Mung beans are a small plant legume that originates in Asia especially in India where it has been grown for thousands of years at this point. Dishes from it are rather popular these days thanks to its unique nutrient contents especially proteins, vitamins, and fiber.
Other features about it also make it rather something that you do not want to miss out on e.g. their nutty flavor. This article therefore covers a broad range of mung beans cuisines to help you choose any of them that you think works well for you.
These include desserts, snack, as well as main courses too.
Before we get into it though, it is worth noting that there is no big deal between mung beans and moong dal as some people might think.
The latter is mung beans with no husks so when we use the term that is what you should note.
20 Delicious Mung Bean Recipes
1. Vietnamese Glutinous Rice Balls
This recipe is ideal for you if you like something to chew on. In Vietnam where it originates though, there is more to it than the taste. It is a New Year’s dish. The ingredients include; palm sugar, flour, pandan leaves etc. Asian supermarkets will usually know the kind of flour that you will need.
Preparing the recipe starts at least a day prior. Add water into flour and refrigerate. Now turn to the beans, boil them. After, add salt and allow to cool.
Now process the beans in a food processor. Now pour oil in a pan along with the processed beans and sugar. Once they stick to each other, make balls from the mixture and refrigerate.
On the cooking day, knead the dough and after, get out the balls and roll knead around each of them. Boil in water. Make ginger syrup and coconut cream. Toast on sesame seeds and serve with the rice balls.
2. One-Pot Coconut Mung Bean Stew
On top of the nutrients already shared, this recipe has manganese, zinc, iron etc. The ingredients necessary for preparing it include; carrots, mung beans, jalapeno, lime juice, ginger, sea salt etc. In order to avoid the much spicing that jalapeno can mean to come with at time, you should remove the seeds prior to use.
Preparation is made easy here as we are only to use a single pan. Start by cooking the carrots, garlic, and onion in oil for some five minutes. Rinse the mung beans and then add them in the pan together with coconut milk.
Boil for twenty minutes and then simmer. Finally, garnish with cilantro and then add lemon juice.
3. Mung Bean and Coconut Curry
This curry is entirely vegan. The requisite ingredients include; crushed onions, canola oil, lime juice, coriander, cayenne pepper, crushed tomatoes etc. The oil mentioned can be replaced by any other that is of neutral flavour.
The recipe can be made either with a stove or in an instant pot though we will only talk about the latter case. Heat cumin seeds in oil for at least a minute then add garlic and sauté for at least five minutes. Add ginger, turmeric, crushed tomatoes, cayenne and salt and simmer again for five minutes. Stir and wait five minutes.
Finally, add water in followed by mung beans and then cook at high pressure for fifteen minutes. After the pressure has been naturally released, remove the lid and enjoy.
4. Quinoa Kale Salad with Mung Beans
This recipe is a go to for lunch salads. Further, it is really nutritious given its antioxidant elements and proteins. The necessary ingredients include; cucumber, garlic, mung beans, kale, oil, mind, parsley etc. For one that is not a fun of the bitterness in kale, you can reduce it by removing the stems.
To prepare, start by boiling the beans until they are tender. Watch out to be sure that they do not overcook. As this happens, cook quinoa as you would normally do.
Now turn to the lemon dressing. Make it by whisking lemon juice, garlic, olive oil, sumac, and salt.
Add the beans, kale, quinoa, and tomatoes. Combine thoroughly. Add the dressing and serve.
5. Kenyan Mung Bean Curry
This recipe brings an African vibe to it. We use baby spinach here though feel free to substitute with any other vegetables of your choice. Other ingredients include; tomatoes, greens, turmeric, salt, neutral oil, vegetable stock, salt, etc.
To prepare, heat oil over medium heat. Add carrots, cardamom, onions, and green pepper. Cook until they soften. Separately, boil the mung beans. Back to the vegetables, once ready, add salt, garlic, and then tomato paste. Stir for a little while.
