Teaspoon to Milliliter Converter

About the Teaspoon to Milliliter Converter

The teaspoon is the smallest standard cooking measure and one of the most critical — a quarter teaspoon of baking soda can make or break a recipe, and a teaspoon of liquid medicine must be dosed accurately for safety. Like the tablespoon, the teaspoon's exact volume varies by country: 4.93 mL (US), 5 mL (metric), and 5.92 mL (UK imperial), and the difference matters for both cooking precision and medication safety.

This converter handles all three teaspoon standards plus nine additional volume units, provides fractional teaspoon conversions (⅛, ¼, ½, ¾ tsp), includes a visual mL indicator for intuitive scale, and offers a medicine dosing reference table. The drops-per-mL approximation is useful for essential oils, tinctures, and liquid supplement dosing.

For home cooks working with international recipes, parents dosing children's medicine, herbalists measuring tinctures, or laboratory workers pipetting small volumes, it gives the precision and context that the teaspoon measurement demands at its small scale.

When This Page Helps

A teaspoon looks tiny, but at 4.93 mL, 5 mL, or 5.92 mL, the difference matters for both recipes and dosing. This converter keeps the US, metric, and UK standards separate and adds the small-volume references needed for cooking, tinctures, and liquid medication.

How to Use the Inputs

1. Select your input unit (US tsp, metric tsp, UK tsp, or any volume unit).
2. Enter the volume, or click a preset for common fractional teaspoon amounts.
3. Select your target output unit.
4. Read the primary conversion, equivalent volumes, and approximate drop count.
5. Check the visual indicator for mL relative to a standard teaspoon.
6. Use the quick reference table for common teaspoon-to-mL conversions.
7. Review the medicine dosing table for safe liquid medication administration.

Example Calculation

Tips & Best Practices

• For medication, always use the calibrated cup or syringe included with the medicine — not a kitchen spoon.
• Essential oils are often measured in drops: 1 mL ≈ 20 drops from a standard dropper.
• When a recipe says "a pinch," that is approximately ⅛ teaspoon (0.6 mL).
• Baking powder and baking soda are measured in teaspoons — accuracy here directly affects rise and taste.
• "Level teaspoon" means scraped flat with a straight edge. "Heaped" adds roughly 50% more.

Fractional Teaspoon Measures

Many recipes call for ¼ or ½ teaspoon, and measuring spoon sets include these sizes. For ⅛ teaspoon (a "tad"), ⅙ teaspoon (a "dash"), or 1/16 teaspoon (a "smidgen"), you may need specialized spoons or must estimate by halving.

| Fraction | US mL | Metric mL | Common ingredient example | |---|---|---|---| | ⅛ tsp | 0.62 | 0.625 | Salt for 1 egg | | ¼ tsp | 1.23 | 1.25 | Baking soda per cup of flour | | ½ tsp | 2.46 | 2.5 | Vanilla extract per batch of cookies | | ¾ tsp | 3.70 | 3.75 | Cream of tartar for meringue | | 1 tsp | 4.93 | 5.0 | Baking powder per cup of flour |

Medication Safety

The FDA and pediatric organizations recommend NEVER using household spoons for liquid medications. A 2006 study found that household teaspoons delivered 2.5–7.5 mL when attempting to measure 5 mL — errors of up to 50%. Use the calibrated dosing device provided with the medication.

Cooking vs Pharmaceutical Teaspoons

In pharmacy, "one teaspoon" always means 5 mL (the metric teaspoon). Dosing tables, drug labels, and medical guidelines use this standard globally. Cooking teaspoons (US 4.93 mL) are technically smaller, but the difference is clinically insignificant for most medications.

Frequently Asked Questions

• How many mL in a teaspoon?

  US teaspoon = 4.93 mL, metric = 5 mL, UK imperial = 5.92 mL. Most medicine dosing uses 5 mL as "one teaspoon."

• Is a kitchen teaspoon the same as a measuring teaspoon?

  No. Household silverware teaspoons range from 2.5 to 7.5 mL — highly variable. Always use calibrated measuring spoons for cooking and especially for medication.

• How many drops in a teaspoon?

  Approximately 100 drops (at ~20 drops/mL × 5 mL). Drop size varies by dropper and liquid viscosity.

• How many teaspoons in a tablespoon?

  3 teaspoons = 1 tablespoon in both US and metric systems. In Australia, 1 tablespoon = 4 teaspoons (because Australian tbsp = 20 mL).

• Is 5 mL exactly one teaspoon?

  5 mL is the metric teaspoon — used internationally and for medicine dosing. The US teaspoon is 4.93 mL, but the difference (1.4%) is negligible for most purposes.

• What about ⅛ teaspoon?

  ⅛ teaspoon ≈ 0.62 mL — about 12 drops. This tiny measure is used for potent spices and baking ingredients.