20g Olive Oil to Cups
20 grams of olive oil is a small amount, best measured with a spoon rather than a full cup. At 216g per cup, it works out to 1.5 tablespoons.
- Cups (US Customary)
- 0.09 (⅛)
- Tablespoons
- 1.5
- Teaspoons
- 4.4
- Milliliters
- 22 ml
20 grams of olive oil = 0.09 cups (⅛ cup / 1.5 tbsp / 4.4 tsp)
Olive Oil has a density of approximately 216g per cup. Most liquid oils fall in the 216–224g per cup range. Source: USDA FoodData Central. This is the figure used everywhere on this page, including the tablespoon and teaspoon values, so the numbers stay consistent whether you're reading the summary line, the table, or the FAQ answers below.
| Grams | Cups | Fraction | Tablespoons | Teaspoons |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10g | 0.05 | ⅛ | 0.7 | 2.2 |
| 15g | 0.07 | ⅛ | 1.1 | 3.3 |
| 20g | 0.09 | ⅛ | 1.5 | 4.4 |
| 25g | 0.12 | ⅛ | 1.9 | 5.6 |
| 30g | 0.14 | ⅛ | 2.2 | 6.7 |
The Math for 20g of Olive Oil
20g divided by 216g (the weight of one cup of olive oil) equals 0.09 cups. Multiplying that by 16 gives 1.5 tablespoons, and by 48 gives 4.4 teaspoons, since one cup always equals 16 tablespoons or 48 teaspoons regardless of the ingredient.
Olive Oil is lighter than water, which weighs about 236g per cup. That's why 20g of olive oil takes up more volume (22ml) than the same weight of water would (20ml). For a side-by-side look at how other ingredients compare, see the 20 grams to cups page.
Metric and Imperial Cup Sizes
The 0.09 cup figure above uses the US Customary cup (236.588ml). Recipes written outside the US sometimes use a metric cup (250ml) or an imperial (uk) cup (284.131ml) instead. At 20g, that's ⅛ metric cups or ⅛ imperial cups of olive oil, close to the US figure but not identical. The cup standard switch in the converter above recalculates this instantly for any gram amount.
Making More or Less Than 20g
Doubling a recipe that calls for 20g of olive oil means weighing 40g, or measuring 0.19 cups if you're working by volume instead of weight. Halving it means 10g, or 0.05 cups. Weight scales exactly with simple multiplication; cup measurements compound any scooping error each time they're doubled or halved, so weighing is more reliable the more a recipe is scaled.
How Olive Oil Compares to Similar Ingredients
Within fats & oils, density still varies by ingredient. At 20g, vegetable oil (218g per cup) measures ⅛ cup, while butter (227g per cup) measures ⅛ cup, compared to ⅛ cup for olive oil. Swapping ingredients in a recipe by cup measurement alone, without adjusting for this difference, changes the actual weight used.
Typical Uses for Olive Oil
- Salad dressings typically use 60g to 90g (about ¼ to ⅓ cup) of olive oil.
- Focaccia dough often calls for 60g mixed into the dough plus more for the pan.
- Roasted vegetables usually need about 30g per baking sheet.
Getting an Accurate Spoon Measurement
Fats & Oils
Press solid fats like butter into the cup to remove air pockets, then level the top. Liquid oils should be poured to the marked line at eye level.
For exact results
Room-temperature butter measures more consistently than cold butter, since cold butter can leave small gaps when pressed into a cup. For melted butter, measure the volume after melting, not before, since melting slightly changes how it fills a cup.
For every gram amount at once, the olive oil conversion chart lists olive oil across the full range from 1g to 1000g in one table.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is 20 grams of olive oil in cups?+
20 grams of olive oil is 0.09 cups, or 1.5 tablespoons.
Should I use a spoon or a cup for 20g of olive oil?+
At 20g, a tablespoon or teaspoon measurement is usually more practical than a fractional cup. Use 1.5 tablespoons or 4.4 teaspoons.
Is 20 grams of olive oil the same as 20 milliliters?+
Only if it weighed the same as water. 20g of water is about 20ml, while 20g of olive oil is 22ml, because the two have different densities.
Does the answer change for a metric or imperial cup?+
Slightly. 20g of olive oil is ⅛ metric cups or ⅛ imperial cups, close to the US figure but not identical, since each standard defines the cup at a different volume.