Let's grow your Kale sprouts
Soak today. Your sprouts are typically ready in 5 to 7 days. Microgreens on a tray typically take 8 to 14 days.
- SoakJar: 4 to 8 hours. Tray: no soak needed
- RinseJar: 2 to 3 times a day. Tray: mist to keep damp
- Typically readySprouts 5 to 7 days, microgreens 8 to 14 days
Please read the food safety box before you eat your first batch. Always cook kale sprouts and microgreens until steaming hot before eating.
Show me the 3 steps3 steps
Everything you need is on your pack. Here it is again, step by step.
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Jar
Soak the seeds in clean drinking water for 4 to 8 hours, then drain. Rinse and drain 2 to 3 times a day, out of direct sunlight.
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Tray
For microgreens, scatter the seeds on a clean tray lined with a growing mat (no soak needed) and mist to keep damp.
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Harvest
Sprouts typically take 5 to 7 days, microgreens 8 to 14 days. Rinse, drain well and refrigerate.
- For a jar, use about 2 tablespoons of seeds for a 1 litre jar. They swell a lot, so less is more.
- After each rinse, rest the jar upside down at an angle so it drains well.
- Store harvested sprouts or microgreens covered in the fridge and use within a few days.
Food safety
Raw sprouts can carry harmful bacteria and rinsing does not remove all risk. Always cook sprouts until steaming hot before eating. This applies to everyone, including pregnant people, young children, older people and anyone unwell. Use clean equipment and drinking water, refrigerate harvested sprouts promptly and discard any that smell off or show mould. Microgreens and shoots grown on a tray must also be cooked thoroughly until steaming hot before eating.
- Wash your hands before handling seeds and sprouts.
- Wash jars, sprouters, trays and lids in hot soapy water before and after every batch.
About these seeds (from your pack)
- Ingredients: Organic Tuscan kale seeds (Brassica oleracea) for sprouting and microgreens.
- May contain cereals containing gluten, soya, celery and mustard.
- Storage: Store seeds sealed in a cool, dry, dark place.
- Country of origin: Italy.
- Organic: Certified organic by the Soil Association, control body GB-ORG-05.
Day by day
This diary is for jar sprouts. Day 0 is the day you soak. Every kitchen is different, so yours may be a day ahead or behind. That's fine. Growing microgreens on a tray instead? See the tray stages below.
Day 0: Soak
- You will see
- Small, round, dark seeds.
- What to do
- Wash your hands, and wash a 1 litre jar in hot soapy water. Add about 2 tablespoons of seeds and rinse them. Cover with two to three times their volume of cool drinking water. Soak for 4 to 8 hours. Then pour away all the water, shake out as much as you can, and rest the jar upside down at an angle. Keep it out of direct sunlight.
Day 1: Swelling
- You will see
- The seeds look plumper. Some may split, and a few tiny white tails may peep out.
- What to do
- Rinse and drain 2 to 3 times a day. Morning and evening is the minimum. Drain well each time and tilt the jar so air can flow.
Day 2: Tails
- You will see
- More white tails, getting longer. You may spot fine, fuzzy white hairs on the roots. These are root hairs, and they're normal (see the checker below).
- What to do
- Keep rinsing and draining 2 to 3 times a day. Rinse more often if your kitchen is warm.
Day 3: Growing
- You will see
- Longer sprouts, with the first tiny leaves starting to open. Loose seed hulls start to show.
- What to do
- Keep rinsing and draining. Give the jar a quick sniff. Fresh sprouts smell clean and mild.
Day 4: Leaves opening
- You will see
- Sprouts getting longer, with small pale leaves.
- What to do
- Keep rinsing and draining 2 to 3 times a day, out of direct sunlight.
Day 5: Often ready from today
- You will see
- Sprouts a few centimetres long, with small leaves.
- What to do
- You can harvest now, or keep going for a day or two if you'd like them bigger. Optional: for their last day, sit the jar in bright light but not direct sun, so the leaves turn greener.
Day 6: Harvest day for most people
- You will see
- Well-grown sprouts with open leaves.
- What to do
- Give them a final rinse. To remove loose hulls, tip the sprouts into a bowl of drinking water, swish gently and skim the hulls off the top. Drain well for a few hours so they go into the fridge fairly dry. Store them in a covered container in the fridge. Cook them until steaming hot before eating.
Day 7: Last day of the usual window
- You will see
- Longer sprouts with bigger leaves.
