Learn how many teaspoons in a tablespoon below.
If you’re following a recipe which asks an amount of an ingredient in tablespoons and you’ve lost your tablespoon measure, or simply don’t have one, there’s no need to worry. It’s a very simple calculation to convert from teaspoons to tablespoons. This is true for both the United States customary measurement system and the metric measurement system. That said, Australia is slightly different. So how many teaspoons in a tablespoon are there in each case?
How many teaspoons in a tablespoon?
The teaspoon is a measure of volume that’s been used for hundreds of years. It’s equal to about 4.9 ml in the United States and is defined to be exactly 5 ml in the metric system. It’s often abbreviated to tsp or tspn when you see it written in recipes.
The tablespoon is also a volume measurement. It’s equal to about 14.7 ml in the United States, exactly 15 ml in the United Kingdom, and exactly 20 ml in Australia. The tablespoon measurement is often abbreviated to tbs or tblsp when written in recipes. The T is sometimes capitalized to further distinguish it from the teaspoon, e.g. it is often shown as Tbs or Tblsp.
In the United States customary measurement system, there are three teaspoons in one tablespoon. That is:
1 U.S. tablespoon = 3 U.S. teaspoons.
1 U.K. tablespoon = 3 U.K. teaspoons.
1 Australian tablespoon = 4 Australian teaspoons.
So it’s very easy to memorize this measurement conversion. And this is something that’s worth doing if you’re serious about cooking, because you’re likely to be doing this conversion often.
