Did you know that you can sprout beans at home? Sprouting beans takes 2 to 3 days with a simple, hands free process.
Growing up in India, I saw my mom soaking a different bean almost every night. By morning, they would be wrapped in a white cloth, sitting in a colander in a warm dry spot. By evening or the following day, they would have magically grown into long sprouts. These crunchy sprouted beans or lentils were then used in cooking curries, dals, stir fry dishes and also added raw to salads in addition to us snacking on by the handfuls.
Lentils and Beans are the main plant based protein source in vegetarian diets as well as Indian Cuisine. In addition to being healthy, fiber and protein packed, they are inexpensive and have a long shelf life.
What
So what is sprouting? Sprouting is a process where the lentils, beans, seeds or even nuts are soaked in water for several hours and then allowed to germinate in a cool dry place for several days.
Why
Now let’s answer why to sprout beans. Although, beans and lentils AKA legumes can be cooked from the dry form, soaking and sprouting them enhances the nutritional value, making them richer in protein, folate and also making them easy to digest.
Tips
Before I explain how to sprout the beans, here are some of my tips and tricks, for perfect sprouts every time:
- Make sure that the beans are not too old
- Soak the beans in warm filtered water. Sometimes hard water prevents the beans from soaking properly and then they are harder to sprout
- Cover the beans while soaking so the water stays warm for longer period
- After the beans are soaked, make sure to drain out the water in a colander. Especially with Moth beans its important that the beans are not too wet when you tie them in the cheesecloth as they tend to get sticky with excess moisture
- If you do not have a cheesecloth, any thin cotton cloth will work or wrap them in double lined paper towels
- The cheesecloth with get brownish stains from the beans, so make sure to bleach the cloth after to keep it clean
- Place the beans wrapped in the cheese cloth in a cool dry place. Excess humidity can cause the beans to get sticky. If you choose to use Instant Pot for sprouting, there is no need to put any water in the main pot. See my notes in the recipe card
My favorite beans to sprout are Math or Moth (Turkish gram), Mung (Green gram) and Masoor (Brown lentils). These dry beans are easily available in Indian grocery stores, although you can also buy them at whole foods or amazon.
How
And now lets get on to how to sprout the beans and lentils. It is very easy to sprout the beans at home, and although the whole process can take 2 to 3 days, most of the time is hands off as you wait for the beans to soak or sprout.
Here is how the beans are traditionally sprouted. In the photos I am using Mung beans as an example, but the same process works for other beans too!
Step 1: Rinse & Soak
Rinse the beans thoroughly with cold water and soak them overnight (10-12) hours in warm water (2-3 times the volume of the beans). During the soaking process the beans almost will double in size
Step 2: Drain
Drain out the water using a colander and then place the beans on a cheesecloth.
Step 3: Wrap & store in a cool dry place
Wrap the beans in a cheese cloth and store covered in a cool, dry place away from direct sunlight. I usually keep them in my oven and in winters keep the oven lights on for some warmth
In the summers beans will start to sprout in 12 hours and this is how they will look in the initial few hours
The longer you keep they will continue to grow. Usually within 24 hours they grow a good 1/4 to 1/2 inch long tail. In winters they may take up to 48 hours for the beans to sprout.
How to sprout beans using Instant Pot
You can also use the Instant Pot for sprouting. The Yogurt mode in the Instant Pot has the perfect temperature setting to help the beans sprout.
Tips for sprouting beans in an Instant Pot:
- Place the beans in a colander or strainer to help drain out any excess moisture. You can also place the colander on the trivet inside the main pot, which allows any excess moisture to dry out and prevent the beans from getting sticky.
- Since the Instant Pot does not come to pressure on the yogurt mode, you do not need to worry about the pressure valve being at sealing or venting.
- Do not put any water in the main insert, which prevents the beans from getting sticky and sprout better.
Storing
Once sprouted beans can be refrigerated for up to 2 weeks in air tight container or zip lock bags. Raw sprouted mung beans are great for snacking or to add to salads.
Recipes
All three sprouted beans can be used to make curries that can be enjoyed with steamed rice or parathas. I especially love the Maharashtrian Misal Pav cooked with sprouted moth beans. Sprouted masoor is especially good in a khichdi or breakfast bowl. And if you haven’t already do try my mung bean salad where you can add either raw or lightly sautéed sprouts.
