How To Sprout Beans: Lentils, Mung Beans & Chickpeas (2024)

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Beans are among the easiest of foods to sprout, and doing so helps to pre-digest them. Some (like lentils) can be eaten raw, though most people will digest beans best they’re lightly steamed or cooked like in this Blended Red Lentil Soup.

Here are very easy directions for sprouting, and you find more inside our unlimited online classes.

How To Sprout Beans — Step #1 — Soaking

Soak 1-1/3 cups of beans overnight in pure water. Use a 1/2 gallon mason jar or other similarly-sized container. I like using 1/2 gallon mason jars with sprout screens best. But you can also use a stainless steel strainer or a stainless steel pot.

How To Sprout Beans — Step #2 — Sprouting

In the morning, drain and rinse the beans well. A sprout screen is a great investment (but still inexpensive) you can make for your kitchen. You will need a canning jar metal band to hold it in place. Repeat the rinsing and draining every 12 hours, or each morning and evening.

The maturing of the sprouts is a matter of preference. Generally, I sprout beans for around 3 to 5 days. We don’t prefer older mung bean sprouts because we find them more bitter when older, unless cooked (and we prefer to eat these sprouted beans raw in salads). Mung beans are shown in the top picture (click to enlarge). We like to eat them when leaves are just beginning to appear, colored in yellow-purple.

If you plan to use them in a stew or chili, just a short tail is all that’s needed to ensure they’re pre-digested and ready to go!

As you can see in the top photo, my mung bean sprouts are all curly, not thick and straight stalked like you’d find in the market. The way to get mung beans to have long, straight, thick roots is to sprout them in a container that allows them to keep that posture. Like a tray where they can stand tall and grow upright. I personally don’t worry about doing it this way. I grow mine in 1/2 gallon jars and they get curly because they’re all jumbled in there.

Just above are mature lentil sprouts. We like them when the first leaves have just appeared and are green. They get green just from filtered light coming through the kitchen window.

And this last picture is of my last sprouted garbanzo beans. Truth be told, they got older than I intended. The tails are beyond the 1/4-inch that I prefer, but as with all sprouts, this is a matter of preference. There are no rules about when is the best time to eat sprouts. Unless you consider the rule not to eat anything if it is spoiled, in which case, a simple smell test can let you know that. 😉

How To Sprout Beans — Step #3 — Storing

Finally: storage. I take well-drained and rinsed bean sprouts and store them in the refrigerator in Anchor Hocking large glass storage dishes. (I love these storage dishes!) The cool temperature of the fridge will slow, but not stop, the growth of the sprouts. If not eaten within two days, you should rinse them again, to keep them fresh.

How To Sprout Beans — Step #4 — Eating!

How do I use the sprouts? Well, mostly in salads. You can also sprout other beans, such as kidney beans or pinto beans. Add them raw to salads or in soups. See Four (4) Yummy Ways to Use Sprouted Beans for more information and ideas.

5 from 1 vote

How To Sprout Beans: Lentils, Mung Beans, & Garbanzo Beans (Chickpeas)

Beans are among the easiest of foods to sprout, and doing so helps to pre-digest them. Some (like lentils) can be eaten raw, though most people will digest beans best they're lightly steamed or cooked.

CourseSalad, Side Dish, Vegetable

Author Wardee Harmon

Ingredients

1 1/3cupsbeanslentils, mung, garbanzo, etc
pure water

Instructions

Soaking

Soak 1-1/3 cups of beans overnight in pure water.
Use a 1/2 gallon mason jar or other similarly-sized container.
I like using 1/2 gallon mason jars with sprout screens best. But you can also use a stainless steel strainer or a stainless steel pot.

Sprouting

In the morning, drain and rinse the beans well.
A sprout screen is a great investment (but still inexpensive) you can make for your kitchen.
You will need a canning jar metal band to hold it in place.
Repeat the rinsing and draining every 12 hours, or each morning and evening.
The maturing of the sprouts is a matter of preference.
Generally, I sprout beans for around 3 to 5 days.

Storing

Take well-drained and rinsed bean sprouts and store them in the refrigerator in Anchor Hocking large glass storage dishes. (I love these storage dishes!)
The cool temperature of the fridge will slow, but not stop, the growth of the sprouts.
If not eaten within two days, you should rinse them again, to keep them fresh.

Recipe Notes

Eating!

Mung Beans

We don't prefer older mung bean sprouts because we find them more bitter when older, unless cooked (and we prefer to eat these sprouted beans raw in salads). We like to eat them when leaves are just beginning to appear, colored in yellow-purple.

Lentils

We like them when the first leaves have just appeared and are green. They get green just from filtered light coming through the kitchen window.

Garbanzo Beans

I prefer the tails to be about 1/4-inch.

What beans do you love to sprout?Do you know how to sprout beans?

Want more help with soaking, sprouting, or fermenting? We help you learn the fundamentals (and more!) of traditional cooking in our unlimited online classes.

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