The Sprouts That Help Digest: Sprouting Soup Beans

Sprouting soup beans is really simple and quick. If you already do the overnight soak on your beans before cooking, sprouting your soup beans only adds about another 24 hours to your prep time. You may ask–“Why would you want to sprout soup beans?” Well, I’ll tell you.

Besides adding a bit of extra vitamin kick to your beans, sprouting beans helps reduce the gas effect they may have on you after eating them. That’s right. More beans, less gas. And who wouldn’t want that after that bowl of chili? Especially if you’re expecting company!

Sprouting soup beans is a great way to get used to eating beans and get them into your (or your family’s) diet since they cause less gastrointestinal distress. You can use any of the methods we’ve covered to sprout soup beans–a tray sprouter, a jar, a hemp bag, or whatever other sprouting method you like to use. For specific instructions, check the post detailing the method you prefer. I used my Sprout Master tray because it nicely held the amount of beans I wanted to sprout. And I sprouted white beans, but you could do black beans or kidney beans or red beans or whatever kind of soup beans you like.

You only want to sprout soup beans until the tail (actually the root) just starts to show. You want the tail shorter than the bean itself. Like this:

Once they’re sprouted (about 8 hour soak and 24 hours in the sprouter depending on freshness of your beans and ambient temperature), they are ready to be cooked up into your favorite bean dish. Just add them into the pot like regular soaked beans and cook. On Monday, I’ll show you an awesome soup that will get your family eating beans without even knowing it!