Sprouts vs microgreens is one of those comparisons where the two things look similar in a photo and are almost nothing alike in a kitchen. Both are baby plants. Both are grown indoors in days rather than months. But they are harvested at different stages, grown by different methods, and you eat different parts of the plant — and those differences decide which one belongs on your counter.
This piece lays out the actual distinction, the practical trade-offs in time, space and effort, and how to start with either one. If you have been using the words interchangeably, you are in extremely good company.
The Sprouting Company two-pack glass sprouter system with fresh sprouts growing">The definition, in one paragraph each
Sprouts are seeds that have been soaked in water and then kept damp until they germinate. There is no soil and no light required — the whole thing happens in a jar or a purpose-built sprouter on your counter, rinsed a couple of times a day. You harvest after a few days and eat the entire thing: seed, root and shoot together.
Microgreens are grown a stage further. Seeds go into a growing medium — soil or a mat — and are grown under light until the first true leaves appear, typically a week or three depending on the variety. You harvest them by cutting the stems above the medium, so you eat the stem and leaves and leave the root and seed hull behind.
Everything else follows from that. Sprouts are a water-and-jar process. Microgreens are a small-scale gardening process.
Time: days versus weeks
Sprouts are genuinely fast, and the timings are specific enough to plan around. Working from The Sprouting Company's own growing instructions, the pattern is an 8-hour soak, rinsing twice daily, then harvest: lentils in 3–6 days, protein mix in 3–4 days, clover and mung beans in 5–6 days, broccoli and alfalfa in 5–7 days. That means a jar started on Sunday is food by the following weekend, and a second jar started midweek keeps the supply continuous.
Microgreens take longer — usually one to three weeks to reach the first true leaves — and they occupy a tray-sized footprint under light for that whole period. Neither is slow by gardening standards. But only one of them fits entirely inside a kitchen cupboard.
Effort and equipment
- Sprouts need: seeds, a vessel that drains well, water, and about a minute twice a day.
- Microgreens need: seeds, trays, a growing medium, light, watering, and somewhere to keep the mess.
- Sprouts leave behind: nothing. There is no medium to dispose of.
- Microgreens leave behind: spent soil or mats and root mats, every single harvest.
The one part of sprouting people underestimate is drainage. Seeds sitting in standing water is the failure mode — and the reason The Sprouting Company built its sprouter around an extra-wide, straight-walled glass vessel rather than a mason jar. Because it does not taper below the mouth, water actually drains out completely instead of pooling at the shoulder. The company describes it as the world's first high-capacity all-in-one sprouter, at roughly 50oz — enough for one serving a day for a week, which is why they suggest one sprouter per sprout-eating adult in the house. A two-pack lets you stagger crops so one jar is always ready while the other is starting. Replacement jars are available separately in heavy-duty soda-lime glass at 55oz.
What you actually eat, and what it tastes like
Because you eat sprouts whole, texture is the defining quality: crunch, a mild flavor, and enough volume to bulk out a salad or a bowl. The Sprouting Company describes clover as pleasingly crunchy and mild enough not to overpower the rest of a dish; mung beans as mildly sweet with a satisfying crunch, suggesting one to two cups per serving; broccoli as having a slight kick; and lentils as a crunchy, satisfying salad staple.
Microgreens, harvested later and eaten as stem and leaf, tend to taste more like a concentrated version of the mature plant — sharper, more herbal, more of a garnish than a filler. That is the practical culinary split: sprouts add bulk and crunch, microgreens add flavor and finish.
The nutrition question, handled honestly
This is where most comparisons go off the rails, so here is what can actually be stated. The Sprouting Company sells an exclusive organic high-glucoraphanin broccoli seed that it says is third-party lab certified at 107µmol/gram of glucoraphanin versus 35µmol/gram for normal broccoli seeds — roughly three times as much. Glucoraphanin is the precursor to sulforaphane, and the company's position is that sulforaphane levels are highest in fresh sprouts. It also notes the high-glucoraphanin seed is not available in Canada, and that broccoli generally grows poorly below 70°F.
What we are not going to do is turn that into a health promise. A measured compound level is a measurable fact; what it does in your body is a question for research and for your own doctor, particularly if you are managing a condition or taking medication. Raw sprouts also carry a well-known food-safety consideration because they are grown warm and damp — rinse thoroughly, keep your equipment clean, and if you are pregnant, elderly, or immunocompromised, ask your doctor before adding raw sprouts to your routine. Good drainage and a clean vessel are not just a quality issue; they are the safety issue.
So which should you grow?
Grow sprouts if you want food in under a week, you have counter space measured in inches rather than feet, you would rather not deal with soil, or you want volume — enough crunch to change what a salad is. Start with clover or lentils, which are the most forgiving, then add broccoli once your rinsing rhythm is automatic.
Grow microgreens if you want intense flavor for finishing dishes, you enjoy the gardening part, and you have a bright windowsill or a light and somewhere the trays can live undisturbed for a few weeks.
Or do both, which is what most people who get into this end up doing — sprouts for the everyday volume, microgreens for the plate.
Starting from zero
The lowest-friction path into sprouting is a starter bundle that pairs the sprouter with seed, so nothing is missing on day one: The Sprouting Company offers them with organic broccoli, alfalfa, lentils, a protein mix of lentils, mung bean and yellow pea, and a high-glucoraphanin duo. If you want recipes rather than another salad topping, the brand's cookbook ebook collects 100 recipes across soups, salads, bowls and pastas, made with Chef Mario Fabbri and Francesca Nardelli, and there is a bundle pairing the sprouter with The Sprout Book by founder Doug Evans.
For step-by-step instructions, read our complete beginner's guide to growing sprouts at home, and if broccoli is your target, our broccoli sprouts walkthrough covers the specifics. Choosing equipment? Our sprouting kit buying guide and our review of The Sprouting Company's kits will tell you what is worth the money.
If the honest answer is "I want something growing by next week," sprouts win on every practical measure. A starter bundle from The Sprouting Company gets you the sprouter and the seed in one go — soak tonight, rinse twice a day, eat by the weekend.