Pinch/Dash/Smidgen Converter

A smidgen is a very small informal cooking measurement most often used for salt and seasonings. It is generally accepted to equal 1/32 of a teaspoon, or half of a pinch. While it's considered a rough measurement, modern measuring spoon sets often include a smidgen spoon for precision.

A pinch traditionally refers to the amount of a dry ingredient you can hold between your thumb and forefinger. In standardized cooking measurements, one pinch equals 1/16 of a teaspoon. It is equal to 2 smidgens or half a dash.

A dash is a small informal measurement equal to 1/8 of a teaspoon. It is commonly used for liquid seasonings like hot sauce or bitters in cocktail recipes, as well as dry spices. One dash equals 2 pinches or 4 smidgens.

A nip (also called a drop) is the tiniest of the informal cooking measurements, equal to 1/64 of a teaspoon. It takes 2 nips to make one smidgen, 4 nips to make one pinch, and 8 nips to make one dash.

There are 2 pinches in one dash. Since a dash equals 1/8 teaspoon and a pinch equals 1/16 teaspoon, dividing 1/8 by 1/16 gives you exactly 2 pinches per dash.

There are 32 smidgens in one teaspoon. This is because one smidgen equals 1/32 of a teaspoon. So if a recipe calls for 1 teaspoon but you only have a smidgen spoon, you would need to measure out 32 smidgens.

These measurements are informal cooking units with broadly accepted standard equivalents. While they originated as rough hand-measured amounts, the culinary community has settled on values: smidgen = 1/32 tsp, pinch = 1/16 tsp, dash = 1/8 tsp, and nip = 1/64 tsp. Specialty measuring spoon sets are manufactured to these exact sizes.

Yes. While pinches and smidgens are most commonly used for dry seasonings like salt, dashes are frequently used for liquid ingredients like hot sauce and bitters. The volume equivalents are the same regardless of whether the ingredient is liquid or dry.