How Many Cups in One Pound of Sugar?
If you're wondering how many cups there are in a pound of granulated sugar, brown sugar or powdered sugar, we've got you covered.
- 1 pound of granulated sugar contains around 2 ¼ cups.
- 1 pound of brown sugar (light or dark) contains approximately 2 ⅓ cups when firmly packed. Recipes commonly call for a firmly-packed cup with this.
- 1 pound of powdered sugar contains around 3 ¾ cups (unsifted).
- 1 pound of raw cane sugar contains around 2 cups.
These measurements assume you're spooning sugar into your measuring cup and levelling it off with a knife (without compacting). Scooping sugar from your jar or bag with your cup may result in varying measurements. Estimates are for a standard US cup.
We've set out a series of pound to cup measurements for different types of sugar in reference tables below. You can also convert between cups and pounds for a multitude of ingredients with our handy pounds and cups converter.
Let's take a look at the measurements for each type of sugar. You may wish to know that we also have an article looking at pounds and cups of flour.
Cups in a pound of granulated sugar
| Pounds of Sugar | Cups (US) |
|---|---|
| 1/2 lb | 1.13 cups |
| 1 lb | 2.25 cups |
| 2 lb | 4.5 cups |
| 5 lb | 11.25 cups |
| 10 lb | 22.5 cups |
Cups in a pound of brown sugar (packed)
| Pounds of Sugar | Cups (US) |
|---|---|
| 1/2 lb | 1.17 cups |
| 1 lb | 2.33 cups |
| 2 lb | 4.66 cups |
| 5 lb | 11.65 cups |
| 10 lb | 23.3 cups |
Cups in a pound of powdered sugar (unsifted)
| Pounds of Sugar | Cups (US) |
|---|---|
| 1/2 lb | 1.88 cups |
| 1 lb | 3.75 cups |
| 2 lb | 7.5 cups |
| 5 lb | 18.75 cups |
| 10 lb | 37.5 cups |
Cups in a pound of raw cane sugar
| Pounds of Sugar | Cups (US) |
|---|---|
| 1/2 lb | 1 cups |
| 1 lb | 2 cups |
| 2 lb | 4 cups |
| 5 lb | 10 cups |
| 10 lb | 20 cups |
Sugar densities were sourced from: The Cake Bible (Rose Levy Beranbaum, 1988), Modern Domestic and the Food and Agricultural Organisation of the United Nations.
More ingredient conversions are available on our baking conversions page.
It's well worth bookmarking our overall cooking recipe converter for all your cooking conversion needs.
