Recipe Converter: How to Halve and Third a Recipe (2024)

Our handy chart will show you how to halve a recipe (or cut it in thirds!).

By: The Editors of RecipeLion.com

6 Comments

Recipe Converter: How to Halve and Third a Recipe (1)

When it comes time to downsize a recipe, calculating cooking conversions can be a hassle and can even lead to error. This recipe converter for how to halve and third a recipe is the perfect resource to keep in your kitchen.

Hang this cooking conversion chart on your fridge or in a cupboard so you can easily cut a recipe in half or thirds without having to do any math at all.

Whether a recipe makes two cakes and you only need one, or if you're cooking for two instead of four, this guide for how to cut down a recipe is a life-saver.

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How To Cut Down a Recipe: Halve & Third Ingredients

Often when downsizing a recipe, it's super easy to make a mistake and accidentally include an extra teaspoon of this or tablespoon of that. Keep this recipe converter handy for whenever you need to cut down a recipe. It's as simple as looking up the original amount then checking the correlated half or one-third amount.

Recipe Converter: How to Halve and Third a Recipe (2)

Recipe Conversion FAQs

To make things even easier, we've compiled a few of our most-asked-for recipe conversions. These seem to be the measurements that everyone needs when they are trying to cut a recipe in half or in thirds. It just goes to show that you're never the only one with a cooking question! Your fellow home chefs have wondered these things too, and we're happy to help everyone out (and help everyone make their best recipes ever).

What is 2 cups divided by 3? It's 2/3 of a cup.

What is half of one third cup? It's 2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons.

What is 5 cups divided by 3? It's 1 and 2/3 cups.

What is 2 tablespoons divided by 2? It's 2 teaspoons.

Other Handy Measurement Amounts

To also aid in adjusting the amount of ingredients in recipes, these are the measurement amounts of how many teaspoons and tablespoons are in larger measuring cup amounts. This is also helpful for multiplying a recipe. For example, if you're doubling 2 tablespoons of an ingredient, it's easier to measure out 1/4 cup instead of 4 tablespoons. Turn to these measurement amounts no matter what kind of conversions you're doing.

Recipe Converter: How to Halve and Third a Recipe (3)

Solved: How to Halve an Egg

Converting a recipe is all well and good, until you come across an ingredient that's especially difficult to divide or multiply. Eggs are a classic example. Luckily, there is a solution for halving an egg that will keep you right on track in your recipe adjustments.

To halve an egg, simply crack the egg into a measuring cup and whisk it until the yolk and white are combined. Then divide the volume of the egg in 2 and use only half in your recipe. This will probably work out to about 2 Tablespoons, if you are using a large egg.

How to Measure Ingredients

Now that you know what the measurements in your adapted recipe should be, we thought you might enjoy this simple video showing how to measure ingredients. You can actually ruin a recipe by measuring your ingredients in a way that's very different from the way the recipe author intended. Here we'll show you the standard way to measure your baking ingredients, so you can ensure your measurements are as accurate as possible!

After all, there's no point in learning how to halve a recipe if you don't measure your ingredients properly.

Note from the Editor

Recipe conversions are sometimes very difficult to figure out, but this chart makes it very easy! I really enjoycooking for my family of six, and my parents and siblings always love it when I offer to cook dinner (I make them clean up, though!).

However, when I got my first apartment I learned that many of my favorite recipes to make were family-sized. All of my mom's original and adapted recipes were large enough to feed the family--and have leftovers. I get bored of eating the same thing for several days, so I was stuck. Do I never eat my childhood favorites again, or just eat it for a week at a time?

There to save the day were recipe conversions! Now, I'm terrible at math, so they were so much easier with a chart like this one. I could simply rewrite each of those recipes and still enjoy my favorite dishes, without having enough to feed a small army. Win-win!

If you're looking for some delicious family-sized meals that are easy to cut in half, check out a few of my favorites below!

3 Recipes to Test Your Skills

1. RecipeLion Test Kitchen's Amish Ham Balls Recipe

2. Mom’s Signature Drunken Chicken

3. Garlic Parmesan Pasta with Spinach and Mushrooms

Plus, try one of our other favorite tips for modifying recipes: How to Make Half and Half.

Up Next:

Our Favorite 9x13 Dessert Recipes

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Recipe Converter: How to Halve and Third a Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is half of a third of a cup in cooking? ›

1/3 cup equals 5 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon so, half of 1/3 cup would be 2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons. Breaking everything down into tablespoons and teaspoons makes dividing measurements a little easier and helpful to know what cup measurements are made of.

What is the recipe conversion formula? ›

Determine the required yield of the recipe by multiplying the new number of portions and the new size of each portion. Find the conversion factor by dividing the required yield (Step 2) by the recipe yield (Step 1). That is, conversion factor = (required yield)/(recipe yield).

