Bethany's Vegan Kitchen

This is something I did recently and shared on my Instagram stories, I got a few questions about it, so I thought I’d share more here. Sprouted mung beans are also known as bean sprouts, the ones you sprout at home have more flavour than the ones you can buy from supermarkets I find. This method will also work for other beans/seeds too, not just mung beans.

So let’s start

Make sure you buy the correct beans/seeds. You’ll need beans for sprouting, I bought mine from amazon, it’s easy to read the product description to make sure you’re getting the right thing. You’ll want whole beans/seeds which haven’t been chemically treated

Next, you’ll need something to grow the sprouts in. I use a germinator jar by avogel, but you can also use a jar with some muslin or mesh tied on the opening

Firstly weigh out 40g/1.4oz of beans, pop them into the jar and fill it half way with fresh cold water. Rinse the beans then drain the water away. Fill the jar again and then leave the beans to soak for around eight hours, I usually do this overnight

This is what the beans should look like after they’ve been soaking in water for eight hours

Once you’ve soaked your beans, drain the water away and water them around two or three times a day. To water the beans, just fill the jar the water, then pour the water away. Leave the jar with the opening at the bottom so the excess water can drain away

After a couple of days you will see that they start to grow

At around three days they begin to fill up the jar

After four or five days the shoots have grown thicker. I usually consider them ready for eating at this point, although you could carry on allowing them to grow for up to a week if you prefer

Before eating the sprouts, make sure to give them a good wash. They will keep in the fridge for a few days. Use them in stir fries, or eat them with sandwiches or salads

Some things to remember

1. Light will make bean sprouts bitter in flavour, to avoid this allow them to grow somewhere dark. Some beans/seeds don’t mind the light, a quick google search will tell you which is better for the beans/seeds you have
2. If you notice any mould growing, discard the sprouts immediately, and give the jar a very thorough wash before using it again
3. Try out sprouting other beans or seeds after you’ve tried mung beans. You could try different seeds or beans and see which you like the most

I topped this creamy miso ramen with shredded carrot, spring onion, sweetcorn and some bean sprouts