How to Make Cannabis Capsules (Canna Caps): Exact Doses, No Taste
How to Make Cannabis Capsules (Canna Caps): Exact Doses, No Taste
Capsules are the least glamorous edible and, for a lot of people, the most useful one. There is no sugar, no cannabis taste, no baking project, and no guessing whether the corner brownie is stronger than the middle one. Each cap holds the same measured amount of infused oil, so the dose you take on Tuesday is the dose you take on Friday. For anyone running a daily or medical-style routine, that repeatability is the whole point.
The other appeal is how ordinary they are to make. Canna caps are just infused coconut oil sealed inside a standard gelatin or vegan capsule — the same shells used for vitamins. The equipment costs less than a nice dinner, and the only real work happens up front, in the math. Get the oil concentration right and the capsules fill themselves out from there.
Why coconut oil is the right carrier
You want infused coconut oil in your capsules, not cannabutter. Coconut oil is shelf-stable, it is very high in saturated fat (which is what carries cannabinoids), and refined coconut oil is solid at room temperature, which helps filled caps stay sealed instead of weeping. Butter technically works if you keep the finished caps refrigerated, but its water content shortens shelf life and it softens unpredictably. MCT oil — coconut oil's liquid fraction — also works and is easier to fill, though it stays liquid, so cheap capsules are more likely to leak.
If you have not made infused coconut oil before, our cannabis coconut oil recipe walks through the full process. Decarb your flower first — the oven at 240°F for 40 minutes activates about 90% of the THC, and our decarboxylation guide covers the other methods if you prefer sous vide or an Ardent.
What you need
- Size 00 capsules, gelatin or vegan. Each holds about 0.9ml — roughly 0.82g of oil, or about 1/6 of a teaspoon.
- A capsule filling tray for your capsule size. A 50- or 100-count tray holds the empty halves upright so you can fill a whole batch at once.
- A syringe or dropper with ml markings. A 10ml oral syringe from the pharmacy is ideal.
- A digital scale for weighing flower, and a small saucepan or microwave-safe cup for melting the oil.
That is the entire kit. Skip the pill-press gadgets; the tray-and-syringe method is faster and cleaner.
The math: getting to an exact dose per cap
Everything runs through the standard potency formula: (grams × THC% ÷ 100 × 1000 × decarb efficiency) ÷ servings = mg per serving.
Start with the familiar batch: 7g of 20% THC flower, oven-decarbed at 90% efficiency, infused into one cup of coconut oil gives 7 × 20 ÷ 100 × 1000 × 0.9 = 1,260mg. A cup holds 48 teaspoons, so that is about 26mg per teaspoon. A size 00 cap holds roughly 1/6 of a teaspoon, which works out to about 4.4mg per cap — a perfectly good microdose capsule, but low if your target is 10mg.
To hit a 10mg cap, you have two options: fill each cap only partially with strong oil (fiddly and imprecise) or, better, concentrate the oil so a full cap lands on your number. Make the oil at about 60mg per teaspoon by using 14-16g of flower per cup — at 20% THC, 16g gives 16 × 20 ÷ 100 × 1000 × 0.9 = 2,880mg per cup, or exactly 60mg per teaspoon. A full 00 cap is then about 0.16 tsp × 60 ≈ 10mg. Full caps, clean number, no partial fills.
| Flower per cup (20% THC, oven decarb) | mg per tsp | mg per full 00 cap |
|---|---|---|
| 7g | ~26 | ~4.4 |
| 14g | ~52 | ~8.7 |
| 16g | 60 | ~10 |
Your flower will not always be 20% THC, so run your actual numbers through the dosage calculator before you fill anything, and keep the dosing cheat sheet handy for target ranges.
Filling technique: work warm, work fast
Coconut oil sets quickly at room temperature, so the process rewards a little setup. Melt the infused oil gently — just past liquid, not hot, since heat softens capsule shells — and stir it well; cannabinoids can stratify as oil sits. Load the empty capsule bodies into the tray, draw warm oil into the syringe, and fill each cap nearly to the top. When the oil starts to cloud in the syringe, set it in warm water for a minute. Cap each one, wipe it down, and you are done. A hundred caps takes maybe twenty minutes once you find the rhythm.
If the oil sets mid-fill, rewarm, re-stir, and continue — rushing with hot oil ruins more capsules than working slowly with warm oil ever will.
Storage: cold, dry, labeled
Store finished caps in an airtight jar in the refrigerator with a food-safe silica packet — gelatin and vegan shells both degrade when damp. Done right, they hold quality for two to three months; the shells fail before the THC does, and soft or sticky caps mean storage is too warm or humid. Our edibles storage guide covers the details.
Label the jar with the mg per cap and the date, every time. A jar of identical-looking capsules with no label is exactly how accidents happen. Keep it locked away from kids and pets, and remember these are for adults 21+ only.
What to expect when you take one
Capsules behave like any other edible: onset in 45 to 120 minutes depending on metabolism and whether you have eaten; taking one with a meal that contains fat makes absorption more consistent. Do not take a second cap because the first "isn't working" at the one-hour mark — wait a full two hours before redosing. If you are new to edibles, start at 2.5-5mg, which may mean making half-strength caps on purpose. Like lembas bread, one is usually enough; the mistake everyone makes exactly once is doubting that.
FAQ
How many mg of THC are in a homemade cannabis capsule?
Whatever your oil concentration says — that is the entire game. A size 00 cap holds about 1/6 of a teaspoon of oil, so standard-strength coconut oil (7g of 20% flower per cup, about 26mg/tsp) gives roughly 4.4mg per cap, while concentrated oil at 60mg/tsp (14-16g per cup) gives about 10mg per cap. Calculate before filling and label the jar with the result.
Can I use butter instead of coconut oil for canna caps?
You can, but it is the worse choice. Butter's water content shortens shelf life, it softens unevenly, and caps must stay refrigerated from the moment you fill them. Refined coconut oil is shelf-stable, solid at room temperature, and high in the saturated fat that carries cannabinoids, which is why it is the standard.
Are vegan capsules as good as gelatin capsules?
Yes. Vegan shells (usually HPMC or pullulan) tolerate moisture slightly better and soften a bit less with warm oil; gelatin caps are cheaper and everywhere. Either works fine as long as you fill with warm — not hot — oil and store the finished caps cool and dry.
How long do homemade THC capsules last?
Two to three months in an airtight jar in the refrigerator with a silica packet. The THC itself degrades slowly; the capsule shells are what fail first, going soft or sticky in warm, humid storage. If the caps look and feel intact, the contents are almost certainly fine.
Why do my capsules leak or dissolve?
Almost always one of three things: the oil was too hot when you filled (it softens the shell from inside), the two capsule halves were not fully seated, or storage is too warm. Fill with oil that is just barely melted, press each cap firmly closed, wipe off residue, and refrigerate. Leaks should stop entirely.
Cooking this? Dose it right.
Run your flower and batch size through the free Cannabutter Calculator to get exact mg per serving.
Prefer paper? Grab the free printable dosing cheat sheet.
Cook often? A free account keeps a log of every batch — inputs, potency, and notes — so you can repeat the good ones.
