how many grams in a cup of polenta?

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conversion reference

things people ask

• How much water do I need for one cup of polenta?
  The classic ratio for creamy polenta is 1:4 — one cup of dry polenta (163 g) to four cups of liquid, simmered slowly until the grains soften and the mixture pulls away from the pan. For a firmer set you'd slice and grill, drop to 1:3. Stock, milk, or a mix gives more body than plain water, but the gram-to-liquid ratio stays the same.
• Can I use polenta cup-for-cup in place of cornmeal in baking?
  Not quite. Polenta is a coarser grind than standard yellow cornmeal, so a cup weighs about 163 g versus roughly 120-130 g for fine cornmeal. In an Italian olive oil polenta cake the coarse texture is the point — the crumb stays gritty in a good way. In cornbread or muffins, a cup-for-cup swap gives a noticeably craggier result.
• Does polenta pack down in the cup?
  Less than flour, more than granulated sugar. The grains are irregular and angular, so dipping straight into the bag wedges them tighter and adds 8-12 g over a spoon-and-level cup. For grilled polenta wedges or polenta lasagna, where you set a slab and slice it, that variance shifts the firmness of the final cooled block enough to notice when you cut it.

related conversions

• Polenta: tablespoons to grams
• Polenta: teaspoons to grams
• Polenta guide