "scoop and level" method. This is where most home cooks fail. If you’re measuring 2/3 of a cup of flour using tablespoons, do not dip the tablespoon into the bag. That packs the flour down.
Instead:
- Use a smaller spoon to fluff up the flour in the bag.
- Spoon the flour into your tablespoon until it's overflowing.
- Use the back of a butter knife to sweep the excess off the top.
Do this 10 times. Then do it twice with a teaspoon. It takes forever. Honestly, it’s annoying. This is exactly why people who bake every day eventually give up on cups and spoons entirely and buy a digital scale.
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Converting to Grams (The Secret of the Pros)
If you want to stop wondering about 2/3 of a cup equals how many tablespoons, start measuring by weight. Grams don't lie. A gram of water is a gram of water regardless of whether you're in New York or Tokyo.
For most all-purpose flour, 2/3 of a cup is roughly 83 to 85 grams. For granulated sugar, it's closer to 133 grams.
Think about that for a second. Sugar is way heavier than flour. If you used the same "eyeballed" tablespoon count for both, you'd be way off on your ratios. If you're making something delicate like a soufflé, that difference is the difference between success and a sad, flat egg pancake.
Common Mistakes When Scaling Recipes
Maybe you're doubling a recipe that calls for 1/3 cup. Or maybe you're cutting a recipe in half that calls for 1 and 1/3 cups. This is where the 2/3 cup measurement usually pops up in the wild.
I once tried to triple a cookie recipe that called for 2/3 cup of butter. I got confused, did the math wrong in my head, and ended up with a puddle of grease on a baking sheet.
- Doubling 1/3 cup: Easy, that's just 2/3 cup (10 tbsp + 2 tsp).
- Halving 1 and 1/3 cups: Also 2/3 cup.
- Tripling 2/3 cup: This is actually great because $2/3 \times 3$ is exactly 2 cups. No messy spoons required.
Kitchen math is usually just a series of fractions that want to hurt you. But once you memorize the "10 and 2" rule, the 2/3 cup becomes much less intimidating.
The Tablespoon Size Myth
Believe it or not, not all tablespoons are the same size. If you’re using a "tablespoon" from your silverware set—the kind you use to eat cereal—you’re going to fail. Those are not measuring spoons. Those are "place settings."
Actual measuring tablespoons are standardized to hold exactly 15ml of liquid. Your soup spoon might hold 12ml, or it might hold 20ml if it’s one of those big fancy ones. Always use actual calibrated measuring tools.
Salt and Spices: A Different Ballgame
Usually, you aren't measuring 2/3 of a cup of salt. If you are, please check that recipe again because that's a lot of sodium. But for things like cocoa powder or cornstarch, the "10 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons" rule still stands.
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Just remember that cocoa powder is incredibly light and prone to clumping. You absolutely must sift it or at least whisk it before measuring out those 10 tablespoons. If you measure 10 tablespoons of clumped cocoa, you’re actually getting way more chocolate than you intended. Actually, maybe that's not a bad thing. Who complains about too much chocolate?
Practical Tips for the Modern Cook
If you're tired of doing the mental gymnastics every time you bake, here's what you should actually do.
First, print out a conversion chart and tape it to the inside of your pantry door. Seriously. Even pros do this. When your hands are covered in dough, you don't want to be Googling "2/3 of a cup equals how many tablespoons" with your knuckle.
Second, get a set of "odd" measuring cups. You can actually buy sets that include a 2/3 cup and a 3/4 cup. They are life-changers. No more filling the 1/3 cup twice and wondering if you already put the first one in.
Third, if you’re using tablespoons to measure a 2/3 cup of butter, just look at the wrapper. Most sticks of butter in the US have markings on them. One stick is 8 tablespoons (1/2 cup). So for 2/3 cup, you need one full stick plus 2 tablespoons and 2 teaspoons from a second stick.
Does it Really Matter?
You might be wondering if those 2 teaspoons really make a difference.
If you just use 10 tablespoons and skip the teaspoons, you’re missing about 4% of the ingredient. In a stew? Doesn't matter. In a smoothie? Who cares. In a cake? It might be the difference between a moist crumb and a dry, crumbly mess.
Precision is what separates a "good" cook from a "great" one.
Actionable Steps for Your Next Recipe
Instead of guessing next time, follow this workflow:
- Check your spoons: Ensure you are using actual measuring spoons, not cutlery.
- Use the 10 + 2 rule: Count out 10 level tablespoons, then add 2 level teaspoons.
- Count out loud: It sounds silly, but it's so easy to lose track at 7 or 8 tablespoons. Count like a toddler. "Seven... eight... nine..."
- Level every scoop: Use a straight edge to ensure each tablespoon is a true measurement.
- Consider a scale: If you find yourself doing this conversion more than once a week, spend the $15 on a digital kitchen scale. It will change your life more than any fancy mixer ever could.
Next time you're faced with a fraction, you won't have to panic. You know the math. 10 tablespoons, 2 teaspoons, and a whole lot of confidence. Go finish that recipe.