Next, add canned tomatoes and stock before simmering. Introduce the mung beans now (having drained them). Wait for ten minutes then add spinach. Remove from heat.
Allow for cooling then season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle coriander just before serving.
6. Chickpea Cauliflower Tacos with Lentil Mung Bean Tortillas
You do not have to buy tortillas from the store with this recipe. Additionally, these tortillas are have no yeast or starch in them. They are gluten free too.
The ingredients include; paprika, oil, taco seasoning, serrano pepper, cumin powder, salt, and water.
Start by soaking the mung beans for anywhere between fifteen minutes and an hour depending on how much time you have. Next, boil them. Once ready, add the tacos ingredients to a blender and blend. Next, hit a pan on medium and add the tacos ingredients along with butter.
Add a bit of oil and allow to cook for some five or so minutes. Come to the cauliflower and heat it in oil along with spices.
Assemble the ingredients, top with cilantro and sour cream.
7. Mung Bean Oatmeal Protein Pancakes
If you are looking for a filling breakfast, then this recipe is ideal. Interestingly too, they carry protein without saturated fats or cholesterol.
The ingredients necessary for the pancakes are; lemon juice, garlic, avocado, jalapeno, water, etc. Lemon juice is substitutable with Greek yoghurt.
Soak mung beans and oats in bowl and wait for fifteen minutes. As you wait, make Greek yogurt dressing by adding the yoghurt to parsley and salt.
Now transfer the oats and beans in a blender. Add jalapeno, lime juice, Transfer to a bowl and add scallions and baking soda. Make pancakes and hit them in a skillet.
For folks that would like the pancakes to be diary free, then there is an option of hummus.
8. Filipino Mung Bean Stew
This mung bean recipe is inspired by one that is more traditional in the Philippines. The main difference is that malunnggay leaves have been replaced with spinach. So please feel free to retain them if at all you can get a hold of them.
Other ingredients include; tomato, chicken bouillon, vegetable oil, water, tomato, and meat. The choice if meat is up to you. It could be beef, pork, or even chicken.
To prepare, heat onions and garlic in oil until the former is translucent. Add tomatoes and wait for three minutes. Add the meat and once it has browned, add the beans, bouillon, as well as the water. Cook for another forty minutes. Add more water if the liquid dries up.
9. Mung Bean Detox Soup
Because this is a detox soup, garlic and onions are dropped and replaced by hing as we will see. Other ingredients include; mung beans, turmeric, ghee, lemon juice, jaggery, cloves, turmeric, cumin seeds, and turmeric.
To prepare, add water to mung beans and soak for two hours. The water may be cold or hot. Hot water will mean that things are easier when you come to cooking.
After soaking, drain the water used and now boil the beans in other water. Add all ingredients but for sugar and lemon juice and let them cook along. Once ready, add the ingredients formerly left out and stir thoroughly. Finally, garnish with coriander then serve.
10. Mung Bean Popsicles
This recipe has an interesting history in Asia. In the 70s bicycle men moved around cities carrying the popsicles just like ice cream trucks do today. Children will then run after them and give away some coins in exchange for the inescapable flavor.
The ingredients are actually not many. They are sweet rice flour, mung beans, rock sugar, and water.
To prepare, begin by soaking the beans. After an hour or so, drain the water and add rock sugar to the beans then boil them. Wait for softening and then introduce glutinous rice.
You should increase the heat at this point and then mix thoroughly. Remove from heat.
Place the beans in an immersion blender and upon removing them, make popsicles. Insert sticks and freeze for at least half a day.
11. Mung Bean Hummus with Garlic and Lemon
Hummus is known for its nutrients and so many recipes have been made from it across time not least with beetroot and carrots. This is the place from which this recipe comes about.
The ingredients include; garlic, olive oil, sesame seeds, red chili flakes, and water. There can be variations too e.g. skipping garlic and including lemon juice.
