Tablespoon to Grams: Honey, Maple Syrup & Golden Syrup Conversion Guide
1 tablespoon of honey weighs 21 grams. Maple syrup weighs 19.5 g and golden syrup about 21 g. Charts, honey-to-sugar swaps, and a free syrup calculator.
Quick answer: 1 tablespoon of honey = 21 grams
1 tablespoon of honey weighs 21 grams.
That’s a lot for one spoon. The same spoon holds 14.8 g of water and 12.5 g of white sugar. Honey is dense. It packs more weight into the same space than almost anything else in your pantry.
Other syrups come close:
- Honey: 21 g
- Golden syrup: about 21 g
- Light corn syrup: about 20 g
- Maple syrup: 19.5 g
Pick your syrup and tablespoon size in the calculator below. It converts tbsp to grams and grams to tbsp.
Honey & Syrup Converter
5 items · Density varies by itemWhy syrups weigh more than water or sugar
It seems odd that a spoon of honey weighs more than a spoon of sugar. Honey is mostly sugar, after all. The answer is air.
A spoonful of granulated sugar is close to half air. The crystals sit like marbles in a jar, with gaps between them. Honey has no gaps. Its sugar is dissolved in a small amount of water, so every bit of the spoon is filled. No air, more weight.
Here’s how the numbers stack up in one US tablespoon:
| What’s in the spoon | Weight | Why |
|---|---|---|
| White sugar | 12.6 g | Crystals with air between them |
| Water | 14.8 g | No sugar at all |
| Maple syrup | 19.5 g | About 66% sugar, 33% water |
| Honey | 21.0 g | About 80% sugar, 17% water |
The more sugar a syrup holds, the heavier it gets. Maple syrup is boiled down until it’s about two-thirds sugar. Honey is thicker and holds more, so it’s heavier.
Thickness is a clue, not the cause. Thick syrups tend to be heavy, but it’s the dissolved sugar that adds the weight. Oil is thick and still lighter than water.
This has a neat side effect. One tablespoon of honey holds about 17 g of sugars. That’s more sugar than a tablespoon of granulated sugar, which weighs 12.6 g.
Syrup tablespoon to grams table
| Syrup | Density (g/ml) | US tbsp (14.8 ml) | UK / metric tbsp (15 ml) | Australian tbsp (20 ml) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Honey | 1.42 | 21.0 g | 21.3 g | 28.4 g |
| Golden syrup | ~1.40 | 20.7 g | 21.0 g | 28.0 g |
| Agave syrup | ~1.38 | 20.4 g | 20.7 g | 27.6 g |
| Light corn syrup | ~1.37 | 20.3 g | 20.6 g | 27.4 g |
| Maple syrup | 1.32 | 19.5 g | 19.8 g | 26.4 g |
USDA’s FoodData Central lists 1 tablespoon of honey at 21 g, which matches the US column. It lists maple syrup at 20 g per tablespoon, close to our 19.5 g.
Golden syrup, agave and corn syrup vary a little by brand, so treat those rows as close estimates. All of them land between 20 and 21 g in a US spoon. For most recipes, you can swap one for another at the same weight.
Golden syrup is the UK staple sold in tins, used in flapjacks and treacle tart. It’s thicker than maple syrup and weighs about the same as honey. UK recipes use a 15 ml tablespoon, so 1 tbsp of golden syrup comes to about 21 g.
Australian tablespoons hold 20 ml, a third more than a US spoon. A tablespoon of honey in an Australian recipe means 28 g, not 21 g. See the Australian tablespoon converter for other ingredients.
Honey to sugar: how much sugar does 1 tbsp of honey replace?
This question has two meanings. Here are both answers.
How many grams of sugar are in 1 tablespoon of honey?
About 17 grams. A 21 g tablespoon of honey is about 80% sugars, mostly fructose and glucose. The rest is water plus traces of other stuff. USDA lists 1 tablespoon of honey at 17.2 g of sugars and 64 calories.
For comparison, a tablespoon of maple syrup has about 12 g of sugars.
How much sugar can 1 tablespoon of honey replace in a recipe?
About 17 g of sugar, or 1⅓ tablespoons. Honey is sweeter than white sugar, so you need less of it by volume.
The standard swap:
- By volume: use ¾ cup of honey for every 1 cup of sugar.
- By weight: use about 125 g of honey for every 100 g of sugar.
When you bake with honey in place of sugar, change three things:
- Cut the liquid. Remove about ¼ cup of other liquid for each cup of honey. Honey brings its own water.
- Lower the oven. Drop it by 25°F (about 15°C). Honey browns faster than sugar.
