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Home » How To Cook

How to Measure Butter

Published: Nov 14, 2022 · Modified: May 23, 2023 by Jan Nunes

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A graphic with text overlay showing how to measure butter by the number of sticks or a fractional portion of sticks.

Measuring butter is easy if you read the measurements on the wrapper of each stick. So, there's no need to pack butter into measuring cups!

A graphic showing how to measure butter by the number of sticks or a fractional portion of sticks.
Jump to:
  • General Facts on the Packaging of Butter
  • Quick and Simple FAQ's on How to Measure Butter
  • How to Measure ⅔ Cup of Butter
  • How to Measure Butter - Weight Conversions
  • Special Terms for Measuring Butter
  • Historic Terms for Measuring Butter
  • More Cooking and Baking Tips & Helps
  • 💬 Comments

General Facts on the Packaging of Butter

In the United States salted and unsalted butter is generally sold by the pound or the half pound and is shaped into sticks and wrapped in wrappers made of aluminum foil or wax paper.

The wrappers have measurements that show where to cut the stick for a specific measurement. Each stick has markers for tablespoons, ¼ cup, ⅓ cup, and ½ cup.

Additionally, some manufacturers offer "half sticks" where the butter is packaged in sticks that are ½ the length of a regular stick. Each half stick equals ¼ cup of butter, and the wrapper shows tablespoon markings.

Quick and Simple FAQ's on How to Measure Butter

How many sticks are in 1 pound of butter?

There are 4 sticks of butter in 1 pound.

How many cups are in 1 pound of butter?

There are 2 cups of butter in 1 pound.

How many cups are in 1 stick of butter?

One stick of butter equals ½ cup.

How many sticks equals 1 cup of butter?

Two sticks of butter equal 1 cup.

How to Measure ⅔ Cup of Butter

The most difficult and annoying butter measurement is for ⅔ cup. I find it is easiest to cut ⅓ cup from each of 2 sticks of butter. The remaining small knob of butter left on each stick can be used in other cooking.

How to Measure Butter - Weight Conversions

The following table is for bakers who need to quickly convert measures of butter into cups, sticks, tablespoons, weight in ounces, or weight in grams.

A chart of common butter measurements and their conversion to cups, sticks, tablespoons, weight in ounces, and weight in grams.

Special Terms for Measuring Butter

There are a few terms for measuring butter that you may find in older recipes. These are imprecise measurements but are generally consistently made by the cook that wrote the recipe. So, for that cook, a pat, a knob, and a dot, are the same every time they cook. A knob of butter is more than a pat and a dot of butter is less than a pat.

  • Pat - A pat of butter means a slice of butter from the stick and generally means up to 1 tablespoon.
  • Knob - A knob of butter is generally more than a pat but less than half of a stick.
  • Dot - Some recipes will say to "dot with butter". This means cutting pats of butter into small cubes or pieces and scattering them on the food. This is often done when making fruit pies and scalloped dishes to easily add richness to a dish.

Historic Terms for Measuring Butter

The following terms for measures of butter are ones you may see in recipes that are prior to the 20th century.

  • Butter the Size of an Egg equals approximately ¼ cup or ½ stick.
  • Butter the Size of a Walnut equals about 1 tablespoon or a pat.

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