How To Sprout Quinoa – New Method

Making your own quinoa sprouts is the best way to prepare and eat quinoa raw. I have been sprouting quinoa for about 2 years and up to now have used a small sprouting unit. This little sprouter has two trays and produces sprouts fine but it can be bit hit and miss. I have now come up with a way to sprout quinoa that doesn’t need any special kitchen equipment. The sprouts are ready in a shorter time and they are longer. Please note that quinoa sprouts are small – not like those you can get from mung beans or other larger seeds.

Quinoa Sprouts from Red Quinoa

Quinoa Sprouts from Red Quinoa

How to Sprout Quinoa

Take a cup of quinoa and rinse it with water for a couple of minutes.
Put the rinsed quinoa into a container and cover with water – I use a kitchen jug. Make sure there is lots of spare water above the quinoa as they must stay underwater.
After 12 hours (Or Overnight) drain the quinoa of the water and spread it out thinly on a large plate or tray. Cover with a cloth to put the quinoa in darkness.
every 6 – 8 hours you should rinse the quinoa seeds and put them back on the plate/tray.
After about 48 hours you will have a plate of sprouted quinoa.

How to Use Sprouted Quinoa

I use quinoa sprouts in 3 ways. Firstly you can mix the sprouts with other salad vegetables such as tomatoes. cucumbers and radishes for a fresh side salad. Secondly you can make them part of the ingredients for a wrap. Thirdly you can use quinoa sprouts as a base for a stir fry meal. You should only fry the sprouted quinoa for 2 minutes maximum. I very rarely bother with this as the reason I sprout the quinoa in the first place is so that I can eat the quinoa raw.

You can also use the soaked quinoa in a crunchy salad without sprouting it. After the initial 12 hour soaking it should be soft enough to mix with other nuts, seeds and chopped vegetables.  There are many quinoa recipes that make good use of quinoa sprouts

Recommended Reading

About Ken

My name is Ken and I am the author of The Quinoa Cookbook. My book is the top selling book worldwide on how to cook quinoa and has over 70 quinoa recipes included.
This entry was posted in Quinoa Nutrition and tagged , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

27 Responses to How To Sprout Quinoa – New Method

  1. What is your sprouting experience with black quinoa?

    Is it the same as the red?
    Just attempting to sprout some black quinoa.
    will note back to you my outcome.

    thank you
    aqeel

  2. I have some black quinoa. what is your experience?

  3. Ken says:

    Hi Aqeel

    I haven’t been able to get hold of any black quinoa here in the UK. So I do not know if it is any different to the red quinoa or the normal quinoa

    Ken

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  7. Julia says:

    Does yellow sprouted quinoa get some pinkish tint to it? I sprouted some over the last two days and that is definitely the case. Since I can’t find any reference to that being normal, I’m afraid it has some sort of fungus!

  8. (0v0) says:

    Great entry! I’m curious if after a year this is still the sprouting method you are using? Did you find you needed to change anything for red quinoa?

    Thanks so much! I’ll try this out tomorrow…

  9. Ken says:

    Red quinoa just takes slightly longer to sprout in my experience

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  12. Curator says:

    black quinoa is not really quinoa its related but not the same, I beleive its Kaniwa, which is similar, its for sale on amazon if youd like some… its good stuff…

  13. Ron says:

    new to sprouting, finally after many attempts finally sprouting alfalfa, broccoli etc, but can not get quinoa to sprout, any advice??

  14. sharon paddock says:

    Hi Ken,

    Thanks for this post. I am going to try sprouting some quinoa. Currently, I sprout alfalfa seeds, mung beans and lentils in simple canning jars with a piece of mesh/ring lid on top. I soak overnight, rinse and dump out daily and keep on their sides (more surface area to grow) in a dark kitchen cupboard. Also, for a wonderful morning muesli, I soak overnight: raw steel cut oats, flax seeds, walnuts & raisins. It is ready to eat in the morning.

  15. Annie smith says:

    Hey Antony when sprouting quinoa can i put them in the refigerator to sprout there while covered.

  16. deb says:

    I am curious about the pink/purple colour my quinoa continues to take when i try to sprout it. Is this fungus? I also got a bit of green leaves. Does this mean I didnt harvest fast enough?
    Help, I keep trying and i dont want to give up

    Deb

  17. Ken says:

    Hi Deb
    Mine also has the same colour. I’ve been eating it for 4 years this colour and I am still OK.
    But I admit that it is a strange colour for sprouts
    Ken

  18. deb says:

    thanks!

  19. Brian Schamp says:

    I like to use Mason canning jars because the glass is easy to sterilize and can be sealed and place directly into refrigeration when sprouts are ready. Yield will be approximately 1.5:1, so you can start with about 2/3 as much dry seed as your Sprouter’s capacity. I keep the jar out of direct light and try to keep the sprouts at about 70 degrees between rinses. I rinse every 8-12 hours.

    I usually rinse and drain my sprouts 3 times and drain real well the last drain for storage. The sprouts have about 1/4 inch root at this time. They can be sprouted longer but will be softer and have shorter storage life.

    Thanks for your post,

    Brian Schamp @BrianSchamp

  20. Steve McCauley says:

    I have been cooking quinoa like porridge and grinding it up like flour to mix in with bread dough.

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  23. Frank Gomez says:

    New at sprouting quinoa. Going back to your instructions, I am trying to figure out how long is 48 hours, when do you start counting? When you first put them in water?

  24. Ken says:

    Count from the moment you put the grains in water. But it is not an exact science. See how they are after 24 hours.
    Ken

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  27. Rosa says:

    Just wanted to say “thanks” (for all the great info I gleaned here)! 😉

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