Quarts to Liters Converter

A US liquid quart is 0.946352946 liters — a quarter of a US gallon:

liters = US quarts × 0.946353

A quart is almost a litre, which makes it the conversion people are most tempted to skip. It is 5.4% short, and that shortfall compounds: over a 5-quart recipe you are 270 ml adrift, which is more than a cup.

The imperial quart is 1.1365 litres — 20% larger, following the imperial gallon. This converter uses the US quart.

Where it comes up:

• Motor oil. American cars take oil in quarts; a 5-quart change is 4.73 L. Buying a 5 L jug in Europe gives you slightly more than the manual's 5 quarts, which is fine — but a 4 L jug is only 4.23 quarts and will leave you short.
• Stockpots and slow cookers. A 6-quart cooker is 5.68 L; a 4-quart pot is 3.79 L. European equivalents come in round litres, so a 6 L cooker is a little larger than a 6-quart one.
• Milk and juice. A US quart carton is 946 ml, against the 1 L carton standard elsewhere — a 5.4% smaller container for what looks like the same product.
• Ice cream in the US is sold by the quart or half-gallon; a "half gallon" has quietly shrunk to 1.75 quarts (1.66 L) in many brands.

For a mental estimate, treat a quart as a litre and knock off 5%. And remember: 4 quarts to a gallon, 2 pints to a quart, 2 cups to a pint.