Bean Sprouts are an extremely healthy and delicious way to enjoy legumes. Although sprouting can seem intimidating to some, it is really an easy process. Any whole bean can be sprouted – Mung, Garbanzo, Moth, Adzuki, Lentil, etc. Sprouts can be eaten raw in salads or cooked. Try this simple method for Mung Beans and be on your way enjoying Mung Sprouts.
Ingredients:
Whole Mung Beans – 1 cup (yields 4 cups sprouted)
Water – 6 cups
Cheesecloth or thin dish towel
Method:
1. Wash Mung Beans well and soak them in Water overnight.
2. Drain all of the water from the Mung Beans.
3. Soak cheesecloth or thin dish towel in water and gently squeeze out the water (leaving a little).
4. Place soaked Mung Beans in a cheesecloth or thin dish towel and twist the sides of the cloth together.
5. Place cloth with Mung Beans inside of a container with a lid. Do not use a clear container.
6. Cover the container and keep it in a warm, dark place away from drafts. (Oven, in OFF position works well).
7. Leave the Mung Beans for 2 days checking on them occasionally. If the cloth seems to have dried up, lightly sprinkle water on it to re-moisten it.
8. In 2 days, the Mung Sprouts will be ready to eat, raw or cooked.
9. If you don’t want to use them right away, they can be refrigerated or you can freeze them.
10. Follow the same method for any type of whole beans.
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Brotar feijão é uma ótima maneira de economizar dinheiro e ainda ter alimentos saudáveis. Eu recomendo a todos que experimentem germinar o seu próprio feijão em casa. É uma ótima opção para quem quer desfrutar de um alimento saudável, nutritivo e saboroso.
Hi Guys i think i got some clues regarding soaking of Kidney beans, so I dont thing i will sprout them, just soak them, I bought them bcos they contain a good amount of iron.
Anyway it is better to be careful than to be sorry!
Bye for now
Many thanks from America for the How To Sprout Beans information!
My oven has a pilot light…should I still put it in?
Love your website!
Thanks
shobha
Hi Shobha,
I am not sure how warm it gets in the oven with a pilot light on. Usually, beans do not need too much warmth else they will start to get slimy. If the weather is not too cold outside, you can leave them on the counter.
How to store the sprouted beans? Do we need to keep them in closed container in freezer or we can keep it in a bowel in refridgerator?
You can store sprouted beans in the refrigerator for about a week (covered tightly in container or ziploc bag) or you can freeze them for up to 4 months.
Hi,
I guess this question has not been answered. I tried to sprout different beans. But the usual problem I notice is that there is always some fungus that grows with the sprouts. How to avoid this fungus? I tried to pat dry the beans, but problem still occurs. Some help would be really appreciated.
Hi DvD,
You can try to rinse the beans every day. This will prevent the fungus from growing.
Hi,
I came to this site searching for more information about toxicity of sprouted kidney beans. The thing is that raw kidney beans are quite toxic already. But they are generally sold dried and are very hard so require a lot of cooking to become enjoyable (the cooking breaks down the toxin inside of them). So it’s not so much that the process of sprouting makes the kidney beans toxic, they are basically toxic already beforehand. I’m not sure how sprouting affects this and whether it reduces or increases the amount of toxins inside. In any case I think I’d rather be safe and cook them before eating.
In order for normal beans to become edible (and the toxins to break down) it takes at least 10 minutes of boiling in a normal pan, not a pressure cooker. I wonder how the time could be adjusted to avoid kidney bean poisoning and yet not ruin the texture of the sprouts.
hey…This is my first comment on ur site.
Both of u r doing a great job. I will like to share even an easy way to sprout beans.Just soak them in water for 6-8 hours and then drain the excess water and put the beans in a colander with a utensil underneath and cover the colander with a plate. Wash them with fresh water every 2-3 hrs and they will be sprouted in less than 24 hours.
Thanks for sharing your method Parul!
Hello Hetal and Anuja.
I tried this sprout with mung alone and came out well. I kept the mung in the oven for only 1 day though.
In my excitement, I went to my local Indian grocery store and got a packet of ‘nav dhan’ mix (9 bean mix). do you think I can use that for sprouting too?
We have learned over time that some beans like rajma (kidney beans) should not be sprouted so you should check to see that there are no kidney beans in the mix. Also, some beans may sprout faster than others. Since we have not tried it out, the only advice we can offer you is to try it out on a very small amount to see if it works.
Oh yes, there are a few kidney beans. It is actually a mix of kidney means, kala chana, black eyed peas, whole toor, whole val etc.
I”ll try out a small batch and post my experience here. Thanks Hetal.
Hi Hetal,
Just tried sprouting ‘mixed beans’ . Came out well! Tastes fine too. For those who don’t like the taste of all the beans, using a mixed pack is not a good idea.
