Nutritional yeast has become an absolute staple in our house. It is effortless to use, SO yummy, and trés good for you – plus, the kids devour it! So why am I just now discovering it?
Since we started on our Ethical Eating journey a couple years ago, I’ve heard of nutritional yeast here and there. It was one of those things that kept popping up in recipes and articles that I pretty much hand waved because it sounded too weird and not appetizing at all.
You would think I’d know better by now!
Since we’ve recently been working to cut out as much dairy as possible from our diets, I’ve been looking for something to satisfy my substantial cravings for cheese. It was during this research that I found out enough about nutritional yeast to convince me to give it a shot:
– Nutritional Yeast, also called “Nooch” (a more kid friendly name), is a yeast typically grown on sugar cane or beet sugar that is then baked. It is NOT active yeast and should not be confused with brewer’s yeast or baking yeast. Because it is baked, it is not a raw food.
– Nutritional yeast has a delicious round, cheesy flavor that is very easy to incorporate into various recipes. And kids LOVE it.
– Nutritional yeast, or Nooch, is good for you! Low in calories, but high in protein and many other vital nutrients, Nooch has 8g of complete protein and 4g fiber in just two tablespoons plus it is a good source of B-vitamins (including, in most cases, B12, which vegans sometimes have a hard time getting), niacin, thiamin, biotin, and folic acid and minerals selenium, chromium, zinc, phosphorus, and magnesium. Seriously, it is hard to believe how healthy it is with as yummy as it is!
– Nutritional Yeast is a source of complete protein, meaning it contains all 9 amino acids your body can’t produce on its own. Seriously, anyone tells you you need to eat meat to get “good” protein is trapped in the past. Nooch, Quinoa, edamame – there are a lot of excellent plant sources of complete protein as well as “incomplete” plant proteins like nuts which are no less important.
– Kids love it. This is a biggie. My kids now see nooch as a treat. Flintstone will BEG for nutritional yeast sprinkled on air popped popcorn and Punky feels like she’s getting away with something when I let her sprinkle it on her veggies.
If you’ve never tried Nutritional Yeast, Nooch, I urge you to give it a shot. Nooch has gotten pigeon holed as nothing more than a vegan cheese substitute, and that is just wrong.
Nutritional yeast is a delicious food, ingredient, and condiment all on it’s own whether you’re vegan, whether you eat cheese or not. As a matter of fact, I did not present it as a cheese substitute at all in our house. I think if I would have, it would have been received with a resounding thud of failure.
So how DO you introduce Nutritional yeast to your diet and your family, especially if they’re hesitant to try new things?
– Consider calling it Nooch, especially to kids (and some husbands). “Nutritional yeast” just doesn’t get the saliva flowing in most people. I don’t really like calling it Nooch, either, but the kids didn’t seem put off by it.
– DON’T call it cheese. It’s not cheese. It does have a delicious cheesy flavor, and your family is more likely to appreciate that flavor if they’re not comparing it to something else.
– For very finicky eaters, start by slipping it into things without telling. You can mix a half cup into spaghetti sauce – or just about any sauce. You can stir it into dips and hummus and veggie dishes without having to reveal its presence. Humans are evolutionarily predisposed to like familiar flavors. If your family has been exposed to the flavor of nooch a few times before you “introduce” it, they are more likely to like it. It has been scientifically proven that 14 exposures to a particular flavor usually results in that flavor being perceived as enjoyable. That is why pediatricians recommend offering a food 15 times to kids.
– Offer it as a condiment. Let your kids sprinkle it on pasta, pizza, or popcorn.
– Let your kids be the one to add the Nooch to the recipe. If they helped add it, they’ll be more likely to enjoy eating it.
Ready to give it a try? Here are a couple recipes:
Nutritional Yeast Popcorn Topping
1 big bowl air popped popcorn
1 tsp olive oil (optional)
3 tbsp Nooch
2 tsp garlic powder (optional)
1/2 tsp chili powder (optional)
Directions
If you’re adding the garlic and/or chili powder, mix it with the nooch in a little dish or shaker. You can prepare a triple back in an old spice shaker just to have on hand.
Mist or drizzle the popcorn with the oil to help the sprinkle stick (optional).
Sprinkle the topping on the popcorn.
Cover and shake the bowl (optional).
Bonus: you can feel good about your kids licking the bowl when the popcorn’s gone (even if they do look like little barbarians when they do.
Creamy Nooch Pasta Sauce
Cooked Pasta of your choice
Veggies of your choice, steamed or sauteed
1/2 onion, diced
2 1/2 c unsweetened Almond Milk
3/4 c nutritional yeast
4 tbsp yellow miso
4 tbsp cornstarch or other thickener, mixed into a roux
1 tbsp garlic powder
1 tsp tumeric powder
directions
Let the onions sit for 5 minutes after dicing.
Prepare pasta and veggies.
Sautee the onion until translucent or starting to brown, if you prefer.
Add the Almond milk, stirring well.
Add the Nutritional Yeast, Miso, Garlic, Tumeric, and any other spices you would like.
Stir well until thoroughly mixed and smooth.
Bring to a low boil.
Slowly stir in the thickener (roux), stirring constantly, until you reach desired thickness.
Plate the pasta, top with the veggies, pour the sauce over the whole dish.
My family devoured this one. So easy. I love it and will definitely be making it again.
Nutritional yeast has become a staple in our house. We add it to just about everything, it seems. It will make a wonderful addition to your kitchen as well, whether you’re vegan, vegetarian, an Ethical Eating omnivore, or just looking for a healthy new dish.
I would add the yeast to the liquid, and mix all the dry ingderient together and add in the liquid.The bread machine will proof the bread too. There is a mod that proof the bread.I use dry active yeast. Dry yeast has a longer shelf life too.
I’m addicted to nutritional yeast as well! Use it in almost everything. Before, I would use Marmite instead, since the actual flakes weren’t sold here in Sweden for some reason. But now they’ve showed up even in regular grocery stores, which is fantastic! I find we need to use less salt when adding nutritional yeast to a dish.
We’ve been putting it on popcorn for years. It’s absolutely a staple of snacks in our house.
nice. now i want gingerbread and some liltte elves to make it for me!i love nutritional yeast, too! and most of the kids seem to love it on popcorn which feels like a liltte victory *gasp* something with vitamins and no added sugar! they call it nutritious crap . they told me it tastes like adobo and that i should get some adobo from S&S. but they couldn’t tell me what adobo actually was so i got curious. turns out it’s a mix of herbs and spices with msg in it.