How to Grow Sprouts at Home

Grow sprouts at home for pennies and enjoy one of the most nutritious foods available! You do not need a green thumb to sprout seeds—it’s as simple as rinsing your rice before you cook it! And if you look for sprouts in the grocery stores, the prices are insane. You get a tiny container for at least $4.00. It feels good to make something at home for a fraction of the cost it is to buy it!

I have been sprouting on and off for 20 years, ever since I had my first bagel sandwich with cream cheese and sprouts. Any Boise people remember Lucky 13 in Hyde Park? That’s what did it! I sprouted because I loved the light, delicate freshness that they added to anything I put them on. It wasn’t until I listened to this podcast in 2020 that I learned how sprouts are one of the most valuable, underrated superfoods available to us. I highly recommend listening to the podcast, or buying The Sprout Book.

While it’s not sustainable to only grow sprouts because they never grow big enough to reproduce, it doesn’t take many seeds to get a full quart of sprouts. Just one tablespoon of seeds is all it takes! Once we’re rooted, I hope to be able to grow the full plants and allow them to go to seed for sprouts. In the meantime, I buy bags of seeds… few and far between!

I just checked, and Azure has the most affordable prices at the moment. I have gotten them from Mountain Rose Herbs and Amazon in the past, but, as of today, they are much pricier than Azure.

What can you sprout?

If you look up ‘spouting seeds,’ you’ll find all kinds of vegetables commonly used for sprouting. But any seed can be sprouted! I love sprouting chickpeas or lentils for topping salads. Doug Evans, the guest on the podcast I recommended, says that broccoli sprouts carry the most anti cancer properties, which is good news, because they are one of the most mild, delicate sprouts! Speaking of mild and delicate, NOTHING tops alfalfa sprouts in that department! I love kale as a salad, but honestly, we are suffering through the bag of seeds for sprouts. They’re bitter and spicy, but everyone is dealing with it because I promised not to buy it again!

Remember the chia pet? Chia seeds are some of the quickest growing sprouts (shown above). To use, I trim the greens and toss them in a smoothie. Sprouting wheat makes for another attractive plant. However, without the Jamba Juice style of machine, it’s pretty much inedible. Maybe dehydrating, then pulverizing into a powder would work. I’ll save that effort for a day when I’m really desperate for something green! 😉

Equipment Needed to Grow Sprouts:

• Mason Jars
• Strainer lids. I started out with buying some cheap screen and cutting it to the size of the mason jar lids and topping with the screw lid. I’m not sure if it was food safe, so I was grateful when my sister in law gifted us a lid meant for this purpose. I had no clue they made such things! I have since purchased ones with legs for better draining. They no longer sell what I use, but if I were to buy a setup today, this is what I would get! They drain better if they are leaning rather than being directly upside down.
• Seeds
• Clean water

How to Grow Sprouts:

• In a clean quart jar, place one tablespoon of seeds. Top with a few inches of water and let soak for about 6-8 hours. (If using bigger legumes, in a single layer, cover the bottom of the jar and let soak for 12 hours.)
• After they have soaked, drain and rinse well using a strainer lid. Place it upside down and let drain for an hour or so before returning to upright.
• Twice a day from here on out, rinse and drain the sprouts.
• Every seed sprouts at a different rate. Alfalfa is ready in just a few days, where kale takes a full week.
• You can eat the seeds at any point. Once they have a little tail, they’re ready. Sulforaphane is the anti-cancer chemical found in broccoli seeds, so it’s best to eat those as close to the seed stage, if you’re looking for the anti-cancer benefit. Letting other sprouts grow nice and long makes for the most light and fluffy—yet crispy— addition to anything you put them on!

FAQ When Growing Sprouts:

• Why do my sprouts smell bad? It could be a few things. Cruciferous seeds tend to smell, just like when you open up a container full of steamed broccoli, it doesn’t smell that great. Kale and broccoli seeds and sprouts have that same aroma. If they are bad, they will be accompanied with slime and brown shoots instead of white or green.
• Why do my sprouts get moldy? It’s likely that they’re not being drained thoroughly. Throw them out, and try another batch focusing on drying them out better before placing upright. (I often leave mine upside down the whole time, the only problem is that the sprouts wind around the screen. It’s just more effort to get them out/ clean the jar that way.) Also, know that the root portion of some sprouts are “hairy”— this is not mold! If you look closely, you can see the consistency with every single root in the jar, where mold would be more sporadic.
• Why are my sprouts dying? If they are dry and a little fried looking, they needed more rinsing than you gave them. If they die because they are brown and soggy, they were not drained well enough.
• What is the difference between sprouts and micro greens? Sprouts are grown without any kind of medium. All it takes to grow sprouts is a clean jar and an ability to strain water out of it. You eat the entire sprout. Micro greens are grown in dirt or some kind of medium, and you trim off what you eat.

Cute Spring Decor With Micro Greens:

In the spring, I think it’s so cute to grow chia grass in eggshells! My daughter found an abandoned birds nest, and it’s the sweetest little host for an eggshell chia grass! Crack eggs a little off to one side so you have a taller side. Rinse eggshells thoroughly. Fill with dirt and top with chia seeds. Mist with water a few times a day. Before they have sprouted, do not let them dry out. After sprouts are established, lightly water once a day. Enjoy fresh spring decor!

Comment below if you have any questions or tips to share on how to grow sprouts!