---
title: "Pound: what it means in cooking — Tiny Plates"
description: "A pound (lb) is a unit of weight equal to 16 ounces or 453.6 g, used in US recipes for meat, butter and produce. Here is how to convert it."
url: "https://www.tinyplates.dev/glossary/pound"
---

# Pound

A pound (lb) is a unit of weight equal to 16 ounces or 453.6 g, used in US recipes for meat, butter and produce. Here is how to convert it.

Also called lb, lbs, Pounds.

A pound (lb) is a unit of weight. It equals 16 [ounces](https://www.tinyplates.dev/glossary/ounce), or 453.6 g. American recipes use it for meat, fish, butter, potatoes and other produce, and sometimes for flour and sugar in large batches. The UK officially uses metric, but you still see pounds in older British recipes and at some markets. The abbreviation lb comes from the Latin _libra_.

## Why it works

In recipes, a pound is always a weight. Some old sayings, like "a pint's a pound the world around", come from the fact that a US pint of water weighs about a pound. That only holds for water and liquids like it, so do not use it for flour or oil.

When you swap a metric pack for a US one, the difference is small for most cooking. A 500 g pack of pasta is 10 percent more than a 1 lb box, which does not change much. In baking, use a [kitchen scale](https://www.tinyplates.dev/glossary/kitchen-scale) and weigh in [grams](https://www.tinyplates.dev/glossary/gram) for accuracy.

## How to use it

For quick work, 1 lb is about 450 g, and 1 kg is about 2.2 lb.

| Pounds       | Grams   |
| ------------ | ------- |
| ¼ lb (4 oz)  | 113 g   |
| ½ lb (8 oz)  | 227 g   |
| ¾ lb (12 oz) | 340 g   |
| 1 lb (16 oz) | 454 g   |
| 1½ lb        | 680 g   |
| 2 lb         | 907 g   |
| 5 lb         | 2.27 kg |

Some useful things that weigh about a pound:

* 4 sticks of butter, which is one standard US box. See [stick of butter](https://www.tinyplates.dev/glossary/stick-of-butter).
* A standard US package of [ground meat](https://www.tinyplates.dev/glossary/ground-meat). European packs are usually 400 or 500 g.
* About 2 to 3 medium russet (baking) potatoes.
* About 3½ cups of all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled.

## Common mistakes

* Thinking 1 kg is about 2 lb. It is 2.2 lb, so the error grows with size. A 5 kg turkey is 11 lb, not 10.
* Mixing lb and oz decimals. "1.5 lb" is 1 lb 8 oz, not 1 lb 5 oz.
* Reading "#" as a number sign. In some American recipes "2#" means 2 pounds.

## In recipes

You will see "1 lb ground beef", "2 lbs bone-in chicken thighs" and "½ pound butter". Roasting times are often given per pound, for example "20 minutes per pound", which is about 45 minutes per kilogram.

## Related terms

* [OunceAn ounce (oz) is a unit of weight, about 28 g. It is not the same as a fluid ounce, which measures volume. Here is how to convert ounces to grams.](https://www.tinyplates.dev/glossary/ounce)
* [GramThe gram is the metric unit of weight most of the world cooks with. Weighing in grams is faster and more accurate than cups. Here is how to convert.](https://www.tinyplates.dev/glossary/gram)
* [Kitchen scaleA kitchen scale weighs ingredients in grams or ounces, which is far more accurate than cups for baking. Here is how to use one and the tare button.](https://www.tinyplates.dev/glossary/kitchen-scale)
* [Stick of butterA US stick of butter weighs 113 g (4 oz) and holds ½ cup or 8 tablespoons. Here is how to convert sticks for recipes outside the US.](https://www.tinyplates.dev/glossary/stick-of-butter)
* [Ground meatGround meat is meat put through a grinder, used in burgers, meatballs and sauces. In the UK it is mince, in Sweden köttfärs. Cook it to 71°C (160°F).](https://www.tinyplates.dev/glossary/ground-meat)

[More in measurements](https://www.tinyplates.dev/glossary/category/measurements)[Every term from A to Z](https://www.tinyplates.dev/glossary)