UK/Australian Dessertspoon to US Tablespoons (tbsp) & Milliliters (ml) Conversion
A guide to converting the dessertspoon (dstspn), a common measure in UK and Australian recipes, to US tablespoons (tbsp) and metric milliliters (ml).
Dessertspoon (dstspn)
Milliliters (ml) (approx.)
US Tablespoons (tbsp) (approx.)
US Teaspoons (tsp) (approx.)
1 UK Dessertspoon
10 ml
~2/3 US tbsp (or 2 US tsp)
2 US tsp
1 Australian Dessertspoon
10 ml (officially; though can vary)
~2/3 US tbsp (or 2 US tsp)
2 US tsp
2 Dessertspoons (UK/AU)
20 ml
~1 1/3 US tbsp (or 4 US tsp)
4 US tsp
Important Considerations for Dessertspoons:
A **UK dessertspoon** is traditionally 2 imperial fluid drachms, which is approximately 10 ml (more precisely ~9.86 ml, but 10ml is widely accepted for culinary purposes).
An **Australian dessertspoon** is also generally considered to be 10 ml, though historically it could vary. Modern Australian recipes often work with metric spoons (5ml tsp, 20ml tbsp), so a 10ml dessertspoon fits as two teaspoons.
A **US tablespoon** is approximately 14.79 ml (often rounded to 15 ml).
Therefore, 1 dessertspoon (10 ml) is equivalent to about two-thirds of a US tablespoon, or exactly **2 US teaspoons** (since 1 US tsp ≈ 4.93 ml, 2 US tsp ≈ 9.86 ml).
When a UK or Australian recipe calls for a dessertspoon, using 2 level US teaspoons is a very close approximation.