1 quart works out at 0.946 liter. Everything below is that one figure scaled, amount by amount.
Quarts to liters: full chart
| Quarts | Liters |
|---|---|
| 1/4 qt | 0.237 L |
| 1/2 qt | 0.473 L |
| 1 qt | 0.946 L |
Larger amounts follow the same ratio:
| Quarts | Liters |
|---|---|
| 2 qt | 1.89 L |
| 3 qt | 2.84 L |
| 4 qt | 3.79 L |
Larger amounts follow the same ratio:
| Quarts | Liters |
|---|---|
| 6 qt | 5.68 L |
| 8 qt | 7.57 L |
| 12 qt | 11.4 L |
The rest of the range:
| Quarts | Liters |
|---|---|
| 16 qt | 15.1 L |
A few amounts worth knowing by heart
1 quart is 0.946 liter. That is 0.946 multiplied by 1, since 1 quart is 0.946 liter. 2 quarts is 1.89 liters. 2 of these makes 1.89, counting from the 1 quart figure of 0.946 liter. 4 quarts is 3.79 liters.
Working from 1 quart is 0.946 liter, 4 scales to 3.79. 8 quarts is 7.57 liters. Take the 1 quart figure of 0.946 liter and multiply by 8 to get there.
Doing this one in your head
To go from quarts to liters, multiply by about 0.946. One quart is 0.946 liter. The arithmetic does not change with the amount you start from. Going back the other way, one liter returns 1.06 quarts.
These are defined volumes, so scooping technique does not enter into it.
What this looks like on a real recipe
Say a batch you are making for a crowd asks for 6 quarts, and your equipment is only marked in liters. Take the one-quart figure of 0.946 liter and apply it 6 times: 5.68 liters. That is the number you want on the jug. The ingredient plays no part here at all.
Which country wrote the recipe matters
The word cup does not name one volume. American recipes mean 236.6 ml; Australian and New Zealand ones mean 250 ml, which is 5.7 per cent larger and turns 1 quart into 1 liter instead of 0.946 liter.
Reading the chart
If your amount sits outside the table, multiply the single-unit figure. The relationship does not change at the edges.
What moves this number
Only the measuring system. Within US measures the relationship never moves; across systems it does, which is where recipes from other countries go wrong.
Going the other way: liters to quarts
| Liters | Quarts |
|---|---|
| 1/4 L | 0.264 qt |
| 1/2 L | 0.528 qt |
| 0.946 L | 1 qt |
Getting the measurement right
Read a liquid measure at eye level with the cup on the counter. Held up and read from above, the curve of the surface makes it look fuller than it is.
Pour slowly at the end. The last fifth goes in faster than you expect and overshooting is easier than correcting.
Rounding: when it matters
Where a recipe gives an odd figure it usually got there by conversion rather than by choice. Rounding it back to the round number it started as is often closer to the intent than the decimal.
Where this usually goes wrong
Treating fluid ounces and ounces as the same unit. One measures space and one measures weight; they share a name and nothing else. For water they nearly agree, and for everything else they do not.
Why this one gets looked up
This comes up whenever a recipe crosses a border. 1 quart is 0.946 liter, and once that is fixed the rest of the recipe scales from it.
Scaling it up and down
Half of 1 quart is 0.473 liter. Double it and you have 1.89 liters; triple it and you are at 2.84 liters. A batch cut to a quarter needs 0.237 liter.
Multiply or divide the whole line at once rather than converting each step; the answer is the same and there is less to get wrong.
Other ways this gets asked
These are the other phrasings that lead here, and the chart handles them all:
- Quarts to Liters: Every Common Amount?
Related conversions
For every kitchen figure in one place, see the full conversion chart.
