This post may include affiliate links; for details, see our disclosure policy.
Bean sprouts are a healthy and tasty vegetable that are easy to grow at home. They’re crunchy and perfect for throwing in stir fries and salads!
Bean Sprouts FAQ
What are bean sprouts?
Bean sprouts are young, sprouted mung beans (eaten just a few days after sprouting).
Are bean sprouts healthy?
Yes! They are packed with Vitamin A, Vitamin C, and Iron.
Are bean sprouts dangerous?
Raw bean sprouts can harbor bacteria if left in a warm and humid environment. If you are pregnant or young, you may want to only use them in cooked recipes like a stir fry.
Can I grow my own bean sprouts?
Yes! See below :)
Growing your own bean sprouts
Bean sprouts – home gardening at its simplest! Take a few dried beans, add a little water, wait a while, and boom – magic! You can apparently sprout most dried legumes and seeds of all sorts, but we have only experimented with mung beans, the source of standard bean sprouts available at the grocery store.
Sprouting mung beans can take anywhere from 2 to 5 days, depending on how big you want them. The photo above shows them at 2 ½ days, which we thought was about perfect (though they were tasty when they were smaller as well). You can expect the beans to expand 2 to 4 times their original quantity by the time they are fully sprouted.
We found it a lot of fun to make sprouts at home. While they are easy and cheap enough to purchase at the store, there is something special about watching them grow in your own kitchen (and avoiding processing plants). I generally don’t pay too much attention to the the raw food movement, but it feels wonderfully healthy to eat something that is so alive and and tasty. Enjoy them on salads, in a stir-fry, or just by the handful!
Looking for other essential recipes?
Whether it’s how to grow bean sprouts or hardboil eggs, our essential recipes are easy DIYs to make at home! Here are few more of our essential and DIY recipes:
½ cup mung beans (or other sprouting start of your choice)
Water
Jar
Cheesecloth
Instructions
Rinse ½ cup of mung beans thoroughly, picking out any nasty-looking beans.
Place the beans in the bottom of a jar and cover with several inches of water. Cover the jar with cheesecloth (or some foil with holes punched in it) and secure the cloth with a rubber band or jar band.
Place the jar in a dark location at room temperature. Let the beans soak for 8 to 12 hours, or overnight.
Drain the water from the beans and rinse the beans in the jar. Drain all of the water out of the jar, re-cover with the cheesecloth, and return to the dark location.
At least twice a day over the next several days, rinse the beans in the jar thoroughly, drain the water completely, and re-cover. This prevents the beans from getting musty or moldy. Remove any suspect sprouts.
When the sprouts have reached the desired size (around 2 to 4 days), remove them from the jar and rinse well. Eat immediately, or store dry in a container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Category:Pantry
Method:Raw
Cuisine:Asian
Keywords: Bean Sprouts, Mung Beans, Sprouts, Gardening, DIY
vegetarian
Published on / Last updated on
Categorized In:
Cooking Basics
Recipes
Tagged with:
Beans
Easy
Healthy
Vegetarian Recipes
About the authors
Sonja & Alex
Hi, we’re Alex and Sonja Overhiser, married cookbook authors, food bloggers, and recipe developers. We founded A Couple Cooks to share fresh, seasonal recipes for memorable kitchen moments! Our recipes are made by two real people and work every time.
Pour water when the bean sprouts fibrous root will grow after a couple of days and soak bud. The degree of depth of soaking bud water is above 2 centimetres of a sand face. Soak bud water and change water 8 times every day. Through about ten days, can grow the good rootless bean sprouts of quality.
Plant the bean seeds directly into the soil about 9-12 inches away from each other. Dig a 1-inch deep hole, place the seed, and cover it with soil properly. To aid the germination process, water the seeds regularly for 3-4 days. Keep watering your plants once every 2-3 days to support the growth.
Mung beans and lentils are the easiest and fastest to sprout. Alfalfa, chickpeas, and adzuki beans are also good for beginners, but need a little more time. Contaminated seeds are usually the source of sprout-related illness outbreaks, so getting clean seeds is essential.
Place the Seeds in the Jar and Cover. Wash 1 to 2 tablespoons of your chosen seeds and place in a clean, sterilized wide-mouth jar (a canning jar is ideal for this). ...
Sprouting involves soaking seeds, nuts, legumes or grains for several hours, then repeatedly rinsing them until they begin to develop a tail-like protrusion. Soaking softens the hull, allowing the sprout to grow. They are usually ready to use when the sprout is ¼ inch.
Place the beans in the bottom of a jar and cover with several inches of water. Cover the jar with cheesecloth (or some foil with holes punched in it) and secure the cloth with a rubber band or jar band. Place the jar in a dark location at room temperature. Let the beans soak for 8 to 12 hours, or overnight.
The seeds should sprout in 8-16 days, depending on conditions. Sow seeds 2-5cm (1-2″) deep, 5-8cm (2-3″) apart, in rows 45-60cm (18-24″) apart. Thin to at least 15cm (6″) apart in each row. If the weather is too wet, beans can also be started in pots indoors and set out carefully a few weeks later.
All you need are beans, a jar, some cheesecloth, a rubber band, and water. I've been happily growing alfalfa sprouts this way for a while now. A batch of sprouts takes just a few days and little maintenance. And what a reward to be able to eat your own harvest.
Bean seeds germinate in around an average of 7 to 10 days. You must keep the soil moist during the germination process. You must water because growing beans need water and will die if the soil gets too dry.
Introduction: My name is Horacio Brakus JD, I am a lively, splendid, jolly, vivacious, vast, cheerful, agreeable person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
We notice you're using an ad blocker
Without advertising income, we can't keep making this site awesome for you.
