Delicious, nutritious mung beans are a breeze to sprout at home. Not only do they taste better than store bought, sprouting moong from scratch is much more economical than you might think! Here I share two simple and quick methods for making mung sprouts yourself, no sprout maker needed.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 2880 minutes
  • Cook time: Not specified
  • Total time: 2880 minutes
  • Yield: 1.5 · 1.5 cups
  • Category: Snacks
  • Cuisine: World

Ingredients

  • ½ cup mung beans
  • 1.5 cups water (for soaking - filtered or boiled and cooled)

Method

Rinsing and soaking Mung beans

  1. Take the moong beans on a plate or tray. Pick and clean the beans to remove any husks or stones.
  2. Rinse the beans in clean water, three to four times using a mesh strainer or colander.
  3. Place the rinsed mung beans In a bowl. Add water to cover the moong beans in the bowl.
  4. Cover the bowl with a lid and soak the beans overnight or for 8 hours.
  5. The next day the moong beans will swell. Drain the water either from the bowl or by using a colander to strain.
  6. Thoroughly rinse the beans with clean filtered water, or water that has been boiled and cooled. This step is essential to avoid the risk of contaminating the sprouts.

Method one

  1. This first method is for how to sprout beans in a bowl or large container.
  2. Place the soaked beans back into a new clean bowl. Cover again with a lid (not tight fitting or air-tight) at room temperature for 1 to 2 days in a dark place.
  3. Check after a day and you will see the the beans begin to sprout. After 2 days you will see beautiful sprouts from the moong beans.
  4. Depending on the weather, temperature conditions and the quality of mung beans, the sprouting may happen in a day or may take more time. For long tender sprouts, keep for 2 to 3 days.
  5. Do not touch the sprouting beans with your hands or with any spoon or fork to avoid contamination.

Method two

  1. The second method is to sprout the mung beans using a muslin, kitchen cotton towel or cloth.
  2. Wet a muslin, cheese cloth, clean cotton cloth or kitchen cotton napkin with clean filtered water, and squeeze the excess water from it. Open the cloth fully.
  3. After rinsing and draining the soaked beans thoroughly, place them in the center on this damp cloth.
  4. Tie the ends and tighten into a bundle, and place in a clean bowl.
  5. Keep loosely covered in a container for 1 or 2 days. Be sure the lid on the container is not too loose and not tight.
  6. To check on the sprouting beans, do not open the cloth bundle.
  7. After the first day, examine the outside of the kitchen towel. You will see tiny little sprouts or longer sprouts growing out of the cloth fabric, especially if you have used a thin material like muslin or a cheesecloth.
  8. For more longer sprouts, you can keep it for one more day.

Storage

  1. Once completely sprouted the beans stay fresh in the fridge for 1 or 2 more days.
  2. Remove the sprouted beans from the bowl or from the muslin with a clean spoon and place in an air-tight steel container. Store in the crisper drawer of your refrigerator for 1 to 2 days.

How to use

  1. You could use the moong beans to make your favorite recipe. You could even have these raw in salads or slightly steam and have it plain or just with about anything, even toasted bread.
  2. Before using the sprouts, always rinse them in clean water or hot water. Add the sprouts raw in salads, or slightly steam and enjoy them plain or just with about anything
  3. If you plan to eat the sprouts raw, rinse them in hot water before including them in any raw recipe or dish.
  4. I make some recipes with the sprouts like this Mixed Sprouts Curry (where I include only mung sprouts) or this delicious Moong Sprouts Chaat and a healthy Moong Sprouts Salad.

Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note

Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.