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My friend Stephen put a slice of veggie pizza in front of me, topped with what looked like skinny sprouts. I am not a sprout person. After a few minutes of convincing, I took a bite. Two hours later, I was reading about microgreens nutrition.
What pulled me in was the research. Xiao et al. (2012) tested 25 microgreen varieties and found that, across the board, microgreens carried higher concentrations of vitamins C, E, K, and beta-carotene than the same plants grown to maturity. The margins vary by species and by nutrient, but the direction holds. Red cabbage led on vitamin C. Green daikon radish led on vitamin E. Garnet amaranth led on vitamin K.
Microgreens are seedlings harvested after germination but before the plant diverts energy into structural growth. During that brief developmental window, the plant concentrates the compounds it uses for protection and stress response. A seedling can’t run from threats. It defends itself chemically. That’s where the nutritional density comes from. Not a farming trick. Basic plant biology.
Stephen was right. I pooh-poohed the idea at first.
Key Takeaways
Microgreens are young vegetable and herb seedlings, harvested about 7 to 21 days after germination. Research on 25 varieties found they often carry higher concentrations of vitamins and carotenoids than the same plants grown to maturity, though the amounts vary widely by variety and nutrient (Xiao et al., 2012). Red cabbage, cilantro, garnet amaranth, and green daikon radish ranked highest for vitamin C, carotenoids, vitamin K, and vitamin E.
Below, we get into which microgreens lead for which nutrients, what the research actually supports, and how to grow and eat them without much fuss.
Microgreens World Health Library
Match the right microgreens to what you want to eat
This guide tells you which varieties lead for which nutrients. The Complete Health Library takes it the rest of the way. Every health and nutrition guide we publish, in one place, so you can build meals around joints, skin, blood sugar, or whatever you are working on.
Nine guides, lifetime access, yours to keep. One bundle instead of buying each on its own.
Show me the Health LibraryEducational guides on microgreens nutrition. Not medical advice.
Microgreens are young, nutrient-dense seedlings of everyday vegetables and herbs. Many plants can be grown as microgreens, including broccoli, kale, and red cabbage. Research on microgreens nutrition has found that, gram for gram, many varieties carry higher concentrations of certain vitamins than the same plants grown to maturity, though the amounts vary by species and nutrient (Xiao et al., 2012). Vitamins C, E, and K are among them.
Urban legend has it that Chef Craig Hartman, a fellow named Mike, and Luca Pachina coined the phrase microgreens in the 1980s while working in the restaurants of the California wine valley. Since then, microgreens have moved from their culinary roots, gained popularity, and emerged as a new nutritional trend.
Many upscale restaurants serve them as an edible garnish or as a salad ingredient. You can also add them to soups and sandwiches. You can buy microgreens whole and cut them, keeping them alive in the fridge until you are ready to eat them.
And if you want to test “your green thumb,” you can grow them all year round in your garden, greenhouse, and even on your windowsill. You can harvest the stem and the attached embryonic seed leaves at 7 to 14 days after germination, depending on the species.
Which Microgreens Varieties Can You Actually Grow?
There are hundreds of vegetables and herbs that can make good microgreens. You can grow microgreens from almost any kind of edible vegetable or herb seed. I have even read that some grains and grasses, like wheatgrass, can make incredible microgreens.
When I tasted my first microgreens, there were so many flavors. Some were bland, others spicy or bitter. I haven’t had sour-tasting microgreens yet, but Stephen is working on it.
Farmers categorize microgreens based on the plant family they belong to. The grouping gives us a broad idea of what kind of taste they’ll have, their preferred growing conditions, and their place in microgreens nutrition.
| Plant Family | Genera / Type |
| Amaranthaceae | Amaranth, beets, Swiss chard, quinoa, and spinach |
| Amaryllidaceae | Chives, garlic, leeks, and onions |
| Apiaceae | Carrot, celery, dill, and fennel. |
| Asteraceae | Chicory, endive, lettuce, and radicchio |
| Brassicaceae | Arugula, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, radish, and watercress. |
| Cucurbitaceae | Cucumbers, melons, and squashes. |
| Lamiaceae | The most common herbs are mint, basil, rosemary, sage, and oregano. |
| Poaceae | Grasses and cereals like barley, corn, rice, oats, and wheatgrass. Legumes, including beans, chickpeas, and lentils. |
When you taste carrot microgreens, for example, your taste buds get an unbelievably concentrated flavor. You think you’re eating carrots.
