Lentils
One US cup of lentils weighs 192 grams (6.8 ounces), measured dry, uncooked. Going the other way, 100 grams is about 0.52 cups.
Also called green lentils, brown lentils, dried lentils, dry lentils, whole lentils, large green lentils.
Most sites print a number for a cup of lentils and do not say where it came from. This page publishes 192 g (6.8 oz) and names all nine sources it was checked against: USDA SR Legacy "Lentils, raw" (FDC 172420), America's Test Kitchen, One-Pot Lentils and Rice with Yogurt Sauce, USDA Food Buying Guide for Child Nutrition Programs (lentils, brown, dry), Harris Teeter Dry Lentils (producer label), 365 by Whole Foods Market Organic Green Lentils (producer label), Irvine, Jayas, White and Britton (1992), Canadian Agricultural Engineering 34(1), Kroger Lentil Beans (producer label), USDA SR Legacy "Lentils, mature seeds, cooked, boiled, without salt" (NDB 16070) and Health Canada, Nutrient Value of Some Common Foods (2008), Table 10.
| Volume | Grams | Ounces |
|---|---|---|
| 1 cup | 192 g | 6.8 oz |
| 3/4 cup | 144 g | 5.1 oz |
| 2/3 cup | 128 g | 4.5 oz |
| 1/2 cup | 96 g | 3.4 oz |
| 1/3 cup | 64 g | 2.3 oz |
| 1/4 cup | 48 g | 1.7 oz |
| 1 tablespoon | 12 g | 0.42 oz |
| 1 teaspoon | 4 g | 0.14 oz |
Cooked, boiled and drained
| Volume | Grams | Ounces |
|---|---|---|
| 1 cup | 198 g | 7 oz |
| 3/4 cup | 148.5 g | 5.2 oz |
| 2/3 cup | 132 g | 4.7 oz |
| 1/2 cup | 99 g | 3.5 oz |
| 1/3 cup | 66 g | 2.3 oz |
| 1/4 cup | 49.5 g | 1.7 oz |
| 1 tablespoon | 12.4 g | 0.44 oz |
| 1 teaspoon | 4.1 g | 0.15 oz |
Lentils ounces to grams and cups
| Weight | Grams | US cups |
|---|---|---|
| 1 oz | 28.3 g | 0.15 |
| 4 oz | 113.4 g | 0.59 |
| 8 oz | 226.8 g | 1.18 |
| 16 oz (1 lb) | 453.6 g | 2.36 |
Compared side by side
Dried beans, lentils and peas compared: cup weights side by side, the source behind each, and why they differ.
Where this number comes from
A cup of dry green or brown lentils weighs 192 g (6.8 oz), and a cup of cooked, drained lentils weighs about 198 g (7 oz). USDA, America's Test Kitchen, two producer labels, the USDA Food Buying Guide and a grain-handling study all land within 6% of each other, so this entry publishes USDA's figure.
Lentils (Lens culinaris) are the lens-shaped seeds of a small annual legume. The ordinary supermarket lentil in the US is a large green or brown whole lentil with its seed coat on; the Canadian variety Laird is the classic large green lentil. Whole lentils hold their shape when cooked and need no soaking. Red lentils are hulled and usually split, and have their own entry, because the shape changes how they pack.
USDA SR Legacy "Lentils, raw" (FDC 172420) gives 1 cup = 192 g at 8.3% water. America's Test Kitchen's One-Pot Lentils and Rice calls for "8½ ounces (1¼ cups) large green or brown lentils", 192.8 g per cup. The USDA Food Buying Guide counts about 2 1/4 cups of dry brown lentils to the pound, 202 g a cup, and about 2 3/8 cups for lentils in general, 191 g. Two labels print their own quarter-cup weights: Harris Teeter 48 g (192 g a cup) and 365 Organic Green Lentils 50 g (200 g). Kroger's 35 g quarter cup is the serving weight that brand prints on all its dry beans, so it is kept without a figure.
The physical check: Irvine and colleagues (1992) measured Laird lentils at 804 kg per cubic metre in bulk at 11.7% moisture, and the seed itself at 1,430 kg per cubic metre. That puts a poured cup at about 190 g, with the lentils filling a little over half of it and air the rest. The figure sits where other small whole seeds sit on this site: quinoa 170 g, buckwheat groats 170 g, wheat berries 192 g.