- What to do
- Harvest today if you haven't already. Rinse, drain well and refrigerate. Cook them until steaming hot before eating, and eat within a few days.
Rinse tracker
| Day | Morning | Evening | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Day 0 | Soak 4 to 8 hours, then drain | ||
| Day 1 | |||
| Day 2 | Root hairs may appear | ||
| Day 3 | Sniff test | ||
| Day 4 | |||
| Day 5 | Often ready from today | ||
| Day 6 | Harvested | ||
| Day 7 |
Is it mould or root hairs?
This is the question new sprouters ask most. Here's how to tell.
Root hairs: fine
- Fine, fuzzy and white, just above the tip of each root.
- Usually appear on day 2 or 3.
- Rinse the sprouts: root hairs flatten and almost disappear when wet, then come back as the sprouts dry.
- Smell: clean and mild.
- What to do: nothing. Carry on rinsing.
Mould: bin it
- Often grey, green, black or blue, or white and cottony or slimy.
- Spreads over the seeds and hulls rather than the roots.
- Does not disappear when you rinse.
- Usually smells musty.
- What to do: throw the whole batch away. Do not try to rinse or cut it off. Wash the jar and lid in hot soapy water before starting again.
- you see mould;
- the sprouts smell sour, rotten or musty;
- they feel slimy;
- you're not sure. If in doubt, throw it out.
Drain thoroughly after every rinse, rinse more often in warm weather, keep the jar tilted so air can flow, and grow a smaller amount at a time.
Not sprouting?
- Jar: soak the seeds in clean drinking water for 4 to 8 hours, then drain.
- Jar: rinse and drain 2 to 3 times a day, out of direct sunlight.
- After each rinse, rest the jar upside down at an angle so it drains well.
- Tray: no soak needed. Scatter the seeds on a clean tray lined with a growing mat and mist to keep damp.
- Sprouts typically take 5 to 7 days, microgreens 8 to 14 days.
- Store seeds sealed in a cool, dry, dark place.
Didn't sprout? Tell us about your batch
Recipes
Kale sprouts have a mild, fresh cabbage-family flavour that works well in hot dishes. Every idea below cooks the sprouts until they are steaming hot.
Garlic kale sprout noodles
Serves 2
You need
- 2 good handfuls (about 100 g) kale sprouts or microgreens
- 1 tbsp oil
- 1 garlic clove, sliced
- 1 pinch of chilli flakes
- 2 nests of noodles, cooked
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
Method
- Heat the oil in a wok and fry the garlic and chilli for 30 seconds.
- Add the sprouts and stir-fry for 2 to 3 minutes.
- Add the cooked noodles and soy sauce and stir-fry for 1 to 2 minutes more, until everything is steaming hot.
Bean and tomato soup with kale sprouts
Serves 2
You need
- 2 good handfuls (about 100 g) kale sprouts or microgreens
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1 garlic clove, sliced
- 1 x 400 g tin chopped tomatoes
- 1 x 400 g tin cannellini beans, drained
- 500 ml vegetable stock
- Salt and pepper
Method
- Heat the oil in a pan and soften the onion and garlic for 5 minutes.
- Add the tomatoes, beans and stock and simmer for 10 minutes.
- Stir in the sprouts for the last 2 minutes and simmer until the soup is steaming hot. Season and serve.
Kale sprout and cheese frittata
Serves 2
You need
- 2 good handfuls (about 100 g) kale sprouts or microgreens
- 1 tbsp butter or oil
- 4 eggs, beaten
- 1 small handful of grated cheese
- Salt and pepper
Method
- Heat the butter or oil in an ovenproof frying pan and cook the sprouts for 2 to 3 minutes until wilted and steaming hot.
- Pour in the eggs and cook gently for 4 to 5 minutes until almost set.
- Scatter over the cheese and put the pan under a hot grill for 2 to 3 minutes until the top is set and golden.
Quick idea: stir a handful of sprouts or microgreens into a soup for the last 2 minutes and simmer until steaming hot.
Check the labels of your other ingredients, such as soy sauce, noodles, stock, eggs, butter and cheese, for allergens.
Like your sprouts cold? Cook them first, then cool them.
Sprouts blanched until steaming hot, then cooled, in a sandwich. Image for illustration.
