How Many Chocolate Chips in a Tablespoon? (Depends on chip size)

Approximately one tablespoon of chocolate chips equals half an ounce or 14 grams. But exactly how many chocolate chips in a tablespoon?

Determined to figure it out, I pulled out my measuring spoons, kitchen scale, and a bag of Nestle Toll House semi-sweet morsels.

I measured a tablespoon of semi-sweet chocolate chips. Then I counted the chocolate chips. There are approximately 28 chocolate chips in one tablespoon of semi-sweet morsels.

Why am I approximating instead of declaring the exact numbers? You wanted precise, didn’t you?

Three things will always influence the count of chocolate chips. Brand differences, type of chocolate, and the size of the chocolate chips. These variations make precision impossible without a kitchen scale.

RELATED: You may be interested in how to measure chocolate chips correctly. Or discover many other baking tips available on this site.

Number of Chocolate Chips in 1 Tablespoon

Chocolate Chip Brands Have Different Sized Chips

There is no industry-wide standard for chocolate chip size.

The size and shape of chocolate chips can differ among manufacturers. This is due to diverse production methods, ingredient compositions, and the machinery used during the manufacturing process.

Some morsels are plumper, while others are taller. Each brand adds a different amount of cocoa butter to their chocolate chips. This too can affect the weight.

Ingredient variations and unique molds affect the number of chocolate chips in a tablespoon.

Chocolate Type

To make it even more confusing, different types of chocolate also have different weights. Milk chocolate morsels weigh less than semi-sweet chocolate chips. And semi-sweet chocolate chips weigh less than dark chocolate chips.

That means you need a few more semi-sweet chocolate chips than dark chocolate chips to reach a tablespoon. And you will need still more milk chocolate chips.

What about white chocolate chips? They are lighter than all the other chocolate chips, so plan on counting out a few more of white chips to make a tablespoon.

But don't worry. Weight fluctuations in the chocolate types result in insignificant differences in most recipes.

Are the Unit Measurements for Tablespoons the Same Around the World?

The unit measurements for tablespoons differ around the world. The United States tablespoons are not equal in volume to the tablespoons used in other countries.  

This can create problems when you use a recipe from one country with the measuring equipment from another country.

Here are the teaspoon measurements by volume in some English-speaking countries.  

The volume in millilitres for the tablespoon by country are:

• United States standard tablespoon (used by home cooks): 14.79 mL
• United States legal tablespoon (used in nutrition labeling): 15 mL
• United Kingdom tablespoon: 17.76 mL
• Australia tablespoon: 20 mL

Australia’s tablespoon is quite a bit different. This is because an Australia tablespoon holds 4 teaspoons.  Be aware of this if you use a recipe from Australia.

RELATED: See how many teaspoons equal a tablespoon.

Chip Size and Shape

Chocolate chips come in a variety of shapes and sizes. Think mini morsels, jumbo morsels, chunks, and wafers.

The smaller the size of the chocolate bits, the more you need to reach a tablespoon. The opposite is true for large morsels. You need less larger morsels to fill a tablespoon.

To get the most correct information, I took a sampling of sizes and brands and measured one tablespoon. I double checked that the weight was 14 grams. Then I counted the chocolate chips.

Ready to find out how many chocolate chips in a tablespoon of different sized chocolate chips?

How Many Chocolate Chips in a Tablespoon of Semi-Sweet-Morsels?

Nestle Toll House semi-sweet morsels are the most common brand of chocolate chips used in the United States. Over 78 million of us buy this brand and use it in our favorite baking recipes.

That is why I used these morsels as the baseline with which to compare all the other chocolate chips.

I spooned Nestle Toll House semi-sweet morsels onto my kitchen scale. This is what I discovered.

• There are 28 semi-sweet morsels of Nestle Toll House chocolate chips in one tablespoon.

• Trader Joe’s semi-sweet morsels are 25% larger than Nestle Toll House semi-sweet morsels. There are 18 chocolate chips in one tablespoon of TJ’s morsels.

• Ghirardelli semi-sweet chocolate chips are 22% smaller than Nestle morsels. There are 34 semi-sweet chocolate chips in a tablespoon of Ghirardelli morsels.

If you do not use Nestle Toll House chocolate chips, there could be between a 6 and 10 count difference in number of chocolate chips to reach one tablespoon of chocolate.

Will 6 to 10 chocolate chips make a difference in your recipe? Depends on the recipe, but probably not.

Certainly not for hot chocolate made with chocolate chips, chocolate chip cookies, or chocolate syrup.

How Many Nestle Toll House Mini Chocolate Chips in a Tablespoon?

About 6½ mini semi-sweet chocolate chips equal 1 morsel-sized chocolate chip. These small pieces of chocolate are good in mini chocolate chip cookies or as dessert toppings.

• There are 135 mini chocolate chips in a tablespoon.

How Many Jumbo Chocolate Chips in a Tablespoon?

How do jumbo chips compare to morsels? About 1½ chocolate chip morsels fit into 1 jumbo chocolate chip.

• There are 16 jumbo chips in one tablespoon.

