You're standing over a bowl of expensive vanilla bean paste or maybe some high-potency cayenne pepper. The recipe calls for a tablespoon, but your drawer is a disaster zone. You find the tiny "pinch" spoon—the 1/8 teaspoon—and you pause. It looks microscopic. You start doing the mental gymnastics. Honestly, most of us just start scooping and hope for the best, but that is a recipe for a culinary disaster.
There are exactly 24 units of 1/8 teaspoons in a tablespoon.
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It sounds like a lot. It is a lot. If you actually try to scoop out 24 tiny portions, you’re probably going to lose count around twelve, get distracted by a text, and end up with a cake that tastes like a salt lick. Knowing the math is one thing; actually executing it in a messy kitchen is another.
Why 1/8 teaspoons in a tablespoon is such a weird conversion
Standard American culinary measurements are based on a factor of three, which is why everything feels slightly "off" compared to the decimal-based metric system used by literally everyone else. In a standard kitchen set, you have the tablespoon ($tbsp$) and the teaspoon ($tsp$).
The golden rule of the pantry is that 3 teaspoons make 1 tablespoon.
When you break that down further, a single teaspoon contains eight 1/8 teaspoons. It's basic multiplication, but it feels counterintuitive when you're looking at the physical size difference. If you multiply those 8 tiny increments by the 3 teaspoons that fit into a tablespoon, you hit that magic number: 24.
$8 \times 3 = 24$
It’s easy to second-guess this. You might look at that 1/8 spoon and think, "No way does this fit in there twenty-four times." But it does. The volume of a US tablespoon is roughly 14.78 milliliters. A 1/8 teaspoon is approximately 0.61 milliliters. If you do the raw math on the metric side, $14.78 / 0.61$ lands you right at 24.2, accounting for the slight rounding we do in standard kitchen tools.
The danger of "eyeballing" small measurements
Precision matters.
If you're making a beef stew, an extra 1/8 teaspoon of black pepper isn't going to ruin your night. However, baking is chemistry. It’s not a suggestion; it’s a reaction. If you are using that tiny spoon to measure out baking soda or cream of tartar, being off by even a few scoops can change the $pH$ of your batter. This results in cookies that don't brown or a cake that tastes like soap because the alkaline base didn't have enough acid to react with.
I've seen people try to use a regular dinner spoon as a substitute for a tablespoon. Don't do that. A "tablespoon" in a recipe refers to a specific volume (15ml), not the silverware you use for cereal. Most silverware "tablespoons" actually hold about 10ml to 12ml, meaning you’d be short-changing your recipe by nearly 30% right out of the gate.
Conversions that actually make sense in the kitchen
Sometimes you don't have the 1/8 spoon, or maybe you're tired of counting to 24. Here is how the breakdown actually looks when you’re moving between sizes.
If you have a 1/4 teaspoon, you only need 12 scoops to reach a tablespoon.
If you're using a 1/2 teaspoon, it’s 6 scoops.
For those using a full teaspoon, it’s just 3 scoops.
It’s much easier to count to six than to twenty-four. If you find yourself needing a tablespoon of an ingredient but you only have the 1/8 measure, honestly, go find a bigger spoon. The margin for error increases every time you dip that spoon back into the jar. If you spill just a tiny bit or fail to level off one of those 24 scoops, your final measurement could be off by a significant percentage.
When the 1/8 teaspoon is actually a "dash" or a "pinch"
In older cookbooks—think your grandmother’s handwritten notes or those spiral-bound community books from the 70s—you’ll see terms like "pinch," "dash," or "smidgen." While these sound like vague suggestions, modern kitchen brands like Norpro or RSVP International actually sell measuring spoon sets that define these.
In these specialized sets:
- A Smidgen is usually 1/32 teaspoon.
- A Pinch is 1/16 teaspoon.
- A Dash is often considered 1/8 teaspoon.
So, if a recipe calls for a "dash" of cayenne, they are essentially asking for that 1/8 teaspoon. If you were to scale up a recipe that calls for a dash of something by 24 times, you would use a full tablespoon. This happens more often than you’d think when people are "batching" cocktails or making massive quantities of dry rub for a barbecue.
The Metric twist: Why your spoons might be lying to you
If you bought your measuring spoons from a global retailer like IKEA or a specialized European brand, your "tablespoon" might actually be 15ml, whereas a traditional US tablespoon is technically 14.81ml. Is that 0.19ml going to kill your soufflé? Probably not. But it’s a reminder that "standard" isn't always standard.
In Australia, a tablespoon is actually 20ml. That is a massive difference. An Australian tablespoon contains four teaspoons, not three. If you are following a recipe from an Australian food blog and you use a US tablespoon, you are going to be significantly under-measuring your ingredients. In that specific case, you would actually need 32 units of 1/8 teaspoons to fill an Australian tablespoon.
Always check the origin of your recipe. It’s one of those tiny details that separates a good cook from someone who wonders why their food never tastes like the pictures.
Wet vs. Dry: Does the 1/8 teaspoon change?
Volume is volume, but the way you measure changes.
When you're measuring 24 scoops of a liquid—let's say vanilla extract—into a tablespoon, surface tension comes into play. You’ll notice the liquid "domes" slightly over the top of the small spoon. If you don't fill it until that dome forms, you're technically under-measuring.
With dry ingredients like flour or spices, you need to use the "leveling" method. Scoop the ingredient so it heaps over the 1/8 spoon, then use the back of a butter knife to scrape it flat. If you just dip and shake, you’re getting an inconsistent amount every single time. Twenty-four "shaken" 1/8 teaspoons will never equal one level tablespoon.
Practical math for scaling recipes
Let's say you're looking at a recipe that serves two people, and it calls for 1/8 teaspoon of a potent spice like saffron or cloves. You’re hosting a dinner party for 12.
You need to multiply the recipe by six.
$6 \times 1/8 = 6/8$
You can simplify $6/8$ to 3/4 teaspoon.
Instead of trying to measure out six of those tiny 1/8 scoops, you just grab your 1/2 teaspoon and your 1/4 teaspoon. Done. It's faster, cleaner, and much more accurate.
If you were scaling that same recipe for a massive crowd—say, 48 people—you’d multiply by 24. That’s when the 1/8 teaspoon turns into exactly one tablespoon.
Actionable steps for precision cooking
Stop guessing. If you're serious about your cooking or baking, the math of 1/8 teaspoons in a tablespoon is your foundation.
- Verify your spoon set. Check if your tablespoon is a standard 15ml. Most are stamped on the handle.
- Use the "dip and sweep" method. For all 24 scoops, if you must go that route, level them off with a flat edge.
- Audit your recipe's origin. If it’s from the UK or Australia, double-check your tablespoon volumes before you start counting out eighths.
- Upgrade to a digital scale. Honestly? The best way to measure 1/8 of a teaspoon or a tablespoon is by weight (grams). A tablespoon of water is 15 grams. A 1/8 teaspoon is roughly 0.6 grams. Most cheap kitchen scales won't register 0.6 grams accurately, which is exactly why these tiny spoons still exist.
If you are stuck without a tablespoon and only have that tiny 1/8 measure, take a breath. Count out loud. Do it in sets of four. Every four scoops is a half-teaspoon. Six of those sets and you've reached your tablespoon.