Ground Turmeric

One US cup of ground turmeric weighs between 113.4 and 150.4 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 ground turmeric, turmeric, turmeric powder, powdered turmeric, haldi powder, haldi.

A US cup of ground turmeric weighs between 113 and 150 grams, and ExactCups publishes that range rather than a single figure because USDA's reference weight and an independent foodservice measurement disagree by a third, and no third source settles it.

Ground turmeric is the dried, milled rhizome of Curcuma longa, a relative of ginger. Its deep yellow color comes from curcumin and related pigments. This entry covers the culinary powder sold in jars, not curcumin extracts or supplement capsules, which are concentrated products measured in milligrams.

USDA's SR Legacy record lists 9.4 grams per tablespoon and 3.0 grams per teaspoon, which scale to 150 and 144 grams per cup. A foodservice conversion table built from measurements across several vendors lists turmeric at 4 ounces per cup, or 113 grams, with its tablespoon and teaspoon columns agreeing, and the same page's rule of thumb of 0.40 teaspoons per gram works out to 120 grams, inside the range. Converter sites that publish 150 grams per cup are restating the USDA figure, not confirming it. The gap between the two independent measurements is 33%, which sits with ground cloves among the widest spreads in the spice family.

Both sources agree on one thing: turmeric is among the heaviest ground spices, at or above ground nutmeg and well above paprika, cardamom, and ginger. The physics points in the same direction. USDA composition shows about 13% water, higher than most dried spices, alongside roughly 67% carbohydrate, 10% protein, and only 3% fat. Moisture makes a fine powder cohesive and compressible: it clumps, bridges, and compacts differently depending on how it is spooned, how long the jar has been open, and how humid the kitchen is. That sensitivity to handling is the most plausible reason two careful measurements land so far apart, though neither source documents its method closely enough to prove it.

One confusion is worth correcting directly. Some health articles describe a teaspoon of ground turmeric as a figure in milligrams. A teaspoon of the culinary powder weighs roughly 2.4 to 3.1 grams, more than ten times any such figure. Milligram amounts in health discussions usually refer to curcumin content or to supplement doses, not to the weight of the spice itself, and mixing the two up distorts any attempt to compare a golden-milk recipe with a supplement label.

In practice, a teaspoon of ground turmeric weighs 2.4 to 3.1 grams and a tablespoon 7.1 to 9.4 grams. For curries and rice, where turmeric is used by the teaspoon, measuring by spoon is fine. For golden-milk mixes, pastes, and spice blends made in quantity, weigh it, since the range is wide enough to shift color and bitterness noticeably. Spoon it into the measure and level without pressing, break up clumps, keep the jar tightly closed, and wipe spills quickly, because turmeric stains.