I am showing you in this post how to sprout mung beans easily at home.
I will share with you my tips, what to look out for, what to avoid.
We will also cover the pros and cons of DIY style Mung bean sprouts at home so that you can make a sprout salad or a pad thai at home!
If you have been following me for a while, you will know that this is not my first post about sprouting seeds.
Besides mung bean sprouts I have sprouted Wheatgrass to prepare wheatgrass juice which is consumed in shots to improve the body health.
However, this post today is a bit different because mung bean sprouts find a lot of different uses and are quite healthy at the same time!
Also, you can do that at home and you won't need a garden or flower pots to grow these delicious young sprouts!
Jump to:
Why I started to grow my own bean sprouts
A few years ago my hairdresser shared that she had been using bean sprouts in her salads and stir-fries.
I didn't really understand what she meant until I saw mung bean sprouts sold in a local vegetable bazaar.
I picked up a bag full, maybe about 1 cup full, and decided to use it in a fresh salad the same day.
The Mung bean sprouts that I had bought would turn into a disappointment that very day!
I unpacked the sprouts and noticed that they were not looking that clean and hygienic.
It was a turn-off but I was determined to try out these bean sprouts!
I washed them well in warm water to get rid of impurities and anything else on those young bean sprouts.
This is of course not a good thing because bean sprouts are young sprouted seedling and they are super sensitive! It damaged the sprouts.
Once they were clean I took a bite. I hated it!
Why?!
Well, the sprouts were crazy bitter!!
I just couldn't understand why my hairdresser and friend loved those sprouts so much and then it dawned on me.
I had to try to make my own batch of mung bean sprouts at home!
After all, it couldn't be that complicated right?
Right I was, because there is actually nothing easier than growing your own mung bean sprouts.
Turns out, later on, my hairdresser was doing the same thing, growing her own batch of mung bean sprouts.
She forgot to mention that as she was interrupted by a customer that day...
Store bought VS homemade mung bean sprouts - pro and cons
Anyhow, I am glad I was able to taste test the store bought mung beans.
On later occasions, I got mung bean sprouts from other stores and even bought a batch in different countries.
To see what options my readers had.
I came to the conclusion that not all mung bean sprouts were bitter.
The more expensive they were the better they seem to taste.
In my how to further below I explain what causes the bitterness in sprouting mung beans and how to avoid it.
Store bought Mung Bean Sprouts
Pros:
- You can buy the same day when you need sprouts hence no waiting time
- Quality sprouts have thick roots. It's hard to achieve that at home
Cons
- Can be pricey if you consider that unsprouted mung beans are a fraction of the cost
- Some store-bought mung bean sprouts are bitter or short in size
- Depending on where you are in the world, not always available and in stock.
- Organic mung bean sprouts are not that commonly available
Homemade Mung Bean Sprouts
Pro:
- Watch your mung bean sprouts grow, which is kind of fun!
- Cheap for your pocket
- You know how they are grown (no chemicals involved). You can avoid that the sprouts get bitter (see in the how-to below)
- Use organic mung beans to grow organic bean sprouts
- Doesn't need special equipment
Cons:
- You need to be careful about your hygiene
- The roots of homegrown mung bean sprouts are thin
- You need to wait at least 3 days for the sprouts to grow
🔪 How to Sprout Mung Beans?
To sprout mung beans is not rocket science, in fact, you can do that with your kids (if you have kids or a niece and a nephew).
I think it's a great little project with kids too so that they learn how seeds grow and how to take care of fragile young seeds and that this is actually good food!
You have various options to grow your bean sprouts in.
Grow your mung bean sprouts in
- Colander/Sprouting Basket
- Cheese Cloth/Kitchen Towel which you don't plan on using again
- Jar
I personally like to use the Cheesecloth (or old clean kitchen towel) because I don't sprout mung beans every week.
Otherwise, I would get one of these amazing sprouting baskets.
I find it easier to irrigate the mung bean sprouts with the cheesecloth, then compared with the Collander or the Jar method.
The seeds don't get disturbed when I carefully wash them through the cloth.
The jar method is great if you plan on making huge amounts of sprouts. You can use all jars too but in that case, I would rather use a simple cheesecloth.
What I don't like so much about the jar method is that the seeds don't get much oxygen.
I think it does make a difference if your seeds get to grow in a jar or in an airy clean cheesecloth.
The Jar might seem more hygienic but the seeds are closed and you can't really stop the growth of a few bacteria.
That is why you follow a rinsing step (More about that below)
At the end of the day, it's up to you how you do it.
Sprouts will turn out a bit different when grown in a cheesecloth, sprouting basket vs a jar. You can try each version out to see what suits you the best.
