If you’re trying to halve a recipe, but wonder how to halve 1/4 cup (or other tricky measurements), we’ve got you covered!
Let’s find out what is half of 1/4 cup (and other difficult measurements) so you can easily adjust quantities for the ingredients in your favorite recipes!
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Chances are pretty good that at some point along your kitchen journey, you’ve had to halve a recipe.
Perhaps you don’t trust yourself with a whole pan of apple blondies, so you want a smaller batch to satisfy your sweet tooth. 😉
Or maybe you’re hosting a small Christmas dinner this year, so you only need to make a handful of dinner rolls instead of a full batch.
If it’s been a long time since you played with fractions and decimals, don’t fret!
When you’re using the US spoon and cup measurement system, adjusting measurements to cut down a recipe is typically pretty simple to do.
These spoons and cups generally double in size as they increase, so a standard measuring cup set often includes a 1/4 cup, 1/2 cup, 1 cup, and sometimes a 1/3 cup.
- Two 1/4 cups = 1/2 cup
- Four 1/4 cups = 1 cup
- Two 1/2 cups = 1 cup
- Three 1/3 cups = 1 cup
A standard measuring spoon set generally includes 1/4 teaspoon, 1/2 teaspoon, 1 teaspoon, and 1 Tablespoon.
- Two 1/4 teaspoons = 1/2 teaspoon
- Four 1/4 teaspoons = 1 teaspoon
- Two 1/2 teaspoons = 1 teaspoonn
- 3 teaspoons = 1 Tablespoon
If you need to convert between cups and spoons, you can use this handy metric:
- 1 cup = 16 Tablespoons
- 1/2 cup = 8 Tablespoons
- 1/4 cup = 4 Tablespoons
You can also see our full conversion chart for common measurements, including how to cut them down.
How Much is Half of 1/4 Cup?
Using the information above, it’s easy to cut nice, even numbers in half, such as a full cup or half of a cup.
But since our measuring cups don’t usually go any smaller than 1/4 cup, how do you cut that amount in half?
To calculate what is 1/4 cup divided in half, I find it easier if you first convert cups into tablespoons, since doing so lets us work with nice, even numbers.
Since 1/4 cup is the same as 4 Tablespoons, we can easily cut 1/4 cup in half to 2 Tablespoons.
So half of 1/4 cup is 2 Tablespoons.
Other Difficult Measurements to Halve
Here are a couple of other common yet difficult measurements you may need to divide in half at some point.
How Much is Half of 3/4 cup
But what is half of 3/4 cup?
Technically, since 1/4 cup equals 4 Tablespoons, then we know 3/4 cups equals 12 Tablespoons.
This means that half of 3/4 cup is 6 Tablespoons.
This is the same as 1/4 cup PLUS 2 Tablespoons.
How Much is Half of 1/3 cup?
Another tricky measurement that’s difficult to simply “cut in half” with mental math is 1/3 cup.
Because 1/3 cup is the same as 5 Tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon (or 16 teaspoons total), we could halve that to be 2 Tablespoons PLUS 2 teaspoons (which is the same as 8 teaspoons total).
So half of 1/3 cup is 2 Tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons.
What About Halving Liquid Ingredients?
When cooking or baking, wet ingredients (especially liquids such as water, oil, vinegar, etc.,) are supposed to be measured with a liquid measuring cup instead of standard dry-ingredient measuring cups.
You can also use measuring spoons for small amounts of liquid, such as when using flavors or extracts.
The exception is that if you’re using thick wet ingredients, such as greek yogurt or nut butters, you may find it easier to use a dry-ingredient measuring cup (this is what I generally do).
Reference Chart for Cutting Down a Recipe
The conversion chart below shows common measurements, along with 1/2 the amount and 1/3 of the amount. This is perfect for those times when you need to cut down a recipe!
| Amount | 1/2 of Amount | 1/3 of Amount |
| 1 cup | 1/2 cup | 1/3 cup |
| 3/4 cup | 1/4 cup + 2 Tablespoons | 1/4 cup |
| 1/2 cup | 1/4 cup | 2 Tablespoons + 2 teaspoons |
| 1/3 cup | 2 Tablespoons + 2 teaspoons | 1 Tablespoon + 1 1/4 teaspoons |
| 2/3 cup | 1/3 cup | 3 Tablespoons + 1 1/2 teaspoons |
| 1/4 cup | 1/8 cup | 1 Tablespoon + 1 teaspoon |
| 1/8 cup | 1 Tablespoon | 2 teaspoons |
| 1 Tablespoon | 1 1/2 teaspoon | 1 teaspoon |
| 1 teaspoon | 1/2 teaspoon | heaping 1/4 teaspoon |
| 1/2 teaspoon | 1/4 teaspoon | N/A |
| 1/4 teaspoon | 1/8 teaspoon | a dash or pinch |
Dividing Ingredients Using the Metric System in Baking and Cooking
The metric system is a system of measurement used by many other countries around the world.
You may remember it from your science classes, as it includes measuring in grams and liters (and their smaller and larger increments, such as milligrams, kilograms, milliliters, etc.).
As a former high school science teacher and registered nurse, I became quite adept at using the metric system–but I still primarily rely on the US cups and spoons system for cooking and baking.
But if you are using a recipe written with the metric system, it’s a cinch to divide the ingredients.
You can halve the ingredients by simply halving the amount.
So, for instance, 500 milliliters would be halved to 250 milliliters. Similarly, 250 grams would be cut down to 125 grams.
Easy peasy!
Of course, if you’re measuring by weight instead of volume, a kitchen scale can be quite useful.
If you don’t have one, you can always convert the metric measurements to the US cup and spoon system, then use our chart above to adjust ingredients by 1/2 as needed.
Dividing 1/4 Cup in Half
Hopefully these tips and the handy conversion chart will take the guesswork out of your math the next time you need to cut down a recipe, especially if you’re tasked with figuring out half of 1/4 cup!.
You can bookmark this page or pin it for later, so you’ll always have it accessible when you need it!