Grow Your Own Sprouts

Published on Monday, June 1, 2009, by Roxanne Webber / Edit Post

Sprouts are the fast food of gardening. They take only a couple of days to grow, and you don’t need dirt or light. And there are all sorts of things you can sprout to produce interesting flavors and textures, from onions to radishes to beans.

Here’s how to get started sprouting:



  • 1. Make a sprouting lid by taking out the metal insert of a two-piece canning jar lid and tracing around the inside of the metal band on a mesh screen. Cut out the mesh circle and fit it inside the metal band. Or buy a prefab sprouting lid.


    2. Rinse two tablespoons of your sprouting seeds in a strainer and remove any debris or weird-looking seeds.


  • 3. Put the seeds in a quart wide-mouth canning jar and fill the jar with cold water. Close the jar with your sprouting lid and let the seeds soak for about eight hours (refer to the directions on your seeds for specific soaking times).


    4. Drain the seeds and rinse them in the jar with cold water, then drain them again through the mesh lid. Leave the jar inverted in a bowl so that any remaining water can drain out. Place the jar somewhere reasonably warm (we did our tests at around 70 degrees Fahrenheit) with good air circulation. But keep the jar out of direct sunlight.


  • 5. Rinse and drain the seeds two to three times a day, inspecting them each time—if you see any signs of mold, toss them and start over. But don’t confuse the tiny hairs that grow off the roots with mold.


    6. Depending on the type of seeds, expect your sprouts to be ready in two to fourteen days. Taste the sprouts as they begin to grow—when you like their flavor and texture, they’re ready to eat.


  • 7. Before eating the sprouts, rinse them to remove the seed hulls. Use a colander with large enough holes to wash away the hulls but not the sprouts (the inner part of a salad spinner works well for most sprouts).


    8. Using a salad spinner, spin the sprouts until they are thoroughly dry (it’s important not to store them wet or they will rot), then bag and refrigerate them. If you don’t have a salad spinner, blot the sprouts gently with paper towels or a clean dishtowel before storing. Eat them within a few days for the best flavor.

A FEW THINGS TO KNOW BEFORE YOU GET STARTED

• Buy untreated seeds that are explicitly intended for sprouting; seeds sold for planting in the ground might be treated with fungicides or insecticides. We have used seeds from Sproutpeople. Their website is a great resource for novice growers.

• Once you’re up to speed on how sprouts grow, it’s cheaper to buy sprouting seeds from bulk bins. Test a small batch first—if they’re old, they won’t germinate. And some seeds will be duds. Don’t get discouraged; just get new seeds from a reliable source.

• Rinse religiously. Rinsing is critical during germination. You can get sick if the sprouts start to mold. Plus, they might stink up your kitchen.

• Bean sprouts should be shielded from all light so they don’t develop any chlorophyll—they become bitter when they turn green. But if you are sprouting something like radish or alfalfa, the sprouts look sickly if you don’t let ’em green up. If they’re a little pale, try moving the jar to a place that gets more indirect sunlight.

• Do not try to sprout kidney beans, either red or white (a.k.a. cannellini beans). Raw kidney beans contain a toxin that’s destroyed during cooking. Eating them raw will make you sick.

WHAT TO DO WITH SPROUTS

Sprouts add texture and flavor to your cooking. Mustard and radish sprouts are quite spicy, while alfalfa, bean, and sunflower sprouts are very mild and are used more for texture. They all make good snacks on their own, or use leafy sprouts like radish, alfalfa, sunflower, or onion in salads. Throw mung bean or soybean sprouts into a stir-fry. Onion sprouts are great on burgers and sandwiches.

And try these recipes:

» Sprouted Garbanzo Burgers

» Shrimp, Bean Sprout, and Sweet Potato Fritters

» Herbed Pea Sprout, Fennel, and Mushroom Salad

Roxanne Webber is an associate editor at CHOW.

