Salt in grams, and the one number our charts cannot fix

A tablespoon of table salt weighs 18 grams, and this is the rare figure where King Arthur and the USDA land on the same number independently. It is also the figure least likely to help you, because the salt in your cupboard is probably not table salt, and the brand on the box moves the weight further than any chart on this site.

Same spoon, less than half the salt

Kosher salt is sold in crystals rather than grains, and the two American brands are not interchangeable. A tablespoon holds about 8 g of Diamond Crystal and about 16 g of Morton, against 18 g of table salt. A recipe written for one and cooked with another is out by a factor of two, and salt is the ingredient where being out by a factor of two cannot be rescued at the table.

Nothing chemical separates these. A gram of one is a gram of the other, and they taste the same dissolved. The whole difference is crystal shape deciding how much solid fits in a spoon. Weigh the salt and the brands collapse into one ingredient. Roskachestvo finds the same split between fine and Himalayan salt on one spoon, in the grid on heaped versus level spoons, and how big that spoon is in the first place is a question by itself.

Japan measured the same effect without the brands

American food writing explains this with Diamond Crystal and Morton, which makes it sound like a quirk of two companies. It is not. The Japanese standard tables carry 食塩, fine salt, at 240 g per 200 millilitre cup and coarse salt at 180 g in a separate row, measured with no American brand anywhere in sight. That is a third of the salt gone, decided by crystal size alone, confirmed by a tradition that never heard of a kosher box. Both Japanese tables print 240 for the fine row, and the reason we treat two tables agreeing as evidence only after checking they measured separately is set out on the methodology page.

Salt conversions in full

Table salt, with the tablespoon and teaspoon as both authorities published them. A tablespoon of salt in grams, and a teaspoon in grams for the amount most recipes ask for, sit in the table below. Brining works in bulk, so two cups of salt is there too.

Density used: 1.23 g per ml, for fine table salt.

The cup we publish and nobody uses

The USDA weighs a cup of table salt at 292 g and is the only authority that bothers. No recipe asks for a cup of salt outside brining, and no Australian or New Zealand chart we reached publishes one at all, so the metric row on this page is empty rather than estimated. We print the cup because it exists and because a brine recipe occasionally wants it, not because anyone should be measuring salt that way.

An agreement that is real and still not enough

Across every ingredient we hold, King Arthur and the USDA print the same number independently exactly twice: this tablespoon of salt, and a tablespoon of honey at 21 g. Elsewhere they argue, sometimes by 20 grams a cup. So salt is where our two authorities are most trustworthy and where the chart matters least, because the number that decides your dinner is printed on the box, not in the reference. A figure can be perfectly sourced, independently confirmed and still be the wrong figure for your kitchen. Check the box first, then come back for the grams.

Questions about salt weight

How much does a tablespoon of salt weigh?

18 g of table salt, and King Arthur and the USDA agree on that exactly. If your box says kosher, the figure does not apply: Diamond Crystal is about 8 g on the same spoon and Morton about 16.

Can I swap kosher salt for table salt spoon for spoon?

No. A tablespoon of table salt at 18 g carries more than twice the salt of the same spoon of Diamond Crystal at 8. Swap by weight and the brands become interchangeable, because a gram of one is a gram of the other.

Why does coarse salt weigh less than fine salt?

Bigger crystals stack with more space between them, so the same cup holds less salt. The Japanese standard tables put fine salt at 240 g per 200 ml cup and coarse at 180, measured on the same shelf.

Sources

King Arthur Baking and USDA FoodData Central SR Legacy, which both publish the 18 gram tablespoon; the USDA for the 292 gram cup and the 6 gram teaspoon, and King Arthur for the kosher brand weights. The Kagawa Nutrition University standard tables, as reproduced by Benricho, and Kyoritsu Foods for the 240 gram fine and 180 gram coarse Japanese cups. Full citations on the sources page.