When Jimmy John’s stopped putting sprouts on their sandwiches, I had to resort to growing my own. So this week’s Hump Day How-To will teach you how to do the same! Don’t worry, it’s super easy and the price is very reasonable. Plus, sprouts make yummy, healthy toppings for salads, sandwiches, and wraps. There are a lot of ways to grow your own sprouts (you can even use a mason jar!), but I use a Victorio brand sprouter I purchased from Amazon. It comes with four different sprouting layers (and more can be added) so I can grow a lot of sprouts at one time, without taking up too much valuable counter space in my teeny apartment kitchen.
Supplies:
Sprouter (or a mason jar and tulle/cheesecloth/mesh)
Alfalfa seeds — You can use other types of seeds too, but make sure the ones you choose are designed for sprouting.
Mesh strainer
Spray bottle - I use a cheap one from the Dollar Tree
Water
I bought a giant 2.5 pound bag of alfalfa sprouts for $20 from Amazon, which I store in the refrigerator. You can sprout a lot of different seeds and legumes, but make sure you purchase seeds that are meant for sprouting. The bags of dry beans from the grocery store are meant to be cooked and eaten, not sprouted.
Soak 1 tbsp. of alfalfa seeds for 3-4 hours. If you’re using the mason jar method, you can soak your seeds in the jar.
Drain and rinse the seeds. If you’re using a mason jar, secure your mesh (or cheesecloth or nylon tulle) with a rubberband or the lid’s metal ring before draining over the sink.
Put the seeds into your sprouting container and add 1-2 cups of fresh water. With the sprouter, the water will slowly drain into the base. With a mason jar, drain the water over your sink, flip upside-down onto a towel to get the residual water, then store the jar on its side.
In the sprouter, use a spoon to gently and evenly spread the seeds around. Store your sprouter in a cool, dark place.
Water your seeds twice a day. In the sprouter you will pour water over the top layer and it will drain down. In a mason jar, you’ll fill the jar with water and drain, just like when we started the seeds. Sometimes my husband and I would both water the sprouts, so rather than risk over-watering, we chose to use a spray bottle to water the sprouts throughout the day.
After 3-5 days, your sprouts will be ready to be eaten! If you want them to be a bit greener, you can put them in a sunny spot for a couple hours.
You can eat the sprouts as-is, but the hulls (the seed shells) are a little bitter. I like to put my sprouts in a bowl of cool water and gently rub the sprouts.
The hulls will float to the top and you can skim them off. Don’t worry about removing all of the hulls, it would take forever. When you’ve done all you can (or all you have patience for), drain and dry your sprouts. You can eat them right away, or store them in the fridge for a couple days.
I usually use my alfalfa sprouts on salads, but they taste delicious on sandwiches and wraps too! Have you ever grown your own sprouts? What do you use them for?