How much is one third in baking? ›

Download Chart
Original AmountHalf the AmountOne-Third the Amount
1/2 cup1/4 cup2 tbsp + 2 tsp
1/3 cup2 tbsp + 2 tsp1 tbsp + 1-1/4 tsp
1/4 cup2 tbsp1 tbsp + 1 tsp
1 tbsp1-1/2 tsp1 tsp
6 more rows
Dec 27, 2021

When dividing a recipe in half if the recipe needs 1 4 C of sugar how much would you use when you divide it in half? ›

Halving a recipe is a common and easy conversion for home cooks to make. Refer to this list of cooking conversions the next time you need to do some fast math: Half of ¼ cup is equivalent to 2 tbsp.

How do you measure half of a third? ›

Measuring half of 1/3 cup can be achieved through these methods:
  1. Use a 1/3 cup measuring cup directly (1/3 cup is half of itself).
  2. For the US measurement, employ a 1/4 cup measuring cup and measure approximately 1.5 portions (1/4 cup is 60 ml in the US).
Sep 25, 2023

How much is a third of a cup of? ›

Volume Equivalents (liquid)*
5 1/3 tablespoons1/3 cup2.7 fluid ounces
8 tablespoons1/2 cup4 fluid ounces
12 tablespoons3/4 cup6 fluid ounces
16 tablespoons1 cup8 fluid ounces
6 more rows

What is the formula for conversion method? ›

Unit Conversion Table
Units of LengthUnits of Mass
1 km = 10 hm = 100 dam = 1000 m1 kg = 10 hg = 100 dag = 1000 g
1m = 10 dm = 100 cm = 1000 mm1 g = 10 dg = 100 cg = 1000 mg
1 dm = 10 cm = 100 mm1 dg = 10 cg = 100 mg
1 cm = 10 mm1 cg = 10 mg

How do you convert measurements in a recipe? ›

Use the following dry measurement conversions to easily adjust your recipes.
  1. 1 tablespoon = 3 teaspoons.
  2. 1/4 cup = 4 tablespoons.
  3. 1/3 cup = 5 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon.
  4. 1/2 cup = 8 tablespoons.
  5. 1 cup = 16 tablespoons.

How do you calculate %conversion? ›

Conversion rates are calculated by simply taking the number of conversions and dividing that by the number of total ad interactions that can be tracked to a conversion during the same time period. For example, if you had 50 conversions from 1,000 interactions, your conversion rate would be 5%, since 50 ÷ 1,000 = 5%.

Is one third equal to one half? ›

Answer and Explanation:

One-half is more than one-third. Because the two fractions, 1/3 and 1/2, have the same numerator (remember, the numerator is the number on top), they are easy to compare. If two fractions have the same numerator, the fraction with the smaller denominator is the larger fraction.

How to make 1 ⁄ 3 cup? ›

There are 16 tablespoons in a cup (of anything). 1/3 of 16 is 5 1/3 tablespoons or 5 tablespoons and 1 teaspoon. To simplify the 5 tablespoons, measure 1/4 cup (which is 4 tablespoons) plus one tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon. There are 8 ounces in one cup, so a third of a cup is 8/3 = ~2.67 ounces.

What is 1 ⁄ 3 called? ›

The name of the fraction corresponds to the denominator, which is why 1/2 is called "one-half," 1/3 is "one-third," and so on.

What is half-and-half in baking recipes? ›

Half-and-half is a mixture of equal parts full-cream milk and thickened cream. It has a higher fat content than milk but lower than cream and because it is thinner than cream, it can't be whipped.

Can you substitute half-and-half in a recipe? ›

Since we now know that half and half is equal parts milk and cream, we can make a substitute by simply mixing together equal parts whole milk and heavy cream.

How to halfen a recipe? ›

The most accurate way to halve tricky amounts like this is to weight the full amount called for in one recipe (i.e. 3/4 cup flour), and then use half of that weight. If you're working with even numbers that are easy to halve, like 2 cups, it's okay to simply halve to 1 cup.

How do I measure 1/3 of a cup? ›

You could also switch to tablespoons to do a 1/3 measurement. There are 16 tablespoons in a cup (of anything). 1/3 of 16 is 5 1/3 tablespoons or 5 tablespoons and 1 teaspoon. To simplify the 5 tablespoons, measure 1/4 cup (which is 4 tablespoons) plus one tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon.

Is half a cup 3 tablespoons? ›

How many tablespoons are in a half a cup? There are 8 tablespoons in one half cup.

What is half of a third cup of milk? ›

Half of 1/3 cup is equivalent to 2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons. Can I use a different measuring tool to measure half of 1/3 cup? Yes, you can use a kitchen scale to measure half of 1/3 cup by weight.

What is 1/3 divided into 2 equal parts? ›

Answer and Explanation:

One third divided by 2 equals 1/6.

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