“Nutritional yeast.” It might surprise you to learn that those two words are among the most searched for terms on PETA’s website. We know that you’ve got questions about this mystery ingredient—”What the heck is it?” and “Why does it look like the flakes of food I gave to my fish when I was a kid?”—and we’ve got answers. Get ready to meet your new best friend!
I have authors Tanya Barnard and Sarah Kramer to thank for my introduction to nutritional yeast, also affectionately known as “nooch.” I was reading their now-classic cookbook How It All Vegan! when I came across their recipe for Eazy Breezy Cheezy Sauce. Easy, breezy, and cheesy? Yes, please. And it was all those things: Stir together nutritional yeast, flour, cornstarch, Dijon mustard, and a few other ingredients in a pan, heat it all up, and—bam!—you’ve got a creamy, cheesy-tasting sauce for pasta, potatoes, or whatever else you want to pour it on. That’s the first thing you need to know about nooch: It imparts a delicious cheese flavor to whatever it touches. And even though raw cashew cheese sauces are all the rage now, when the mood for mac and cheese hits, I still like to make this old-school version.
Another thing to know about nooch is that it’s an addictive popcorn topping. Just toss together freshly popped popcorn, a little olive oil, salt, and a couple tablespoons of nutritional yeast, and you’ll have a quick and healthy snack that’s much better than anything you could buy in a bag. Bonus: There’s no scary fluorescent-orange food coloring. Nooch can also be sprinkled on salads, tofu scrambles, roasted vegetables, kale chips, mashed potatoes, avocado toast—anywhere, really. Some people even use it in desserts.
And like its name implies, nooch is nutritious. Unlike baker’s yeast, nutritional yeast is inactive, “so it is quite safe and won’t give rise to yeast overgrowth in someone who eats it ,” according to Dr. Michael Donaldson. It’s also a complete protein, meaning that it provides all nine of the essential amino acids that your body can’t make on its own. It’s gluten-free and adds a little extra fiber to your food, and many brands are fortified with vitamin B12, selenium, zinc, and other nutrients —just be sure to check the label.
For more ideas on how to use this miracle ingredient, we’ve got pages upon pages of noochy recipes. Are you already a nutritional yeast super-fan or a nooch novice? What’s your favorite way to use it, or what new recipe are you going to try? Let us know in the comments below or on our Facebook page.
