Mung Bean Sprouts – How to grow Mung Bean Sprouts

Mung or Moong Bean Sprouts with step by step photos and easy to follow instructions:

Mung Bean Sprouts are one of the most commonly used bean sprouts, especially in Asian cooking. They have fresh crunchy texture with nutty flavor. Most commercial bean sprouts are treated with chemicals to grow faster and thicker. You can grow your own mung bean sprouts with a minimum effort and some patience. The home grown bean sprout will never be as thick as the commercial ones but they are full of flavor and freshness.

I have been making mung bean sprout at home for many years. They are great addition to making salads, soups, stir fry, omelets and scrambled eggs. It does not require any special equipment or lighting to grow mung bean sprouts at home.
Mung Bean Sprouts are good source of vitamins and minerals. They are low in calories but high in protein and dietary fiber. 

You will not need a lots of mung beans to grow sprouts. You will be surprised to see how much sprouts you can grow from just a couple of tablespoons of mung beans. Mung beans are widely available at Indian or North-American supermarkets.

How to make Mung Bean Sprouts:

1. Take some dry mung beans and spread it in a single layer in the container/tray you will be using to grow the sprouts. This step is required to get an idea of how much mung beans you will need to grow the sprouts.
2. Take out about 1/4 of the mung beans and wash the rest under running water to remove any dirt. (The reason to remove 1/4 of the beans to allow more space for the beans to grow. The bean will expand when soaked in water and also when it starts to sprout.)
   
3. Soak the mung beans in normal water for at least 24 hours.
   
4. Take an aluminum tray, plastic tray or any other container that has holes in the bottom to drain the excess water. The container should be at least 4 inches deep. I am using a aluminum tray with a plastic lid that I bought from a supermarket. I poked holes in the bottom of the tray with a knife. You can use a knife or a needle to poke the holes.
   
5. This is how the beans will look after soaking it for 24 hours. The beans will swell and become softer.
   
6. Place the tray in another tray or container to catch the water dripping. (I used a double layer of foil wrap under the tray and secured the foil with the sides of the tray to form a sort of square bowl. Any excess water will remain in the foil wrap.) Drain the water out of the soaked beans and lay the beans in a single layer in the prepared tray.
   
7. Cover the tray with a lid. If you do not have a lid, cove the tray with a foil wrap, plastic wrap or a clean plastic bag. Some people recommend to keep the beans in warm place, I just leave it over my kitchen counter and never had any problem growing sprouts. If you find, your sprouts are not growing fast enough (5-6 days), try leaving the sprouts at warm place (over the fridge or in the oven with oven light on. Do not turn the oven ON.)
8. Day 1: Small strings started to come out.
   Important Step: Lift the tray with mung beans and gently rinse the beans under normal running tap water. Place the tray back on the other tray to catch the excess water. Cover and leave to rest until the next day. Do this step everyday until the sprouts are fully grown.
   I usually rinse mine in the morning but you can set whatever time suits your schedule.
   
9. Day 2: String are longer than the first day. You can starting using the sprouts at this stage but I prefer it to grow more before using.
   
10. Day 3: Strings are longer and skin has started to peel off the beans.
    
11. Day 4: Sprouts have started to grow and small leaves are coming out.
    
12. Day 5: Growing taller and most of the skin has peeled off the beans.
    
13. Day 6: We have full grown mung bean sprouts, ready to be used.
    Pull the mung bean sprouts out of the tray and remove the roots. Store the sprouts in a dry air-tight container or ziploc bag. Sprouts will stay fresh for 3-4 days.