How to Grow Your Own Sprouts

If you love alfalfa or bean sprouts on your salad or in stir fry, you'll love growing your own fresh sprouts at home. It's fun, easy, and doesn't take that much time, so before you know it, you'll be sprouting your own favorite seeds whenever the mood strikes!

sprouter

Sprout seeds

Water

You can find sprouters in health food stores, in some supermarkets, and online. Sprouters come in a variety of shapes and sizes, from small models that allow you to sprout one type of seed at a time to larger models that will sprout several different types of seeds at once. Choose one that makes sense for your family and how many sprouts you use during the week.

Sprouting seeds are also sold in health food stores and online. use seeds developed specifically for sprouting and for human consumption. You can also find a lot of different sprout mixes, like "spicy," bean mixes, leafy mixes, and your basic favorites, too.

Soak your seeds. Use about 2 to 3 times the amount of water as seeds, and check that they don't adsorb all the water right away. For example, if you use 1 tbsp. of seeds, you will use 2 to 3 tbsp. of water to soak the seeds. Let soak for 8-12 hours, unless the seed information says otherwise.

Rinse your seeds well. Let drain.

Place your seeds in your sprouter according to the directions.

Water your sprouts every day, and allow them to drain. As they grow, you may have to reduce watering to every couple of days.

When the sprouts begin to turn green and shed their seed hull, open up the sprouter and let them get light.

Your seeds are done when they develop leaves, turn green, and begin to "look" like the sprouts you're familiar with in the produce section of most markets.

Harvest and enjoy your new crop of sprouts!

Let sprouts dry out for several hours before you store them in the refrigerator.