How Many Teaspoons Equal a Tablespoon

If you’re making a recipe and want to know how many teaspoons equal a tablespoon, the answer is three. Unless you’re talking about an Australian tablespoon.

An Australian tablespoon has four teaspoons.  That’s because the Australian tablespoon is larger than a U.S. tablespoon. An Australian tablespoon has 20 milliliters, whereas the U.S. tablespoon has 15 milliliters.

That brings us to teaspoons. Let’s do a little math.

If a U.S. tablespoon (three teaspoons) is 15 milliliters, how many milliliters are in one teaspoon? The answer is 5 milliliters. Did you get that right?

Interestingly, U.S. teaspoons are measured the same as in Australia and in the metric system used in the United Kingdom.

How Many Half Teaspoons are in a Tablespoon?

Ready for some more math? If there are three teaspoons in a U.S. tablespoon, how many half teaspoons are in a U.S. tablespoon?

There are six half teaspoons in a U.S. tablespoon. Of course, since an Australian tablespoon has four teaspoons, there are eight half teaspoons in an Australian tablespoon.

Measuring Spoons vs. Regular Spoons

Everything we’ve discussed so far pertains to measuring spoons. You know, the kind with the number printed on the handle.

An eating utensil is different. If you grab a regular tablespoon from your drawer, it might be larger than a measuring tablespoon. The size of eating utensils can vary by as much as 25 percent, depending on the brand, etc.

The moral of the story? Make sure to use measuring spoons when you’re cooking dinner or baking.

Level, Rounded or Heaping?

When following a recipe, always use a level teaspoon or tablespoon, unless otherwise stated. When measuring a level spoon, the ingredient should not come any higher than the edges of the spoon.

When measuring a solid, you can scrape a knife across the top of the spoon to make it level.

If a recipe calls for a rounded teaspoon, the ingredient will come up beyond the edges of the spoon and be rounded on top. The same goes for a rounded tablespoon.

A heaping teaspoon or tablespoon means to pile on as much as the spoon can hold. 

Abbreviations for Teaspoon and Tablespoon

Recipes often use abbreviations for teaspoon and tablespoon. Teaspoon is abbreviated as “tsp,” using all lowercase letters. Tablespoon is abbreviated as “Tbsp” with the T capitalized, or just “T.”

Now that you know all the ins and outs of teaspoons and tablespoons, you might want to make some cocktails or bake some cookies! Enjoy!