You're standing in the kitchen, flour on your jeans, and the recipe demands 2/3 cup of butter. You look at the sticks. They have those little lines, but they only go up to eight tablespoons. Panic? Maybe a little.
Basically, how many tablespoons of butter is 2/3 cup is the question that haunts every baker who doesn't want to wash a greasy measuring cup. It’s a weird fraction. It doesn't divide as cleanly as a half or a quarter.
The short answer is 10 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons.
Let's break that down because honestly, if you just eyeball it, your cake is going to sink or your cookies will spread into one giant, buttery pancake on the sheet. Butter is the soul of baking. It provides structure, flavor, and that specific "mouthfeel" scientists talk about. Too little and it’s dry; too much and it’s a greasy mess.
The Math Behind 2/3 Cup of Butter
Butter math is actually just simple division once you know the "Golden Rule" of American sticks. One standard stick of butter is 1/2 cup. That stick equals 8 tablespoons.
To get to 2/3 cup, you need more than one stick but less than two. If you want to get technical, 1 cup is 16 tablespoons. If you divide 16 by 3 (to find a third), you get 5.333. Double that for two-thirds and you're looking at 10.666 tablespoons.
Since nobody has a "0.666" tablespoon measurement in their drawer, we convert that decimal into teaspoons. There are 3 teaspoons in a single tablespoon. So, 0.66 of a tablespoon is exactly 2 teaspoons.
So, your magic formula: 10 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons = 2/3 cup.
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If you are using the metric system or weighing your ingredients—which, frankly, you should be doing if you want to bake like a pro—this comes out to approximately 151.4 grams. Most bakers just round to 151 grams and call it a day. In the UK or Australia, where "tablespoons" can sometimes vary in volume (the Australian tablespoon is 20ml while the US is 15ml), always stick to the weight. Grams don't lie.
Why Eyeballing 2/3 Cup is a Recipe for Disaster
I’ve seen people try to "guesstimate" 2/3 cup by just cutting a stick and a half. Don't do that. A stick and a half is 12 tablespoons (3/4 cup). That extra 1.33 tablespoons might not seem like much, but in a delicate shortbread or a sponge cake, that’s a massive percentage of fat.
When you have too much butter, the steam released during baking creates too many gaps in the gluten structure. The result? A bake that collapses.
On the flip side, being shy with the butter makes things tough. Butter coats the flour proteins (the gluten), preventing them from getting too "stretchy." This is why we call it "shortening"—it shortens the gluten strands. If you under-measure that 2/3 cup, your pie crust will be bread-like instead of flaky.
The Stick Marking Trap
Most butter brands like Land O'Lakes or even store brands have markings on the wrapper. They are great, but they have a flaw. If the wrapper shifted during the packaging process by even an eighth of an inch, your "tablespoon" cut is wrong.
Always check where the "zero" line starts. If the paper is crooked, throw the paper away and use a real tablespoon to measure, or better yet, use a scale.
Different Types of Butter Change the Volume
Not all butter is created equal. This is a hill I will die on.
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If you're using cheap, store-brand butter, it usually has a higher water content (around 18-20%). European-style butters like Kerrygold or Plugra have more butterfat and less water.
When you measure how many tablespoons of butter is 2/3 cup, the volume stays the same, but the weight and the behavior change. High-fat butter melts at a lower temperature. If your recipe calls for 2/3 cup of "softened" butter, and you use a high-fat European brand, "softened" means something very different than it does for the cheap stuff. If it’s too soft, it won’t cream with the sugar properly.
What About Whipped Butter?
Never, ever use whipped butter for baking unless the recipe specifically asks for it. Whipped butter is full of nitrogen gas. If you try to measure 10 tablespoons and 2 teaspoons of whipped butter to get 2/3 cup, you are actually getting way less actual fat and way more air. Your cookies will be sad. They will be rock hard. You've been warned.
Measuring Hacks for the Lazy (or Efficient) Baker
If you hate cleaning measuring spoons, there are a few ways to get this right without the mess.
- The Displacement Method: Fill a measuring cup to the 1-cup mark with cold water. Drop chunks of butter in until the water level hits 1 and 2/3 cups. Boom. You have exactly 2/3 cup of butter submerged. Pour out the water and pat the butter dry.
- The Ruler Method: A standard stick of butter is about 3.25 inches long. Since a stick is 8 tablespoons, each tablespoon is roughly 0.4 inches. To get 10.6 tablespoons, you're looking at roughly 4.25 inches of butter. This is risky but works in a pinch.
- The Scale: This is the only way to live. Put a bowl on the scale, hit "tare" to zero it out, and scoop in butter until it hits 151 grams. No dirty spoons. No math. No stress.
Real-World Conversions You’ll Actually Use
Sometimes you're doubling a recipe, or maybe you're halving one because you're only baking for one person (no judgment). Here is how 2/3 cup stacks up against other common measurements:
- 2/3 cup = 5.33 fluid ounces
- 1/3 cup = 5 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon
- 1 1/3 cups (doubled) = 21 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon (or 2 sticks plus 5 tbsp + 1 tsp)
It's a bit of a jigsaw puzzle.
The "Room Temperature" Myth
Most recipes that require 2/3 cup of butter also tell you to have it at "room temperature." Most people think this means "sitting on the counter for five hours until it's oily."
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Nope.
Professional bakers, like those at the King Arthur Baking Company, define room temperature butter as being roughly 65°F to 67°F. It should be cool to the touch. When you press it with your thumb, it should leave an indentation but not sink in like you're poking a marshmallow.
If your 10 tablespoons and 2 teaspoons of butter are too warm, they won't hold the air bubbles created when you cream them with sugar. Those air bubbles are what make your cake fluffy. No bubbles, no lift. Just a dense, gummy brick.
What if You Only Have Salted Butter?
If the recipe calls for 2/3 cup of unsalted butter and you only have salted, don't sweat it. Just reduce the added salt in the recipe. Generally, a stick of salted butter has about 1/4 teaspoon of salt. So for 2/3 cup (which is 1.33 sticks), you’re looking at about 1/3 teaspoon of salt already in the butter. Adjust accordingly.
Actionable Next Steps for Your Kitchen
The next time you’re staring down a recipe that demands 2/3 cup of butter, follow this checklist to ensure you don't ruin your bake:
- Prioritize weight over volume: Set your kitchen scale to grams and aim for 151g. It is faster and eliminates the "is this tablespoon leveled?" debate.
- Use the 1 Stick + 2.66 Tbsp Rule: If you don't have a scale, use one full stick (8 tbsp) and then measure out 2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons from a second stick.
- Check the temperature: If you're creaming the butter, ensure it’s around 65°F. If you forgot to take it out of the fridge, don't microwave it (it melts unevenly). Instead, grate the cold butter with a cheese grater. It will reach room temperature in minutes.
- Scrape the wrapper: It sounds cheap, but there’s often half a teaspoon of butter stuck to that wax paper. In a precise 2/3 cup measurement, every bit counts.
Whether you're making a batch of muffins or a savory crust, getting your fat ratios right is the difference between "this is okay" and "can I have the recipe?" Now you know the math. Go bake something.