How Many Chocolate Chunks in One Tablespoon?

There is approximately 2⅕ chocolate chip morsels in one chocolate chunk.

Nestle Toll House and Trader Joe’s brands of chocolate chunks are shaped differently. However, their weight is almost identical. The count for either brand of chocolate chunks is the same.

• There are 9 chocolate chunks in one tablespoon.

How Many Chocolate Wafers in a Tablespoon?

Wafers make the best melted chocolate. If you are out of baking chocolate and have a choice, use an ounce of chocolate wafers instead of chocolate chips.

They easily melt in the microwave or a double broiler.

Unlike chocolate wafers that are a breeze to melt, chocolate chips were engineered to not melt easily. Chocolate chips have less cocoa butter, and this makes them more resistant to heat.

Chocolate chips usually contain soy lecithin, an emulsifier and stabilizer, which helps the chip hold its shape.

For size comparison, there are almost 3¾ morsels in one chocolate wafer.

• There are 9 chocolate wafers in one tablespoon.

How Many White Chocolate Chips in a Tablespoon?

White chocolate is made of cocoa butter, milk powder, and sugar. But no cocoa liquor.

By weight, there are 1⅓ white chocolate chips in one semi-sweet chocolate morsel.

• There are 36 Nestle Toll House white chocolate chips in one tablespoon.

• Ghirardelli white chocolate chips weigh 8% less than Nestle white chocolate chips. There are 33 Ghirardelli white chocolate chips in one tablespoon.

We are talking about a difference of 3 chocolate chips. Three white chocolate chips make insignificant differences in a recipe.

How Many Unsweetened Cacao Chips in a Tablespoon?

Trader Joe’s unsweetened cacao chips are lighter in weight than sweetened chocolate chips. Just over 3¾ unsweetened cacao chips will fit into 1 semi-sweet morsel.

Unsweetened cacao chips are perfect to use if your recipe calls for 1-ounce squares of unsweetened baking chocolate.

• There are 74 unsweetened cacao chips in one tablespoon.

Nutrition Information

If you can’t live without chocolate in your daily diet, here is the nutrition information for 1 tablespoon chocolate chips. Remember 1 tablespoon equals ½ ounce of chocolate chips.

This information is based on Nestle Toll House semi-sweet chocolate chips. The serving size is 1 tablespoon or 14 grams of chocolate chips.

• 70 calories
• 9 grams carbs
• <1 grams fiber
• <1 grams protein
• 0 mg cholesterol
• 8 grams of sugar
• 2.5 grams of fat (saturated)
• 4 grams total fat content

Looking for chocolate chips with a lower sugar content? Try Lily’s brand of chocolate chips. Just 1 tablespoon chips serving size has only 50 calories, with no sugar added.

Chocolate Baking Bars

Baking chocolate comes in unsweetened, bittersweet chocolate, semi-sweet, or German sweet chocolate bars. Baker’s brand is the most common brand. Ghirardelli is also easy to find.

Ghirardelli chocolate bars are segmented into ½ ounce or 1-ounce squares. Ideally you break off a square of chocolate or two to get the amount of chocolate the recipe calls for.

I find breaking off a perfect square of chocolate nearly impossible with some baking chocolate bars. I get chocolate splinters and cracks in the square.

Using a kitchen scale helps when you can't seem to get a perfect 1-ounce square.

Baking chocolate is the best choice when you need melted chocolate because it is designed to melt. Unlike chocolate chips, which are designed to withstand melting.

If you do not have unsweetened chocolate baking bars, other possible substitutes include Trader Joe’s unsweetened cacao chips or unsweetened cocoa powder whisked into milk or water.

Trader Joe’s also sells a pound chocolate block in milk, dark, and bittersweet.

• Substitute semi-sweet baking chocolate for any size of semi-sweet chocolate chips.

• Substitute dark chocolate chips for bittersweet chocolate and milk chocolate chips for sweet chocolate bars.

Chocolate Math

Now that you know there are approximately 28 chocolate chips in a tablespoon, you may be interested in other chocolate conversions.

Check out how many chocolate chips in a cup and number of chocolate chips in an ounce.

You can also learn how many cups of chocolate chips in 12 ounces. That is the size of a small chocolate chip package.

Here are some of the most common chocolate measurements you will need.

• One cup of chocolate chips weighs 6 ounces.

• Three ounces of chocolate chips equals a half cup.

• A 12-ounce bag of chocolate chips will measure 2 US cups of chocolate chips.

• There are 8 quarter cups of chocolate chips in a 12-ounce bag of chocolate chips.

• 6 ounces equals 1 cup chocolate chips.

Once you have measured out what you need try melting the chocolate chips in the microwave or melt them on the stove. It is quick and easy.

You can also compare white vs. milk chocolate or dark vs. white chocolate. Or contrast almond bark vs. white chocolate or candy melts vs. white chocolate.

Counting and measuring by volume will always be approximations. The only way to ensure a full tablespoon (14 grams) of chocolate is to weigh it on a kitchen scale.

RELATED: Check out all the melted chocolate chips recipes. There is tons you can do with that melted deliciousness.