Bean Sprouts substitute

Best substitute

Shredded green or napa cabbage

Same volume, cut into 2 to 3 mm ribbons

Best for pad thai and pad see ew

Different taste

Thinly shredded green or napa cabbage is the best all-round stand-in: use the same volume and add it in the last 30 seconds so it stays crunchy. For cold dishes, pho and spring rolls, matchsticked jicama or kohlrabi gives the wettest, snappiest bite, and thinly sliced celery works well in stir-fries. Canned bean sprouts will do at a pinch if you rinse them and stir them in off the heat.

Other bean sprouts substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

2Jicama or kohlrabi matchsticks
Different taste
Same volume, cut into thin matchsticks
Hard, pale, juicy vegetables that stay crunchy no matter what you do to them.
What changes
Best for
cold noodle salads, pho and noodle soup garnish, fresh spring rolls, anything you want to stay crunchy
This is the best match for wet crunch, and both hold their snap even sitting in hot broth, which sprouts do not. Jicama is noticeably sweet and apple-like, so it flattens the savoury edge of a dish a little; kohlrabi is closer to neutral with a faint radish peppery note. Neither wilts, so if a recipe wants the sprouts to soften slightly into the noodles, this is the wrong choice.
3Soybean sprouts (kongnamul)
Different taste
Same volume by weight
The larger sprout with the yellow bean head still attached, sold at Korean groceries.
What changes
Best for
noodle soups, stir-fries, bibimbap-style bowls
Nearly the same job with a thicker, more fibrous stem and a distinctly nutty, beany head. The important difference is timing: soybean sprouts need 3 to 5 minutes of cooking to lose their raw, chalky taste, where mung bean sprouts need 30 seconds. Do not use them raw as a garnish, and do not add them at the end of a stir-fry expecting them to be done.
4Celery, sliced thin on the bias
Different taste
About three quarters of the volume
A stalk vegetable with almost the same water content and snap.
What changes
Best for
stir-fries, fried rice, chow mein and lo mein
Very close on the wet, crisp texture, and much easier to buy than sprouts. The catch is that celery has a strong green flavour and a natural saltiness that sprouts do not, so it announces itself. Use less than the recipe calls for and avoid it in delicate clear soups like tom yum, where it will take over.
5Snow peas or sugar snaps, sliced lengthwise into thin strips
Taste and texture differ
Same volume
Sweet, crisp pods cut thin so they read as strands rather than pods.
What changes
Best for
stir-fries, cold noodle salads, when you want the plate to look green
Firmer and clearly sweeter than sprouts, with a green pea flavour that fits Thai and Chinese food well even though it is not what sprouts taste like. Slice them the long way into 2 or 3 strips so they mix into noodles instead of sitting on top, and add them in the last minute.
6Canned bean sprouts
Different texture
Same volume, drained
The tinned version, which is the same vegetable with the crunch cooked out of it.
What changes
Best for
soups and curries where they are mostly bulk, chop suey style dishes, when nothing fresh is available
Be honest with yourself about this one: canned sprouts are soft, slightly tinny and have no snap left at all. Rinse them thoroughly in cold water, pat them dry, and stir them in off the heat so they at least stay whole. They will give you the right shape and flavour in the bowl and none of the texture, which is the whole reason sprouts are in the dish.

What is Bean Sprouts?

Bean Sprouts is Bean sprouts, also called mung bean sprouts or tua ngok, are the crisp white shoots of sprouted mung beans, added at the very end of noodle dishes and soups for cold, wet, snappy crunch rather than for flavour.

Cooking tips

Bean sprouts are mostly water, so add them in the last 15 to 30 seconds of a stir-fry, or pile them raw on the noodles and let the heat of the bowl wilt them. Cook them any longer and they go limp and weep water straight into your sauce.
Whatever you swap in, cut it thin enough to cook in under a minute. A sprout cooks instantly and a chunk of cabbage does not, so a fat shred will still be raw when the noodles are done.
If your swap is very watery, like daikon or cucumber, toss it with a pinch of salt for 10 minutes and squeeze it in a towel first. That keeps a stir-fry from going soupy and stops a cold salad from diluting its own dressing.
Fresh sprouts only last two or three days. Store them submerged in cold water in a covered container in the fridge and change the water daily and you will get about four; the moment they smell sour or look slimy, throw them out.
Raw sprouts are a recognised source of foodborne illness, because sprouting happens in exactly the warm, humid conditions bacteria like. If you are cooking for anyone pregnant, elderly, very young or immunocompromised, cook them for at least a minute rather than serving them raw on top.

Frequently asked questions

Can I just leave the bean sprouts out?

Yes, this is one of the rare ingredients you can genuinely skip. Nothing else in the dish depends on them, so a pad thai without sprouts is still a good pad thai. What you lose is crunch and roughly a cup of volume per serving, so add extra of whatever other vegetable you are using so the plate does not turn into all noodles and sauce.

Are bean sprouts and alfalfa sprouts the same thing?

No, and alfalfa is a poor swap. Bean sprouts are thick, juicy mung bean shoots a couple of inches long; alfalfa sprouts are fine, threadlike and mat together into a tangle. In a hot dish alfalfa collapses into slime almost immediately. Use it on a sandwich, not in a wok.

Are mung bean sprouts and soybean sprouts interchangeable?

Roughly, but not on timing. Mung bean sprouts are what most recipes mean by bean sprouts and are ready the moment they hit heat. Soybean sprouts are bigger, have a yellow bean head and a nutty, slightly bitter taste, and need 3 to 5 minutes of cooking to be pleasant. Swap them by volume and cook them earlier.

Can I use canned bean sprouts in pad thai?

You can, but they will not do the job well. Canned sprouts are soft and slightly metallic and add no crunch, which is the main reason sprouts are in pad thai at all. Rinse them well, dry them, and stir them in off the heat. Thin-shredded cabbage is genuinely a better choice than a can.

Can I sprout my own bean sprouts?

Yes, and dried mung beans are cheap and keep forever. Soak half a cup overnight, drain, then keep them in a jar in a dark cupboard, rinsing and draining thoroughly twice a day. They are ready in three to four days. Keep them cool and rinse them properly, since the warm humid environment that grows sprouts also grows bacteria.

Related substitutes

More vegetables & aromatics substitutes

Bean Sprouts substitute

Other bean sprouts substitutes

2Jicama or kohlrabi matchsticks

3Soybean sprouts (kongnamul)

4Celery, sliced thin on the bias

5Snow peas or sugar snaps, sliced lengthwise into thin strips

6Canned bean sprouts