It depends on the ingredient: 500 g of granulated sugar is 2.5 cups and 500 g of butter is 2.2 cups. Every common ingredient is in the chart below.
Converter
4 cups
Measure: 4 cups
Type a number — fractions like 3/4 or 1 1/2 work too.
500 grams in cups, by ingredient
US cups. The measure is the nearest you can make with a standard set of cups and spoons.
500 grams in US cups for each ingredient
Ingredient
Cups
Measure
All-purpose flour
4
4 cups
Granulated sugar
2.5
2½ cups
Butter
2.2
≈ 2 cups + 3 tbsp
Powdered sugar
4.17
≈ 4 cups + 3 tbsp
Brown sugar (packed)
2.27
≈ 2¼ cups
Milk
2.05
≈ 2 cups + 1 tbsp
Water
2.11
≈ 2 cups + 2 tbsp
Rice (uncooked)
2.7
≈ 2⅔ cups + 1 tbsp
Rolled oats
6.17
≈ 6 cups + 3 tbsp
Cocoa powder
5.81
≈ 5¾ cups + 1 tbsp
By weight, 500 g is 17.6 oz whatever the ingredient.
Where these numbers come from
All-purpose flour: 125 g per cup — FDC ID 168894, “Wheat flour, white, all-purpose, enriched, bleached”, portion “1 cup”.
Granulated sugar: 200 g per cup — FDC ID 169655, “Sugars, granulated”, portion “1 cup”.
Butter: 227 g per cup — FDC ID 173430, “Butter, without salt”, portion “1 cup”.
Powdered sugar: 120 g per cup — FDC ID 169656, “Sugars, powdered”, portion “1 cup unsifted”.
Brown sugar (packed): 220 g per cup — FDC ID 168833, “Sugars, brown”, portion “1 cup packed”.
Milk: 244 g per cup — FDC ID 171265, “Milk, whole, 3.25% milkfat, with added vitamin D”, portion “1 cup”.
Water: 237 g per cup — FDC ID 173647, “Beverages, water, tap, drinking”, portion “1 serving 8 fl oz”.
Rice (uncooked): 185 g per cup — FDC ID 168877, “Rice, white, long-grain, regular, raw, enriched”, portion “1 cup”.
Rolled oats: 81 g per cup — FDC ID 173904, “Cereals, oats, regular and quick, not fortified, dry”, portion “1 cup”.
Cocoa powder: 86 g per cup — FDC ID 169593, “Cocoa, dry powder, unsweetened”, portion “1 cup”.
Everything else is worked out from those figures: spoons from 1 cup =
16 tablespoons = 48 teaspoons, and ounces and pounds
from their exact definitions (1 oz = 28.349523125 g, 1 lb = 453.59237 g, NIST).