Quart to Cup Converter

Exactly 4 US cups, by the statutory US Customary definition. From the gallon down: 1 gallon = 4 quarts, 1 quart = 2 pints = 4 cups = 32 fluid ounces. The relationship is exact, not a rounded factor, so a 1 qt carton of stock pours out as 4 measured cups every time.

No. A US quart is 946.35 mL (0.946 L) and a UK Imperial quart is 1,136.52 mL (1.137 L). The UK quart is about 20 percent larger because the Imperial gallon (4.546 L) was redefined in 1824 around 10 pounds of water, while the US gallon stayed at the older 231 cubic inches (3.785 L). This converter uses the US quart only, so if you have a British recipe calling for quarts, scale every quart figure up by 20 percent or convert through liters first.

It is a legacy of the American dairy industry, which standardized on the quart, half-gallon, and gallon long before the metric system reached US grocery shelves. State milk-pricing rules from the mid-20th century locked those container sizes in. The system has stuck because dairy processors, refrigerator door bins, and pour-spout cartons are all built around the 1 qt and 1 gal footprint. Most other US beverages (soda, juice, water) moved to liters and ounces, but milk, half-and-half, and cream still ship in quart and half-gallon containers.

Multiply US quarts by 0.946353 to get liters, or divide liters by 0.946353 to get US quarts. A handy mental shortcut: 1 US quart is roughly 0.95 L, so a 4 qt stockpot holds about 3.8 L and a 2 qt baking dish holds about 1.9 L. For UK recipes use 1 UK qt = 1.137 L instead, since the UK Imperial quart is about 20 percent larger than the US version.

1 quart of water weighs about 946 grams, close enough to call 1 kilogram for most kitchen estimates (within 6 percent). 1 quart = 4 cups = 2 pints = 32 fl oz = 0.946 L, so a recipe asking for 1 qt of stock, milk, or broth needs four standard 8 oz US measuring cups. For dry ingredients quarts are rarely used; recipes there switch to cups or weights because density varies (1 qt of flour weighs about 480 g, not 946 g, since flour is much less dense than water).