How Much More Nutritious Are Microgreens Than Regular Vegetables?
In a seminal study of microgreen nutrition (Xiao et al., 2012), red cabbage, cilantro, garnet amaranth, and green daikon radish had the highest concentrations of vitamin C, vitamin A, vitamin K, and vitamin E, respectively.
Microgreens contain greater amounts of nutrients and health-promoting micronutrients than their mature counterparts. Because they are rich in nutrients, smaller amounts may provide similar nutritional effects compared to larger quantities of mature vegetables.
In one comparison of microgreens against mature lettuce, microgreens carried higher levels of several minerals, including calcium, magnesium, iron, manganese, zinc, and selenium (Pinto et al., 2015). The margins vary by mineral and by species, but the pattern of higher mineral density in the young plant held.
Minerals are essential nutrients, and research suggests microgreens are a strong source of them. Compost-grown broccoli microgreens were measured at roughly 1.15 to 2.32 times the mineral content of their mature counterpart, across phosphorus, potassium, magnesium, manganese, zinc, iron, calcium, sodium, and copper.
Microgreens are also a source of beneficial plant compounds like antioxidants. The tables below show the range of vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients that different microgreen varieties can provide.
| Vitamins | Minerals |
|---|---|
| Vitamin A | Iron |
| Vitamin C | Calcium |
| Vitamin K | Potassium |
| Vitamin E | Magnesium |
| Vitamin B1 (Thiamine) | Zinc |
| Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin) | Phosphorus |
| Vitamin B3 (Niacin) | Manganese |
| Vitamin B5 (Pantothenic acid) | Copper |
| Vitamin B6 (Pyridoxine) | Selenium |
| Vitamin B9 (Folate) | Chromium |
| Vitamin B12 (Cobalamin) |
| Phytonutrients | Phytosterols & Other Bioactive Compounds |
|---|---|
| Beta-carotene | Beta-sitosterol |
| Lutein | Campesterol |
| Zeaxanthin | Stigmasterol |
| Chlorophyll | Brassicasterol |
| Flavonoids | Avenasterol |
| Anthocyanins | |
| Glucosinolates | Quercetin |
| Phenolic compounds | Kaempferol |
| Carotenoids | Apigenin |
| Sulforaphane | Polyphenols |
Eating a variety of microgreens is a simple way to widen the range of these beneficial compounds in your diet.
What Does the Research Say About Microgreens and Disease Prevention?
A growing body of research over the past several years has looked at eating more vegetables and their microgreens, and at what makes the young plants nutritionally distinct. Much of it points to the same thing: microgreens tend to carry higher amounts of vitamins, minerals, and beneficial plant compounds than mature greens. Here is what some of that research is actually studying, and what it does and does not yet show.
Cholesterol and lipids (animal research). In one study (Huang et al., 2016), red cabbage microgreen supplementation lowered circulating LDL, reduced liver cholesterol and triacylglycerol levels, and reduced high-fat-diet weight gain in mice. This was an animal study on a high-fat diet, so it points to a research direction rather than a result you can assume for people. It is the kind of early finding that tells researchers where to look next.
Microgreens for low-potassium diets. People with chronic kidney disease are often advised to limit high-potassium foods. One study (Renna et al., 2018) grew chicory and lettuce microgreens in a low-potassium nutrient solution and managed to lower the potassium content of the microgreens without hurting their quality. That is a practical idea: a way to make microgreens suitable for people who need to watch potassium. If you have kidney disease, check potassium levels with your doctor, since some varieties run high.
Mineral content. Mineral shortfalls, including iron and zinc, affect a large share of the world’s population. One study (Weber, 2017) found that broccoli microgreens can be a rich source of minerals that people can grow even in an urban home setting. Regardless of growing method, the broccoli microgreens carried roughly twice the magnesium, manganese, copper, and zinc of the mature vegetable.
This is promising research, and more work is needed to understand what microgreens could mean for everyday health. For now, the honest summary is simple: they are a nutrient-dense food worth eating, and the science on broader effects is still developing.