I am not going to limit you! 🙂
What I don't recommend is to use Paper towel to sprout seeds.
I saw this somewhere online and I just find it a bit yuk. I don't like the idea of my sprouts, which I am planning to eat, touching paper towels.
Steps (Days) to sprout mung beans
Day 0
Place your mung beans into a bowl. Pick out bad mung beans.
Wash the beans. Cover with water. Close the bowl with a lid.
Leave to soak overnight.
Day 1 Morning
Strain your beans and just rinse them once with clean water.
Now place your rinsed beans into a damp cheesecloth or into a colander and place that in turn into a bowl.
Cover the bowl.
I use a cheesecloth and I flip the cloth over the seeds to protect them.
We keep the seeds in the dark because the seeds get bitter when they come in contact with light.
Day 1 Evening
Take your mung beans in the cloth covered through clean water to rinse them properly.
Make sure the cloth is not soaked, carefully press it out a bit to get rid of excess water.
Place back into the bowl and cover again. You will see your sprouts have grown considerable already.
Day 2
Rinse and repeat once a day at least.
I usually do one wash in the morning and one at night just to keep the seeds fresh and to promote healthy growth.
Day 3
Your seeds will have grown well by now.
At this point, you can harvest them already or leave them for another day.
But before you do any of that, rinse again very well!
💭 Tips to great growth
When the sprouts are pressed to the bottom they seem to grow thicker roots.
That means the less space the thicker the roots.
Before you use your sprouts in your food, wash them well to get rid of the green shells and any impurities.
Some of the shells don't come off, but that's ok and not the end of the world.
If you are concerned about bacteria, then I suggest blanching the sprouts in boiling water for a few seconds before using them in your cooking.
I do that and then I keep the roots in some water so that they look fresh again until I add the mung bean sprouts in my food.
You can keep the mung bean sprouts in a container in your fridge for a few days.
I usually try to use them up within 3 days.
Freezing doesn't really make much sense.
I tried it! Freezing turns them boring and beats the whole concept of "fresh" nutritious sprouts.
🍱 Recipes to use your sprouted Mung Beans
- Chicken Pad Thai with Mung Bean Sprouts
- Tuna Asparagus Salad with Microgreens
- Sprouted Mung Bean Burger from Holy Cow Vegan
- Superfood bowl by Lazy Cat Kitchen
- Miso Soup with sprouts by Parsley in my Teeth
- Savory Korean Mung Bean Pancake by Korean Bapsang
Dear Reader, Have you cooked with mung bean sprouts before? What dishes did you make?
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📖 Recipe
How to sprout mung beans - DIY Mung Bean Sprouts
Ingredients
- Organic Mung Beans
- Water
- Cheesecloth/Colander with a bowl or Jar and a clean cloth net over the jar opening tightened or sprouting basket
Instructions
- Pick out bad beans, wash your beans and cover your beans in a bowl with water.
- Leave your beans to soak overnight.
- Next morning rinse your beans, place into damp cheesecloth/into clean jar/ or sprouting basket. If you use the cheesecloth or colander place a bowl underneath which will collect excess water. Cover or make sure no light hits the mung beans, it's important or the beans will get bitter.
- In the evening same day, check your mung beans, rinse them again, drain off excess water. Keep in the dark again.
- Next morning rinse and repeat and the next day again do the same thing. I like to rinse two times a day making sure the beans remain damp but not soaked in water.
- The last day wash your beans so that the green shell falls off. Some will still have their shell on them, that's ok. Store in the fridge in an airtight container or clip bag.
- Before using the beans in your food (if you are concerned about bacteria) you can prepare a pan with boiling water and blanch the sprouts for a few seconds to kill off bacteria.
Notes
- A small amount of Mung Beans is enough because they grow and if you soak too much, you will have too many which you won't need. Less then ½ a cup mung beans will do for the beginning.
- The roots grow thicker of the sprouts if you make it tight for them so that the roots don't get to thin out and find space to grow. You can add weight over the mung beans to achieve that (without damaging the mung beans). A friend of mine would use emptied coconut shells as weights.
Hi. You keep referring to 'roots' mung beans shoots are just that... Shoots! Not roots! It will confuse people.
Thanks for sharing, Eileen. I think it depends on where you live, but I will try to point it out better in the text to avoid confusion.
I put 1/2 cup mung beans in a quart jar and filled it with water, soaking over-night. I rinsed them every day and kept them in a corner of the kitchen that doesn't get any direct sun light. It is now day nine and all I have is some white beans and no sprouts. They don't smell really bad, just kind of odd. What did I do wrong? I'm going to throw them out and start over.
