Apple slices

One US cup of apple slices weighs 109 grams. Going the other way, 100 grams is about 0.92 cups.

Also called peeled apple slices, sliced apples, raw apple slices without skin, cored peeled sliced apples, apple pieces (raw).

Two sources agree within tolerance. USDA FoodData Central FDC 171689 (Apples, raw, without skin, SR Legacy) publishes 1 cup slices at 109 g, implying a density of 0.4608 g/mL. King Arthur's Ingredient Weight Chart lists 'Apples (peeled, sliced)' at 1 cup = 113 g, implying 0.4776 g/mL. The gap between them is 3.67 percent, well inside the 10 percent milled tolerance for chunked pieces, so this entry publishes USDA's figure of 109 g per cup and names both sources. Neither source names a specific slice thickness or filling method.

At 0.46 g/mL, sliced peeled apples pack unusually loose for a fresh solid food. Individual apple flesh contains approximately 85 percent water inside intact cell walls, so the intrinsic material density is close to 0.85 to 0.95 g/mL (apples float in water, which is why they can be bobbed for). Cup measurement drops that further to 0.46 because slices leave large air gaps when scooped: a peeled apple sliced 3 to 5 mm thick and dropped loosely into a cup fills roughly half the cup volume with flesh and half with air between slices. The pattern is similar to dried apple dice on this site (0.36 g/mL) but higher because fresh slices are heavier per volume of flesh than air-puffed dried pieces.

The comparison across apple products on this site tells a physical story. Fresh peeled slices publish here at 109 g per cup (density 0.46). Applesauce, published elsewhere in the liquid category, packs at approximately 255 g per cup (density 1.08) because pureed apple flesh loses its cellular structure, expels intercellular air, and packs like a viscous liquid. Dried apple dice publish at 86 g per cup (0.36) because the dehydration process leaves puffy air-filled pieces that pack even lighter than fresh slices. All three are the same fruit but process determines cup weight: raw sliced apples fall between the two extremes, retaining full water content but with slice-scale air gaps between pieces.

Product variants: peeled versus unpeeled slices differ slightly. USDA also publishes a record for 'Apples, raw, with skin' (FDC 171688) at essentially the same cup weight because apple skin contributes only about 2 percent by weight and does not meaningfully change apparent density at the cup scale. This entry uses the peeled record because King Arthur specifies peeled slices, but readers using unpeeled slices can apply the same 109 g per cup figure without meaningful error. Slice thickness affects packing: thinner slices (1 to 2 mm mandoline slices) pack denser because they fill gaps better, potentially reaching 130 to 140 g per cup; thicker chunks (10 to 15 mm) pack looser, closer to 90 to 100 g per cup. King Arthur's 3 to 5 mm slice thickness is the typical home-baking cut and matches USDA's assumed default. Different apple varieties (Fuji, Granny Smith, Honeycrisp, Gala) show small density variations of 1 to 3 percent from cultivar-specific water and cell-wall differences, all within measurement precision.

Apple slices are placed in the milled category alongside other chunked solid pieces. The category rule tracks physical packing behavior rather than water content: chunked pieces pack by scoop with air gaps in the same way as whole grains, chopped nuts, and dried fruit pieces, regardless of internal cellular moisture. The 10 percent category tolerance applies here, and the 3.67 percent observed gap between sources sits comfortably inside it.

No standards body publishes a bulk density for sliced apples. USDA Agricultural Marketing Service publishes grade standards for fresh apples covering size, color, defect tolerances, and storage requirements but not slice-form density. Two independent authoritative sources agree within tolerance, so this entry is held at medium confidence. A third independent source, such as a professional culinary reference or a producer's laboratory measurement, matching within tolerance would move it to high confidence.