How Do You Use Microgreens in Everyday Cooking?
I doubt you’ll find packaged, ready-to-eat microgreens in your local supermarkets. Microgreens are more expensive, and because they have a shorter shelf life, you are more likely to find them in your health food store, specialty market, upscale restaurants, and catering establishments.
The US Department of Agriculture generally considers eating microgreens as safe. You are only eating the leaf and stem, not the root and seed. The potential for bacteria growth is much smaller in microgreens than in sprouts.
Nonetheless, avoid GMOs. Ensure the microgreens seeds are not chemically treated. Look for the Certified Naturally Grown or certified organic label on the produce.
Incredible microgreens will add beautiful color and great flavor to salads, sandwiches, and soups. They are a nice garnish for meats and other dishes. Putting microgreens nutrition to work is mostly a matter of adding them to food you already eat. Here are just a few ideas:
- Top your favorite homemade pizza with microgreens. Yum!
- A handful of spring onion and radish microgreens to top a salmon burger.
- Toss some incredible microgreens on your first salad course at dinner.
- A Sunday morning egg white omelet with avocado, goat cheese, and microgreens.
- Skip the slaw or shredded lettuce and top your tacos with microgreens.
- Try a rainbow-colored, charred rainbow beet and pistachio salad.
- Layer any sandwich with a handful of microgreens.
If you enjoy juicing, then you should try blending microgreens into smoothies or juices. Wheatgrass juice is a popular example of a juiced microgreen.
Once you taste fresh microgreens and start working them into your week, your imagination is the only thing that will stop you.
Can You Grow Microgreens at Home Without a Garden?
I spent many summers on my Nanna’s farm planting lots of greens and vegetables. But today I’m an urbanite at heart. Love me some concrete!
This section is the cleanest in the whole post, it’s a personal grow story plus a step-by-step windowsill how-to. Pure Andrew voice (“Love me some concrete!”, the sister Christina exchange, “turn on the disco light”), zero health claims, zero compliance issues. It’s almost entirely keep-as-is.
The only edits:
- Heading to sentence case: “Can You Grow Microgreens at Home Without a Garden?” → “Can you grow microgreens at home without a garden?”
- Focus keyword: “microgreens nutrition” doesn’t appear in this growing section, and forcing it into a how-to would read awkwardly. The recipe wants it once per section, but this is a pure-growing section where “microgreens nutrition” genuinely doesn’t fit the content. I’ll weave it in lightly at the transition (the section can note that growing your own is a way to keep microgreens nutrition fresh), but I want to flag: if it reads forced to you, I’d rather leave it natural than jam the keyword in. Your call if you don’t like where it lands.
All 13 links stay (they’re an excellent cluster of grow-related internal links plus the radish/broccoli/bok-choy variety spokes, exactly the routing we want). No claims to fix. So this is a sentence-case-and-keyword pass, nothing more.
Here’s the section (showing through the directions; the live text was truncated at “4-8 h”, so I’ll preserve whatever follows verbatim, I’ll note where I need the tail):
Can you grow microgreens at home without a garden?
I spent many summers on my Nanna’s farm planting lots of greens and vegetables. But today I’m an urbanite at heart. Love me some concrete!
So, when Stephen told me I should try growing my own microgreens, well, let’s just say I pooh-poohed the idea at first. But after a few weeks, and much egging, I caved in.
So, like any novice, I didn’t know what I didn’t know. But I knew I needed to answer at least four questions before I went off to Home Depot.
- What types of microgreens should I grow?
- Should I use soil or hydroponics? That’s a big word, isn’t it? Here’s the definition: hydroponics is a method of growing plants without soil by using mineral nutrient solutions in a water solvent.
- Should I use artificial or natural sunlight?
- How and when do I harvest them?
I called up my sister Christina first. She’s an agriculturist. She said, “Andrew, you forgot two important things: storage temperature and atmospheric composition.” My reply was, “Sis, I just want to grow them on the windowsill in my kitchen.”
She gave me the good news that microgreens are convenient to grow, as I don’t need a lot of equipment. Growing your own is also the freshest way to put microgreens nutrition on your plate. And I could grow them on my windowsill.
