Ketchup
One US cup of ketchup weighs 272 grams (9.6 ounces). Going the other way, 100 grams is about 0.37 cups.
Also called catsup, tomato ketchup, tomato catsup, Heinz ketchup.
Most sites print a number for a cup of ketchup and do not say where it came from. This page publishes 272 g (9.6 oz), names USDA SR Legacy "Catsup" (FDC 168556), tablespoon portion, Heinz Tomato Ketchup (producer label) and Hunt's 100% Natural Tomato Ketchup (producer label), and records the source that was checked against an independent standard and rejected.
| Volume | Grams | Ounces |
|---|---|---|
| 1 cup | 272 g | 9.6 oz |
| 3/4 cup | 204 g | 7.2 oz |
| 2/3 cup | 181.3 g | 6.4 oz |
| 1/2 cup | 136 g | 4.8 oz |
| 1/3 cup | 90.7 g | 3.2 oz |
| 1/4 cup | 68 g | 2.4 oz |
| 1 tablespoon | 17 g | 0.60 oz |
| 1 teaspoon | 5.7 g | 0.20 oz |
Ketchup ounces to grams and cups
| Weight | Grams | US cups |
|---|---|---|
| 1 oz | 28.3 g | 0.10 |
| 4 oz | 113.4 g | 0.42 |
| 8 oz | 226.8 g | 0.83 |
| 16 oz (1 lb) | 453.6 g | 1.67 |
Compared side by side
Tomato paste, puree, sauces, canned tomatoes, juice and ketchup compared: cup weights side by side, the source behind each, and why they differ.
Condiments and sauces compared: cup weights side by side, the source behind each, and why they differ.
Where this number comes from
Ketchup weighs 272 g per US cup (9.6 oz) and 17 g per tablespoon, a density of 1.15 g/mL. USDA's tablespoon figure, Heinz and Hunt's all agree on 17 g. USDA's own cup figure of 240 g contradicts the rest of its record and is rejected here.
Ketchup is tomato concentrate cooked with sugar or corn syrup, vinegar, salt and spices. The US standard of identity for catsup (21 CFR 155.194) sets no minimum solids content; it controls consistency instead, requiring a flow of no more than 14 cm in 30 seconds at 20 °C on a Bostwick consistometer. Most of what makes ketchup thick and heavy is sugar: USDA's record shows 68.5 g of water per 100 g carrying 27.4 g of carbohydrate, 21.3 g of it sugars, plus about 2.3 g of salt.
That composition settles the weight. Roughly 30% dissolved solids makes ketchup about 15% denser than water, the same territory as a light syrup. USDA SR Legacy "Catsup" (FDC 168556) lists 1 tablespoon at 17 g, which is 272 g per cup and 1.15 g/mL. Heinz and Hunt's labels both list 1 tablespoon at 17 g. Producer labels round to whole grams, so 17 g could be anything from 16.5 to 17.4 g, which is why this entry holds medium rather than high confidence.
The same USDA record also lists 1 cup at 240 g. That is a density of 1.014 g/mL, barely more than water, and 13% below the record's own tablespoon. 240 g is exactly what 240 mL of water weighs, and 240 mL is the cup that US nutrition labels use, so the figure looks like a label cup converted as if ketchup weighed the same as water. A liquid that is 30% sugar and salt cannot weigh what water weighs, so the cup figure is recorded as a rejected source with that reasoning and has its own correction page. USDA's low-sodium catsup record (FDC 169381) carries the same 240 g cup.
Practical guidance: a 20-oz bottle holds 567 g, a little over 2 cups, and a 32-oz bottle 907 g, about 3 1/3 cups. USDA lists a single-serve packet at 9 g, about half a tablespoon. For barbecue sauces, glazes and meatloaf, 1/4 cup of ketchup weighs 68 g and 2 tablespoons 34 g. Ketchup clings to measuring cups and spoons, so the tablespoon you scrape out is often a gram or two short; weighing straight into the bowl avoids that.
King Arthur's ingredient weight chart has no row for ketchup. Among the tomato concentrates and sauces, ketchup is the heaviest per cup because of its added sugar: paste 262 g, pizza sauce 252 g, puree 250 g, sauce 245 g. Only BBQ sauce, sweeter still at 288 g, weighs more. The tomato products comparison page shows them side by side.
Sources
Standard, spooned and leveled
- USDA SR Legacy "Catsup" (FDC 168556), tablespoon portion272 g per cup9.6 ozUSDA Standard Release lists 1 tbsp = 17 g, extrapolating to 272 g per US cup and density 1.150 g/mL. Matches every producer label. Composition per 100 g: water 68.5 g, carbohydrate 27.4 g (sugars 21.3 g), sodium 907 mg.
- Heinz Tomato Ketchup (producer label)272 g per cup9.6 ozRetail nutrition label, 32-oz bottle: 1 Tbsp (17 g), extrapolating to 272 g per US cup and density 1.150 g/mL.
- Hunt's 100% Natural Tomato Ketchup (producer label)272 g per cup9.6 ozRetail nutrition label, 38-oz bottle: 1 tbsp (17 g), extrapolating to 272 g per US cup and density 1.150 g/mL. Identical to Heinz.
- USDA SR Legacy "Catsup" (FDC 168556), cup portion240 g per cup8.5 ozThe same USDA record lists 1 cup = 240 g, density 1.014 g/mL, which contradicts its own 17 g tablespoon (1.150 g/mL) by 13%.Rejected. 1.014 g/mL is barely denser than water, but ketchup is not mostly water: USDA's own composition for this record is 68.5% water carrying 27.4% carbohydrate (21.3% sugars) and about 2.3% salt. A liquid carrying roughly 30% dissolved solids is about 1.13-1.15 g/mL, which is what the same record's 17 g tablespoon and the Heinz and Hunt's labels give. 240 g is the weight of 240 mL of water, the nutrition-label cup read as if ketchup weighed the same as water.
Corrections on this ingredient
The following published figures for ketchup are rejected here, with the physics or standards reasoning behind each rejection on its own page:
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