Have you tried sprouting lentils yet? You are missing a lot if not. Nutrient packed and easy to digest, these fun looking, crunchy and yummy Sprouted Lentils are the new hit in the kitchen. Vegan? Of course! Gluten-free? Oh, yes! These lentil sprouts are for everyone!
Have you ever sprouted beans at primary school as a science experiment? Well, I did and I and all my classmates loved it. So, I thought I could include my little son who is fascinated by this kind of little experiments in this process, too. He absolutely loved it. His excitement at the sprouts coming out of the lentils was a great spectacle.
Why We Like This Recipe
I can hear you asking why not using regular lentils and spare myself the time to sprout lentils or the money to buy a pre-packed sprouted lentil? Weren’t regular lentils healthy enough? Listen, it is totally worth sprouting your own lentils. First of all, it does not consume your time because lentils sprout on their own. You will just spend 3 minutes each day for 2 or 3 days.
Second, sprouting process enriches the nutrition of legumes. Can you imagine that? A healthy food gets even healthier with one easy and simple sprouting method.
As for the type of lentils to sprout, I think green lentils are the best for two reasons:
- They hold their shape better
- They are richer in protein
Sprouted Lentils Benefits
- Thanks to sprouting, digestion of lentils becomes easier and your body can benefit from more vitamins and minerals as they can be easily digested.
- Sprouting changes the composition of lentils because it starts a germination process. Thus, it increases the amounts of vitamins and minerals in the lentils such as carotene and vitamins B and C.
- Lentils cause intestinal gas just like other type of legumes and sprouting them helps prevent it.
- Protein and fiber are higher than in regular lentils.
- Eating the living enzymes of a fresh sprout is very healthy.
In addition to these, there is another big advantage. We can eat them RAW. It means we can keep the nutritional value lost while cooking for ourselves. Plus, it saves you a lot of time because it literally takes five minutes to have a delicious sprouted lentil salad when you have them ready stored in the fridge.
Oohh! I almost forgot to talk about how tasty these are. They give you a crunchy and -if you prefer- spicy bite. So fresh and yummy!
The calorie information for one cup of lentil sprouts is only 82. Total carbohydrate is 17g and protein is almost 7g.
How to sprout lentils
Growing lentil sprouts at home takes two or three days.
What you need to do is very easy and quick:
Soak 1 cup green lentils in a large bowl with three cups of water overnight or for 8-10 hours. Then Drain and rinse the lentils. Put them back in the bowl and cover with a kitchen towel. Let them sit for 8 hours. Then, shake the bowl or give a gentle stir so that each of the lentils get enough air circulation. Wait for another 8 hours.
Repeat the steps above for 2-3 days. You will see sprouts growing on the second day and they get longer on the third day. You can decide how long you want the sprouts to grow. Once they reach the length you want, put them in a air-tightened container and keep them refrigerated. You can now use them as you need.
Spice Them Up
Now let’s spice our lentils. Here are the ingredients you need:
- cooked corn
- lemon juice
- olive oil
- salt
- cumin
- chili powder
- curry powder
- finely chopped thyme or another herb you like
In a small bowl, whisk together the lemon juice, olive oil, salt, cumin, chili powder, curry powder and thyme. Pour it over the sprouted lentils and corn. Toss.
Uses
You can eat them raw or cooked. Cooking sprouted lentils is no different from cooking regular lentils. You can definitely use them to make sprouted lentil soup. I sometimes replace regular lentils with sprouted ones in my Lentil and Spinach Soup or when making Bulgur Pilaf with Green Lentils and they are delicious.
If you prefer to eat them raw, you can simply make this recipe. Or you can add them in salads like Cold Lentil Salad With Peaches. Want something richer in fats? Make our Avocado Lentil Salad recipe with sprouted lentils and just dive in before it is gone. These health bombs are super delicious and everybody loves them.
You can always use sprouted lentils to have a crunchy bite full of vitamins and protein or you can simply carry them around as snacks. They make great snacks for school/university/work. Or sprinkle them on any soup as topping.
