It doesn’t matter if you need to change cups to pounds or pounds to cups. Our cups to pounds converter can help you figure out your recipe. Is a part of your recipe written in liters, teaspoons, or grams? The cooking measurement converter lets you change between even more weight and volume units. Or jump down the page to see the conversion for 1 cup to pounds of your ingredient!.
It can be hard to figure out how much raw chicken you need for recipes that call for it. People often ask, “How many pounds is a cup of chicken?” or “How many chicken breasts are in a pound?” We’ll break down the chicken conversions in this article so you don’t have to guess when you’re shopping and cooking.
An Overview of Chicken Cuts
The first step is understanding the different types of chicken cuts you might encounter
-
Boneless chicken breasts: Boneless breasts with no skin are the leanest cut and are what most recipes call for. An average breast is around 1/2 pound.
-
Bone-in chicken breasts: The bone makes the meat taste better and gives it more weight. One pound of chicken should make about one cup of chopped cooked chicken.
-
Chicken thighs – Dark meat thighs are more flavorful. Boneless thighs average around 1/4 pound each.
-
Drumsticks – The small dark meat drumstick averages around 1/4 pound
-
Ground chicken is a mix of chopped white and dark meat. Often called for in recipes like burgers or meatballs.
Handy Chicken Conversions
Now let’s break down the key conversions
Pounds to Cups
- 1 pound boneless chicken breasts = 3 cups chopped cooked chicken
- 1 pound bone-in chicken breasts = around 1 1/2 cups chopped cooked chicken
- 1 pound ground chicken = 2 to 2 1/2 cups crumbled cooked chicken
As a general rule, plan on getting about half the amount of chopped cooked chicken from bone-in cuts vs boneless.
Cups to Pounds
- 1 cup chopped chicken = 1/3 pound raw boneless chicken
- 1 cup chopped chicken = around 2/3 pound raw bone-in chicken
So if a recipe calls for 2 cups shredded chicken, you’d want to start with around 2/3 pound raw chicken on hand.
Pounds to Pieces
Again, pieces vary in size but on average:
- 1 pound boneless chicken breasts = 2 average sized breasts
- 1 pound bone-in chicken breasts = 1 breast
- 1 pound chicken thighs = 4 thighs
- 1 pound drumsticks = 4 drumsticks
Individual Pieces
- 1 boneless chicken breast = around 1/2 pound
- 1 bone-in chicken breast = around 1 pound
- 1 chicken thigh = around 1/4 pound
- 1 drumstick = around 1/4 pound
Ounces to Cups
Since chicken is often sold by the ounce at the deli counter, here are ounce-to-cup conversions:
- 3 ounces boneless chicken = about 3/4 cup chopped
- 3 ounces bone-in chicken = about 1/3 cup chopped
- 8 ounces (1/2 pound) boneless chicken = 2 cups chopped
- 8 ounces (1/2 pound) bone-in chicken = around 1 cup chopped
Chicken Nutrition Per Serving
Understanding what constitutes a serving of chicken can also be helpful for meal planning.
The USDA recommends 5-6 ounces of protein per serving. When it comes to cooked chicken, a serving is considered:
- 3 ounces of boneless chicken
- 4 ounces of bone-in chicken
A 3 ounce serving of boneless chicken provides around 25g protein and 140 calories.
Storing Raw Chicken
Fresh raw chicken should be used within 1-2 days of purchasing for best quality. You can freeze raw chicken for 2-3 months in a freezer bag to have it ready whenever a recipe calls for it.
Tips for Cooking Chicken
-
Bake boneless breasts or thighs at 400°F for 20-25 minutes until cooked through and juicy.
-
For bone-in chicken, increase bake time to around 40 minutes.
-
Simmer bone-in chicken pieces like drumsticks or wings in sauce or soup for 30-40 minutes until fall off the bone tender.
-
Always cook ground chicken to an internal temperature of 165°F.
-
Let chicken rest for 5 minutes before chopping or shredding for maximum juiciness.
So next time a recipe calls for “1 pound chicken” or “2 cups shredded chicken”, use the conversions above to determine exactly how much raw chicken you need to shop for and prepare. Understanding the relationship between pounds, cups, and pieces makes chicken prep easy!
What is the difference between pounds and cups when baking?
Our cups to pounds converter uses two imperial measurements: cups and pounds. However, these two units measure substances differently. A cup is a unit of volume – how much space does something take up. Most recipes using cups are based on the US customary cup (236. 59 mL), which is what we will be using in this converter, although there is also a metric cup (250 mL) occasionally used by countries such as the UK, AU, NZ, CA, and ZA.
Most recipes use cups when baking, but occasionally you come across ingredients in a recipe in pounds – especially when measuring out flour. A pound (lb) is a unit of mass – how much does something weigh? The abbreviation lb came from the Roman unit libra, Latin for scales or balance, and was an earlier measurement from which pounds descended. A pound is also equal to 16 ounces, or 0. 45 kilograms.
If you wish to take your baking to the next level and need exact measurements, you may be better off measuring weight in grams. Because this is a cups to pounds converter, the units are set automatically to pounds and cups; however, you can change the units to several different volume and mass units.
If you cannot find the unit of mass or volume that you want to convert, you can try our weight converter or our volume conversion tool.
What is the density of the substance I am measuring?
In our cups to pounds converter, we’ve included the densities of the most common ingredients that you might find in a recipe that needs you to change pounds to cups or cups to pounds. Keep in mind that different substances have different densities depending on the brand and how tightly you pack them into a container. Therefore, even though we have done our best to research densities for you, there may be some variation between our list and the specific ingredient you are using.
If you know the density of the ingredient you are using, or you need to do a pounds to cups or cups to pounds conversion for a substance we don’t have on the list; you can manually enter the density in the corresponding field of the converter. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has a density database with the density of most foods you can think of, with everything from chopped onions to eggplant parmesan!.
How Many Cups are in a Pound
FAQ
How many lbs of chicken is 2 cups?
Two cups of cooked, diced or shredded chicken typically weighs about 12 to 16 ounces (or 3/4 to 1 pound), according to Taste of Home.
How much does 1 cup of chicken weigh?
How many cups are in 1 pound of chicken?
A pound of cooked, boneless, skinless chicken is generally equal to about 2 cups. This conversion is approximate, as the amount of cooked chicken can vary slightly depending on whether it’s diced, shredded, or whole.
How many cups is 2 lbs of chicken broth?
Most cartons of liquid broth weigh 2 pounds and yield 4 cups. An 8-ounce jar of BTB yields 38 cups. That much liquid broth would weigh nearly 20 pounds. Pay less and just use your own water.