Vegetable Shortening:
Grams to Cups
By Stefan Ulrich · Last updated
One cup of vegetable shortening weighs 190 grams. This 100% fat product — lighter than butter at 227 g/cup — produces exceptionally flaky pie crusts and tender biscuits because it contains no water to develop gluten.
How much Vegetable Shortening weighs at each cup measure.
Convert Vegetable Shortening
1 cup = 190 grams
= — grams
= — cups
Quick reference
Measurement Table
| Cups | Grams | Ounces |
|---|---|---|
| 1 tsp | 4 g | 0.14 oz |
| 1 tbsp | 12 g | 0.42 oz |
| ⅛ cup | 24 g | 0.85 oz |
| ¼ cup | 48 g | 1.69 oz |
| ⅓ cup | 63 g | 2.22 oz |
| ½ cup | 95 g | 3.35 oz |
| ⅔ cup | 127 g | 4.48 oz |
| ¾ cup | 143 g | 5.04 oz |
| 1 cup | 190 g | 6.70 oz |
| 1¼ cups | 238 g | 8.40 oz |
| 1½ cups | 285 g | 10.05 oz |
| 2 cups | 380 g | 13.40 oz |
| 3 cups | 570 g | 20.11 oz |
About Vegetable Shortening
Vegetable shortening is made by hydrogenating vegetable oils to create a solid fat at room temperature. Unlike butter (which is roughly 80% fat and 20% water and milk solids), shortening is 100% fat. This absence of water is what makes it so effective at creating tender, flaky pastry — water develops gluten, and less gluten means more tenderness.
At 190 g per cup, shortening is lighter than butter (227 g/cup) because it contains no water. When substituting shortening for butter in a recipe by weight, you'll use less shortening by volume — but because shortening is pure fat and butter is only 80% fat, you technically need slightly more shortening to provide equivalent fat content: approximately 220 g of shortening per 227 g of butter.
For pie crusts, shortening's high melting point means it stays in discrete pieces throughout mixing, creating distinct fat layers that translate to visible, flaky strata when baked. For the best of both worlds — flakiness and flavor — many bakers use half shortening and half butter.
Measuring shortening can be tricky due to its soft, sticky texture. The water-displacement method (filling a cup with cold water and submerging the shortening until it displaces the right amount) is one approach. More reliably, use a kitchen scale.
Tips for measuring Vegetable Shortening
- Use a scale — shortening's sticky texture clings to measuring cups unpredictably.
- Cold shortening makes flakier pie crusts; keep it refrigerated before cutting in.
- For flavor + flakiness, use 50/50 shortening and butter.
- Water displacement method: fill cup partly with water, add shortening to the line.
Common mistakes
- Using room-temperature shortening for pie crust — it needs to be cold to create flaky layers.
- Assuming 1:1 butter-for-shortening substitution — adjust for the water difference.
- Pressing into the measuring cup unevenly, leaving air pockets that understate weight.
Frequently Asked Questions
- How many grams in a cup of Vegetable Shortening?
- 1 cup of Vegetable Shortening weighs 190 grams — the standard used in most American recipes. Use the converter above for any other amount.
- How many grams is ¼ cup of Vegetable Shortening?
- ¼ cup of Vegetable Shortening weighs about 48 grams. The full table above lists every common cup fraction.
- What's the most common mistake when measuring Vegetable Shortening?
- Using room-temperature shortening for pie crust — it needs to be cold to create flaky layers. Weighing on a kitchen scale avoids it entirely.
- How do I measure Vegetable Shortening accurately?
- Weigh vegetable Shortening whenever possible. For cup measures, soften solid fats and press out air pockets, or use the water-displacement method.