How Many Cups in a Gallon?
There are 16 cups in a US gallon. A gallon is also 4 quarts, 8 pints, 128 fluid ounces or about 3.79 liters. Half a gallon is 8 cups and a quarter gallon is 4 cups, which is one quart.
Fractions like 1 1/2 work
16cups
- Gallons
- 1
- Quarts
- 4
- Pints
- 8
- Fluid ounces
- 128
- Tablespoons
- 256
- Milliliters
- 3,785
- Liters
- 3.79
How to use
- Type the amount. Fractions like 1/2 work.
- Choose the unit you're starting from.
- Read cups first, then quarts, pints and the rest underneath.
The formula and two worked examples
cups = gallons × 16 and gallons = cups ÷ 16
Half a gallon of milk. 0.5 × 16 = 8 cups, which is 2 quarts or 64 fluid ounces.
A punch recipe makes 24 cups. 24 ÷ 16 = 1.5 gallons, so you need a container bigger than a standard 1 gallon jug.
US gallon vs UK gallon
US recipes and US milk jugs use the US liquid gallon: 16 cups, 128 fl oz, 3.79 L. The British imperial gallon is about 20% bigger at 4.55 L, which is about 19.2 US cups. There's also a rarely used US dry gallon of about 4.40 L (18.6 US cups), mostly in old produce measures.
| Gallon | Liters | US cups |
|---|---|---|
| US liquid gallon | 3.79 | 16 |
| UK imperial gallon | 4.55 | 19.22 |
| US dry gallon | 4.40 | 18.62 |
What this tool doesn't cover
It converts US liquid volume only. Imperial and dry gallons are explained above but aren't in the converter. For dry ingredients by weight, use cups to grams with the ingredient.
Reference tables
| Gallons | Cups | Quarts | Pints | Fluid ounces | Liters |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1/4 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 32 | 0.95 |
| 1/2 | 8 | 2 | 4 | 64 | 1.89 |
| 3/4 | 12 | 3 | 6 | 96 | 2.84 |
| 1 | 16 | 4 | 8 | 128 | 3.79 |
| 1 1/2 | 24 | 6 | 12 | 192 | 5.68 |
| 2 | 32 | 8 | 16 | 256 | 7.57 |
| 3 | 48 | 12 | 24 | 384 | 11.36 |
| 5 | 80 | 20 | 40 | 640 | 18.93 |
| Liquid | Grams | Pounds |
|---|---|---|
| Water | 3,792 g | 8.36 |
| Whole milk | 3,904 g | 8.61 |
| Heavy cream | 3,808 g | 8.40 |
| Vegetable oil | 3,488 g | 7.69 |
| Maple syrup | 5,040 g | 11.11 |
| Honey | 5,424 g | 11.96 |
Water at exactly 1 g per mL gives 8.35 lb per gallon. The USDA cup figure of 237 g rounds up slightly, which gives 8.36 lb.
Tips
- A gallon is 4 quarts and a quart is 4 cups, so 4 × 4 = 16.
- When a soup recipe makes 1 gallon, plan on about 16 one-cup servings.
- A standard gallon milk jug holds 16 cups, but leave some headroom if you're mixing anything in it.
FAQ
How many cups are in a gallon?
How many cups are in half a gallon?
How many ounces are in a gallon?
How many cups are in a UK gallon?
How much does a gallon of milk weigh?
How many quarts are in a gallon?
Sources
- NIST Handbook 44 Appendix C · accessed 2026-10-14
- USDA FoodData Central SR Legacy · accessed 2026-10-14
Values are averages for typical US products. Brands vary, so weigh with a kitchen scale when a recipe needs to be exact.