I just made this, so easy and delicious! This will be a fantastic healthy salad for winter. I had cucumbers from my garden so I added some of those too.
I sprouted the beans myself. We Koreans rinse them in cold water every day in a sterile colander (if any fall out do not put them back in) which keeps the bacteria from building up. If you sprout your own while keeping everything perfectly clean I’m sure you’ll have no problem with vomiting. Plus the addition of lemon or lime juice in the recipe should also kill bacteria.
Thanks for sharing your tips regarding sprouting. We’re sure it will help many of our viewers.
Wonderful. I have some mung beans that I had little luck sprouting so they went into the pantry. I’m going to haul them back out to try this. Sometimes when I soak beans I leave them long enough that they sprout before I use them. Since I know it just ups the nutrition I consider it a plus.
Can I use sprouted channa or beans that have been left a couple of days like this the same as if they are plain soaked beans? Or does it reduce the cooking time? I’m in specific thinking of kala channa, may current favorite that takes so long to cook.
Hi Kristin,
Yes, sprouted beans cook a lot faster than plain soaked beans. Most sprouted beans (with the exception of red beans or kidney beans) can even be had raw. If you cook beans often, you can invest in a pressure cooker. It cuts the cooking time to less than half.
Thank you. I have invested in a pressure cooker at the urging of Indian friends and I don’t know how I survived without it as I do cook beans often. I want to try doing a cooked bean recipe with sprouted beans to up the nutrition. I think I’ll try just one whistle and see how it looks.
Hi Kristin,
I’ve noticed with sprouted mung beans that even after one whistle, I have to remove the pressure manually after about 3-4 minutes…else they get overcooked. You may have to experiment with your particular pressure cooker.
Wow !now i know exactly how to make sprouts . Thanks so much This really helped .
if we cook the sprouted beans i heard the nutrition or vitamins will get destroyed. is it better to eat raw sprouted beans or cooked sprouted beans.
Hi Gayathri,
As with most fruits/vegetables, the cooking process does reduce some of the nutritional value. However, you are really limited if you don’t cook anything. Our advice on sprouts would be to have them raw if you can but don’t over cook them if you have to cook them.
Thank you so much for posting this! It was very informative! I never thought of sprouting my own beans at home. Can’t wait to try it!
Worked like a charm and was SO easy! I had delicious mung sprouts in my eggs this morning! =)
That’s great to hear…it really is a satisfying feeling seeing beans sprout :).
Hi Anuja,
Thanks for the tip ! Will try it out and let you know…
Hi Hetal, Anuja,
I hope you have seen my query above coz its been quite a while !! 😉 Please give me a tip as early as you can ; I really need to make healthy sprouts and am stuck as to what to do.
Hi Surya,
Sorry about the delay in responding, we were on vacation.
Regarding the Garbanzo Beans – after we have soaked them, we need to rub the beans inbetween our palms really well to get as much of the skin off as possible before sprouting them. The other difference is that we also need to take out the beans and rinse them 2 times a day during the sprouting process. The skin is a little slimy we think that is the cause of the fungus.
The above mentioned steps should help 🙂
Hi Hetal, Anuja,
Thank you for showing us this really healthy tip. Unfortunately I faced a problem while trying to sprout chana (the white garbanzo beans). I soaked them overnight and left them to sprout in the oven and the next night I saw that the shoots had started coming out but the whole batch was spoiled and started to grow fungus too, on them !!! I didnt sprinkle water at all in them and I knew they were reasonably dry so I dont understand what went wrong. And I know refrigerating them wont work as then they wouldnt sprout at all !! Please advise. Thanks.
I have been doing this from long time, but only problem i face always is: all the moong is not softened when i soak them overnite. Some are still hard and some are soft. So that really becomes a pain. Or I have to do them in a big “parat” (pot used to make a dough) but how long.. what am I missing?
Hi Yourfan,
We know exactly what you are talking about (been there, done that) 🙁
Here is the best way to avoid that issue – take your daals in a big pot and fill it up with a lot of water. Now take another pot (similar size) and transfer the daal from one to another (from the top – like they traditionally transfer coffee or tea or lassi). The daals that settle at the bottom are the ones that will give you issues. Do this quite a few times and keep removing ones that settle.
It is always advisable to use a big pot/pan and not overcrowd the daals when you are soaking them
Hope that makes sense (hard to explain) 🙂
Hi,
Your website just rocks!!!!!!
For a beginner to cooking, your recipes and tips helps a lot.
Thnks a ton!!!!
Regds
Heena
Hi Hetal &Anuja,
I believed that sprouts need sunlight for them to develop. I have never left it in dark container. Very interesting. Need to read a bit more about the difference or if both ways are ok.
