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How to Grow Mung Bean Sprouts

Why pay $3 a bag for subpar mung bean sprouts at the grocery store when you can grow them without pesticides at home for a fraction of the cost and no effort.
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Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: Indian
Growing Time: 3 days
Total Time: 3 days
Calories: 180kcal
Author: Lauren

Equipment

  • Colander or Steamer Basket
  • Cheesecloth or Clean Dish Towel

Ingredients

  • ¼ cup Dry Mung Beans see notes

Instructions

  • Measure your dry beans in your sprouting vessel. The beans expand, so be sure to not fill the vessel more than ¾, ideally even ½ full so the sprouts have room to grow.
  • Take your measured mung beans and soak them in clean water for 8-12 hours, until the beans start to sprout. They should look like this.
    Mung Beans after soaking
  • Line your soaking vessel (colander in a bowl or a steamer basket) with cheesecloth or a clean linen. Place the beans in the cloth and cover them fully. Soak the cheesecloth in water so the beans remain damp for the sprouting process.
  • Soak the cheesecloth 2-3 times a day every day. Taste the sprouts at each rinse to determine when you want to harvest - I usually harvest after 3-5 days as I like long and wide sprouts.
  • Store in the fridge in a storage container wrapped in a damp paper towel for 3-5 days or until they start to wilt or brown.
  • *Optional - you can remove the green bean skins (the bran) for a more aesthetic sprout that you would find at a grocery store. I did this for the end product photo for this recipe but you 100% can eat the brans. They have almost no taste.

Notes

  1. When choosing how many dry beans to put in your sprouting vessel, place them flat in the vessel and aim for them to take up no more than ½ - ¾ of the entire vessel. The sprouts expand as they grow so you don't want to overcrowd them.
  2. The sprouts can be eaten the very first day after sprouting if you just want to incorporate more sprouted foods into your diet. I prefer them after about 3-5 days of growing. The best way to test when they're ready is to taste a sprout after each watering. You know how you like your sprouts.
  3. You do not need to remove the skins (brans) from mung bean sprouts. They're perfectly edible but supermarkets remove them for aesthetic reasons.
  4. The nutritional information is calculate for the entire batch of bean sprouts. Mung bean sprouts are very low in calories.
  5. If you want extra thick/fat mung bean sprouts, they need to be weighed down during the growing process. For the first 2-3 days, weigh them down with a plate only, and after that, place a book on top of the plate.
Equipment and Ingredients

Nutrition

Calories: 180kcal | Carbohydrates: 32g | Protein: 12g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 8mg | Potassium: 645mg | Fiber: 8g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 59IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 68mg | Iron: 3mg
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