How many calories are in moong sprouts?
100 g of home-sprouted whole moong is about 110 to 130 kcal, with roughly 9 g of protein. A standard bowl of 150 g is therefore around 170 kcal. If you have seen 30 kcal per 100 g quoted for sprouts, that figure is for a different food — see below.
Per portion
| Portion | Calories | Protein | Carbs | Fat |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 100 g home-sprouted whole moong | 110–130 kcal | 9 g | 20 g | 0.5 g |
| One bowl, about 150 g | ~175 kcal | 13 g | 30 g | 1 g |
| 30 g dry moong, before soaking | ~105 kcal | 7 g | 18 g | 0.3 g |
| 100 g long market bean sprouts | ~30 kcal | 3 g | 6 g | 0.2 g |
| 150 g steamed, 1 tsp oil tempering | ~215 kcal | 13 g | 30 g | 5 g |
| Sprout chaat, 150 g with onion, tomato, 2 tbsp sev | 270–330 kcal | 15 g | 38 g | 10 g |
What changes the number
How long you sprouted them. This is the whole story behind the conflicting figures. A bean soaked overnight and sprouted for a day is still a bean: the dry energy is all there, diluted by absorbed water to roughly 120 kcal per 100 g. Left for three or four days under light, it grows a long pale shoot, takes on far more water and burns some of its own starch — and lands nearer 30 to 40 kcal per 100 g. Indian home sprouts, with the bean still clearly visible, are the first kind. The bags sold for stir-fries are the second.
Whether you weighed them dry or sprouted. 30 g of dry moong becomes about 90 g of sprouts. Logging 90 g at the dry density would overcount by nearly three times.
Steaming or boiling. Energy barely moves — water in, water out with the draining. Raw versus steamed is a question of digestion and taste, not calories.
What goes on top. Here is the real variable. Two tablespoons of sev is about 85 kcal, a tablespoon of peanuts 55, sweet chutney 40 for a spoon, a drizzle of oil 40 per teaspoon. A chaat can carry more calories in its garnish than in its sprouts. Lemon, salt, chaat masala, raw onion, tomato and coriander are effectively free.
Where it fits in a deficit
This is close to the best satiety-per-calorie food available. Around 8 g of protein per 100 kcal, 7 to 8 g of fibre in a bowl, roughly two-thirds water by weight, and they take real chewing — all four of the levers that make volume eating work, in one ingredient that costs almost nothing.
The honest limits: a bowl is a side, not a meal’s worth of protein, and raw sprouted beans genuinely disagree with some people — bloating is common enough that steaming is the standard fix rather than a compromise. Rinse twice a day with clean water while sprouting, and steam them for anyone pregnant or immunocompromised. As the bulk of a lunch beside something more substantial, they make eating less much easier to sit with.
What sprouting actually changes
Not the protein. The widely repeated claim that sprouting multiplies protein content is wrong — a seed has no source of nitrogen to build from. Per gram of original dry bean, protein is essentially unchanged.
What changes is usability. Sprouting breaks down phytates and the oligosaccharides that cause gas, raises vitamin C from near zero and improves iron and zinc absorption. It also drops the density per 100 g, which is why sprouts look lighter than the dal they came from — the same effect that puts cooked lentils and boiled chickpeas at a third of their dry figure. Water, not alchemy.
Figures are typical values and vary by variety, size and preparation. General information, not medical advice.