Thanks for the wonderful videos. I am addicted to checking your recipes first.
Hi Priya,
We’ve always sprouted our beans in the dark…hmmmm, funny. We’d be interested in what you find out.
I just read and found out that sprouting beans in sunlight is a wrong practice.OMG, I have been eating like that for few years. Actually I didnt bother to check your video as I thought I knew the method of sprouting. Thank god,I checked your video. I am going to try the right method soon.
your website is so complete with various categories of recipes and tips.I am amazed by your interest levels and would like to replicate the same in my life. you both are doing a fantastic job and hope you continue for many years.
Just a small thought and not a compulsion. please show as many veggie dishes as possible. the whole animal world might live in peace if people turn to vegetarianism.If people like you spread the message,it reaches millions of people in a second. Thanks again
hi i just discoverd d site n im really enjoyin it….just wanna kno if the its dry beans tat ur sprouting i mean thoz in packets???
Hi Jaya,
Yes, we used dry beans (from the packets), but we soaked them first. Minimum soaking time is about 8 hrs or overnight.
Hi Hetal/Anuja:
Thanks a lot for the method to sprout mungbeans.
I have a few questions though;
1> You mentioned that it takes approximately 2 days until they’re sprouted. Is there a way to know exactly at point they’re edible? I have heard that over-sprouting them may make them inedible/harmful, Is that true? Is it something to do with the length of the sprout that grows, indicating readiness?
2> Can you sprout things like kala channa/ white vatana/ black eye peas/ masoor matki?
And Lastly:
3> Once ready & sprouted, how does one use them, for instance if i want to do light vaghar with them? Do i need to wash them? Do i need to boil/pressure cook them? Or are they ready to it as-is?
Thanks a lot,
-A
Hi Ankita,
We’ve not heard of “over-sprouting” beans. You can actually eat them before the two days or as soon as you see the sprout coming out. They will be tender at this time. The longer you keep them, the longer the sprout will be.
To use them, you can gently rinse them in cold water and drain. Many people consume raw sprouts but because of E Coli concerns, it is best for young children, older people and pregnant women to eat cooked sprouts. Since the sprouts are tender, you can do a light vaghar and add them in with a little water and spices (cover and cook until tender). You can also do the vaghar in your pressure cooker and add them in with a little water and spices. Switch off the stove after one whistle and remove the pressure after about 3-4 minutes…else they will overcook.
Almost any type of bean can be sprouted, however, many people believe that kidney beans (when sprouted) become toxic.
Thanks for the info Hetal, thats great!
Hello,
thanks for all these great advices. Yesterday I ate Chicken Curry with Fenugreek leaves. I liked its taste.
Do you know how to grow Fenugreek?
Hi Alexander,
Glad you are finding SMTC useful. Though we grow curry leaves, mint and fresh garlic, we actually have never tried to grow fenugreek.
Hi,
Fenugreek leaves can be grown by planting fenugreek seeds ( what we call is dry methi daana)in a small clay pot or also in your backyard with other veggies. Its better to plant where sunshine is available. End of spring / summer is a good time to grow fenugreek.
Cheers
– Urvi
Thanks Urvi.
great ideas, greatrecipes but a bit more preparation in terms of text and terminology before shooting the video would not be sich a bad idea
Hi Hetal, Anuja.. Another way of sprouting is by putting the soaked beans (after removing all the water) in a hot-case and place it in warm temperature (as u mentioned, oven will do). This is easier way and you will not need cheesecloth. 🙂
Cheers, Anju
Thanks for this great suggestion Anju!
Hi AM,
Cheese cloth is basically a very thin cotton cloth. The Cheese Cloth available in American stores like Wal-Mart has a weave which is very loose. If you use this, you will have to use 4-5 layers of the cloth. Or, you can use cloth like that of a dhoti.
Hi Hetal,
I love to cook ur receipes, i bought the cheese cloth it seems to be to small to hold sprouts… can u tell me the width and length of cheese cloth ur using.. so that i can buy the same..
Thanks
You can still use what you bought. Just place the soaked beans in a pan with a lid and cover the top with the wet cheese cloth and close the lid tightly. It should still sprout.
Hello Ladies,
From where can i buy CheeseCloth?.
I migrated to Melbourne Australia 35 Years ago and i am very happy to have come across your nice website with all these recipies. Keep up the good work .God Bless Harold Gomez.
good one..
Thanks for bringing up an interesting point…it seems that the toxins are removed by cooking sprouted kidney beans.
I thought kidney bean sprouts are toxic???
Hi Richard,
The video is in production and will come out soon.
Hello,
Can you point me to the dahl recipe that incorporates the sprouted mung beans? Thank you.
-Richard