The 101 on nutritional yeast
The yellow flake that makes plant-based food taste cheesy. What it is, what to do with it, and how to buy a good one.
The BetterDay Kitchen2 min read
Nutritional yeast, nooch to its friends, is the yellow flake that makes plant-based food taste savoury. It is deactivated yeast, usually grown on molasses, and it brings a nutty, cheesy, umami note that very little else can do.
We have been putting it on everything for years. If you have eaten our queso, our cashew cheese or half the sauces on the menu, you have eaten a lot of it already.
What is in it
Nooch carries a real amount of protein for something you use by the tablespoon, along with fibre, and it is naturally low in sodium and fat. It brings B vitamins, most of which the yeast makes itself, and it is a source of selenium, a trace mineral the body uses in its antioxidant systems.
The B12 question
B12 is the thing everyone asks about with nooch, and the answer is on the label rather than in the yeast. Yeast cannot make B12. Only certain bacteria can, which is why every food that has it got it from bacteria somewhere along the line. When a tub lists B12, that B12 was made separately and added during manufacturing, and the word for it on the front of the package is "fortified".
Unfortified nooch has none worth counting, and the amount in fortified brands varies a lot from one to the next. So the tub in your cupboard is the only one that can tell you what you are getting. Turn it round and read the panel.
Cooking with it
- As a topping, in place of parmesan, over pasta, salad and roasted vegetables
- Stirred into sauces for savoury depth, especially tomato, pesto and anything creamy
- As the backbone of cashew-based vegan cheese and queso
- Through soups, stews and chili, where it does the job a parmesan rind would
- In a vegan alfredo, with vegan butter, unsweetened almond milk, garlic and salt
- On popcorn with a pinch of salt, which is the correct answer to popcorn
Buying it
Flakes and powder are the same thing ground differently. Flakes are better for sprinkling, powder dissolves better into sauces. Buy it somewhere with turnover, because it loses its aroma sitting in a warm bulk bin, and store it sealed in a cool cupboard.
One last note on what it is not. Nutritional yeast is not brewer's yeast and not baking yeast. It is deactivated, so it will not raise bread and it will not ferment anything. It is a seasoning.
Rather not cook tonight
We make this kind of food every week.
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