The short version: 1 cup of sugar equals roughly 1 teaspoon of pure stevia extract — or about 1 cup of stevia baking blend (like Truvia or Stevia in the Raw). Yes, those are wildly different amounts. That's the whole catch, and it's coming up next.
Read this part or you'll mess it up (I did, once)
"Stevia" means two totally different products, and they are not interchangeable:
- Pure stevia extract — the concentrated powder or drops. It's 200 to 300 times sweeter than sugar. A teaspoonreplaces a whole cup. Use it like you're tipping a recipe, not pouring into it.
- Stevia baking blend — extract cut with a bulking agent (usually erythritol) so it scoops like sugar. This one's roughly 1:1 with sugar — 1 cup for 1 cup.
Grab the wrong one and dump in a cup of pure extract where you needed a cup of blend, and you've made the most bitter, inedible thing in your kitchen's history. Check your label before you measure. The first ingredient tells you which camp you're in.
The quick stevia cheat sheet (pure extract)
- 1 cup sugar = ~1 tsp pure stevia extract
- ½ cup sugar = ~½ tsp
- 1 tbsp sugar = a pinch (seriously, a small one)
- 1 tsp sugar = a few grains — just barely
A real talk about taste
Stevia can carry a slightly sharp, licorice-like aftertaste when you use too much — which is exactly why people overdo it
and then blame the stevia. The fix is counterintuitive: use less than you think, taste, and add a touch more if needed. You can always add sweetness. You cannot subtract it.
Because there is no such thing as Unsweetened tea!
To UNsweetened something, it must first be something to UN.... do...
Also worth knowing: stevia doesn't bake like sugar. Sugar adds bulk, moisture, and browning — stevia adds none of that. For cakes and cookies, a baking blend usually behaves better than pure extract, since the erythritol replaces some of the missing bulk.
Skip the guesswork: Drop your sugar amount into the DriftSmart Stevia to Sugar Converter — it handles both pure extract and baking blends, and repeats the brand-and-label warnings right where you need them, so you don't have to keep this whole page memorized.