Hi Ken, I'm not sure if I understand correctly, you said you have white beans? Do you mean the initial white growth coming out of your moong beans? If that is the case, then maybe they just need more time and perhaps for air. It can be that your batch of moong beans is not great, possibly too old or not the best quality. I personally prefer the cloth or the sprouting basket method to the jar method because the seeds get more air.
Could you clarify a little please... When harvesting, hit by incandescent or florescent light OKAY or not okay as well? Thanks!
You can harvest without problems when hit by incandescent light. However, I don't have an experience to share with fluorescent light.
My sprouts turned purple because of light..can I reverse that ?
At this point, it will be almost too late to reverse the color. But they are anyway fine to be consumed, it's just that they got some light and they are not white anymore. If you keep them further in the light the purple will turn green.
Hello,
I've been using the mesh lid on top of a mason jar. The roots are thin. What do you recommend for me to obtain thick roots please.
Barbara.
Only a weight over the sprouts will help in growing thick roots.
Hi there. Thank you so much for this. It is very helpful. I just want to ask why mine turned into pinkish color while it is still 3rd day? Is it overripe or should I grow it more?
Hi Wilvee. If the sprouts turn pinkish or purple it just means that they got some light on them. There is nothing wrong with that and you can consume them. It's just that if you keep light away from the sprouts during the growing process, they will stay white and the leaves will be yellowish. If they get light, the leaves might turn greenish too.
How many sprouts you'll eat in 3 days will depend on how many seeds you'll sprout. When it's just the 2 of us, I sprout only 1/2 cup or less. ... I'd like to find a trick for getting the shells off all the sprouts before eating/cooking them.
I just rinse them carefully and the shells fall off.
Is it normal that the beans has this terrible smell starting from day 2? I am on my 2nd day of rinsing and they smell really terrible. I'm worried that they have gone bad.
yep sounds like they turned bad. If you live in a tropical climate, you will need to be extra careful. Bacteria can form fast and in that case, I would just allow them to grow in the fridge to be on the safe side. I have done it in a dry cool climate and in a tropical climate, and growing in a cool climate is definitely easier in terms of cleanliness, but they grow faster in a tropical climate.
Aw. Yes, I live in the tropics. Have you tried growing them in the fridge? Because I thought it has to be warm for it to grow. Anyway, thanks for the reply.
Yeah I have done it in the fridge in the tropics and they do grow, a bit slower but I think it can be a saver option to keep them in the fridge in a humid climate, especially when it's hot or rainy season. In the tropics, when it's winter or the so-called cold season, I usually keep them out. So let's say, when the humidity is below 55% I keep them out, anything more, I keep them in the fridge (just to make sure that they don't turn out funky). I never had this problem in Europe, the humidity is below 50% most of the time there. In Goa (India our second home) it's usually around 60%, in the rainy season even 95%. We have done all seasons on both continents. haha ☺️
Great advice...I'm redoing the whole process with a new batch of beans. Thank you for being so helpful. Wish me luck! 🙂
All the best Maria, keep us updated! 🙂
So, do u keep the soaked and rinsed beans in the fridge from Day 1 or do you do so at a later stage? Secondly, do you follow the same procedure of rinsing twice daily while keepn them in the fridge?
I am really struggling with grown beans. Humidity is as high as 90% here.
If I'm in the tropics, April to November, hot and rainy season, I keep them in the fridge from day 1 because the humidity is 90% and they can turn bad if stored outside. What has been your experience so far? Maybe I can help you. Which technique have you been using? A simple kitchen towel, glass jar or a sprouting basket?
Lots of GREAT ADVICE THANKS
Hi. Have you ever tried to can/preserve them? We used to be able to buy canned bean sprouts but they don't seem to be available anymore. I'd like to have a few jars on hand. Thanks for any info
Hi Deb, no I haven't tried canning them. But I suppose you could try it out at home with a small jar to see if it works out. You could use water enriched with salt to can your mung bean sprouts. You can preserve with the water bath canning technique.
Thanks for the reply.
Can't hurt to try 🙂
Yes, I'm curious too how it will turn out, so feel free to report back. I bet others would find it useful too. 🙂
Ive just made a batch following you advice in a mason jar with a mesh lid, washed n drained 3 times a day. Perfect thick roots.
Thanks.
That's great Ken! Thanks so much for your feedback, it's appreciated.
How many beans should I use to fill a 2 quart jar?
Hi Linda, use about 3 cups dried seeds for a 2-quart jar.
3 cups in a 2 quart jar? That is almost 1 quart of dry beans. There would be no room for them to move!!!! This has to be a typo
Start with 1 cup. They expand when they absorb water and grow!
Great, thanks
you are welcome 🙂