Variety moves the figure a little. America's Test Kitchen gives a cup of French green lentils, smaller and firmer, as 7 ounces (198 g), and the Eston small green lentil in the same 1992 study packs denser than Laird. For an ordinary bag of green or brown lentils, 192 g is the figure.
Cooking roughly doubles the volume: USA Pulses gives 1/2 cup of dry lentils as 1 cup cooked. USDA's boiled record (NDB 16070) weighs a cup of cooked lentils at 198 g, 70% water, and Health Canada's boiled lentils come to 146 g per 175 mL, 197 g a cup. A cooked cup weighs about the same as a dry one because the water that swells the lentils also fills the gaps between them.
Practical guidance: use 192 g per cup of dry green or brown lentils, 96 g per half cup and 48 g per quarter cup; a 1 lb bag holds about 2 1/3 cups. Rinse and pick them over before cooking. For cooked lentils, use 198 g per cup.
Sources
Dry, uncooked
- USDA SR Legacy "Lentils, raw" (FDC 172420)192 g per cup6.8 ozUSDA Standard Release gives 1 cup = 192 g (density 0.812 g/mL). Water 8.26 g, protein 24.6 g, carbohydrate 63.4 g, fibre 10.7 g per 100 g.
- America's Test Kitchen, One-Pot Lentils and Rice with Yogurt Sauce192.8 g per cup6.8 oz"8½ ounces (1¼ cups) large green or brown lentils, picked over and rinsed": 241 g for 1 1/4 cups, 192.8 g per cup (density 0.815 g/mL). ATK's Hearty Lentil Soup, written for French green lentils (lentilles du Puy), gives "1 cup lentils (7 ounces)", 198.4 g; that is a smaller lentil and is not entered as this figure.
- USDA Food Buying Guide for Child Nutrition Programs (lentils, brown, dry)201.6 g per cup7.1 ozVegetables yield table (foodbuyingguide.fns.usda.gov, Section 2): "Lentils, brown, dry" purchase unit pound, "1 lb dry = about 2-1/4 cups dry lentils", 201.6 g per cup (density 0.852 g/mL). The general "Lentils, dry" row gives "about 2-3/8 cups" per pound, 191.0 g per cup.
- Harris Teeter Dry Lentils (producer label)192 g per cup6.8 ozRetail nutrition label, 16-oz bag: serving size 1/4 cup (48 g), 10 servings per container, 192 g per cup (density 0.812 g/mL). 48 g is not the 35 g serving most store brands print, so it reads as a measured quarter cup.
- 365 by Whole Foods Market Organic Green Lentils (producer label)200 g per cup7.1 ozRetail nutrition label, 16-oz bag: serving size 1/4 cup dry (50 g), 9 servings per container, 200 g per cup (density 0.845 g/mL).
- Irvine, Jayas, White and Britton (1992), Canadian Agricultural Engineering 34(1)190.3 g per cup6.7 oz"Physical properties of flaxseed, lentils, and fababeans", Table I: Laird lentils, standard bulk density 804.4 kg/m³ at 11.7% moisture (wet basis), measured to the Canadian Grain Commission standard; 190.3 g per cup (density 0.804 g/mL). Eston (small green) lentils 825.1 kg/m³ at 11.4%. Particle density, air-comparison pycnometer: Laird 1,430.5 kg/m³, Eston 1,409.9 kg/m³.
- Kroger Lentil Beans (producer label)Retail nutrition label, 16-oz bag: serving size 1/4 cup dry (35 g), 13 servings per container. 35 g is the serving weight Kroger and most store brands print on dry beans and lentils (13 servings to the pound), a weight with the nearest measure beside it, so it is kept as a source without a figure (it would be 140 g per cup).
Cooked, boiled and drained
- USDA SR Legacy "Lentils, mature seeds, cooked, boiled, without salt" (NDB 16070)198 g per cup7 ozUSDA Standard Release gives 1 cup = 198 g (density 0.837 g/mL), 137.9 g of it water (69.6%).
- Health Canada, Nutrient Value of Some Common Foods (2008), Table 10197.4 g per cup7 oz"Lentils, boiled, salted" 175 mL = 146 g, 197.4 g per US cup (density 0.834 g/mL).
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