- Add a pinch of baking soda. Honey is slightly acidic. About ¼ teaspoon per cup of honey balances it and helps the batter rise.
Maple syrup works with the same volume swap. It’s less sweet than honey, so expect a milder result. The sugar tablespoon to grams guide has the full sugar side of this swap.
Tablespoon to grams honey chart: 1 to 8 tbsp
| Tablespoons | Honey (US) | Honey (UK / metric) | Honey (Australia) | Maple syrup (US) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ½ tbsp | 10.5 g | 10.7 g | 14.2 g | 9.8 g |
| 1 tbsp | 21.0 g | 21.3 g | 28.4 g | 19.5 g |
| 2 tbsp | 42.0 g | 42.6 g | 56.8 g | 39.0 g |
| 3 tbsp | 63.0 g | 63.9 g | 85.2 g | 58.6 g |
| 4 tbsp (¼ cup) | 84.0 g | 85.2 g | 113.6 g | 78.1 g |
| 6 tbsp | 126.0 g | 127.8 g | 170.4 g | 117.1 g |
| 8 tbsp (½ cup) | 168.0 g | 170.4 g | 227.2 g | 156.1 g |
For other amounts, multiply by 21 for honey in a US spoon. A full cup of honey weighs about 336 g.
Going the other way, divide by 21. So 100 g of honey is about 4.8 tablespoons, and a standard 340 g jar holds about 16 tablespoons.
How to measure honey and syrup without the mess
Sticky syrups cling to the spoon. If you scrape out only what slides off, you can lose a gram or two per spoon. Over a recipe, that adds up. Here’s how to get it all out.
- Oil the spoon first. Wipe a thin film of neutral oil on the spoon, or give it a quick spray. The honey slides right off. If the recipe calls for oil, measure the oil first in the same spoon, then the honey.
- Warm the spoon. Dip it in hot water for a few seconds and dry it. A warm spoon thins the honey at the surface, so it lets go more easily.
- Scrape with a small spatula. For measuring cups, a flexible spatula gets the last of it out.
- Weigh it instead. Put your mixing bowl on a kitchen scale, press tare, and pour the honey straight in until you hit the grams you need. No spoon, nothing to wash, and no honey left behind.
For honey, weighing is the cleanest method and the most accurate. If a recipe gives honey in tablespoons, multiply by 21 and pour that many grams.
Does temperature change the weight of honey?
No. A gram of honey weighs a gram whether it’s cold or warm. Temperature changes how honey fills and leaves the spoon, not its weight.
- Cold honey is thick. It holds a dome above the rim, leaves more stuck behind, and traps air bubbles. You’ll often end up with a little more or a little less than 21 g.
- Warm honey runs freely. It levels itself in the spoon and pours out clean, so your measure is closer to the chart.
- Crystallized honey has gone grainy and firm. Scooping it leaves gaps, so a spoonful weighs less than it should. Warm the jar in a bowl of warm water until it’s clear again, then measure.
Honey does expand slightly when warm, but the change is about 1% between the fridge and a warm counter. That’s a fraction of a gram per spoon. What matters is getting it to pour.
Don’t overheat it. Warm water or short 10-second bursts in the microwave are enough. Hot honey loses flavor and can boil over.
Frequently asked questions
How many grams is 1 tablespoon of honey?
1 US tablespoon of honey weighs 21 g. A 15 ml UK or metric tablespoon holds 21.3 g, and a 20 ml Australian tablespoon holds 28.4 g. Honey is heavier than water, so it weighs more than the 15 g you'd get from a spoon of water.
Is maple syrup the same weight as honey per tablespoon?
No. Maple syrup is lighter. A US tablespoon of maple syrup weighs about 19.5 g, against 21 g for honey. Maple syrup is about two-thirds sugar and a third water. Honey is about four-fifths sugar, so it packs more weight into the same spoon.
How many grams is 4 tablespoons of honey?
4 US tablespoons of honey weigh 84 g. That's a quarter cup. With 15 ml metric tablespoons, 4 tbsp weigh 85.2 g.
More tablespoon to grams conversions
- Honey tablespoon to grams calculator: converter, formula and a full conversion table for honey.
- How many grams are in a tablespoon?: the full guide for water, flour, salt, oil and more.
- Sugar tablespoon to grams (white, brown & powdered): the sugar side of the honey swap.
- Butter tablespoon to grams (US, UK & Australia): charts for 1 to 9 tbsp and US butter sticks.
- Flour tablespoon to grams (plain, all-purpose & UK flour): spooned vs. scooped flour, and UK vs US spoons.
- Tablespoon to grams calculator: convert 35 ingredients both ways.