To prepare, soak mung beans and then add drain the water after an hour. Allow them to rest after at least an hour has passed. Boil the beans. Once ready, add to a food processor together with garlic, and coriander. Puree. Add the rest of the ingredients and puree some more.
To serve, top with olive oil.
12. Banh It Tran Vietnamese Mung Bean Dumplings
This is a traditional Vietnamese recipe that you can always make whenever you have excess mung beans on you. In Vietnam, this time includes after New Year’s.
The ingredients here include; vegetable oil, green onion oil, warm water, black pepper, glutinous rice flour, sliced onion, water etc.
To prepare, start by soaking the beans in warm water over night. Drain them the next day and then boil in water still. Once the water is mostly dried, mash the beans.
Separately, heat the sliced onions in vegetable oil. When they are fragrant, add the mung beans to them and black pepper. Stir until proper mixing. Make small balls from the mixture.
Add oil to rice flour. Use the result to wrap the balls. Place in a bowl of water and boil them until they float. They dumplings are ready once they start to float.
13. Pork Monggo Recipe
The unwritten convention about this recipe is that people eat it on Friday but do not let that deter you from any day of the week when you feel that you are desirous of it. Something special about pork monggo as compared to the rest of the dishes already talked about is that you do not have to soak the beans in its case.
The ingredients among others are; malunggay leaves, cooking oil, onions, pork cube, chi Charon, black pepper, pork, and spinach.
To prepare, heat oil garlic, tomatoes, and onions in oil. Wait for some moment then add pork. Cook until it turns to brown. Add water, then pork cube and stir.
Now add the mung beans and cook until they are tender. Monitor in case there is need for more water. When ready, add spinach and malunggay leaves. Cook for two minutes. Add black pepper, and cook for another two minutes.
14. Chinese Vegan Pot Stickers
This recipe is an example of the several Chinese dishes that work well in replacing meat. For this case, egg plants are adopted for this particular purpose.
You could very well use chicken leg mushrooms in their place though. Other ingredients include; green onion, soy sauce, warm water, garlic clove, vegetable cooking oil, mung bean noodles, shitake mushrooms etc.
Start by peeling the egg plants, cutting them into cubes and then soaking them in salty water. This step helps ensure that once fried, the egg plants do not absorb so much oil. Next, heat the egg plants along with garlic in vegetable oil until they have softened.
Place the egg plants in a different container then mix with shitake mushrooms, Chinese spice powder, green onion, coriander, and mung beans. Sauté this combination in oil over medium heat. Turn them over and over until crispy.
15. Sprouted Mung Bean Salad
This salad is can be adopted for a side dish or a main course meal depending on what your preferences are in that moment. It is also easy to personalize as the vegetables used depend on what it is that you love.
That said, we will nonetheless explore some possible option for you when it comes to ingredients.
These include; lime juice, cucumber, red chili powder, cilantro, and corn.
To make the salad, add the beans to a bowl and then mix the vegetables of your preference to form a base. From our list, these are; tomatoes, corn, cucumber, and carrots. Next, add spices and garnish. Suggestions are paprika, red chili powder, salt, or cayenne. Finally, add lime juice then serve.
16. Super Green Vegan Quinoa Burritos
This is the kind of meal that is convenient enough to carry with you and eat on a flight. It is vegan too. The ingredients include; lemon juice, avocado, tortillas, mung beans, lemon juice, cloves, and spinach tortillas. The latter ingredient may be replaced by multi-grain too.
To start off, place avocado, lemon juice, garlic, serrano, salt, and water in a blender or food processor. Puree to form a dressing. Separately, place kale in a container, add some of the dressing. Coat the kale using your hands.
Find the tortillas. One at a time, pour in them the dressing, kale mixture, quinoa, and then the mung beans. Fold then roll. Transfer to parchment papers. You may eat the burritos at this point though if you love them warm or hot then you can heat them.
Other Delicious Mung Bean Recipes
- Mediterranean Mung Bean Burgers
- Mung Bean Pancakes
- Mung Bean Curry
- Mung Bean Dip