What is Nutritional Yeast

Although I assume that most of the non-vegans who read my blog are familiar with things like tofu and chickpeas, it’s occurred to me that there may be a few questions surrounding some of the lesser-known vegan/health food ingredients. So with that, I’ve added a new section to my blog called What’s That?, and every now and then I’ll write a post about one of these ingredients, and link to it when my recipes call for it.

First up: Nutritional Yeast. Because (lacto-ovo) vegetarians get their cheese-fix from dairy, many of them are not familiar with this ingredient. But because it imparts a “cheesy” taste to food, it is loved by vegans and other people who do not consume dairy. It’s not something that you see used in a lot of commercial food products (to the chagrin of us vegans), so you kind of have to be “in-the-know” to have heard about it. But it’s not that difficult to find and it’s even easier to use, so I really encourage you to try it if you haven’t already.

Facts

• It is a deactivated yeast and a fungus
• It is produced by culturing the yeast with a mixture of sugarcane and beet molasses for a period of 7 days, then harvesting, washing, drying and packaging the yeast
• The flakes are bright yellow in color
• It is a complete protein, meaning it contains an adequate proportion of all nine essential amino acid that we need to function
• It is a good source of protein and B vitamins (If you’re vegan, you should seek-out a brand that is fortified with B-12)
• It is low in fat and sodium and is free of sugar, dairy and gluten
• It has a strong nutty/cheesy flavor that can be added to any dish to impart a cheesy taste

Uses

• Grind it in a food processor with an equal part of blanched almonds to mimic Parmesan – this is great sprinkled on pasta!
• Add a tablespoon or two to risotto, quiches, cannelloni, stuffed mushrooms – anywhere you would normally use Parmesan or other cheese
• Sprinkle it on popcorn
• Blend it with nuts to make vegan cheese sauce, and soft or hard cheese

Tips

• This is a great alternative for vegans and those who are lactose-intolerant or trying to cut-back on dairy and/or fat
• Because of it’s strong smell/taste, some people find Nooch off-putting the first time they eat it (especially if they still eat dairy cheese and/or recently went vegan
• In my experience, the longer you’ve been vegan, the more likely you are to think that this tastes like “real cheese”
• When trying nutritional yeast for the first time, start by sprinkling it on pasta (to mimic Parmesan) or using a tablespoon or two in other savory dishes, such as those mentioned above