Blanched kale sprout sandwich with cheddar and tomato
Serves 1
You need
- 2 slices of seeded wholemeal bread
- A little butter or spread
- A few slices of cheddar cheese
- 1 tomato, sliced
- A good handful of kale sprouts (about 50 g), blanched as below
- Salt and pepper
Method
- Bring a large pan of water to a rolling boil.
- Add a good handful of sprouts (about 50 g) and stir to separate them. When the water is back at a rolling boil, boil for 2 minutes, until the sprouts are soft and steaming hot all the way through.
- Wash your hands. Drain the sprouts in a clean sieve that has not touched raw sprouts, then cool them quickly under cold running drinking water. Shake off the water and pat dry with clean kitchen paper.
- Use straight away in your sandwich, or keep covered in the fridge, away from raw sprouts, and eat the same day.
- Spread the bread with a little butter or spread. Layer the cheddar, tomato and cooled sprouts, season with salt and pepper, and top with the second slice.
This recipe contains milk (in the cheese, and in butter if you use it), which is an allergen. Check the labels of your other ingredients, such as bread and spread, for allergens. Seeded breads often contain sesame.
About Kale seeds
These are Tuscan kale seeds, from the dark, crinkly-leaved kale also known as cavolo nero or 'Nero di Toscana' (Brassica oleracea). You can sprout them in a jar or grow them on a tray as microgreens. Kale sprouts have small, heart-shaped leaves on white stems, much like other cabbage-family sprouts.
Questions
How long do I soak Kale seeds?
For a jar, soak for 4 to 8 hours in clean drinking water. Small seeds like these don't need an overnight soak. Soaking far longer can stop seeds sprouting, so set a timer if it helps. For microgreens on a tray, your pack says no soak is needed.
How do I rinse them?
Fill the jar with fresh drinking water, swirl, then drain well through the mesh lid. Rest the jar upside down at an angle so extra water can drain and air can flow. Do this 2 to 3 times a day, morning and evening as a minimum, and more often in warm weather.
How much seed should I use?
In a jar, use about 2 tablespoons of small seeds for a 1 litre jar. Seeds swell a lot, so less is more. On a tray, scatter them in a thin, even layer so they are close together but not piled up.
What should they smell like?
Fresh sprouts smell clean and mild, a bit like fresh peas or cut grass. A sour, rotten or musty smell means something has gone wrong, so throw the batch away.
How do I store the sprouts, and for how long?
After the final rinse, drain them well for a few hours so they go into the fridge fairly dry. Keep them in a covered container in the fridge, eat them within a few days, and cook them until steaming hot before eating. Store the unused seeds sealed in a cool, dry, dark place and use them by the best before date on the pack.
My seeds aren't sprouting. What's wrong?
Too cold: seeds sprout well at a comfortable room temperature, around 20 to 25°C. In a cold kitchen they can take a day or two longer. Too long in water: drain well after every rinse and don't leave the jar sitting in water. Drying out: rinse at least twice a day. Seed storage: seeds kept warm, damp or open to the air sprout less well. A few hard seeds are normal. Pick them out at harvest.
Some seeds are slow or stay hard. Is that normal?
Timings are typical ranges. Your sprouts may be a little faster or slower depending on how warm your kitchen is and how big you like them. In a cold kitchen they can take a day or two longer. A few hard seeds are normal: a small number of seeds may not sprout. Pick them out at harvest.
Can I grow them as microgreens instead?
Yes. Line a clean shallow tray with a growing mat or a few layers of damp kitchen paper. Scatter the seeds thinly and evenly, then mist or water gently twice a day to keep them damp, not wet. Cover loosely for the first couple of days, then give them bright, indirect light. When the shoots are a few centimetres tall, cut them just above the seeds with clean scissors and rinse. Your pack says kale microgreens typically take 8 to 14 days. Microgreens and shoots grown on a tray must also be cooked thoroughly until steaming hot before eating.
Which directions should I follow?
Always follow any directions on your pack.
Can I eat the sprouts or microgreens without cooking them?
No. Cook sprouts thoroughly until steaming hot before eating. Microgreens and shoots grown on a tray must also be cooked thoroughly until steaming hot before eating. Please read the food safety box above.
Do I need special equipment?
No. A large glass jar (about 1 litre) with a mesh or sieve lid does the job, or a sprouter if you have one. You also need clean drinking water and somewhere to rest the jar upside down at an angle, like a bowl or dish rack. For microgreens, use a clean shallow tray and a growing mat.