14 ideas for Sprouts and Microgreens in food

Sprouts are the first stage of the plant after the seed has begun to germinate. You harvest some sprouts after 1-3 days, when they have a short root. Others you harvest after 5-6 days, when they have developed small leaves.

Microgreens are the next stage of the plant after sprouting. You harvest microgreens after 10-12 days, when the plants have had their first set of true leaves.

You can grow both sizes of plants in your kitchen all year round.

Sprouts feed on the nutrients inside their seeds. You therefore do not give sprouts fertilizer. There is only nutrition in the seed, for the first 7 days of growth for the plant. This is why you harvest your sprouts before they run out of nutrients in the seed.

Microgreens grow from the same seeds as sprouts. Since Microgreens have to grow up to 12 days before harvest, the plants need you to give them a bit of fertilizer. The easiest way to do this is to spray mild, liquid fertilizer on their roots from day 7 until you harvest them on day 12.

There are several reasons to use Sprouts and Microgreens in your food:

1) Sprouts in particular are very elegant little plants with so much flavor and beauty that they put the finishing touch on your food.

2) Sprouts have more flavor than the larger Microgreens and even more than large vegetables and lettuce. Try it yourself!

3) Sprouts with leaves are small works of art. You simply cannot help but admire them in the food.

4) Growing your own food is fun. You can even serve the food with a story about how you grew Sprouts and Microgreens yourself. Your guests will enjoy hearing how you’ve grown them.

Sprouts are easier and faster to grow than Microgreens for your food. How to grow Sprouts in a SpreePear starter kit:

Measure out an amount of seed that fits the seed tray – see the manual in the package.
Soak the measured seeds for 8-12 hours as shown on the seed bag.
Pour the seeds into the SpirePerlen.
Rinse, drain and place the tray on the kitchen counter in light shade.
Then rinse morning + evening with clean water from the kitchen tap.
Harvest your mature sprouts after 2-6 days depending on the variety you have chosen.

Now you can use your fresh sprouts raw or warm in all dishes.

Yes, you can eat whole Sprouts. That is, the root, the stem and the leaves.

However, it is important that you only eat the roots if they are white and smell good. Brown, withered roots do not contribute anything good to the food, so you can cut them off.

If the roots of your sprouts are black, you should discard the entire sprout. In that case, you have left the sprouts with the roots in water, so the roots have rotted and the sprouts have become sick.

You can tell healthy sprouts and roots by the fact that both parts smell neutral or a hint of fresh salad.

By the way, you should refrain from eating the hard shells on sunflower, beetroot, fennel and rhubarb. But you may eat the thin seed capsules of Alfalfa, Clover and Radish sprouts.

No, you should not eat the root of Mikrogreens. However, remember that with microgreens we are talking about small plants, which are the stage after Sprouts with leaves. See the definition above.

The reason why you cannot eat the roots of microgreens is that the microgreens have had fertilizer on the roots. Here in the shop I only sell vegan/plant-based fertiliser. Still, I wouldn’t think you should eat the roots of microgreens, as fertilizers can easily cause bacterial growth on the roots.

The roots on Mikrogrønt are also no longer the small, fine roots on Sprouts. In contrast, Microgreen roots are long and strong. They don’t really have any flavor either. So there is no point in eating the roots of microgreens.

By the way, remember that you should not cut the roots of your microgreens before you harvest the plants. The roots are vital for growth.

You use Sprouts and Microgreens in your food just like other greens.

Sprouts in particular, however, have a stronger flavor than the grown vegetables and lettuce of the same variety. So taste your sprouts before using them in food. Maybe you only need 10 Rose Radish sprouts? They taste as strong as a whole radish.

Microgreens are slightly milder in flavor than Sprouts, but they still taste more than larger plants. If you grow Rucola microgreens, you only need to use about half to get the same richness of taste.

Research has shown that it is not just the taste that is more potent in Sprouts and Microgreens. Their nutritional content is also higher per gram of plant. That was just a few more reasons to grow your own micro plants.

When deciding how to cook your sprouts, an easy tip is to compare them to fresh leaf lettuce. Sprouts respond to cutting, chopping, blending and heat just like lettuce leaves.

You can easily chop your sprouts for the salad, chop them for fine green decoration on the sandwich or blend them into delicious smoothies or dip. They just start to turn brown on the cut surfaces after a while – just like cut lettuce.

A trick to maintain a fresh appearance in your harvested sprouts is to drizzle the sliced sprouts with a little lemon. Another is to wait to cut them into pieces before serving. A third is my favourite: serving the food with small bowls of sprouts grown on cotton wool or hemp mats. The guests can then cut the sprouts themselves for the food.