What’s the Difference Between Sprouts and Microgreens?

A common question asked at my presentations and in emails is, what’s the difference between sprouts and microgreens?

Although you use the same seeds for sprouts and microgreens, the germination and growing methods differ (see below). However, not all varieties of vegetables and herbs are grown as sprouts or microgreens.

The Difference Between Sprouts and Microgreens are the Parts of the Plant Eaten?

Different parts of the plant are harvested when you harvest sprouts and microgreens.

When you harvest sprouts, you consume many parts of the seedling, including the radicle, hypocotyl, and the cotyledons.

You eat some of the hypocotyl and cotyledons with microgreens, and depending on the variety, maybe young true leaves.

As a side note, baby greens are eaten as young as maturing true leaves. 

Germinating and Growing Sprouts

As mentioned, how seeds are germinated and grown is one of the significant differences between sprouts and microgreens.

Sprouts are grown in jars.

Image credit from thatcleanlife.com

Seeds are placed in jars and soaked for 8- to 12 hours. After soaking, the seeds are rinsed well and put back in a jar with a screen attached to the lid. The jar is tilted in a bowl with the seeds spaced out so they’re not clumped together.

FREE Home Microgreens Grow course that teaches you the basics of growing microgreens in your home! There are 12 video lessons (over 120 minutes), downloads, and more written information and tips!

Register Now!

Twice a day, the seeds-sprouts are rinsed well, drained, put back in the jar, and placed in the bowl again.

Image from thatcleanlife.com

Continue that process for 3- to 6 days until the sprouts are ready to store in the refrigerator. If you wait too long, the sprout roots can get thick and tougher to eat.

For the complete process of growing sprouts, read a very concise and straightforward article on That Clean Life.

Growing Microgreens

I won’t get into the whole process of growing microgreens in this article. You can read several detailed articles by clicking this link.

If you’re new to microgreens, click the button below for a great beginners’ article.

Or, better yet, get a free quick guide to growing microgreens!

It’s best to grow microgreens on a soil media. They grow better and faster.

Photo taken on Day 9. The Tatsoi microgreens grown in soil are twice as tall and more mature than those grown on jute pads.

Microgreens require more time before they’re ready to harvest, between 7- 30 days, depending on the variety.

As you saw with the sprouts, you eat the roots, seeds, and young seedlings. With microgreens, you eat only the stem, the seed leaves, and sometimes, the first true leaves.

One of the Bull’s Blood Beet microgreen trays after harvest.

Which is More Nutritious, Sprouts, or Microgreens?

Most experts agree that microgreens are the most nutritious stage of any plant. Research has shown that microgreens are 3-40 times more nutritious than the same mature plant and 2-3 times more nutritious than its earlier sprout stage.

If you want some nutritional information on microgreens, we’ve generated this list of vitamins and minerals in microgreens.

We have a lot of articles on microgreen nutrition. You can see a listing of all the nutrition articles by clicking the link.

Why We Prefer Microgreens Over Sprouts

Personally, I’d rather eat a green that hasn’t been growing in water in a semi-enclosed container.

Sprouts are water-based grown and always damp to wet. We don’t want to take the chance that a strain of bacteria has colonized the greens. Don’t get me wrong; many people have eaten sprouts their whole life and not had an issue. It might just be our thinking.

Microgreens, on the other hand, at least the way we grow them here at Home Microgreens, are grown dry after the first couple of days. Since we bottom water, the green is never wet and has less chance of picking up a bacterial colony. 

We recommend that you wash all food thoroughly before eating it, microgreens included. 

Microgreens Have More Flavor & Choice

Microgreens have more flavor than sprouts. Of course, the taste is relative to each person, but the flavor of sprouts is one-dimensional. However, except for radishes, most sprouts have a crunchy texture than microgreens.

Also, with microgreens, you have more choices of varieties to grow. Some vegetable and herb seeds won’t grow well as sprouts. That said, beans don’t grow well as microgreens, so there is some give and take.

Overall, you can grow many more different plants as microgreens than sprouts.

Want to Learn More About Microgreens?

Below is a list of more microgreen articles. Or you can sign-up for Home Microgreens Updates. We’ll send you a short email when a new article is published and tips on how to grow microgreens.

Don’t Miss An Article!

Click the button to sign-up for new article notifications.

Have a Question or Comment?

If you have any questions about the information in this post or want to share your experience with sprouts or microgreens, please leave a comment below or contact me using the Ask a Question page. 

Pin these images to your Pinterest Microgreen Board.