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POST A COMMENT |7 Comments

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  • I sprouted brocoli seeds for the first time last week. They were completely delicious. Far surpassed my expectations of what boring old sprouts taste like.

    I'm lucky that I live in Cambridge, MA, near a coop that sells all sorts of bulk, including sprouting seeds.

  • Keep it simple. Use those clear plastic boxes that contain berries, etc. They have slits for the air to circulate. Lay a folded paper towel on the bottom. I soak mung beans overnight and next day, drain, and spread them on the paper towel. I sprinkle them with water, close the lid and leave on the sink. A couple of times per day I sprinkle them with water. In a couple of days they're ready....+READ

    Keep it simple. Use those clear plastic boxes that contain berries, etc. They have slits for the air to circulate. Lay a folded paper towel on the bottom. I soak mung beans overnight and next day, drain, and spread them on the paper towel. I sprinkle them with water, close the lid and leave on the sink. A couple of times per day I sprinkle them with water. In a couple of days they're ready. That's it!
    Caroline-COLLAPSE

  • I've been sprouting for several years, off and on. I usually use my Easy Sprout, a very inexpensive plastic sprouter, or glass jars using the method described above. My favorites are alfalfa, red clover, radish, blue lentils, and adzuki beans. I also grow sunflower sprouts as well as 'mixed greens' (any lettuce/spinach/other greens seeds) in pots. The greens need full sunlight, but the sunflower...+READ

    I've been sprouting for several years, off and on. I usually use my Easy Sprout, a very inexpensive plastic sprouter, or glass jars using the method described above. My favorites are alfalfa, red clover, radish, blue lentils, and adzuki beans. I also grow sunflower sprouts as well as 'mixed greens' (any lettuce/spinach/other greens seeds) in pots. The greens need full sunlight, but the sunflower sprouts do not.

    Regarding flax and cress seeds: both these seeds have a natural coating that becomes mucilaginous (like mucus - sticky, gooey) when the seeds become wet. The mucilage actually seems to prevent the seeds from sprouting and they pretty much always rot. There are ways to get them to sprout, but I have never done so successfully. Both can be 'sprouted' in potting soil. Cress can be grown to 3-4" in height before it is cut. I have not tried flax, but apparently this method works. Do not water these pots (or the face the dreaded mucilage), but instead plant in damp soil and mist with water every day to stay moist.-COLLAPSE

  • Sprouts are a great winter food when you can't get fresh vegies out of your garden. Treat sprouts as if they are the fresh vegies you'd be eating if you ate salads all the time.

    There are ways to use sprouted seeds in baking recipes, you just don't let them get to far along in the growing process.

  • I use a flat tupperware or if using a jar, put it on it's side. Also I just use cheese cloth, piece of pantyhose/nylons or a small piece of screen just folded over the top with a rubberband , less work.

    Imp as Roxanne said after the soaking, rinsing. I rinsed 2 times a day, but would be best, but if you can't don't worry. I find a flat tupperware with a wet paper towel or coffee filter on the...+READ

    I use a flat tupperware or if using a jar, put it on it's side. Also I just use cheese cloth, piece of pantyhose/nylons or a small piece of screen just folded over the top with a rubberband , less work.

    Imp as Roxanne said after the soaking, rinsing. I rinsed 2 times a day, but would be best, but if you can't don't worry. I find a flat tupperware with a wet paper towel or coffee filter on the bottom after the soaking period works great. They all sprouted up perfectly and in about 3-7 days, depending on the type of sprout. Remove, rinse and store. One more thing as Roxanne said, good air circulation, no direct light, but the last day or so I like to put in indirect light to green them up a bit. Much better appearance to me.-COLLAPSE

  • I was able to get flax seeds to sprout (used nylon instead of metal mesh), but didn't get to them in time before they molded. I may try again in a few weeks. Haven't tried other seeds yet.

  • i've been trying to sprout cress seeds like this for 6 days now - and no luck :( They're gooey like flax seeds but not a single sign of actually sprouting. I think i messed up...