How Many Cups in a Liter?

There are about 4.23 US cups in a liter, just under 4 1/4 cups. A liter is 1,000 mL and a US cup is 236.6 mL. If your recipe uses metric cups of 250 mL (UK, Australia, Canada), a liter is exactly 4 cups. A liter is also a little more than a US quart: 1.06 quarts, or 33.8 fluid ounces.

Amount

Fractions like 1 1/2 work

From unit

4.227cups

Gallons: 0.264
Quarts: 1.057
Pints: 2.113
Fluid ounces: 33.81
Tablespoons: 67.6
Milliliters: 1,000
Liters: 1

How to use

Type the amount. Fractions like 1/2 work.
Choose liters, or switch the unit to go from cups, quarts or mL.
Read cups first, then fluid ounces, quarts and the rest underneath.

The formula and two worked examples

cups = liters × 4.227 and liters = cups × 0.2366

A 2 liter bottle of soda. 2 × 4.227 = 8.45 cups, a little more than 2 quarts.

A soup recipe needs 6 cups of stock. 6 × 0.2366 = 1.42 liters, so a 1.5 liter carton is enough.

US cups vs metric cups

A US cup is 236.6 mL, so 1 liter is 4.23 US cups. Recipes from the UK, Australia, New Zealand and Canada often use a 250 mL metric cup, and then 1 liter is exactly 4 cups. US nutrition labels use a 240 mL cup, which makes a liter 4.17 cups. When a recipe gives both liters and cups, check which cup it means.

Cups in a liter, by cup size
Cup	mL	Cups per liter
US customary cup	236.6	4.23
US legal cup	240	4.17
Metric cup	250	4
Japanese cup	200	5

What this tool doesn't cover

It converts liquid volume in US units. A liter of flour or sugar weighs very different amounts, so for dry ingredients use cups to grams with the ingredient. The table above covers metric and other cup sizes.

Reference tables

Liters to cups chart (US)
Liters	Cups	Quarts	Fluid ounces
1/4	1.06	0.26	8.5
1/2	2.11	0.53	16.9
3/4	3.17	0.79	25.4
1	4.23	1.06	33.8
1 1/2	6.34	1.59	50.7
2	8.45	2.11	67.6
3	12.68	3.17	101.4
4	16.91	4.23	135.3

Cups to liters chart (US)
Cups	mL	Liters
1	236.6	0.237
2	473.2	0.473
3	709.8	0.71
4	946.4	0.946
6	1,420	1.42
8	1,893	1.893
10	2,366	2.366
16	3,785	3.785

What a liter weighs (USDA)
Liquid	Grams	Pounds
Water	1,002	2.21
Whole milk	1,031	2.27
Heavy cream	1,006	2.22
Vegetable oil	921	2.03
Maple syrup	1,331	2.94
Honey	1,433	3.16

Water at exactly 1 g per mL is 1,000 g per liter. USDA's 237 g cup rounds up slightly, which gives 1,002 g.

Two open cookbooks resting on a wooden kitchen counter — Photo: Annie Spratt / Unsplash

Tips

Quick estimate: a liter is about 4 1/4 US cups. That's close enough for soups and stocks.
For baking, measure 4 cups plus 3 1/2 tablespoons, or better, use the mL marks on your jug.
A liter and a US quart are close but not the same. A liter is about 6% bigger.