Pint to Cup Converter

Exactly 2 US cups, by the statutory US Customary definition. The full chain is exact, not rounded: 1 US pint = 2 cups = 16 fluid ounces = 473.176 mL = 0.473 L. So a recipe asking for 1 pt of stock, milk, or buttermilk needs two standard 8 oz US measuring cups, and a 1 pt carton of heavy cream gives you exactly 2 cups for whipping.

No, and the gap is bigger than most people guess. A US pint is 473 mL (16 US fl oz) and a UK Imperial pint is 568 mL (20 Imperial fl oz), so the UK pint is about 20 percent larger. The reason is historical: the UK redefined its gallon in 1824 around 10 pounds of water, while the US kept the older 1707 Queen Anne wine gallon of 231 cubic inches. Today an American pint of beer at a US bar is 16 oz, while a pint in a UK pub is 20 oz, and there is roughly an extra 95 mL of liquid in the British glass. UK recipes that list pints need every pint figure scaled up by about 20 percent (or converted through mL first).

Because the ice cream industry adopted the US liquid pint (16 fl oz, 473 mL) as the standard small tub size in the early 20th century, and the FDA fluid-ounce label rules locked it in. The famous holdout is Ben and Jerry's, which originally sold true 16 fl oz pints; many premium brands have since shrunk their tubs to 14 fl oz (414 mL) while keeping the round pint-style container, a practice the FTC has flagged as shrinkflation. If you see pint on a US ice cream label always check the net weight: a real pint is 473 mL and a half gallon of ice cream (1.89 L, four pints) is the family-size tub size.

Because each market kept its own pint standard. A US pint of beer is 16 US fl oz (473 mL), the size every American bar pour glass uses. A UK Imperial pint is 20 Imperial fl oz (568 mL), the statutory measure for any draft beer sold in a UK pub by law. Australia retired the Imperial pint and now serves beer in metric sizes: a schooner is 425 mL (close to a US pint), and a pint in most Australian states is 570 mL (Imperial, by convention) except in South Australia, where a pint is 425 mL. So the same drink order delivers anywhere from 425 mL to 568 mL depending on the country and state.

Treat the pint as 2 cups and scale by simple multiples. To double a 1 pt recipe make 2 pt (4 cups, 32 fl oz, 1 quart). To halve it use 1 cup (8 fl oz, 237 mL). For an awkward ratio convert to mL first, then back: 1.5 pt = 710 mL, scaled up by 1.5 to 1,065 mL, which converts back to 4.5 cups (or 1.125 quarts). The pint also works as a quick mental anchor in the kitchen, since 1 lb of water (16 oz of weight) is very close to 1 US pint of water (16 fl oz of volume), within about 4 percent. That is the origin of the rhyme a pint's a pound the world around, which is a useful shortcut for water but off by 15 percent or more for thicker liquids like syrup or oil.