Bulgur, Dry

One US cup of bulgur, dry weighs between 140.1 and 172 grams, depending on how the cup is filled and which source measured it. That range is the answer; a single number would not be. Every figure behind it is below, with the method each source used.

Also called bulgur wheat, cracked wheat parboiled, burghul, dry bulgur, uncooked bulgur.

Bulgur packs at 140 to 172 g per US cup depending on grind. USDA reference, King Arthur, and producer labels span 23 percent because bulgur is sold in multiple grades (fine, medium, coarse, extra coarse) that pack differently, and retail packages usually do not label which grade is inside.

Bulgur is cracked, parboiled, and dried wheat berries — a Middle Eastern and Mediterranean staple used in tabbouleh, pilaf, kibbeh, and hot cereal. Wheat berries are boiled until partially cooked, dried, and cracked into pieces. The pieces are then sorted by size into four grades: fine (#1, roughly 1 to 1.5 mm), medium (#2, roughly 2 to 3 mm), coarse (#3, roughly 3 to 4 mm), and extra coarse (#4, roughly 5 to 6 mm). Fine bulgur is used in tabbouleh and kibbeh where fine texture matters; medium is the most common US retail grade for pilaf; coarse and extra coarse are used in soups and heartier grain dishes.

Sources cover the full range that different grades produce. USDA FoodData Central's Bulgur, dry (FDC 170688) gives 148 g per metric cup, which works out to 140 g per US cup at a density of 0.592 g/mL. King Arthur's Ingredient Weight Chart lists Bulgur at 5 3/8 oz per cup (152 g, density 0.6425 g/mL). USDA Branded Foods Bulgur Wheat (UPC 890352001554) reports 169 g per metric cup (159 g per US cup, density 0.676 g/mL). Bob's Red Mill medium-grind #2 bulgur labels a 1/4 cup dry serving as 43 g, extrapolating to 172 g per US cup at density 0.727 g/mL. Total spread is 23 percent, well over the 10 percent milled tolerance held for this category.

The spread is driven by grade rather than measurement error. Different grinds of bulgur pack meaningfully differently because the particle-size distribution changes the ratio of packed grain to void space in a cup, and because the larger particles are more angular and less spherical, so they do not nest as well. Bob's Red Mill medium #2 at 172 g per cup is the heaviest published figure and represents a common US retail grind; USDA SR at 140 g per cup is the lightest and may represent a finer grade or a different measurement method. The retail packages themselves usually do not display the grade number prominently — a shopper picking up bulgur at the supermarket typically gets medium #2 by default, but some brands sell fine bulgur under the same name without a grade specifier, and imported Middle Eastern brands vary widely.

King Arthur's Ingredient Weight Chart at 152 g per cup sits in the middle of the observed range and is not a correction target here. KA's figure is legitimate for whatever grade they used to compile it, and the site's usual pattern of flagging KA fluid-ounce errors does not apply — this is genuine product variance across bulgur grades, not a measurement mistake. Because the range is real variance across products marketed under the same name, this entry publishes the range rather than picking one figure.

For recipes that specify bulgur by cup, medium grade (#2) is the safest assumption for US retail unless the recipe specifies otherwise. Fine bulgur (#1) works better in tabbouleh where the grain absorbs dressing quickly; coarse (#3 or #4) is better in soups and pilafs where a firmer bite is wanted. Bulgur cooks by absorption: fine takes about 1:2 water for 5 to 10 minutes; medium takes 1:2.25 for 12 to 15 minutes; coarse takes 1:2.5 for 15 to 20 minutes. All grades roughly double in volume from dry to cooked.