Get Sprouting

Sprouts are delicious and nutritious, but they are also expensive and most often packaged in small, wasteful plastic containers at the grocery store. You can buy fancy, single-use sprouting kits or a brand new jar set, but you can likely get sprouting with what you already have in your home!

I used to sprout mung beans in college. My mom started me with a DIY sprouting jar (regular Mason jar with piece of cut window screen for the lid) and a bag of dried mung beans. It was also a super cheap way to get some greens.

After learning ALL about sulphoraphane and its ability to help the body rid itself of carcinogens from Dr. Rhonda Patrick (starting with this interview on the Joe Rogan Experience), I got really excited to get sprouting again, but this time with broccoli seeds. Luckily I still had my jar set from college, all I needed were the seeds and a stand.

Sprouting is really easy, no green thumb necessary. I've made three batches so far and they've all come out perfectly consistent.

This is what you'll need to get sprouting:

1. A jar: Preferably glass, but any size jar will do depending on how large you want your batch of sprouts to be.

2. A mesh lid: A screw-top with an insert made of window screen, cheese cloth, light mesh fabric, or cheese cloth and a rubber band.

3. Sprouting seeds: I got mine organic from The Sprout House (via Amazon).

4. A stand: To hold the jar inverted at an angle to drain, like a clean dish drying rack, an angled wine rack, or maybe even a metal clothes hanger bent into shape.

5. A small plate or dish: To catch draining water.

This is all you need to do:

1. Measure: Scoop out a small portion of sprouting seeds and dump into your sprouting jar - I use 3 tablespoon of broccoli seeds for a 32-ounce jar. Be careful not to overfill! As the seeds sprout they will take up space.

2. Wash new seeds: Put the lid on your jar - you won’t remove it again until the sprouts are ready to eat. Fill the jar with cold water through the mesh lid, swirl the seeds, and dump out the water. Do this a few times to ensure the seeds are rinsed and cleaned well.

3. Soak seeds: After rinsing, fill the jar with enough cold water to submerge all of the seeds under a few inches. Set the jar in a clean, well ventilated space out of direct sunlight. Soak for about 12 hours. After the 12 hour soak, dump out all of the water.

4. Rinse seeds: Add new cold water through the lid, swish, and dump. Do this rinse 3 or 4 times to keep those seeds fresh and clean. Be sure to shake out extra water on the last rinse.

5. 12-hour drain: Set you jar at angle, lid-side down on your stand, with the shallow vessel under it to collect any remaining water. Leave for 12 hours.

6. Repeat: Follow the rinse/drain pattern from steps 4 and 5 for about 4 days (depending on what you’re sprouting) until the jar is full of recognizable sprouts. I like to set my jar by a sunny window on about day 3 to green the sprouts up.

7. Remove: Once the sprouts have grown to your liking, remove them all from the jar and into a mesh colander. Rinse with cold water and drain well.

8. Store and Enjoy!: Store sprouts in a clean glass container with a tight lid. Store in the fridge for up to 4 days. Sprinkle on top of salads, grain bowls, into a sandwich, or even blended into a smoothie.

Optional step before storage: Remove sprouts from the jar and dump into a large mixing bowl. Fill the bowl with cold water and agitate the sprouts with a fork. You’ll notice the seed casings will float to the top where you can more easily scoop them out. Removing most of the seed casings will allow for a longer shelf life.

See below for photos of the progression of my sprouts, for the set-up I use, and for a few tips!

Day 1: Measure out seeds, wash, soak for 12 hours, rinse, drain for 12 hours.

After the soak, you may notice a vegetal smell, but that's okay! The sprouts should not have much scent after the rinse. Some seeds may already be cracking open.

Be sure to tilt the seeds away from the lid to allow air to circulate in the jar once you set the jar in the stand. I use a coaster set holder for my stand and an olive oil dipping dish to catch the draining water. Whatever works!

Day 2: Rinse and drain in the morning and at night.

You'll notice white roots popping out everywhere - some may look fuzzy. Don't be alarmed, that is just the microscopic root structure you can see when they lift from the main root when the sprouts are dryer.

Day 3: Rinse and drain in the morning and at night, set the sprouts near a window to catch some rays once leaves begin to appear.

Day 4: Rinse and drain in the morning and at night. If the sprouts are ready, rinse, store, and enjoy!