How Many Grams in a Cup of Vegetable Shortening?
One cup of vegetable shortening weighs 190 grams — noticeably less than butter's 227, because shortening is pure fat with no water, and it traps air when it is packed into the cup. How you fill the cup moves this number more than most. Below are the tables, a converter, and the water trick that measures it cleanly.
Convert vegetable shortening instantly
This converter uses the same chef-reviewed database as our Cups to Grams converter for all 128 ingredients. Weights assume a US cup of 236.588 ml; see our methodology and sources.
Cups to grams: vegetable shortening
| Cups | Grams |
|---|---|
| ¼ cup | 48 g |
| ⅓ cup | 63 g |
| ½ cup | 95 g |
| ⅔ cup | 127 g |
| ¾ cup | 143 g |
| 1 cup | 190 g |
| 1½ cups | 285 g |
| 2 cups | 380 g |
| 3 cups | 570 g |
| Measure | Grams |
|---|---|
| 1 tablespoon | 11.9 g |
| 1 teaspoon | 3.96 g |
| 1 cup in ounces | 6.7 oz |
Grams to cups: vegetable shortening
| Grams | Cups (decimal) | Cups (fraction) |
|---|---|---|
| 50 g | 0.26 cups | ¼ cups |
| 100 g | 0.53 cups | ½ cups |
| 125 g | 0.66 cups | ⅔ cups |
| 150 g | 0.79 cups | ¾ cups |
| 200 g | 1.05 cups | 1 cup |
| 250 g | 1.32 cups | 1 ⅓ cups |
| 300 g | 1.58 cups | 1 ⅝ cups |
| 400 g | 2.11 cups | 2 ⅛ cups |
| 500 g | 2.63 cups | 2 ⅝ cups |
Working with more than one ingredient? The grams in a cup chart puts 40 ingredients in one table, and the Whole Recipe Converter converts a full ingredient list in a single paste.
How to measure vegetable shortening properly
Use the water-displacement method. For half a cup of shortening, fill a measuring jug with 1 cup of cold water, add shortening until the water reaches 1½ cups, then pour the water off. The shortening that displaced its own volume is measured exactly — and none of it is left smeared inside a cup.
Weigh it straight into the bowl. Shortening smears over every surface it touches, so cups under-deliver. On the scale there is no transfer loss. And note the swap logic: a cup of shortening is pure fat at 190 grams, while a cup of butter is 227 grams of which roughly 80 percent is fat — which is why the two exchange cup for cup in old recipes.
Room temperature is the working temperature. Shortening is engineered to be soft and plastic at room temperature, which is its one advantage over butter for pastry. Cold from the fridge it packs into the cup unevenly and creams badly; measure it as it comes from the cupboard.
Frequently asked questions
How many grams are in a cup of shortening?
190 grams, for vegetable shortening such as Crisco, packed into the cup and levelled. It is pure fat with incorporated air, which is why the same cup weighs 37 grams less than butter.
How many grams are in half a cup of shortening?
95 grams — half of the 190-gram cup, and the amount in most single-crust pastry recipes. A tablespoon of shortening weighs about 12 grams (11.9).
Can I replace shortening with butter in a recipe?
Yes, cup for cup in most baking — the fat content lands in nearly the same place, because butter's extra weight is mostly water. Expect a richer flavour, a slightly less flaky crumb in pastry, and a lower melting point, so chill pastry doughs made with butter a little longer.