Sunflower microgreens, or sunflower shoots, are the young, tender, and edible sprouts of the sunflower plant. They’re easy to grow indoors, either under grow lights or in a bright window, and can add some fresh flavor to your diet any time of year!
The thick leaves and stems have a subtle nutty flavor that adds a delicious crunch to sandwiches and are tasty enough to eat on their own.
How to Grow Sunflower Shoots
When it comes to indoor gardening sunflower shoots are one of the best options when it comes to volume.
The large seeds produce shoots (or microgreens) with thick stems and seed leaves while the seed leaves are softly rounded and have a nice, juicy crunch.
Sunflower shoots have a pretty quick turnaround which is great for the less patient among us. In fact, if you wait too long to harvest your plants will start to send out their first set of true leaves and won’t be edible anymore.
Sunflower Microgreen Supplies
Like most large-seeded microgreens, sunflower shoots do best when planted in potting soil, seed starting mix or a soil-less medium like coconut coir.
I tend to use what I have laying around and I haven’t noticed them being particularly picky.
Purely from a practical angle, I think compressed coconut coir blocks like Minute Soil from True Leaf Market are the easiest to keep on hand. They don’t take up much space and they absorb water quickly so you can get planting in no time.
Your seed will germinate fastest if you soak them for 3-6 hours before planting, if you accidentally forget and leave them overnight… It’s fine, it’s fine just plant them.
Drain and scatter the seeds over about 1.5 inches of damp soil. You don’t have to cover them with soil, in my experience, it keeps the microgreens cleaner if you don’t.
Take another tray, or anything solid and opaque, place it over the seeds and gently press down to push the seeds into the soil. The tray provides some resistance for the seeds to push against and keeps them in the dark until they germinate.
Check the trays daily to make sure they aren’t drying out and in a day or so you’ll notice little white root tips poking out from the seeds.
The seeds will germinate faster in warmer temperatures or on a seedling heat mat but it’s absolutely not necessary. My house is at best 65 degrees in the winter and they grow perfectly.
After 3-4 days you’ll have a lot more growth and the top tray will be lifting up. Sunflower roots are very thick and they’ll often have a halo of fuzzy-looking root hairs, it’s a good thing so don’t confuse it with mold!
At this point, you can remove the cover and set the tray in a bright, south-facing window or under a growlight.
Keep the soil moist but not soggy by watering from the bottom and your sprouts will be ready to harvest in 7-10 days.
Harvesting Sunflower Shoots
You can pinch the shoots off near the root with your fingers but I like to give them a quick snip with small scissors.
It’s pretty easy to pull the entire root up and when that happens you’ll get soil in your delicious sunflower shoots!
Most of the seed hulls will fall off as the plants grow but any remaining are easy to remove with the brush of a hand or some careful picking.
Storing Sunflower Shoots
Sunflower microgreens can be stored for a short time in the fridge. After cutting them above the soil line and picking off any remaining seed coats wrap them in a damp paper towel and store them in an air-tight container in the refrigerator.
Your microgreen should be good for 5-7 days, make sure to toss them if they get slimy or grow mold.
Sunflower Shoot Recipes
Sunflower shoots or microgreens have a texture similar to large bean sprouts. They have a sweet and nutty flavor with a thick crunchy texture.
I’ll admit I tend to eat my shoots as a snack on their own but sometimes I get a little creative in the kitchen and here are a few ways to do so:
- Sunflower Shoot & Tomato Salad from Salt Pepper Skillet
- Yellow Beet Carpaccio with Sunflower Shoots from Food52
- Sunflower Sprout Smoothie from Alia Dalal
- Pea Shoot, Sunflower Shoot & Roasted Squash Salad from Big Sis Little Dish
Check out my Vegetable Garden page for more ideas or start here:
