Orzo
One US cup of orzo weighs between 170 and 191 grams (6 to 6.7 ounces), depending on how the cup is filled and which source measured it. Use 170 grams (6 ounces) as most labels and America's Test Kitchen measure it. Every figure behind it is below, with the method each source used.
Also called orzo pasta, risoni, rice-shaped pasta, dry orzo, uncooked orzo.
Most sites print one number for a cup of orzo. This page prints 170 to 191 grams, because that is what USDA Food Buying Guide for Child Nutrition Programs (orzo, enriched, dry), America's Test Kitchen, Orzo Salad with Cucumber, Red Onion, and Mint and America's Test Kitchen, Orzo and Kidney Bean Soup actually measured, and it names the method behind every figure rather than picking a favourite.
Two or more sources describe the same way of filling the cup and still disagree, by 12.4%. That is more than this site will average over, so all the figures stand and none is chosen. The USDA Food Buying Guide's 2 3/8 cups to the pound gives 191 g a cup; America's Test Kitchen gives 181 g in one recipe and 170 g in another. The 12% spread is beyond the 10% tolerance for grains and pasta, so the range is published rather than one figure.
| Volume | Grams | Ounces |
|---|---|---|
| 1 cup | 170–191 g | 6–6.7 oz |
| 3/4 cup | 127.5–143.2 g | 4.5–5.1 oz |
| 2/3 cup | 113.3–127.3 g | 4–4.5 oz |
| 1/2 cup | 85–95.5 g | 3–3.4 oz |
| 1/3 cup | 56.7–63.7 g | 2–2.2 oz |
| 1/4 cup | 42.5–47.7 g | 1.5–1.7 oz |
| 1 tablespoon | 10.6–11.9 g | 0.37–0.42 oz |
| 1 teaspoon | 3.5–4 g | 0.12–0.14 oz |
| Filling the cup | 1 cup | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Dry, uncooked, poured into the cup and leveled | 191 g6.7 oz | USDA Food Buying Guide for Child Nutrition Programs (orzo, enriched, dry) |
| Dry, uncooked, poured into the cup and leveled | 181.4 g6.4 oz | America's Test Kitchen, Orzo Salad with Cucumber, Red Onion, and Mint |
| Dry, uncooked, poured into the cup and leveled | 170 g6 oz | America's Test Kitchen, Orzo and Kidney Bean Soup |
Orzo ounces to grams and cups
| Weight | Grams | US cups |
|---|---|---|
| 1 oz | 28.3 g | 0.15–0.17 |
| 4 oz | 113.4 g | 0.59–0.67 |
| 8 oz | 226.8 g | 1.19–1.33 |
| 16 oz (1 lb) | 453.6 g | 2.37–2.67 |
Compared side by side
Dry pasta and noodles compared: cup weights side by side, the source behind each, and why they differ.
Why this page publishes a range
A cup of dry orzo weighs between 170 and 191 g (6 to 6.7 oz). Use 170 g: most orzo labels print 1/3 cup for each 56 g serving, and America's Test Kitchen gives 1 cup of orzo as 6 ounces.
Orzo, Italian for barley, is semolina pasta cut into small, flat grains the size and shape of large rice; it is also sold as risoni. It cooks in about 10 minutes and goes into soups and salads or in place of rice. Because it is small and nearly solid, it measures more like rice than like other pasta.
The USDA Food Buying Guide counts about 2 3/8 cups of dry enriched orzo to the pound, 191 g a cup. America's Test Kitchen gives orzo two ways: "1 ¼ cups (8 ounces) orzo" in its Orzo Salad with Cucumber, Red Onion, and Mint, 181 g a cup, and "6 ounces orzo (1 cup)" in its Orzo and Kidney Bean Soup, 170 g. The three span 12.3%, beyond the 10% tolerance for grains and pasta, so the page shows the range. USDA SR has no separate orzo record.
Labels sit at the light end. Prince prints its orzo at "Serving Size 1/3 cup (56g)", 168 g a cup, and Barilla's measuring chart gives 1/3 cup per 2-ounce serving, 170 g; retailer listings show Kroger, Great Value, San Giorgio and Creamette at 1/3 cup and De Cecco at 1/4 cup. They are kept as sources without a figure because the cup is rounded at a fixed weight, but six makers agree on 1/3 cup, which matches America's Test Kitchen's 6 ounces to the cup.
The physical check: orzo grains are small and solid, so a cup holds far more pasta than a cup of any hollow or twisted shape. At 170 to 191 g a cup is 0.72 to 0.81 g/mL. Dry semolina pasta is about 1.4 g/mL (Biernacka and colleagues, 2018, measured raw spaghetti at 1.34 to 1.45), so the grains fill 51 to 58% of the cup, close to what rice fills: white rice on this site weighs 185 to 198 g a cup. Couscous, a smaller semolina pasta, weighs 173 g a cup.
Cooked: orzo nearly triples in volume. The Food Buying Guide gives a pound of dry orzo as 3.07 lb cooked, about 6 3/8 cups, and Barilla counts a 2-ounce serving as 4/5 cup cooked. A cooked cup depends on how firmly it is filled, so it is not published.
Practical guidance: use 170 g per cup of dry orzo, 85 g per half cup and 57 g per third of a cup, one 2-ounce serving; a 1 lb box holds 2 3/8 to 2 2/3 cups. When orzo replaces rice in a recipe, measure it the same way: a cup of orzo and a cup of white rice weigh within about 10% of each other.
Sources
Dry, uncooked, poured into the cup and leveled — no single figure published
The USDA Food Buying Guide's 2 3/8 cups to the pound gives 191 g a cup; America's Test Kitchen gives 181 g in one recipe and 170 g in another. The 12% spread is beyond the 10% tolerance for grains and pasta, so the range is published rather than one figure.
- USDA Food Buying Guide for Child Nutrition Programs (orzo, enriched, dry)191 g per cup6.7 ozGrains yield table (foodbuyingguide.fns.usda.gov, Section 4): "Orzo, Enriched", purchase unit pound, "1 lb dry = about 2-3/8 cups dry enriched orzo pasta; 1 lb dry = 3.07 lb (about 6-3/8 cups) cooked", 191.0 g per cup dry (density 0.807 g/mL).
- America's Test Kitchen, Orzo Salad with Cucumber, Red Onion, and Mint181.4 g per cup6.4 oz"1 ¼ cups (8 ounces) orzo": 181.4 g per cup (density 0.767 g/mL).
- America's Test Kitchen, Orzo and Kidney Bean Soup170 g per cup6 oz"6 ounces orzo (1 cup)": 170.1 g per cup, entered as the round 170 g (density 0.719 g/mL).
- Prince Orzo and other labels; Barilla measuring chart (barilla.com/en-us/help/measuring-pasta)Prince (princepasta.com): "Serving Size 1/3 cup (56g)", 8 servings, 16 oz (168 g per cup). Barilla's chart: "Orzo | 1/3 cup | 4/5 cup | 2-1/2 cups | 6 cups" (170 g per cup). Retailer listings show Kroger, Great Value, San Giorgio and Creamette at 1/3 cup per 56 g and De Cecco at 1/4 cup. Pasta labels and Barilla's chart give a fixed 2-ounce (56 g) serving and round its volume to a common fraction of a cup, so they are kept as sources without a figure.
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