Sprouted Lentils Recipe (2024)

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:

1. They hold their shape better
2. 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.

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