How to Sprout Mung Beans at Home and Ways to Add Sprouts to Your Meals and Snacks 

Google “mung bean sprouts” and you’ll find a list of resources on why it’s a superfood. I’ll list a few here: antioxidants, nutrient-packed, rich in fiber–so good for you. It’s quite easy to sprout mung beans at home. All you need is a few days and a strainer. In this video, I used a 32 oz. mason jar with a strainer cap or a sprouting lid, but you can do this as long as you have a good old bowl and a strainer. 

Note that whatever container you choose, it should be large enough to accommodate the growing sprouts. A good estimate is 4x the size of  your dried mung beans. 

Inexpensive Superfood 

Mung beans are one of those ingredient that makes you realize that eating healthy is actually not expensive. It just means cooking more at home, buying dried beans in bulk, and a little patience. I buy my mung beans in bulk at Amazon. 

The mung bean sprouts you’ll see in stores are usually all white, since they remove the outer skin. I like to leave the skin on. It tastes the same and more nutritions.

On Sprouting 

It takes about 3-4 days to sprout mung beans. When I want longer sprouts I leave them out for 4 days. As soon as I put them in the fridge and keep them dry, they stop growing. Uncooked sprouts can last up to 4 days in the fridge for me. Blanched sprouts in an airtight container lasts for about a week. You’ll know when your sprouts have gone bad, because the smell will change and it’s not something you will like. Generally, I like to blanch them just to remove unwanted bacteria.

How to Add Mung Bean Sprouts to Your Diet

You can add blanched bean sprouts to your fried rice, salad, tofu scramble, and buddha bowls. For snacks, you can add them to peanuts, a little salt, and chaat masala, an Indian spice. 

Question from Social

Someone asked if mung bean sprouts can be eaten raw. The answer is yes, but it’s good to blanch for a few reasons.

1. Less likely for sprouts to have harmful bacteria.
2. Better for digestion.
3. Taste amazing. Raw bean sprouts can be bitter. Sure you can load them with sauce, but I find that blanching them in the end is healthier because you didn’t need that much to enjoy the taste.

Mung Bean Sprouts

Print

Serves: 6 Prep Time: 96 Hours Cooking Time: 10 Minutes 10 Minutes

Nutrition facts: 200 calories 20 grams fat

Rating: 5.0/5

( 2 voted )

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup dried mung beans
• salt
• water

Instructions

1. Wash mung beans a few times. Place them in a sealed container and let them soak in water for about 16-24 hours.
2. Remove the water and wash the beans again. This time, place them on a strainer or bottle with a sprouted lid. The beans should remain moist but they are not soaking in water. 
3. Change the water 2 times a day. The sprouts should be ready after 3 days, but to have longer sprouts, give them another day. 
4. Take a large pot with water and generous amount of salt. Let the water boil. 
5. Blanch the sprouts for 6-7 minutes. 
6. Strain. Your sprouts are ready to eat.