Sprouting lentils is a great way to increase this healthy legume's nutritional benefits and digestibility. Learn how to sprout lentils at home easily and affordably.
All you need to start sprouting lentils are the lentils themselves, a 32 oz. mason jar and a sprouting lid or cheesecloth. You want to make sure the lentils have enough room to expand in the jar, so if you want to double the recipe, use 2 jars instead of adding more lentils to the same jar.
Start by adding 1/2 cup of lentils to the mason jar and rinse them with water, removing any stones. You can rinse them by putting in water then putting the sprouting lid on the jar and draining the water out through the lid.
After rinsing the lentils, cover them completely with water and be sure that there is 1-2 inches of water over the lentils. Let the lentils soak in the water for about 8 hours. You can leave them overnight if you'd like.
Once the lentils have soaked for about 8 hours, drain the water from the jar. Place the jar at an angle upside down so that the sprouting lid is at the bottom. You can place the jar against the wall over a bowl to catch any excess water or you can use a specially made sprouting stand.
You'll want to rinse and drain the lentils with water 2-3 times a day to keep it fresh. They'll need to sit out for a total of about 2-3 days to fully sprout. You'll start to notice little thread-like tails coming out of the lentils.
Once they are at the length you want (usually 1/2 - 2 inches long), rinse and drain them once more. Then you can remove the lentils from the jar and place them evenly spread out onto paper towels or a clean dish cloth for about 1 hour to dry them. Drying them helps to keep them from going bad.
Once they are dry, store the in the refrigerator. Extra moisture can make them go bad faster, so it's best to store them in a container lined with a paper towel. They will last about 5-7 days in the refrigerator, but don't forget to do the sight/sniff test. If you notice any mold or smell anything off, it's time to throw them out!
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Notes
It's best to use a 32 oz. wide mouth mason jar because the lentils need room to expand after soaking and room to breath as they sprout so they don't become too moist. This recipe calls for 1/2 cup of lentils and they will expand to almost fill up the whole jar once they are sprouted. If you want to double the recipe, use 2 jars so the lentils have enough room to expand.
You'll need a lid that allows the lentils to get air in the jar while they are sprouting. You can either use a sprouting lid or cheesecloth. You can get sprouting lids online, at health food stores and sometimes even hardware or gardening stores. Cheesecloth is available online or at target, walmart or kitchen supply stores like sur la table.
You can use any kinds of lentils including red lentils, green, brown or french lentils. The process for sprouting them will be the same for any kind of lentil. The only thing that may vary is the time it takes for sprouts to form.
This recipe uses 1/2 cup of dry lentils and will result in about 3-4 cups of sprouted lentils.
Troubleshooting tips if your lentils aren't sprouting:
Occasionally some companies irradiate their lentils in order to keep pathogens from growing and this may keep your lentils from sprouting. If this happens to you, try a different brand or order lentil seeds that are made for sprouting. Personally, store-bought lentils usually work fine for me, but it is possible that irradiation may be a reason some are not sprouting.
It's possible that your house is too cold and not providing a warm humid environment for the lentil sprouts to grow. If it's winter time or if your lentils are sitting in a cold are of the home, try moving it to a warmer spot near the heater or near the oven.
Your lentils are too old. Sometimes if you've had a bag of lentils sitting in your pantry for a number of years and you've just decided to try to sprout them, they may have simply gone bad and don't have it in them to sprout! The same can go for some lentils bought from a bulk bin at a store...if they're not very fresh, this can hinder them from sprouting.
You soaked them for too long or not long enough. Generally you want to soak the lentils for about 8 hours, give or take a couple hours. However, sometimes people leave them overnight and forget about them and they soak too long and won't sprout. ON the other hand if you put too little water in the jar or only soaked them a few hours short of 8 hours, they may have not had enough time to soak.
You didn't rinse them enough during the germination period. Sometimes this can contribute to moldy sprouts or lentil sprouts that have gone bad as well. Rinsing them at least twice a day helps keep them fresh.