The fluid-ounce answer: exactly 2
One US fluid ounce is 29.5735 ml and one US tablespoon is 14.7868 ml, so the division is exact: 1 fl oz = 2 tablespoons, 2 fl oz = 4 tablespoons, and so on up to 8 fl oz = 16 tablespoons = 1 cup. This is the figure to use for water, milk, oil, stock and any other liquid measured by volume. The tablespoons to ml converter handles the arithmetic for any quantity.
The weight-ounce answer: it depends on the spoon
A weight ounce is 28.3495 g, and how many tablespoons that fills depends on how much one tablespoon of the ingredient weighs. Typical figures, using level tablespoons:
| Ingredient | 1 tbsp weighs (typical) | Tbsp per weight ounce |
|---|---|---|
| Butter | ≈ 14.2 g | 2 |
| Granulated sugar | ≈ 12.5 g | 2¼ |
| Honey | ≈ 21 g | 1⅓ |
| All-purpose flour | ≈ 8 g | 3½ |
| Cocoa powder | ≈ 5 g | 5⅔ |
Worked example: a buttercream recipe
A frosting recipe calls for 6 oz of butter. Using the fluid-ounce shortcut would give 12 tablespoons — but butter's weight works out the same here, because 1 tbsp of butter is about 14.2 g and 6 oz is 170.1 g, which is 12 tablespoons. The shortcut only breaks when the ingredient is not butter: 6 oz of flour is about 21 tablespoons, nearly double, and 6 oz of honey is only about 8 tablespoons. When in doubt, weigh the ingredient instead of counting spoons.
The Australian tablespoon warning
Australian tablespoons are 20 ml, not 15 ml — a third larger than the US and metric tablespoon. An Australian recipe that calls for tablespoons, converted with the 2-tablespoons-per-ounce rule, will over-measure every spoonful by a third. If a recipe's origin is Australian, use 20 ml per tablespoon: 1 US fluid ounce is then about 1½ Australian tablespoons, not 2.
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