So, go here if you want my little sister’s complete guide on How to Grow Microgreens on Your Windowsill. Here’s the notebook version.
Like any good recipe, here are your ingredients:
- Choose one variety. I’d say radish or broccoli microgreens. They germinate in one to two days and grow quickly.
- Get some good-quality seeds, preferably GMO-free, organic ones.
- Get a container. I got a glass jar.
- Get some good organic soil.
- Get a spray bottle for watering.
Fortunately, my kitchen faces north, and I get about 6 hours of sun a day. If you’re not so lucky, go get an ultraviolet lamp from the hardware store.
Directions:
- Get your glass jar and fill it with soil.
- Make sure you pack the soil loosely.
- Water lightly.
- Sprinkle your microgreens seeds as evenly as you can. You don’t need to presoak radish, so skip that.
- Mist your seeds and soil with a spray bottle.
- Cover the jar with a plastic lid. In early germination, they don’t need any light.
- Check on the jar daily. Mist as needed, to keep the seeds moist.
- Once your microgreens seeds sprout (about 1-2 days), put the jar on your windowsill (or turn on the disco light).
- They’ll need 4-8 hours of light a day.
- Leave them uncovered. They wilt easily in humidity, as I quickly learned.
- Water once a day and watch them grow and change color.
- After 7–10 days, your microgreens should be ready to harvest.
Using plain old scissors, cut the stems above the roots, serve, and eat.
If you are interested, check out my post on growing outside, “Beyond the Windowsill: Growing Microgreens on Your Balcony or Patio.“
If growing is not for you, you can find ready-to-eat microgreens at your local upscale supermarket or farmer’s market.
I Love My Microgreens
Microgreens have been around for almost 40 years. They have found their way into our everyday diets, quietly and easily, with flavorful and aromatic varieties.
They are highly nutritious, and research is still uncovering what they may offer. With meaningfully more nutrient content than mature vegetables in many cases, your microgreens can be a cheaper way to get your vitamins and minerals. And since you can grow some varieties at home easily and quickly, you don’t have to buy large quantities of produce.
On soups, salads, sandwiches, or eaten on their own, microgreens are a flavorful addition to your everyday meals. To go deeper into the science and the varieties, explore our microgreens health and nutrition hub.
Later today, I will give some radish microgreens a try. Stephen told me they were spicy, tender, and crisp. They should be great on my salmon salad.
Microgreens World Health Library
Match the right microgreens to what you want to eat
This guide tells you which varieties lead for which nutrients. The Complete Health Library takes it the rest of the way. Every health and nutrition guide we publish, in one place, so you can build meals around joints, skin, blood sugar, or whatever you are working on.
Nine guides, lifetime access, yours to keep. One bundle instead of buying each on its own.
Show me the Health LibraryEducational guides on microgreens nutrition. Not medical advice.
References
Xiao, Zhenlei, et al. “Assessment of Vitamin and Carotenoid Concentrations of Emerging Food Products: Edible Microgreens.” Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, vol. 60, no. 31, July 2012, pp. 7644–51, https://doi.org/10.1021/jf300459b.
Pinto, Edgar, et al. “Comparison between the Mineral Profile and Nitrate Content of Microgreens and Mature Lettuces.” Journal of Food Composition and Analysis, vol. 37, Feb. 2015, pp. 38–43, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfca.2014.06.018.
Huang, Haiqiu, et al. “Red Cabbage Microgreens Lower Circulating Low-Density Lipoprotein (LDL), Liver Cholesterol, and Inflammatory Cytokines in Mice Fed a High-Fat Diet.” Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, vol. 64, no. 48, Nov. 2016, pp. 9161–71, https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jafc.6b03805.
Renna, Massimiliano, et al. “Microgreens Production with Low Potassium Content for Patients with Impaired Kidney Function.” Nutrients, vol. 10, no. 6, May 2018, p. 675, https://doi.org/10.3390/nu10060675. Accessed 14 Oct. 2021.
Weber, Carolyn F. “Broccoli Microgreens: A Mineral-Rich Crop That Can Diversify Food Systems.” Frontiers in Nutrition, vol. 4, Mar. 2017, https://doi.org/10.3389/fnut.2017.00007.