How to sprout beans
Ingredients
- 1 cup mung beans
- 3 cups warm water
Instructions
- Rinse the beans thoroughly with cold water and soak them overnight (10-12) hours in warm water. During the soaking process the beans almost will double in size
- Drain out the water using a colander and then place the beans on a cheesecloth
- Wrap the beans in a cheese cloth and store covered in a cool, dry place away from direct sunlight. I usually keep them in my oven and in winters keep the oven lights on for some warmth
- In the summers beans will start to sprout in 12 hours and this is how they will look in the initial few hours
- The longer you keep they will continue to grow. Usually within 24 hours they grow a good 1/4 to 1/2 inch long tail. In winters they may take up to 48 hours for the beans to sprout
- Once sprouted beans can be refrigerated for up to 2 weeks in air tight container or zip lock bags. Raw sprouted mung beans are great for snacking or to add to salads
Video
Notes
- Make sure that the beans are not too old
- Soak the beans in warm filtered water. Sometimes hard water prevents the beans from soaking properly and then they are harder to sprout
- Cover the beans while soaking so the water stays warm for longer period
- After the beans are soaked, make sure to drain out the water in a colander. Especially with Moth beans its important that the beans are not too wet when you tie them in the cheesecloth as they tend to get sticky with excess moisture
- If you do not have a cheesecloth, any thin cotton cloth will work or wrap them in double lined paper towels
- The cheesecloth with get brownish stains from the beans, so make sure to bleach the cloth after to keep it clean
- Place the beans wrapped in the cheese cloth in a cool dry place. Excess humidity can cause the beans to get sticky. If you choose to use Instant Pot for sprouting, there is no need to put any water in the main pot. See my notes below
- Place the beans in a colander or strainer to help drain out any excess moisture. You can also place the colander on the trivet inside the main pot, which allows any excess moisture to dry out and prevent the beans from getting sticky.
- Since the Instant Pot does not come to pressure on the yogurt mode, you do not need to worry about the pressure valve being at sealing or venting.
- Do not put any water in the main insert, which prevents the beans from getting sticky and sprout better.
Nutrition
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Lynz Real Cooking says
Cool!
Archana says
Thank you!
woodboneandstone says
I love sprouts and am currently sprouting whole urad dal with the black skins.
Archana says
That sounds awesome! I have not tried sprouting whole Urad, would love to see your post on that
woodboneandstone says
Not sure how I will use them yet. You can be sure I will post if I am happy with the outcome!
Love Served Daily says
Perfectly sprouted beans
Archana says
Thank you!
Gerard Villanueva says
Thank you for posting good information on sprouting beans!
Archana says
Thank you!
gardeneva says
When enjoying with rice, do you add them to the cooking or afterwards? Sounds delish and will try this soon. Thank you.
Archana says
I do add them to the rice. Here is another rice dish with sprouted lentils – http://ministryofcurry.com/sprouted-brown-lentils-khichdi-instant-pot/
Anu says
Hello, thanks for the recipe. Do you use any special kind of beans? I tried with the oneI bought from Indian Stores as well as the organic one from Costco. They didn’t sprout.
Archana says
I use reagular ones from Indian grocery stores. I find organic ones hard to sprout and cook.
Nitin Barad says
Awesome site. Fantastic recipes. Will try them.
Archana says
Thank you
sheetal says
What is the method for using the IP for this? Please share!
Archana says
yes will add all the details shortly.
Layli says
Hi there, thanks so much for all of this! I’m wondering how many hours you set the instant pot to, on yogurt mode, for the ‘average’ bean to sprout? Is 9 hours enough?
Archana says
Hi! Great question. So yes you are right yogurt mode is 8 hours and sprouting takes about 12 to 24 hours.I usually just set it to yogurt mode a couple of time or you can always adjust the yogurt mode to 16 hours.
Kasturi says
Hi, for sprouting in Instapot, when you “Do not put any water in the main insert,” do you mean the main steel bowl? Did I understand you correctly? Sorry for the silly question.
Archana says
Yes main stainless steel pot.
sri says
Hi Archanaji
thank you, thorough, great tips and details.
Even if you had not tried for readers you can suggest, chickpeas or chana daal, at least the Indian variety also as another good beans to sprout.
Best.
Sri.
Chhaya says
Hi Archana,
That’s an excellent piece of information on sprouting beans. I just want to ask if I can put beans directly into the insert of the instant pot as I don’t have a steam basket or any colander that fits into that
Archana says
I won’t recommend putting directly in the main pot as it does get a little warm. Why dont you place it in any bowl that fits inside the Instant Pot? Covered in some sort of cloth or even paper towels.
Tara says
Hi Archana- I have a steamer and trivet I can use in the instant pot. Do I still need to wrap them
In cheesecloth?
Archana says
You can just place the steamer on the trivet. No need of cheesecloth
Cooking beginner says
Great explanation!
When you say make sure beans are not old, is there a general guideline? I divide my raw pulses into 2 halves and place 1 half in freezer if I don’t intend to use them a lot and consume the other half slowly.
Archana says
Once in freezer will be good. Generally anything over 6 months from the time you bought from store are old.