No matter how you eat them, just enjoy the nutrition and taste these cute weird lentils offer.
FAQs
Yes. As you see in this recipe, you can definitely eat them raw. However, this might cause discomfort for some people when they eat too much. So it might be better either to have a limited amount in salads or to cook them a little.
Yes. Just use them in place of regular lentils. The difference is you will end up with more nutrients in your food.
Keep them in fridge up to one week. You can make them at the weekend and garnish your soups or salads with them during the week.
It is so simple. If they smell bad, it means they have gone bad. Don’t use them. But normally, they can be stored up to a week.
As well as lentils , many types of seeds such as mung beans, rice, wheat, spelt, and chickpeas will grow sprouts. And the process is almost the same for all of them.
I usually use sprouted green lentils in my salads simply because we like the taste better. Besides lentils, I also sprout mung beans.
More Recipes With Lentils
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📖 Recipe
Sprouted Lentils Recipe
A super healthy vegan side dish with sprouted lentils, corn and spices.
- Prep Time: 3 days
- Total Time: 72 hours
- Yield: 4 1x
- Category: Side Dish
- Method: Combining
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 1 cup green lentils
- 3 cups water
- ¼ cup cooked corn
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- ½ teaspoon chili powder
- ½ teaspoon curry powder
- ¼ cup finely chopped thyme or another herb you like
Instructions
To Sprout Lentils:
- Soak lentils in a large bowl overnight or for 8-10 hours.
- Drain and rinse the lentils. Put them back in the bowl and cover with a kitchen towel. Let it sit for 8 hours.
- Shake the bowl or give a gentle stir so that each of the lentils get enough air circulation. Let it sit for another 8 hours.
- Repeat this for 2-3 days. You will see sprouts growing on the second day and they get longer on the third day.
- Keep them refrigerated and use as you need.
To Assemble Everything:
- Combine sprouted lentils and corn in a bowl.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the lemon juice, olive oil, salt, cumin, chili, curry powder and thyme.
- Pour it over the sprouted lentils and corn and toss.
- Serve it as a salad or use it in sandwiches or soups.
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 246
- Sugar: 1.7 g
- Sodium: 596.2 mg
- Fat: 7.8 g
- Carbohydrates: 34.6 g
- Protein: 12.4 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
Jagdish Dhanju says
Thank you for this info, I was sprouting but cooking them adds more options for teens 🙂
Atlantan says
I made this recipe using dried sprouted lentils. I boiled the lentils in water for about 25 minutes to soften them, and then drained them. I made the recipe exactly as instructed to begin with, except that I didn't have any fresh corn. I substituted an 11 ounce can of Mex-corn, which yields more than the 1/4 cup corn called for in the recipe. I used fresh parsley for the suggested “chopped herb” of choice.
I found the additional amount of corn to be a good change. But overall, I found the recipe to be too salty. While the canned corn could have contributed to this, I'd still suggest reducing the salt by 1/4 to 1/2. Overall. I also found the flavors a bit muddied; with the cumin and chili powder this dish wanted to be Latin in flavor, but the curry muddied the flavor. Next time, I'll try leaving the curry out, and try adding some fresh cilantro (which I didn't have on hand) instead of parsley.
To boost the umami, I added some smashed black garlic (to paste consistency), a dash of balsamic vinegar glaze, and some chopped fresh onion. If you're not familiar with black garlic, it's totally different from regular fresh garlic - don't substitute one for the other!
The revised dish was well received by my family, and was a delicious accompaniment to some grilled chicken.
Noreen says
I sprouted small brown lentils and they are perfect, on the 4th day.. I just had a bowl of the sprouts and they are delicious! 😋
I’m looking forward to having them at every meal (in scrambled eggs and sandwiches + salads) and would definitely recommend trying this! Yummy and so healthy too! 🙂
Yusuf says
Yay! Sprouting lentils is fantastic, isn't it? And all your ideas to use them are great!
Melanie says
I had been looking for including sprouted lentils in my diet but didn't know how. I put a jar of these now and am planning to use them in my sandwiches. YUM!