What this calculator does
Working out how many cups is 200 ml, or any other millilitre amount, depends on which cup you mean: a metric cup used in Australia, the UK and much of Europe is 250 mL, while a US customary cup is 236.588 mL, and the US legal cup used on American nutrition labels is 240 mL. This mL to cups converter handles all three, so an amount can be converted directly without first converting to fluid ounces.
The gap between cup sizes is small per cup but adds up in a recipe with several cups of an ingredient. 200 mL is 0.8 of a 250 mL metric cup, but closer to 0.85 of a 236.588 mL US customary cup, a difference that matters more the larger the quantity being measured.
The formula
Divide millilitres by the chosen cup size to get cups, or multiply cups by the chosen cup size to get millilitres. Select the cup-size standard that matches the recipe or region being used, since "a cup" is not a fixed international unit.
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Metric/UK/Australian cup | A rounded 250 mL, the standard used in most recipes outside the United States. |
| US customary cup | 236.588 mL, defined as exactly 8 US fluid ounces. |
| US legal cup | 240 mL, the rounded figure the US Food and Drug Administration uses for nutrition labelling. |
The inputs explained
| Field | What to enter |
|---|---|
| Convert | Choose which direction to convert. |
| Amount | The amount to convert, in the unit selected as the starting point. |
| Cup size standard | Which cup-size standard to use; this changes the result, so pick the one matching your recipe or region. |
When to use it
Following a recipe written in the other measurement system
A recipe giving quantities in millilitres, common outside the US, can be read off directly in cups without an intermediate fluid-ounce step.
Checking a nutrition label against a home measurement
US nutrition labels use the 240 mL legal cup, which is close to but not identical to the 236.588 mL US customary cup used for actual cooking measurement, so selecting the right standard avoids a small but real mismatch.
Converting between Australian and American recipes
An Australian recipe measured in 250 mL metric cups converts to a different millilitre amount than the same number of US customary cups, which matters when adapting a recipe from one country’s convention to another’s.
Worked examples
Every figure in the tables below is produced by this page’s own calculator at build time, so the numbers and the tool always agree. Select any row to load that scenario.
How many cups is a given millilitre amount, using a metric cup
A range of common millilitre amounts, converted to metric cups.
| Amount | Cups |
|---|---|
| 50 mL | 0.200 cups |
| 100 mL | 0.400 cups |
| 150 mL | 0.600 cups |
| 200 mL | 0.800 cups |
| 300 mL | 1.200 cups |
| 500 mL | 2.000 cups |
How many millilitres is a given number of cups, using a metric cup
A range of common cup amounts, converted to millilitres.
Questions
How many cups is 200 mL?
Using the 250 mL metric cup common in Australia and the UK, 200 mL is 0.8 of a cup. Using the 236.588 mL US customary cup, it comes to roughly 0.845 of a cup. Select the cup-size standard that matches the recipe you are following.
Why are there different cup sizes at all?
The cup as a household measure was never standardised internationally. The US customary cup comes from dividing a US quart into 16 equal parts, while the metric cup used elsewhere is simply a round 250 mL, and the US legal cup is a separate rounded figure used specifically for nutrition labelling.
Which cup size should I use for a recipe with no country specified?
If the recipe uses millilitre or gram measurements alongside cups, or is written in British or Australian spelling, the 250 mL metric cup is the safer default. If it is written with US spelling and imperial units elsewhere, the US customary cup is more likely intended.
Does this work for dry ingredients like flour or sugar?
This converts volume only. A cup of a liquid and a cup of a dry ingredient occupy the same volume but not the same weight, so a millilitre-to-cups conversion is accurate for volume but does not tell you the weight of a dry ingredient.
For converting fluid ounces to cups directly, see the fluid ounces to cups converter. For converting tablespoons to millilitres instead, see the tablespoon to mL calculator.