Cups to Quarts Calculator

Cups and quarts are volume units used in the US customary system of measurement that are commonly found in cooking. The cup is a common unit for measuring liquids and many dry ingredients, while the quart is a larger unit of volume often used for ingredients like broth, milk, or berries.

Converting these units is one of the most common questions in cooking. One US quart is exactly equal to four US cups. This calculator will convert volume between cups and quarts as well as show you the pint, fluid ounces, tablespoons, teaspoons, gallons, milliliters and liters equivalents.

To convert cups to quarts:

Since there are four cups in a quart, to convert from cups to quarts simply divide the number of cups by 4. You're done!

For example, dividing 8 cups by 4 gives two quarts while dividing 6 cups by 4 gives 1.5 quarts which is the same as 1 quart and 2 cups. A single cup is equivalent to a quarter of a quart or 0.25 quarts.

That's why four cups is a quart.

These relationships are directly derived from the definitions of these units relative to the U.S. gallon. Since a cup is one-sixteenth of a gallon and a quart is one-quarter of a gallon, then there are four cups in a quart.

You can also explain it in terms of pints: two cups make a pint and two pints make a quart, which means that a quart is the result of 2 times 2, or four cups. This also applies to fluid ounces: one cup equals 8 fluid ounces while a quart equals 32 fluid ounces.

To convert quarts to cups:

Converting the other way is just as easy. Multiply the number of quarts by 4 to get the equivalent number of cups. Use a calculator tool to change the input unit to quart and display the result in cups.

So two quarts is the same as eight cups, three quarts is the same as twelve cups and half a quart is the same as two cups. So if you add one quart and one-half quart together that's six cups.

Cup to quart conversion table.

Here are some useful reference values for common volumes. To get a value, divide it by 4.

Hierarchical units of liquid volume in the US:

Cups and quarts are part of the same hierarchy of kitchen volume units, with each step being a convenient multiple of the next smallest unit. If you understand this hierarchy, then you can always do conversions by simple multiplication or division.

• 1 tablespoon = 3 teaspoons.

• 1 fluid ounce is equivalent to 2 tablespoons.

• 1 cup = 8 fluid ounces = 16 tablespoons = 48 teaspoons.

• 1 pint = 2 cups = 16 fluid ounces.

• A quart is equal to two pints, which in turn equals four cups or 32 fluid ounces.

• 1 gallon = 4 quarts = 8 pints = 16 cups.

Examples of calculations:

Here are some examples of how to convert from start to finish.

• To convert cups to quarts, divide by four. So eight divided by four is two quarts.

• To convert 6 cups to quarts, divide the cup measurement by 4. In this example, 6 divided by 4 is equal to 1.5 quarts or 1 quart and 2 cups.

• To convert 3 cups to quarts, divide by 4. This will give you .75 quart, which is equal to 24 fluid ounces.

• Conversely, to convert quarts to cups, multiply the quart value by 4. For example, to convert 5 quarts to cups, multiply 5 by 4, which makes 20 cups.

What is a cup?

A cup is a unit of volume, primarily used in cooking to measure ingredients. One U.S. cup is equivalent to 236.588 milliliters, 8 U.S. fluid ounces, 16 tablespoons and 48 teaspoons.

Not all cups hold the same volume of liquid which can lead to confusion. In the United States nutritional information rounds a cup up to 240 milliliters while a metric cup is 250 milliliters and a traditional Japanese cup holds only 200 milliliters. This tool uses US cups as its standard measure since this is the volume most commonly assumed in US recipes.

What is a quart?

The quart (symbol: qt) is a volume unit that equals one fourth of a gallon. The name derives from the same source. A U.S. liquid quart is about 0.946353 liters, or 946.35 milliliters, and holds 4 cups, 2 pints, or 32 fluid ounces.

Just like cups, there are different types of quarts. The U.S. dry quart used for agricultural products such as berries is larger and equals about 1.101 liters. The British Imperial quart is even larger and equals about 1.136 liters. This tool converts U.S. liquid quarts, which are the ones listed in almost all liquid recipes.

In what situations can this conversion be used?

• Cooking and Baking: When recipes are given in cups and you want to use a quart container, proportionally increase or decrease the recipe amounts.

• Large quantities of drinks: Convert drink recipes that are given in cups to quarts or gallons to make them for a larger group.

• Shopping: Compare quart containers to cup recipes.

• Pre-cooking: Divide broths, soups and sauces that were measured out in cups among quart jars.

The conversion results are for general reference only. US units (cup and liquid quart) are used. Please check the type of cup and quart stated in the document before using the corresponding values, especially for dry recipes, nutritional information or UK imperial recipes.