How to Measure Ground Beef Without a Scale – Food Measuring Guide

People who are on a weight-loss program or just want to pay close attention to their food portion size while eating. While having a food scale can help know the exact serving size and the other details about your food. But there can be instances where you can’t access such scales or on a trip where you are not carrying your weighing scale. Although it becomes difficult to measure the sizes without scale, you can still do it using the resources you have. 

How to Measure Ground Beef Without a Scale?

In this blog, we will particularly look at the ways on how to measure ground beef without a scale. And after going through the ways, you will be amazed how easy it can be. 

1. Use cups and spoons to measure to portion size.

One of the most commonly followed practices is measuring cups and spoons to know the serving size approximately. You can convert the servings in the cups by doing a simple calculation. 

Let’s say you have one cup of ground beef, which means you have eight ounces of serving in a cup. Now all you have to do is convert these ounces to grams.

1 cup= 8 ounces

1 ounce= 28.3495 grams

Remember this conversion while you measure the portions using a cup. Similarly, if you have 1/4th cup of ground beef, divide the serving by four and then multiply it by 28.35 to get the approximate serving size. 

If you are using little food quantity, you can also measure it using tablespoons or teaspoons. For using these ways to measure, remember that,

2 tablespoons= 1 ounce

6 teaspoons= 1 ounce

You can do the same math over here and convert the ounces to grams for knowing the exact weight of the ground beef. 

2. Use your hands to measure the portions.

Hands down, our hands are the most convenient way to measure anything. Isn’t it? Although it will give you an approximate answer, it is still better than knowing at all. For beef, chicken, or fish, try to hold it on your palm. Hold the food portions in your hand and close it. Your palm can roughly hold up to 3-ounces of one serving. You can convert this weight to grams by using the same conversion stated above.

Remember when our grandparents used to say a handful of nuts? Well turns out one level handful of nuts is approximately the 1/4th cup of serving size. So use your hands where you can’t find any other tools or apparatus to measure your food. 

3. Use plates to measure ground beef.

The last option that you can use to measure your food portions is by using plates. A lot of people follow this practice for years, where they decide their food portions with the help of their dinner plates. As there are different sizing of the plate, it is crucial to know the food portions this cookware can hold.

One small plate used for appetizer or salads generally can hold up to 3.5 to 4 cups of serving. Similarly, a large dinner plate that is 10-12 inches in size can hold up to six cups of food. If the plates are half full, you can divide it by two and then convert it to the ounces for knowing the exact serving size. 

Now that we know all the ways to measure ground beef without using a scale let us go through the other frequently asked questions about measuring ground beef. 

FAQ

1) How many cups is 1 pound of ground beef

If you have cups to measure the ground beef, you can use this easy conversion to weigh the beef in pounds.

Two cups of ground beef= 1 pound of ground beef.

Thus if you have two cups of ground beef, it is approximately 1 pound. 

2) How many cups of cooked ground beef in a pound

One pound of cooked ground beef is equal to 12 ounces, which is basically one and a half cups of cooked beef. 

Concluding Remarks

I hope the above-stated methods help you measure ground beef if you don’t own a scale yet. You can also make a note of the conversions given in this blog and stick it on your fridge to quickly calculate your portion size. Also, remember using cups or spoons will provide an approximate measurement and not completely accurate ones.